Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb Archives

East Cobb cityhood effort delayed: ‘We want to take the time to do it right’

December 19, 2019 3:07 PMDecember 19, 2019 12:37 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb cityhood group — *East Cobb cityhood has been greeted with skepticism since the group’s first public appearance in March. (ECN file photo)*

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb announced Thursday it will not be pursuing legislation next year that would call for a referendum later in 2020.

A bill introduced this year by State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb was to have been considered in the upcoming legislative session.

But after two public events last month, including the announcement of an expanded proposed city map, the cityhood group said it’s opting to go through another two-year legislative cycle.

“We are committed to continuing this process,” cityhood CEO David Birdwell said in a statement. “We want to take the time to do it right because we know that the more educated voters are on this issue, the more they will support it.”

East Cobb News has left messages with Birdwell and Dollar seeking comment.

Rob Eble, another cityhood leader, told East Cobb News the group “got a lot of feedback,” and “people feel like the process was rushed. That was the biggest complaint.

“We really took that to heart. The last thing we want is for this to be divisive and this was becoming divisive.”

Eble said the cityhood group wants to make a renewed effort to engage more with the public.

He acknowledged that while there are those who oppose cityhood, others said they weren’t sure what they thought but felt they didn’t have enough information and felt the process was being rushed.

East Cobb cityhood opponents unveil estimate of revised map

December 17, 2019 6:58 PMDecember 17, 2019 5:12 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Alliance city map

East Cobb cityhood leaders still haven’t made public details of a revised map of the proposed city, more than a month after announcing new boundaries at a town hall meeting.

A group opposed to cityhood isn’t waiting around. On Monday, it released what it calls a “best-estimate” of what it thinks the new proposed map will look like.

The East Cobb Alliance said its version of the map was done with donated efforts from South Avenue Consulting, a Smyrna-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) firm. The map, according to the Alliance, is 95 percent accurate.

The map was done, the group said, without exact GIS coordinates from the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb and was drawn from the image cityhood leader David Birdwell displayed at a Nov. 11 town hall meeting at Wheeler High School.

At their first town hall meeting in April, cityhood leaders said they would be revising the map, most likely to include the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones.

David Birdwell, new East Cobb map — *Cityhood leader David Birdwell points to a revised map at a November town hall meeting, but that’s all the public has seen of the proposed new boundaries. (ECN file)*

Birdwell indicated at the Wheeler meeting the new boundaries would indeed include most of the Pope and Lassiter areas.

He didn’t offer precise details, saying he had first seen the new map only that day. He wasn’t sure if a financial feasibility study done for the cityhood group based on the original map would have to be revised or redone.

East Cobb News has left messages for Birdwell seeking comment.

He did not respond to a message earlier this month when East Cobb News contacted State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb, the cityhood bill sponsor. He wasn’t at the Wheeler town hall and said he had not seen the map shown at that meeting.

Dollar did say that the map is undergoing revisions and probably will be after the Georgia legislature convenes in January.

His bill must pass the full legislature in order for a cityhood referendum to be held next year. Lawmakers also would approve the final map and proposed city charter.

Dollar: Proposed East Cobb city map revisions still in progress

December 5, 2019 5:36 PMDecember 5, 2019 4:20 PM by Wendy Parker

The sponsor of the East Cobb cityhood bill says changes to the proposed city map are still ongoing, and he doesn’t think anything will be finalized until the Georgia legislature returns in January.

State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb) said he hasn’t seen a proposed revision of the map that was presented at a town hall meeting on Nov. 11 by the group pushing for cityhood.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb wants the map to include the areas around Pope and Lassiter high schools. The initial map included most of unincorporated East Cobb in Cobb Commission District 2.

The new map would venture into Commission District 3, represented by JoAnn Birrell, who’s come out against cityhood.

During the town hall meeting at Wheeler High School, David Birdwell of the cityhood committee flashed a revised map for the audience, which he said he received only that day.

A more detailed map, he said at the time, would not be immediately available from the state apportionment office.

Nearly a month later, there still isn’t a revised map proposal for the public to view. The cityhood committee’s website includes an interactive map for citizens to see whether or not they live in the proposed city, but it’s the original map.

East Cobb city interactive map — *The East Cobb cityhood group’s website still has the original proposed map; **click here** for details.*

When contacted by East Cobb News, Dollar said he was out of town and unable to attend that meeting and “I’m not sure what they were showing.”

“We’re still taking feedback,” Dollar said about the process for drawing a revised map. “We’ll have a better idea what the map will look like once the legislative session begins.

“We’re all working together to see what the map’s going to look like.”

Dollar filed HB 718 (you can read it here) on the next-to-last day of the 2019 legislature and the day after the cityhood group’s first public meeting.

Under state law, cityhood bills have to go through a two-year process. The full legislature must pass the bill in the 2020 session before a referendum would go to voters—most likely in November—living in the proposed City of East Cobb.

The original city map would have a population of nearly 90,000, and if it expands as Birdwell has suggested, it would top more than 110,000.

That would make a City of East Cobb the second-largest municipality in the metro Atlanta area. But a more accurate estimate, along with detailed boundaries of the proposed new map, remain unclear.

East Cobb News has left a message with Birdwell seeking comment.

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-East Cobb) told East Cobb News earlier this week she hasn’t seen a new map. Cityhood bills must have a local Senate sponsor, but she hasn’t taken a position and may be doing some polling.

Dollar said reaction from his constituents in East Cobb’s District 45 has been mixed. He acknowledges there’s opposition, including the group East Cobb Alliance, but said he’s gotten “a lot of e-mails from people who do like” the cityhood proposal.

He said the objective is to have a formalized map for the proposed City of East Cobb by the time the bill would be considered by the House Governmental Affairs Committee, the first step in the legislative process.

He said he doesn’t anticipate, at least for now, any other significant changes to the rest of the cityhood bill and proposed City of East Cobb charter.

Ultimately, the legislature would draw up a final city map and make other changes if it passes the cityhood bill.

“We’ll have a lot more clarity soon,” Dollar said about the map. “Right now, it’s just not there.”

Former East Cobb cityhood review member explains resignation

November 26, 2019 2:34 PMNovember 26, 2019 1:25 PM by Wendy Parker

A member of a five-man review panel that evaluated the East Cobb cityhood financial feasibility study said he resigned right before the group’s final report was issued in September due to a “math problem,” not ideological differences. Shailesh Bettadapur, East Cobb cityhood review group

Shailesh Bettadapur, an East Cobb resident and vice president for Mohawk Industries, disputed claims by Bill Green, another member of what was called the Independent Financial Group, that he had ideological reasons for stepping down.

Bettadapur’s wife Jackie is the chairwoman of the Cobb County Democratic Party.

Bettadapur told East Cobb News he resigned because he didn’t agree with the other four members of the review group on the financial conclusions in the report. He also alleged that the IFG wasn’t independent because Green “was attempting to reach a specific pro-cityhood conclusion.”

Bettadapur said he wasn’t interested in going public with his concerns until Green, speaking at a cityhood town hall meeting on Nov. 11, attributed the resignation of an unnamed fifth member to that person’s relationship with “a county party official,” who also was not identified.

“As that fifth member, I can say without hesitation that Mr. Green’s assertion is false,” said Bettadapur, who wasn’t at the town hall meeting at Wheeler High School but who said he watched a video replay of the event.

He’s also expressed his concerns to Cobb commissioners and members of the county’s legislative delegation.

Four IFG members concluded that a proposed City of East Cobb is financially feasible without tax increases, but recommended that a new municipality start without a police force until inter-governmental agreements would be hashed out.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, which spent $36,000 on the feasibility study conducted last year by Georgia State University researchers, is proposing community development, police and fire services.

Math or ideology?

When contacted by East Cobb News, Green said he stands by his belief that Bettadapur had ideological—but not necessarily partisan—reasons for leaving the group.

“It’s because he didn’t do any of the math,” said Green, a retired financial executive with a cloud computing company.

“He never contributed a darn thing to the group’s efforts. He just didn’t do squiddly-diddly. He was there to obstruct.”

Green said Bettadapur may claim he’s impartial on cityhood, but says he observed a clear Democratic presence at a town hall meeting in March at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, with some wearing purple shirts bearing the name of Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

Green said he thinks Democrats eventually “are going to be opposed, but if you split the Republicans you don’t get cityhood.”

As for the IFG’s partisan affiliations, Green said he identifies as Libertarian-Republican, while the other three are Democrats, and two of them are mostly independent: “Our team is not ideological.”

Bettadapur acknowledged his wife’s political activities, “which is something that the Cityhood committee would have known at the time I joined. It obviously did not matter then, but became the scapegoat when I resigned.”

He said the Cobb Democratic Party is not taking a position on East Cobb cityhood and that he still doesn’t have an opinion.

Bettadapur said he doesn’t see how the cityhood group’s claims of providing better services for the same or lower tax millage rates can be accomplished.

He said when he joined the IFG, he told cityhood leaders David Birdwell and Rob Eble that he was neutral on cityhood.

Arguing over numbers

“I viewed, and still view, this primarily as a math problem,” Bettadapur said. “I started with the thesis that you could not add a layer of government and administration and obtain the same or increased quality of services without also raising taxes and fees. Yet, I was open to being persuaded otherwise. Nothing I’ve seen so far has done that.”

Bettadapur said each of Cobb’s existing six cities have higher millage rates than the unincorporated county, so “why would East Cobb be different?”

The IFG stated in its report that Cobb County government is committing double taxation with what it’s charging cities for providing county services. “The notion that a City of East Cobb could negotiate a transfer higher than the other six cities is, in my view, not credible,” Bettadapur said.

*Bill Green of the Independent Financial Group, at right, with East Cobb cityhood leaders at a Wheeler HS town hall. (ECN file)*

In particular, he thinks the IFG’s claim that a city of East Cobb would be able to get $11 million from the county for police services in the inter-government agreement (instead of a $2.5 million estimate in the feasibility study) is unrealistic.

He also questioned cost estimates for new city to purchase firehouses (at around $5K each) and suggested that the county would likely include older equipment in those purchases.

And he disputed Green’s claim at the Wheeler town hall that “there’s a tax cut to be had” should a new city of East Cobb be formed.

“It’s just nonsense,” Bettadapur said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Green defended the IFG’s calculations, “saying the numbers look good,” and took issue with financial claims made by cityhood opponents, including the East Cobb Alliance. “Any numbers we can come up with, we can blow them out of the water.”

He said he wishes Bettadapur well and admitted “he’s a smart guy” whose primary value to the review group was offering a differing point of view to avoid groupthink.

While Green countered that if Bettadapur “ever does the math, let me know,” Bettadapur said that he remains “sympathetic to the idea of local control. But local control doesn’t mean it’s going to be cheaper.”

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Birrell on proposed East Cobb city: ‘I don’t support it’

November 12, 2019 9:16 PMNovember 12, 2019 6:04 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb city forum — *Mindy Seger of the anti-city East Cobb Alliance debates David Birdwell of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)*

After learning that the proposed City of East Cobb map would include areas she represents, Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell gave an emphatic answer Tuesday about what she thinks about it.

“I don’t support it,” Birrell said after pro- and anti- cityhood representatives debated before the East Cobb Business Association.

‘I don’t see how you’re going to provide better services for the same taxes you’re paying now.”

That’s what anti-cityhood advocates have been saying after the group leading the cityhood push has claimed a new municipality can deliver better services at the same tax rate East Cobb residents are paying now to the county.

For the first time, opposing forces in the cityhood issue faced one another in a forum format that included opening and closing statements and questions from the audience.

Among the crowd of nearly 200 at the Olde Towne Athletic Club was Birrell, whose District 3 includes some of east and northeast Cobb. The original proposed city boundaries included only parts of District 2, represented by commissioner Bob Ott.

But at a town hall meeting Monday, the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb announced that the map had expanded to include the Pope and Lassiter school attendance zones.

Birrell said she has not heard anything from the cityhood group about revising the map, and that the only information she learned came from visiting the cityhood committee’s website.

“They’re encroaching in my district,” she said. “So now I’m being outspoken.”

Ott, whose town hall meeting in March was the first public event for the cityhood committee, has not taken a position on the issue.

There’s been speculation he would be interested in running for mayor of East Cobb if a city is created, but he hasn’t responded to that, nor has he indicated if he will be running for re-election or another office in 2020.

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Expanded East Cobb city map includes Pope, Lassiter districts

November 11, 2019 10:52 PMNovember 11, 2019 10:07 PM by Wendy Parker

Expanded East Cobb city map, David Birdwell — *East Cobb Cityhood committee leader David Birdwell unveils a revised map of the proposed city at a town hall meeting Monday. (ECN photos by Wendy Parker)*

Many of the familiar talking points about East Cobb cityhood were made Monday night at a town hall meeting at Wheeler High School.

So were many of the objections to a City of East Cobb that also have been heard for many months.

What was new at the meeting organized by the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb was the proposed map for a City of East Cobb that would be larger than the original, and would include the Pope and Lassiter high school attendance zones.

Cityhood committee members said they just got the map earlier Monday from the state legislative office that draws up such boundaries.

The revision comes several months after a lobbying effort that also included citizens from the Sprayberry High School community, which for now is being left out.

“It could be added now or through annexation,” cityhood leader David Birdwell said.

The original map included most of unincorporated Cobb in Cobb commission District 2 east of I-75. That covered the Walton and most of the Wheeler attendance zones, but only a sliver of the Pope and Lassiter areas and had a population of nearly 90,000 people.

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, East Cobb city map — *State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick*

The new population figure wasn’t immediately available, but it could boost a potential City of East Cobb to the second-largest city in metro Atlanta.

‘Wait and see’

The map is part of legislation sponsored at the end of the 2019 session by State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb), and that must pass in 2020 for a referendum to be called next fall.

(Read the bill here.)

Among the more than 100 people in attendance at the Wheeler auditorium was State. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican of East Cobb who is a critical player in the process.

State law requires cityhood bills to have local sponsors in each chamber of the legislature. Kirkpatrick and State Rep. Sharon Cooper, who also was in attendance Monday, have said they have not formed an opinion on East Cobb cityhood.

East Cobb cityhood legislation — *The original proposed East Cobb city map.*

Kirkpatrick told East Cobb News she’s been getting plenty of anti-cityhood sentiment from constituents, and that she wants to give the pro-cityhood forces a chance to “make their case.”

Her perspective, she said for now, remains “wait and see.” During the town hall, she said she would do some polling near the end of the year and said she continues to welcome feedback from citizens, no matter how they feel about the issue.

The cityhood committee also has retained two high-profile lobbyists for the 2020 legislative session.

When a citizen asked Kirkpatrick about Dollar’s whereabouts, she said he had been out of the country and would be returning Tuesday.

The crowd occasionally grew boisterous during a question-and-answer period. Questions were to have been written on note cards, but some shouted out questions or made statements, often in opposition to cityhood.

New EC City Map — The revised map would include the northeastern corner of East Cobb.

Others were concerned about how East Cobb cityhood would affect public schools. When Birdwell repeatedly said there would be no effect on schools—including the Cobb senior tax exemption—some citizens still interrupted.

By Georgia law, new cities cannot create school districts. School districts remain in such cities like Marietta, which have had them for many years.

We’ll have more from Monday’s meeting and other cityhood news after a forum on Tuesday between Birdwell and Bill Simon of the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood.

That forum will take place at a luncheon of the East Cobb Business Association.

And as soon as we get a better map of the revised City of East Cobb proposed boundaries, we’ll post that here too. Birdwell said it may take time for the state legislative office to make that available to the public.

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East Cobb cityhood group hires two high-profile lobbyists

November 7, 2019 8:06 PMNovember 7, 2019 5:02 PM by Wendy Parker

Don Bolia, East Cobb cityhood lobbyist — *Don Bolia*

The group pressing for cityhood in East Cobb has hired two of the best-known lobbyists in state government, and both have deep connections in Georgia Republican politics.

According to filings with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb retained Don Bolia and Laura Norton on Oct. 29.

They are being paid more than $10,000 each to lobby on behalf of the East Cobb cityhood committee, according to the filings.

Bolia and Norton are the principal and senior associate, respectively, of Peachtree Government Relations, an Atlanta firm specializing in executive and legislative branch lobbying in Georgia.

Bolia, Norton and the firm have been named among the most influential in the state by JAMES, a magazine published by Phil Kent, CEO of the political consulting firm Insider Advantage and who previously served as a public relations representative for the cityhood group.

Laura Norton, East Cobb cityood lobbyist — *Laura Norton*

The East Cobb cityhood committee is holding a town hall meeting Monday at Wheeler High School and is taking part in a debate Tuesday sponsored by the East Cobb Business Association.

That forum also will include a representative of the East Cobb Alliance, a citizens group that opposes cityhood.

Legislation sponsored by State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb) calling for an East Cobb cityhood referendum and proposed city charter is slated to be taken up next year in the Georgia General Assembly.

That bill, introduced on the next-to-last day of the 2019 session, calls for a city of nearly 100,000 people to be created out of unincorporated East Cobb in Cobb commission District 2.

Bolia was an aide to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and served as political director and executive director of the Georgia Republican Party. He also was chief of staff to the Fulton County Commission.

Norton was a fundraiser for former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (now the U.S. Agriculture Secretary) and the Georgia Republican Party. Her husband is Smyrna City Council member Derek Norton, who is in a Dec. 3 runoff to succeed long-serving mayor Max Bacon.

The East Cobb cityhood group hired three lobbyists before the 2019 legislative session: John and Cynthia Garst, who have extensive experience with cityhood issues, and Jared Thomas, a partner in the Garst Thomas Public Affairs firm of Atlanta.

Thomas is another veteran Georgia GOP operative and was chief of staff and press secretary to current Gov. Brian Kemp when he was Georgia Secretary of State. Thomas also ran former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed’s unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2006.

Although any city of East Cobb government would have non-partisan elections, the cityhood issue has sparked some partisan fire. In February, Kent, a conservative pundit, wrote on his Facebook page that “it will be a sad day when tax-and-spend Democrats take over the Cobb County Commission. East Cobbers need to protect themselves and their neighborhoods.”

Those comments, reported in various media outlets, came as cityhood leaders were planning for their first town hall meeting, and right before Dollar filed the East Cobb bill.

Cityhood leaders distanced themselves from Kent’s remarks, and since then, the cityhood effort has been publicly led by David Birdwell and Rob Eble, who came on board earlier this year.

According to files with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Birdwell is listed as the CEO and Eble is the secretary of the East Cobb cityhood committee. The chief financial officer is Chip Patterson, who had been identified as a member of the committee earlier this year.

Patterson is a partner in an Atlanta real estate development firm who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area and is a former president of the Walton Touchdown Club.

The names of other members are no longer listed on the cityhood committee’s website, which has a different domain address than the original.

The East Cobb cityhood bill must pass both houses of the Georgia legislature in order for a referendum to be called.

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UPDATE: East Cobb cityhood opponents cancel secret meeting

November 6, 2019 12:29 PMNovember 5, 2019 11:58 AM by Wendy Parker

UPDATED, 8:37 P.M.:

Bill Simon of the East Cobb Alliance contacted East Cobb News to report that the meeting on Thursday has been cancelled.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The anti-cityhood group East Cobb Alliance, which has been critical of pro-cityhood efforts conducted in secret, is meeting on Thursday to prepare for cityhood-related events next week.

But the Alliance meeting at a public facility is not open to the public. The meeting is scheduled from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).

The purpose of the meeting is to help formulate questions and responses before two cityhood-related events next week.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb is holding a town hall on Monday at Wheeler High School, and next Tuesday, the cityhood group and the East Cobb Alliance will appear at a forum organized by the East Cobb Business Association.

The e-mail urged recipients not to post the meeting notice on Nextdoor or to forward the message, because “we do not want the press or the media or the pro-cityhood people to see what we’re up to. Nothing nefarious, mind you, but we’re trying to serve our members of ECA to help with planning and execution of our team strategy with as little interference as possible.”

When East Cobb News asked Bill Simon, a leader of the East Cobb Alliance, why the meeting isn’t open to the public, he said that it’s “because it’s a private meeting, paid for by private funds.”

(The cost to reserve the meeting room at the East Cobb Government Service Center is $25, the standard fee for any group wishing to meet there. The room has a capacity of 85 people.)

The East Cobb Alliance, which was formed this summer, has been critical of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb for what it calls a lack of transparency. The proposed City of East Cobb, according to the Alliance, “is a concept secretly planned by a small group of people for nearly a year before there was public notice of it. Since this group is being rather secretive about several things regarding the PCEC (including their professional backgrounds & why they might be involved), ECA has a page dedicated to exposing (via public records) who is who, and what does who do.”

(East Cobb News last year published stories along similar lines, including the resignation of a citizen from a cityhood ad hoc committee because he was told “it’s none of anyone’s business” who’s all behind the cityhood effort.

While some private, closed groups on Facebook do appear in search results, Residents Against East Cobb City Task Force is completely hidden.

In the e-mail, the message stated that “if you are on Facebook, there is a Closed FB Group that, upon you answering the two entry questions, you will be allowed to join: Residents Against East Cobb City Task Force Group. If the questions are ignored, you cannot gain entry.”

The East Cobb Alliance does have a public Facebook page that updates with links and financial analysis of proposed city services but does not include information about the group’s innerworkings.

In a followup response to an East Cobb News request to attend the meeting, Simon said he would “politely decline your request. . . . There is a stated maximum room limit of the number of people who can attend, thus the reason why it is specifically NOT a public meeting accessible to the public, regardless of the subject matter we are discussing. . .

“Also, if you feel you have some First Amendment right on your side to crash this event, and you appear there on Thursday, just be aware of the potential consequences to your reputation if you are proven wrong.”

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East Cobb cityhood foes blast financial review as ‘baloney’

October 23, 2019 8:34 AM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb cityhood financial review — *A City of East Cobb fire department “will not have the resources to operate” at a top certified level of protection, according to a group opposing cityhood. (ECN file)*

A group opposed to East Cobb cityhood is criticizing an independent financial review that concluded that a proposed city would be fiscally viable.

The five-member Independent Financial Group, consisting of East Cobb residents who are finance and legal experts, volunteered to examine a Georgia State University feasibility study and issued its report in September.

The East Cobb Alliance, which formed over the summer to oppose cityhood, said in a posting on its Facebook page over the weekend that “in the beginning, there were 5 people on the IFG, but the 5th guy resigned when he couldn’t stomach the baloney the other 4 were proposing…and, ‘baloney’ is putting it nicely.”

(Shailesh Bettadapur, a member of the IFG group, resigned two days before the report was released, according to Bill Green, another member of the review group.)

The ECA post further stated that “several members of ECA who have choked their way through reading this document consider it nothing but a bunch of mumbo-jumbo malarkey.”

The East Cobb Alliance took issue with the report above all over fire services. The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb had state legislation introduced in March that would create a city of East Cobb with police, fire and community development services.

The ECA noted in its posting that in the IFG report, members of the review group and the cityhood group “are concerned the [GSU feasibility] Study may not have included all necessary fire protection expenditures.”

The ECA post continued:

“This is a group of 4 people, NONE of whom have ANY experience in the fire protection services world. No one on the GSU research team had ANY experience in fire protection services. No one on the Pro-Cityhood Committee has ANY clue as to what it takes to operate an effective fire department.

“Our County Fire Department, and our personal lives and property, should NOT be subjected to the whims of fools who have NO IDEA of what it takes to assemble, hire, train, OR operate a world-class Fire Department like we have right now.

“Tell your friends and neighbors about this IDIOCY being pushed upon us.”

The GSU feasibility study estimated an annual fire budget of $5.9 million. According to the IFG report (read it here), a city finance director in a nearby municipality said a City of East Cobb may have relatively lower costs for fire because it “has a low proportion of multi-unit residential housing and fewer tall buildings.”

The IFG, in its report, added $4 million for fire expenses estimates “as a placeholder” pending further budgeting information becoming available.

The East Cobb cityhood bill includes a proposed municipality of around 96,000 people, and five fire stations currently part of the Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services Department.

The ECA in recent days has examined other aspects of the cityhood proposal, including the possible purchase and use of the East Cobb Government Services Center on Lower Roswell Road, and the proposed cost of buying those five fire stations for the new city from the county.

The ECA also claims that a new City of East Cobb fire department “will not have the resources” to provide the top certified level of protection, also known as ISO-1. Cobb is one of around 240 fire departments nationwide to have that status, which is given by the Insurance Services Office, a non-profit that provides insurance information, including for fire and building codes.

“Should we kill a great Fire Department to build a new police department? Seems like kind of a weird trade-off,” the ECA asks.

Another topic covers police and jail services that have been proposed by the cityhood group. The GSU feasibility study suggested a 140-officer East Cobb police force, nearly double the number of officers on patrol in Cobb Police Precinct 4, which covers an area well beyond the proposed city lines. Currently Precinct 4 has a staffing of around 50 response officers, a shortage of less than 20 for what it’s been allocated.

“That just seems very bizarre to us when the land area will be half of their current coverage,” concluded the ECA. “Why should we vote to form a new city to correct a deficiency of 16 people . . . when the coverage territory of a new city will be 50% of the original precinct territory? For all we know, 71 people may be the ideal force for a PCEC.”

The East Cobb Alliance and the East Cobb cityhood group have been invited to a Nov. 12 forum hosted by the East Cobb Business Association.

The day before, on Nov. 11, the cityhood group will hold a town hall meeting at Wheeler High School.

The cityhood group’s public events, which follow town halls in the spring, also tentatively will include more meetings after the first of the year, when the Georgia legislature would take up the East Cobb cityhood bill.

That bill would have to pass the entire General Assembly for a cityhood referendum to take place in 2020.

Business group to hold East Cobb cityhood forum in November

October 15, 2019 5:08 PMOctober 15, 2019 4:20 PM by Wendy Parker

The East Cobb Business Association announced Tuesday it’s holding a forum in mid-November on the East Cobb cityhood issue.

The forum will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 12, during the ECBA’s monthly luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway).

According to Rosann Hall, who heads the ECBA’s speakers and program committee, the forum will include representatives of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, which supports incorporation, and the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood.

“Whether we become a city or whether we don’t, this is going to impact us a lot as business owners and as citizens,” ECBA president Jim Harris said at Tuesday’s luncheon.

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The pro-cityhood group held two town hall meetings and spoke at another civic meeting in the spring, after State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb) sponsored legislation (read HB 718 here) that, if passed next year, would call for a cityhood referendum, also in 2020.

The cityhood group wants to carve out a portion of unincorporated Cobb, mostly below Sandy Plains Road, and create a city of around 100,000, citing public safety and development reasons.

The proposal has been controversial from the beginning and has generated plenty of skepticism in the community. East Cobb cityhood forum

The East Cobb Alliance was formed recently to launch organized opposition, questioning a financial feasibility study conducted for the pro-cityhood forces and what it calls a lack of transparency by those pushing for a city.

In September, an independent group of finance and legal experts reviewed the feasibility study and concluded it was fiscally sound, but recommended any City of East Cobb not start with police services.

(The review group’s summary and full report).

David Birdwell, a leader of the cityhood committee, said the review confirmed that cityhood is financially viable, and that a new city can provide better services without raising property taxes.

The East Cobb Alliance hasn’t formally responded to the independent review report, but it has examined various portions of the feasibility study, including public safety, franchise fees and inter-governmental agreements.

Most recently, the group posted a graphic on its Facebook page of a hungry-looking raptor with the message that “while the Raptor is fictional….the ‘City of East Cobb’ is a government horror that will slowly eat you alive for years.”

The cityhood group has redirected its original website to one with the domain of communityofeastcobb.com that includes much of the same information it has been discussing in recent months:

East Cobb’s Precinct 4 police staffing of 53 patrol officers that is 24 fewer than has been allocated;
Claiming property tax rates wouldn’t be higher than they are now in unincorporated Cobb;
Promising more prompt road repairs;
And “passing zonings without interference of votes from outside the city.”

Rob Eble, another leader of the cityhood group, said it’s looking to have a town hall tentatively on Nov. 11, but a venue has not been confirmed.

East Cobb cityhood forum

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East Cobb cityhood leader: Finance review ‘confirms’ viability

September 25, 2019 9:18 PMSeptember 21, 2019 12:01 PM by Wendy Parker

One of the leaders of a committee exploring cityhood in East Cobb said an independent review of a financial feasibility study released this week “confirms” that the resources exist to deliver what the group has long maintained a proposed city can do:

Lower taxes and expand services.

David Birdwell, East Cobb Cityhood leader — *David Birdwell*

David Birdwell of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb told East Cobb News that “there’s a lot more” he needs to absorb about the independent review, but “it confirms to me that a city is financially viable.”

What’s being called the Independent Finance Group issued its findings on Wednesday (summary, full report).

The IFG, made up of five members with finance and legal expertise, said while a Georgia State University study commissioned by the cityhood group (read it here) had some flaws, a tax base exists in East Cobb for most of what the cityhood forces have in mind.

“The advocates for cityhood have always encouraged the residents of East Cobb to dig into the facts and draw their own conclusions,” Birdwell said. “That’s what the Independent Finance Group did.”

“Cityhood would certainly give East Cobb more local control over issues such as zoning, but this study is one more strong argument that cityhood will also bring lower taxes and more police protection.”

The IFG did recommend, however, that a City of East Cobb not start with a police department—every city must provide at least three services—until it would work out a revenue-shifting agreement with Cobb County.

Instead, the financial review group suggested the city provide waste disposal services, a low-cost, revenue-neutral option. The other services proposed by the cityhood group are fire and community development, which includes planning and zoning.

Ultimately, the services a City of East Cobb would provide would be determined by an elected mayor and city council.

Legislation filed by State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb that calls for a referendum and includes a proposed city charter (read it here) must pass next year, or it would go have to go through another two-year legislative period.

Cityhood leaders are eyeing a possible May 2020 referendum, and if that passes, elections in November of next year. A two-year transition period for a new city would also take place.

About not starting with police, Birdwell says while he doesn’t agree or disagree about the IFG’s conclusion, “I get that.” But “as I talk to a lot of people in East Cobb, public safety is very important.”

Birdwell said the IFG’s position is “an intriguing angle,” and appreciates the group’s highly detailed approach to its work.

“We’re inviting anyone in East Cobb to study [the finance review group’s report] and look at the facts,” Birdwell said. “There has been so much emotion over this.”

East Cobb News Cityhood page

Stories, maps, legislation, feasibility study and more

Birdwell said the cityhood group is tentatively looking at an early October date for a town hall meeting, and another in mid-November.

A newly formed group opposing cityhood is the East Cobb Alliance. Bill Simon, one of the group’s organizers, told East Cobb News he’s just beginning to read through the IFG’s report, and has a few questions.

The report refers to the provision of solid waste services instead of police. “Do they mean for the Proposed City of East Cobb to contract with one provider of household garbage and waste services for all property owners? What if the citizens are happy with the competitive availability of multiple garbage companies now?”

As for a new fire department for a city, Simon asked what can the IFG “guarantee in terms of the ISO classification for a new PCEC Fire Department?”

The report refers new franchise-fee revenue of $6.1 million a year, but the GSU study’s figure is $7.3 million. “Please explain this discrepancy,” Simon said.

(Bill Green of the financial review group told East Cobb News previously that the $6.1 million figure represents new franchise fees only, and that the group does not recommend adding new franchise fees. Currently cable franchise fees totaling $1.2 million a year are collected in East Cobb.)

Simon said that “isn’t it true that nearly every other large city in Georgia is assessing and collecting franchise fees from their tax base? And, if cityhood is granted, then wouldn’t that mean East Cobb residents would be implicitly granting power to a city council and mayor that they become the sole deciders of whether to assess franchise fees any time they wanted in the future?”

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East Cobb city finances scrutinized by independent working group

September 16, 2019 5:18 PMJune 21, 2019 1:13 PM by Wendy Parker

An independent panel has been poring over a financial feasibility study for the proposed City of East Cobb this summer as it also fashions a working budget from those numbers.

Rob Eble, a spokesman for the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, told East Cobb News the group’s results are expected to be made public later this summer, with another town hall meeting tentatively scheduled for August.

“They are taking this very seriously,” Eble said. “All of their findings will be made public—good or bad.”

He said the group—which is not part of the cityhood committee—is being led by Bill Green, a former financial executive with Coca-Cola and Delta.

The other financial experts, whom Eble did not identify, included those with experience with a company on the Fortune 1000 list, as well as a CPA, an auditor and someone with a background in public budgeting.

Also involved in the process, Eble said, is a public finance attorney.

Eble said the group has been given two mandates: Conduct a complete audit of the feasibility study, and propose a realistic budget.

The study was commissioned by the cityhood committee last fall for $35,000, and was done by The Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State University.

(Download and read the study here.)

The main conclusion of the study is that a City of East Cobb, with a proposed population of 96,000, is financially feasible with a millage rate of 2.96, what’s currently levied for fire services in unincorporated Cobb.

The study asserts that the City of East Cobb would not have to impose a millage rate higher than what those currently in unincorporated pay in property taxes.

That’s providing police, fire and community development services, the mandated minimum of three services required by Georgia law for new cities.

The study figured an annual budget of $45.6 million, and estimated revenues of $49.8 million.

One of the revenue lines is nearly $7.3 million in franchise fees. Those are additional monies collected by municipalities for things like electric, natural gas, telephone and cable television services.

East Cobb city finances

Questioning budget assumptions

That figure is being questioned by a vocal opponent of cityhood. Bill Simon said he checked with officials from Cobb EMC, who told him the electrical provider doesn’t collect franchise fees in unincorporated Cobb.

If East Cobb should become a city, it would have the power to charge all residential and commercial customers a four-percent surcharge on their monthly Cobb EMC bills.

If the city elects not to impose this charge, Simon said, there would be a deficit of $3.1 million.

That also amounts to what Simon considers another tax, which is among the reasons he is against a new city. He provided East Cobb News a copy of a June 3 letter sent to him by Kevin Moore, the general counsel for Cobb EMC.

Eble said “I appreciate people questioning” the franchise fee matter, because “it’s very complex” and that’s one of the reasons why the cityhood committee is having the feasibility study examined.

He maintained the cityhood committee’s pledge to “not raise taxes and not raise fees. That is the goal, and it’s all being reviewed.”

The existing six cities in Cobb all have higher overall millage rates than unincorporated Cobb, which has spurred some of the skepticism about cityhood proponents’ claims.

Eble said that the study is required by state law in order for a cityhood bill to be introduced, and was meant only to be an outline.

“We want to bring it to life,” he said, “validate what’s in it and build a budget.”

Mapping a new city

The audit of the feasibility study, and any budget formulated by the finance group, may have to be amended if the proposed city boundaries (view map here) are altered. At an April town hall meeting at Walton High School, cityhood leaders said they’ve been lobbied by citizens, especially in the Pope and Lassiter areas, for possible inclusion.

The area around Shallowford and Trickum roads in northeast Cobb was mentioned by a cityhood leader as a possible new northern boundary.

As drawn up for the study and in the legislation, the proposed city encompasses all of unincorporated Cobb Commission District 2 east of I-75 and excluding the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Eble told East Cobb News Thursday that the cityhood group met recently with officials in the state reapportionment office, at which “we have discussed an expanded map. I would say it has not been formally opposed.”

He added that “there has definitely been talk and we would like to see the borders expanded,” and that he was hopeful “we would get it done” well before the legislative session begins in January.

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Taking on the tough sell of East Cobb Cityhood

January 1, 2022 1:01 PMMarch 31, 2019 11:52 AM by Wendy Parker

David Birdwell, East Cobb Cityhood

During Thursday night’s town hall meeting about East Cobb Cityhood, David Birdwell was patient, polite and completely earnest as he took the slings and arrows of a citizenry dubious about what he’s trying to sell.

As a new spokesman of a cityhood movement that stumbled out of the gate earlier this winter—one which refused to identify individuals, thus raising questions about its motives—Birdwell is stepping into the void at a critical time.

Joining the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc., in January, after the release of a feasibility study and after those forming the group had already hired a lobbyist in the Georgia legislature, Birdwell had to face an overflow audience at the Catholic Church of St. Ann by himself.

Rob Eble, a technology consultant who’s been designated the other half of the new public face of the cityhood effort, couldn’t attend after suffering a knee injury.

While that may serve as something of a metaphor for how some see the idea of part of East Cobb becoming a city, Birdwell is adamant that it’s an idea that “makes enough sense to explore.”

A semi-retired real estate entrepreneur, Birdwell has lived in East Cobb for the last 22 years—like many in the cityhood group, the Atlanta Country Club area to be specific—and said after reading the feasibility study he was intrigued enough to learn more.

After being contacted by those in the cityhood group—which still hadn’t gone public even as legislation and a city charter were being drawn up—Birdwell agreed to put himself front and center, something he found improbable.

“I can’t believe I did it,” Birdwell said after the meeting, as the church lights were being turned off and the doors to the parish hall were being locked.

“We don’t have a lot of answers now, but I feel convinced of the reasons why I’m doing this,” he said.

To the more than 500 East Cobb citizens who heard him out this week (or in some instances, heckled him), Birdwell also was firm about something else: “I am not a political person,” he said, prompting howls of disbelief.

They returned a short time later when he insisted that “nobody is doing this for any personal gain.”

The laughs—hearty guffaws—were deafening. Yet Birdwell carried on with his message that cityhood is about more local control, better services and a chance for East Cobbers to shape the future of their community.

Related coverage

I believe Birdwell’s sincerity about what he’s saying, and since East Cobb News began publishing about this issue in December, we’ve heard from many others who feel the same way.

It’s a familiar refrain coming from those who’ve been behind cityhood, yet who still remain in the background. But his job now is to convince tens of thousands of East Cobb residents who remain highly skeptical, if downright cynical, about what they’re being told.

What was reassuring is that there will be another town hall to continue the conversation, on April 29, at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church.

Quite frankly, he’s got a very tough sell to make.

That’s because many of those who question cityhood think the services they get from Cobb County for the taxes they pay are just fine. Some are absolutely convinced their taxes will go up, which Birdwell and the cityhood group say will not happen. Others see a number of people involved in the real estate industry who are behind this effort and get suspicious.

Birdwell may not be political, but from the get-go the cityhood effort smacked of rank politics. The map that was drawn up, and is now part of the legislation and charter submitted on Friday, to the letter matches the boundaries of the East Cobb portion of Commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2.

It doesn’t include a big chunk of what many consider East Cobb. Only the Walton, Wheeler and part of the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones are included in this map. I’ve heard from those living near Sprayberry, Kell and the rest of Pope and Lassiter: Um well, what about us?

Others have suggested, only slightly tongue-in-cheek: Are they gonna call this the City of Walton?

East Cobb cityhood legislation

Ott, who told me before the town hall this is by far the biggest such meeting he’s ever held, has been coy about his interest in cityhood. But several of his appointees served on an ad hoc citizens committee that made recommendations about the feasibility study.

Riley Lowery, Ott’s longtime political consultant, is now advising the cityhood group, which was formed in the fall, not long after Cobb commissioners narrowly voted for a tax increase. Ott voted against it, and has said often that some of his constituents are upset that the district provides 40 percent of the county’s tax revenue but doesn’t get the services in return.

Dee Gay, a member of the East Cobb cityhood steering committee, lived in Sandy Springs when it became the first of the new cities in metro Atlanta to spring from a cityhood movement.

“I like it,” she said of Birdwell’s presentation, noting that Sandy Springs cityhood was 20 years in the making. The East Cobb group wants a referendum in the 2020 primaries and actual mayor and city council elections in the 2020 general election.

The problem Birdwell faces is more than perception.

There’s a sense that unlike some other cityhood efforts in metro Atlanta, there isn’t a grassroots uprising to form a City of East Cobb. That those who were skeptical weren’t given many details for months only enhanced their concerns.

Hence, the reactions at Thursday’s town hall.

“There’s such a dearth of information right now, and people are making an emotional decision,” said Linda Carver, president of the East Cobb Civic Association.

Her organization, which represents around 10,000 households, is officially remaining neutral on cityhood.

If there was a groundswell for cityhood, she said, “I think we would have seen that a long time ago.”

This will be Birdwell’s toughest selling point, even though the cityhood group is now eager for volunteer input as town halls and other public meetings will be taking place.

“It’s important for this community to consider,” Birdwell said.

While that is true, he’s got to persuade those who live outside the Atlanta Country Club, or aren’t well-placed in the Walton High School community, or don’t belong to Ott’s kitchen cabinet.

Birdwell was dealt a poor hand, and now he’s got to play it.

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East Cobb cityhood bill filed; calls for referendum, initial elections in 2020

March 30, 2019 6:35 PMMarch 30, 2019 3:09 PM by Wendy Parker

State Rep. Matt Dollar, East Cobb cityhood bill

Here’s the first look at the East Cobb cityhood bill, HB 718, filed on Friday by State Rep. Matt Dollar.

To read through the 46-page bill, along with the proposed city charter, click here; the legislation, put in the hopper on the next-to-last day of the Georgia General Assembly, has no co-sponsors for now.

The cityhood bill still must be sponsored by a state senator whose district includes part of the proposed city. The only senator who qualifies is Kay Kirkpatrick, who has said she has no position on the issue for now.

If the legislature passes the bill next year, the East Cobb cityhood group wants the referendum scheduled for the 2020 primary election, with a date to be determined and likely in the spring.

Should voters approve that referendum at that time, a special election would be held for mayor and all six city council spots during the general election in November 2020.

The charter information ranges from how the city government would be set up, the services provided, the levying and collection of tax and other revenues, government functions during the transition to a municipality and the makeup of elections and council districts and appointed city boards and commissions.

Among the provisions is an valorem property tax rate that would not exceed 2.96 mills “unless the millage rate is increased, pursuant to general law.”

The cityhood group commissioned a feasibility study last fall that includes the provision of police, fire and community development services, including zoning.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb took its case to the public in an occasionally contentious town hall meeting Thursday, with many residents skeptical of the need for another layer of government and amid claims that property taxes would not be higher than what they currently pay as citizens of unincorporated Cobb County.

Dollar’s bill calls for a council-city manager form of government, with six council members elected by district and a mayor elected across the city. The terms would be for four years each, and elections would be staggered in biennial fashion in odd-numbered years.

The mayor would vote to break a tie, and is limited to serving two terms, although he or she could run for the council after that.

The mayor also would appoint a full-time professional city manager, subject to the confirmation of the city council.

The charter also calls for a city attorney who is not a municipal employee but who is an independent contractor. A law firm also could serve that function. The city attorney is chosen by the mayor.

The mayor also would select a city clerk, and the City of East Cobb would have a municipal court with a chief judge and other judges “as provided by ordinance.” The judges would be appointed by the city council.

Should a City of East Cobb be approved by voters, a transition period would begin on Jan. 1, 2021, with elected officials taking office, the city collecting taxes and beginning to perform other services (except for city courts).

The full transition would last two years.

The city also could exercise planning and zoning powers during the transition, although existing county zoning and land use provisions would remain in effect until they expire.

David Birdwell, one of the new co-leaders of the cityhood group, said another town hall meeting would take place on April 29 at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page
Coming Sunday on East Cobb News: Cityhood backers face challenge convincing the public

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East Cobb cityhood leader: Idea ‘makes enough sense to explore’

April 26, 2019 8:31 PMMarch 29, 2019 1:44 PM by Wendy Parker

Before a standing-room-only crowd at the Catholic Church of St. Ann Thursday night, the new face of what had been a stealth East Cobb cityhood group faced plenty of skepticism and more than a few barbed questions as the effort to incorporate part of the community was presented to the public for the first time.

David Birdwell, a real estate entrepreneur who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area, spoke to more than 500 people crammed into a parish hall, admitting that there’s a lot he still has to learn.

But for many in the public who’ve been frustrated by a lack of information coming from the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Commissioner Bob Ott’s town hall meeting was a chance to demand answers that are still to be determined.

Some questioned the motives, others wondered about whether their taxes would go up and some worried about the impact on public schools.

On the tax issue, Birdwell was clear: He pledged there would be no increase in taxes, and noted that of the 10 most recent areas to become cities in metro Atlanta, nine have not raised taxes since they incorporated.

“I am not for a tax increase and I wouldn’t be standing here if I thought there would be one,” Birdwell said.

Some citizens groaned at that statement, and they broke out into wild applause when East Cobb resident Ki Porter wanted to know why there was “such a rush” to file local legislation calling for a referendum.

The cityhood group wants to have a referendum in 2020, and state law requires a two-year process. State Rep. Matt Dollar, an East Cobb Republican, said at the town hall he would be filing the bill on Friday, on the second-to-last day of the Georgia General Assembly.

With citizens lining the wall of the parish hall, and some even sitting on the floor, Birdwell methodically repeated some of the cityhood group’s reasons for wanting to create a municipality.

Mostly, it’s about more local control of government. Ott serves a population of 185,000 as one of four Cobb district commissioners, and he’s repeatedly said some of his constituents have complained to him that they don’t think they’re getting their tax money’s worth in public services.

It’s a similar argument that’s being made by community leaders in Mableton, who have had a local cityhood bill introduced in the legislature.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page
Coming Sunday on East Cobb News: Cityhood backers face challenge convincing the public

The East Cobb map would include only a portion of the community, Ott’s District 2 that’s east of I-75 and in unincorporated Cobb, excluding the Cumberland CID area.

That’s still 97,000 people, and would make up the eighth-largest city in Georgia if it becomes a municipality.

The cityhood group commissioned a financial feasibility study that focused on three areas of services that may be provided: Police, fire and community development (which also includes zoning), and concluded that the proposed City of East Cobb can be created without a tax increase, and even start with a multi-million-dollar budget surplus.

“East Cobb is about built-out,” Birdwell told the crowd. “We want to decide what comes here, not Cobb County.

“We’ve seen great things happen in other cities. It’s about preserving and enhancing what we’ve got in East Cobb.”

East Cobb cityhood legislation

Porter told East Cobb News after the meeting she’s been living in the area since 1980 and remained skeptical of the “no new taxes” pledge. She noted that a recent referendum failed on Skidaway Island because cityhood leaders there would not place a guarantee in the proposed city charter against a tax increase.

That’s what she wanted Birdwell to address, and another citizen told her “you hit the nail on the head.”

“I’m not for anything where there’s smoke and mirrors,” Porter said.

A few signs in the crowd alluded to that concern, with one saying “Our taxes are definitely going up.”

Each of the existing six Cobb municipalities have higher general fund millage rates than unincorporated Cobb.

Birdwell said that earlier on Thursday, he was encouraged after meeting with the assistant city manager in Milton, which has held the line on property taxes.

He also told the East Cobb audience the north Fulton city has improved services, including public safety, which has been the subject of new concerns in Cobb over staffing levels, salary and retention.

Birdwell said there will be several forthcoming town hall meetings with the public to continue the cityhood discussion, starting April 29 at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church.

The cityhood group is revising its website and is asking for volunteers as it continues to gauge public reaction.

“We don’t have a lot of answers right now,” Birdwell said, adding that after 22 years as a resident of East Cobb, he is certain about one thing: “This makes enough sense to explore.”

East Cobb cityhood

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East Cobb cityhood group speaking at town hall meeting this week

March 25, 2019 2:55 PMMarch 24, 2019 10:25 AM by Wendy Parker

City of East Cobb map Several months after forming an organization to explore incorporating a portion of East Cobb, representatives of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb are formally taking their case to the public.

They are scheduled to speak Thursday at a town hall meeting of Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

At the same time, legislation calling for a local referendum on cityhood is expected to be filed in the final days of the Georgia General Assembly session.

Ron Eble and David Birdwell are among those who will be speaking at the town hall meeting. They’re part of the cityhood committee whose membership is being revealed only now.

Eble is a management consultant with Slalom Consulting, a business and technology firm. David Birdwell is a real estate entrepreneur who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area.

Ever since the cityhood group was formed last fall, only Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club, and Owen Brown, the founder of Retail Planning Corp., have been publicly identified with the group.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page

The committee has commissioned a City of East Cobb feasibility study and has hired a public relations representative and a lobbyist in the legislature.

That study concluded that the city, with boundaries proposed by the committee, is financially feasible and that additional tax rates wouldn’t be needed. In fact, the study, conducted by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance, suggested that a City of East Cobb would start out with a surplus of a few million dollars.

The boundaries include only unincorporated east Cobb that is in Ott’s District 2, and cover a population of 97,000. The committee has not explained why it’s not including what is generally regarded as most or all of East Cobb in its proposed city map.

Among the reasons cited for pursuing cityhood are enhancing local control of services, especially public safety, roads and zoning. The group is calling for a city government that would have an elected mayor and council and an appointed city manager, with city hall possibly being located at an expanded East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road.

A citizens group in Mableton, which also is pursuing cityhood and has had legislation filed for a referendum in 2020, is citing similar reasons for its cityhood drive.

State Rep. Matt Dollar, a Republican who represents part of the proposed City of East Cobb, told East Cobb News last week that he will be sponsoring a bill shortly calling for a referendum in 2020; as of Friday, that bill has not been introduced.

Cityhood is a two-year process in Georgia. Local legislation must at least be introduced a year before any referendum can be scheduled.

Cityhood legislation also must be sponsored by at least one state senator whose district includes a proposed new city. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, the only lawmaker in the upper chamber who could do that, told East Cobb News last week that she doesn’t have a position on cityhood for now, “but the bill will get the conversation started.”

By contrast, those in Mableton leading the cityhood effort there have held a series of public meetings over the last couple years before having legislation filed. The group still must have a feasibility study conducted.

Who else is involved?

Joining Birdwell and Eble on the committee, along with Gavalis and Brown, are Dee Gay, Karen Hallacy, Sharon McGehee, Chip Patterson, Carolyn Roddy, Jerry Quan, Kevin Taitz and John Woods, according to the group’s revamped website, which is now subtitled “Good neighbors make for good government.”

Gavalis is an appointee of Ott’s, serving on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission. He’s also served on the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.

The group also is being advised by Riley Lowery, a political consultant who has long advised Ott, and who has been sparring with some citizens in recent days on social media about the cityhood effort and his role in it.

East Cobb News asked Phil Kent, the cityhood group’s P.R. representative, to provide basic biographical information about the rest of the committee. He replied that he doesn’t know “most of the East Cobbers” with the expanded group and “suggest you perform old-fashioned journalism research” by attending the town hall meeting.

When East Cobb News followed up that reply with a request to get the information before the town hall, and to explain how these individuals were selected and what their roles will be, Kent did not respond. Here’s a bit more about them:

Dee Gay: A commercial real estate broker who is active with the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club, and who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area;
Karen Hallacy: Longtime East Cobb civic activist, president of Georgia PTA and Ott’s appointee to the Development Authority of Cobb County;
Sharon McGehee: Associate director of advancement at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy;
Chip Patterson: Atlanta Country Club area resident and a partner in Three P Partners, an Atlanta real estate development firm, as well as a former head of the Walton Touchdown Club;
Jerry Quan: The former commander of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 station in East Cobb, now serving with the Cobb County School District police department. He’s a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year;
Carolyn Roddy: An administrative law attorney in Marietta;
Kevin Taitz: Technology consultant at Slalom Consulting;
John Woods: CEO of Southport Capital, based in the Cobb Galleria, and a chairman of the Walton Touchdown Club. Three sons played football at Walton, most recently Dominick Blaylock, an all-state wide receiver and University of Georgia signee. Woods also is the owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball team.

The town hall meeting starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Nolan Hall at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, 4905 Roswell Road (at Bishop Lake Road).

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East Cobb cityhood legislation expected to be filed before end of 2019 session

March 16, 2019 2:59 PMMarch 15, 2019 6:53 PM by Wendy Parker

A group pushing for East Cobb cityhood is eyeing the end of the current Georgia legislative session to have local legislation filed that would call for a referendum, probably by 2020.

A notice of intent to file local legislation was published Friday in The Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb’s legal organ. East Cobb cityhood legislation

The legislature has only eight days remaining in its 2019 session. For a referendum to take place next year, it would at least have to be introduced this year.

As of the close of business Friday, no such bill had been filed.

The group, known as the Committee for Cityhood for East Cobb Inc., hired a lobbyist before the General Assembly session but has been quiet since then.

Commissioner Bob Ott told East Cobb News that they’ve been invited to speak at his next town hall meeting, on March 28 at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Related coverage

East Cobb Cityhood News

The group has been reluctant to reveal much information about who’s behind the cityhood effort and has cited general “local control” and public safety concerns.

It did pay $36,000 for a financial feasibility study that made a favorable conclusion. The proposed city map would include only a portion of what’s considered East Cobb, all of it within Ott’s District 2. The population would be around 96,000.

(Here’s the cityhood group’s website.)

The MDJ reported Friday that David Birdwell, an East Cobb resident, is also involved in leading the group. Joe Gavalis, an appointee of Ott’s to the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission, is the president of the group, and real estate developer G. Owen Brown of Retail Planning Corp. is listed as having paid for most of the study.

No other individuals have been publicly named, and when the group asked an ad hoc citizens committee to look over a feasibility study, one of those citizens, Joe O’Connor, quit in protest, citing a lack of transparency.

Birdwell, like Gavalis, lives in the Atlanta Country Club area. According to the Cobb Chamber, he’s also in the real estate industry and has gone through the organization’s Leadership Cobb development program.

Local incorporation legislation must be introduced by at least one Senator and one House member who represents at least a portion of the proposed city.

Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and Reps. Sharon Cooper and Matt Dollar are the three lawmakers who could do that. They have been contacted for comment by East Cobb News.

UPDATE: Kirkpatrick told East Cobb News that “I haven’t taken a position on this but the bill will get the conversation started.”

The notice of intent to file the bill indicates the sponsor is Dollar; cityhood bills are initially filed in the House.

A cityhood bill for Mableton was filed last week by State Reps. Erica Thomas, Erick Allen and David Wilkerson of South Cobb. The South Cobb Alliance citizens group has been seeking incorporation but has not yet had a feasibility study done.

Unlike the East Cobb group, the Mableton group has gone to the public with a number of town halls and other events in the community over the last couple of years.

The earliest a Mableton referendum could take place also would be next year. That proposed city would have a population of more than 87,000.

Some of the reasons cited for cityhood there are similar to East Cobb, in particular more localized control of services.

Cobb hasn’t had a new city in more than a century. Mableton was briefly a municipality, from 1912-1916.

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East Cobb cityhood steering committee member resigns, citing lack of transparency

February 2, 2019 1:29 PMDecember 19, 2018 12:47 PM by Wendy Parker

A member of an informal citizens steering committee examining a possible East Cobb cityhood initiative has resigned, saying he and other committee members weren’t being told who funded a $36,000 feasibility study released last week.

Joe O’Connor, a resident of the King’s Cove neighborhood and a longtime community activist, told East Cobb News that he insisted that Joe Gavalis, president of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., offer more clarity about who’s pushing for a portion of East Cobb to become a city.

“I told Joe, ‘you’ve got to be transparent about this,” O’Connor said, recalling his conversation late last week. “His exact words to me were, ‘It’s none of anyone’s business.’ “

In response to questions from East Cobb News, Gavalis on Wednesday did not address O’Connor’s issues with who paid for the feasibility study or his other transparency concerns.

Instead, Gavalis said those who had been invited to serve on an ad hoc citizens group were being made the subject of “some misinformation” by “an attendee who is not for cityhood [and who] chose to share the names of people in the group knowing there were individuals who asked to remain anonymous and who had not made up their minds.”

He said the group is still gathering basic information about possible cityhood. “Many East Cobbers who attended are simply asking questions just like everyone in the aftermath of the Georgia State cityhood feasibility release,” Gavalis said.

East Cobb News contacted some of those individuals. One was upset her name had been given to a reporter and did not want to be interviewed. Some others have not returned messages seeking comment or were unavailable.

O’Connor said he has been friends with Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area, for many years, as they both have served on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission and the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.

O’Connor also said he had problems with some of the data and information included in the study compiled by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance. (Read it here, and view a proposed city map here.

City of East Cobb

In a response to written questions from East Cobb News over the weekend, Gavalis declined to say who funded the study or to name the individuals serving on the citizens committee.

He said the cityhood group, the Commitee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., has received donations from around the community to fund the study but he provided no specifics.

Among those on the citizens committee is former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell. She told East Cobb News that she thinks the cityhood idea is worthy of consideration, but “the process should have started sooner, of going out into the community.”

Powell—who said she hasn’t formed an opinion about whether East Cobb should be a city—referenced recommendations from the Georgia Municipal Association that strongly encourage cityhood advocates to get community input early on.

O’Connor said his first meeting about the cityhood idea was held in the office of G. Owen Brown, founder of the Retail Planning Corp., a commercial real estate firm located at Paper Mill Village. Brown is listed on the cityhood committee’s state filing documents as its incorporator. Gavalis is the only other individual who has been named.

O’Connor said after he first began reading through the study last week, he “immediately saw problems.”

Some of the statistical data was outdated and inaccurate, he said, and he was troubled by the low number of businesses in the proposed East Cobb city (around 3,300), far fewer than those in Alpharetta, Johns Creek and similar cities that were compared (bottom line in the chart below).

The residential-to-commercial split in the proposed city of East Cobb would be 85 to 15 percent.

“That’s a concern,” O’Connor said. “The other cities have a good combination.” In East Cobb, he said, “we’re so much more residential.”

Powell also noted that those business number stats are from 2012. “We’re working on really old figures when the economy wasn’t doing very well,” she said.

In his response to that issue over the weekend by East Cobb News, Gavalis said that the city of Milton, also in North Fulton, has a similar breakdown of its tax base, and there hasn’t been millage rate increase there since 2006.

Gavalis said he was asked to lead a possible cityhood effort after some citizens complained they didn’t think they were getting their money’s worth in county property taxes. He has not said who any of those people are.

Among the service priorities Gavalis indicated for a possible city of East Cobb were police and fire and community development, including planning and zoning.

A cityhood effort is a two-year process, requiring state legislation calling for a referendum that must be approved by voters living within the proposed city area. Cityhood advocates must also provide a feasibility study.

Gavalis told East Cobb News the community will be informed but did not indicate when that might be. Here’s more of what he told us Wednesday:

“We are in the beginning stages of our planning process and are seeking answers to some legitimate and sincere questions at this time. The Committee is not trying to be evasive but instead we have honored requests from participants who did not want their names disclosed since this group is still informal. We want to be transparent but we are compiling answers to questions about the study and formalizing our strategy on the expertise levels that will be needed to provide insight and professional advice.

“When we complete our strategic plan we will finalize who will be formally asked to join us and then we will announce who has accepted.”

With the possibility of legislation coming in the new year, Powell thinks the larger community should have been told more by now.

“Public input is of utmost importance,” she said. “Ultimately it doesn’t matter what I think. They will have the final say.”

O’Connor has been supportive about a city of East Cobb, writing a letter to the editor of The Marietta Daily Journal and commenting on East Cobb News to that effect.

But, he said, that support is based on solid “facts and numbers” and a willingness to make a good-faith effort to inform the public. He doesn’t think that is happening.

“I’ve always said that if you’re hiding something, then you’ve got something to hide,” O’Connor said.

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City of East Cobb group releases ‘favorable’ feasibility study

February 2, 2019 1:30 PMDecember 11, 2018 12:04 PM by Wendy Parker

We’ve just gotten a City of East Cobb feasibility study commissioned by a local group that is claiming a number of “positives” for incorporation, including no additional tax levies above the current Cobb millage rate.

The study, which was conducted by the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State University, was paid for by a group called Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc.

Our previous story here. For a more detailed view of the proposed map above, click here.

The study concludes that not only would a City of East Cobb be financially viable, it would start out with a surplus of nearly $3 million.

Here’s a link to the full report, which was made public on Tuesday.

The research analysis concluded that the City of East Cobb could expect annual revenues of around $48 million and expenses of around $46 million.

The cityhood group is led by Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area, who said the study is just the first step toward having a public dialogue about the possibility of East Cobb becoming a city.

He said “the study’s findings are extremely favorable to East Cobb cityhood.”

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb is claiming the benefits of cityhood would include more local control, enhanced police and fire services, better road maintenance and expansion of the East Cobb Government Service Center.

A two-year process would be required to formally pursue cityhood, including passage of state legislation calling for a referendum that would give citizens the final say about forming a new city.

According to the study’s executive summary, State Rep. Sharon Cooper, an East Cobb Republican, contacted GSU. Cityhood efforts also require a state representative and a state senator from the possible new city to sponsor referendum legislation.

“This study is not a budget, it is a feasibility study. It develops revenue and expense estimates based on property tax files, a boundary map and estimated business license revenue,” Gavalis said in a statement.

Georgia law also requires that new cities provide at least three public services. GSU was asked to examine the provision of public safety, fire management, parks and recreation and community development in East Cobb. The researchers noted that the latter category is a broad one, and for this study included zoning and code enforcement.

The GSU study estimates that nearly half of the proposed revenues, $23 million, would come from property taxes. The biggest expense would be public safety, around $19 million, with around $12 million of that for police.

The GSU researchers projected a 142-officer police force, as well as the acquisition of five current Cobb fire stations within the proposed East Cobb municipal boundaries (stations 3, 15, 19, 20 and 21, see fire department maps).

The study compared populations, demographics, home values and other data for the East Cobb cityhood proposal with Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Roswell and Smyrna (see chart below).

The proposed map, which comprises around 40 square miles, doesn’t include all of what’s generally regarded as East Cobb. It includes only unincorporated Cobb east of I-75 that is in Cobb Commission District 2 (in map at top) and outside of the Cumberland Community Improvement District. Click here for a detailed view of that map.

It includes none of the East Cobb area that is in District 3, which generally lies between Sandy Plains Road and Canton Road.

The population in the proposed city map area amounts to 96,858, which would make the city of East Cobb the second-largest in metro Atlanta. Roswell’s estimated population is around 94,000 and Johns Creek, which incorporated in 2006, is around 84,000.

A city of East Cobb would have an elected mayor and six-member city council and an appointed city manager. Neighborhoods in unincorporated areas could petition to join the city if it is chartered.

Startup plans would estimate the hiring of 35 non-public safety city employees. No public works department is being proposed for East Cobb, but such a city would be eligible for Cobb SPLOST and state funding for road maintenance and improvements.

Previous suggestions for East Cobb cityhood haven’t gotten past the talking stage. Most recently former Cobb Commission Chairman Bill Byrne proposed it during his 2012 campaign to regain his seat, but the idea never took off.

That was right before voters in Brookhaven and Tucker began to organize their own successful cityhood efforts. There hasn’t been a new city in Cobb County, which has six municipalities, since the late 1800s.

The Committee for the City of East Cobb, which has not revealed its parties beyond Gavalis and one other person, paid $36,000 for the GSU study.

Gavalis has been a member of the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission, a citizen advisory board, and was reappointed Tuesday by District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott.

According to documents filed with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office corporations division, the committee registered as a non-profit organization in September and stated that it does not intend to have members.

The only other name listed on the filing forms is the group’s incorporator, G. Owen Brown, who is the president and founder of the Retail Planning Corporation based on Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb.

Read the full report here

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