New Cobb Commission Chairwoman Cupid takes oath of office

Lisa Cupid, Cobb Commission Chair candidate

After a long line of speakers—more than two hours’ worth—had come before her, new Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid offered brief remarks Thursday at her official swearing-in ceremony.

“Everything that could be shared has been shared,” Cupid said at the Cobb County Civic Center.

Other elected officials, business and community leaders and members of her family took the podium before her.

Cupid, who for two terms was the sole Democratic commissioner representing District 4 in South Cobb, officially became the head of government on Jan. 1, after defeating former chairman Mike Boyce in November.

“I never thought this would be in the cards for me,” Cupid said of her career in politics and public service. “But I am so grateful and honored and humbled.”

As she was listening to the other speakers, Cupid said, “my heart was filled with love. And anybody who knows me know I never want to let those I love down. I kept hearing all these people who were expressing love and I don’t want to let you or any citizen of Cobb County down.”

During her campaign, she ran on a platform of “moving the county forward” by expanding relationships and partnerships across broader sections of Cobb County.

She will lead an all-female, five-member Cobb Board of Commissioners that will have a black Democratic majority.

Cupid is the first woman and the first African-American to lead the county government. Two of her predecessors, both Republicans, spoke on her behalf.

“The voters couldn’t have made a better choice for a difficult time,” said Bill Byrne, who served as chairman in the 1990s and ran unsuccessfully against then-chairman Tim Lee in 2012.

“Cobb needs her today more than any chairman in the past. She has the focus, the ability and the support to do that.”

Sam Olens, who was the chairman when Cupid was first elected, noted how she’s the latest in a long line of elected officials in Cobb who’ve come from somewhere else.

“Cobb is a community open to new ideas and new leadership,” Olens said. “She desires to make a difference and she will.”

Cupid is a native of Michigan who earned an engineering degree at Georgia Tech, then stayed to attend graduate and law school and is raising two sons she and her husband are home-schooling.

“I’ve always had people supporting me, to help get me on this path,” Cupid said after taking the oath of office.

Let’s all help to remove that burden and weight together,” she said. “Nobody here can shoulder all the work that it’s going to take for us to continue to move this county forward.

“It always has been and always continue to be about teamwork.”

Cupid will preside over her first public meetings as chairwoman next Tuesday during a business meeting that starts at 9 a.m.

You can view the agenda by clicking here.