East Cobb cityhood Archives

Cobb officials question East Cobb police and fire proposals

February 17, 2022 2:24 PMFebruary 16, 2022 4:46 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb fire map — Cobb Fire officials said areas in red would be in the new City of East Cobb (otherwise in blue) but are serviced by county stations. The area in yellow would remain in Cobb but is serviced by what would be a city station.

The leaders of Cobb County government’s public safety agencies said Tuesday that police and fire services for the proposed City of East Cobb are lacking many financial and service details.

During a special called work session of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, the heads of the county’s police, fire and 911 services showed slides highlighting what they’re providing, but said a financial feasibility study for East Cobb raises more questions than answers about what a new city may be able to deliver.

“We’re not here to advocate, but to educate,” Cobb public safety director Randy Crider said during the virtual work session, which included no discussion among commissioners. “But I’ve been asked a lot of questions I don’t have answers for.”

Legislation calling for a May 24 referendum to determine East Cobb Cityhood is awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature into law. Three other cityhood bills—for Lost Mountain, Mableton and Vinings—also are expected to receive passage, with referendums also in May.

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid told legislators in January that cityhood votes in all four proposed areas were being rushed, and that the county hadn’t had time to examine the financial and service impacts.

Those presentations were made Tuesday at the work session by Cobb public safety, parks and community development officials.

(You can watch a replay of the video by clicking here; and view the presentation slides by clicking here.)

The county has created a cityhood page that claims an estimated $45 million will be lost annually of all four new Cobb cities are created.

Nearly half of that—around $23 million—would come out of East Cobb, and most of the work session was devoted to East Cobb services, specifically police and fire. The other three cities are proposing “city light” services centered on controlling growth and development.

That was also the centerpiece of the original East Cobb legislation filed in March 2021 by former State Rep. Matt Dollar. Public safety was added last fall, as researchers from Georgia State University were conducting a financial feasibility study.

That study, released in November, concluded a City of East Cobb of around 60,000 people was financially feasible, even with public safety services estimated at costing $14 million a year.

The East Cobb bill also calls for planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation services.

More than half of the proposed city’s estimated $27 million in annual revenues would come from the 2.86 mills transferred from the Cobb Fire Fund.

At Tuesday’s work session, Crider repeated concerns he expressed to legislators that the East Cobb study is “just general” about public safety issues, including staffing, equipment, response time and training.

“We need to know what’s expected of us,” he said, referring to what may be included in intergovernmental and mutual aid agreements, similar to what the county provides in backup roles with Cobb’s six existing cities.

Crider said there aren’t enough details in the East Cobb study about exactly what specialty units a new city’s police department may have, such as SWAT units.

The East Cobb study also calls for a city fire department to consist of two stations—21 on Lower Roswell Road, at the East Cobb Government Service Center, and 15 on Oak Lane.

In showing commissioners a map of the proposed city, Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said he has concerns about response time.

That’s because some parts of the proposed city (in red on the map) are served by stations that would remain in unincorporated Cobb. An area that would be located just outside of the city (in yellow) is now serviced by Station 15, which would be in the new city.

He also said he didn’t know how the East Cobb fire department would be staffed. The City of Roswell, for example, has many firefighters who work part-time shifts when off-duty from full-time jobs in other fire departments.

Stuart VanHoozer, the interim Cobb Fire Chief, and Cobb 911 Director Melissa Altiero also said they were unclear how their departments may be asked to provide support to a proposed City of East Cobb.

But Cindy Cooperman, a spokeswoman for the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, called the county’s response “disappointing,” saying the county “has not properly briefed their staff on the well-established process in Georgia to form a city.”

Should a City of East Cobb referendum be approved, elections for a mayor and six city council members would take place in November, with a two-year transition period starting in January 2023.

She said the newly elected officials would work with a transition committee appointed by the governor to formalize processes and details for transferring services to be provided by the new city.

“This is not something new,” she said, referring to similar processes that have taken place in recent years in Milton, Johns Creek and Peachtree Corners. “These cities are thriving and have happy residents as a result.”

Cooperman also said that the “internal analysis of county staff is not credible when it suggests that the cost offset to $45M in revenue will only be approximately $450K.

“The county’s rushed attempt at an analysis was not thorough enough because many vital details on actual costs still need to be disclosed by the county.

“They had a year to analyze this properly and failed to do so,” Cooperman said.

The only direct meeting between East Cobb Cityhood forces and the county was in April of 2021 between Dollar and Cupid.

Cooperman said the cityhood group reached out to Cupid for a meeting in November with the addition of police and fire services, but has not yet heard back.

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt referred East Cobb News to a statement Cupid made in a video early this week “that she is open to meet with anyone.”

He provided a statement from Cupid referencing the Dollar meeting and saying that “I met other proponents about the effort approximately 2-3 weeks ago during a legislative meeting. They said they wanted to meet again and we will work on making that happen.”

Cooperman said the cityhood group is planning an in-person town hall after the Cobb County School District winter break next week, but a specific date has not been set.

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Anti-East Cobb Cityhood group calls renewed effort ‘Jaws 2’

April 2, 2021 10:25 AM by Wendy Parker

A week after a new push for East Cobb Cityhood was launched, a group that organized against the first effort in 2019 is again expressing opposition.

In an e-mail sent out Thursday night, the East Cobb Alliance said the new cityhood effort, which includes state legislation filed on Monday, is a “process [that] appears to be putting the cart before the horse.”

That was a reference to the cityhood group not having a financial feasibility study prepared before the bill was filed, as was the case in 2019.

The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, which includes some individuals from two years ago, said it will be commissioning a study, which is required by law.

“How can one decide a city is financially feasible enough to justify a legislative action to file a bill to form a proposed city…when no feasibility study has been completed to see if the numbers will work?,” said the East Cobb Alliance message.

“What if the feasibility study comes back and it’s not financially feasible? Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”

In 2019, advocates for cityhood in Mableton had legislation filed before a feasibility study was conducted; like the East Cobb bill it was eventually abandoned and has not been resurrected.

The East Cobb Alliance formed during 2019, after cityhood leaders began holding town hall meetings, and participated in an issues forum on the matter in November of that year, before cityhood leaders abandoned their effort.

There are also proposed new cities of Lost Mountain and Vinings with bills filed this year in the legislature that also will have feasibility studies done.

The East Cobb Alliance has nearly 1,000 followers for its Facebook page, where it has been announcing updates, as well as a petition to oppose the new cityhood effort.

East Cobb Alliance members have been against cityhood for several reasons, claiming it will add an extra layer of government that will cost citizens more in taxes.

In the Thursday e-mail, the East Cobb Alliance labeled the new cityhood effort as “Jaws 2,” making a reference to the popular movie series: “Those land sharks who put forth the Proposed City of East Cobb two years ago are back at it again, infesting the waters of East Cobb with their ‘this layer of government we’re adding is so paper-thin, you will hardly notice it,’ yet again!”

The new cityhood bill calls for “city light” services—planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation, instead of police and fire, the main services proposed two years ago.

The East Cobb Alliance message claims that “once a city forms, though, a city council and a mayor can do whatever they want including adding police, fire, a development authority (yeah, like we need another one of those in Cobb County), and whatever else a small group of elected politicians decide they want to do in secret on behalf of their friends and family.”

The East Cobb Alliance is inviting citizens to fill out an online survey to express their thoughts about the new cityhood movement, and says it will actively fight against the latest initiative.

State Rep. Matt Dollar’s bill, if passed by the legislature next year, would call for a November 2022 referendum and would include a smaller area of East Cobb than his 2019 legislation.

The proposed City of East Cobb would have around 55,000 residents and includes much of the Walton High School attendance zone.

Dropped from the 2019 proposed map are areas around Wheeler High School, as well as some of the Pope and Lassiter clusters.

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

By then, other local elected officials, including those serving on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and legislators, said they hadn’t been kept up to date by cityhood leaders, including seeing a revised map of the proposed city.

It was only after the cityhood legislative effort was delayed to 2021 that the cityhood group acknowledged that only an outline of a new map had been produced, and not any revised details.

In explaining the decision to hold off on legislation in the new year, cityhood leader David Birdwell said that “we want to take the time to do this right” and that better efforts to communicate and engage with the community are needed.

“We live in a special place and we’re all passionate about doing the right things for our neighborhoods. Many members of this committee—and all of the members of the Independent Finance Group—started out as skeptics of cityhood. For all of us, an objective look at the facts led to only one conclusion: Cityhood would result in an overwhelming net positive for the people of East Cobb.”

The anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance said it will continue to maintain opposition and considers the legislation sponsored by State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb active when the General Assembly session begins in January.

After debating Birdwell at the ECBA event, Alliance leader Mindy Seger acknowledged that “there’s kind of been a political awakening” in East Cobb over the cityhood issue.

“It’s gotten people engaged,” Seger said, “and that’s a good thing.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE: East Cobb cityhood an idea worth considering

January 1, 2022 1:02 PMDecember 21, 2019 2:55 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Cityhood idea — *East Cobb Cityhood leader David Birdwell met a skeptical and at times hostile crowd at the group’s first public appearance in March. (ECN file photos)*

The leaders of the East Cobb cityhood effort did the right thing this week by calling off their push for legislation and a referendum in 2020.

They were running out of time to get too many things done—including finalizing a map and a proposed list of services—and had stoked even more opposition, suspicion and confusion for months this spring and summer when they barely connected with the public at all.

County elected officials, including legislators, hadn’t been told what was going on.

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, East Cobb city map — *State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick said she got a lot of negative feedback about East Cobb cityhood.*

After its first town hall meeting in March, the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb had its work cut out, as citizens packed a church parish hall and demanded to know who, what and especially why this was being proposed.

A month later the cityhood group had a town hall meeting at Walton High School. Like that and future events it held, citizens could ask questions only by writing them down on a note card for a moderator to read. Or not.

This is no way to have a meaningful dialogue with the public about a dramatic change in their local government, in an initiative that would ultimately be decided by citizens.

Neither is having a cityhood bill filed in the legislature the day after that first town hall meeting, and on the next-to-last day of the General Assembly session.

At the time, I thought it smacked of another bad-faith effort on the part of the cityhood group, which paid for a financial feasibility study issued last November, but whose members remained anonymous and unwilling to meet with the public.

At one point on its website, the cityhood group explained that it wasn’t identifying its donors or others involved for fear of harassment from their “enemies” and the media.

By dodging such basic questions, and setting up a non-profit 501(c)4 “social welfare” organization to conceal donors, original cityhood leaders likely created more opponents than they ever conjured up in their paranoid imaginations.

Too big to succeed?

As someone who grew up in East Cobb, I’ve seen my community become suburbanized, and now more densely developed in some areas.

This is happening all over the county, which has more than 750,000 people and is projected to have a population of one million by 2050.

Before the cityhood issue was raised, I had been wondering if Cobb County government could continue to operate as it has.

There are serious concerns about public safety staffing, the county’s growing pension obligations and addressing transportation and development concerns.

Is Cobb too big to govern the way it is, with a countywide chairman and four district commissioners serving nearly 200,000 people each? And representing communities that are distinct from one another?

East Cobb cityhood — *Tre Hutchins and Galt Porter of the South Cobb Alliance, a pro-cityhood group in Mableton.*

There are times when commissioners are squabbling during their meetings that I wonder if they can even agree on what to have for lunch.

I’ve thought a citizen-led, grassroots cityhood movement in East Cobb could gain some traction, especially around zoning, development and land use issues.

I could see a City of East Cobb providing those and other community development services, including code enforcement.

I’ve never understood why the cityhood effort centered upon providing expensive police and fire services to supplant excellent, if not fully-staffed county departments? We have the lowest crime and fire rates in Cobb County.

Why not provide something better than what exists now, in say, sanitation, where the increasingly monopolized American Disposal private hauler is the subject of many complaints?

A financial review group studying the East Cobb feasibility study recommended that option, at least to start.

A “city light” form of government could serve East Cobb much better than one worrying about how to pay for new fire trucks and police cars and trained professionals to staff them.

Transparency matters

The “pause and reset” phase for cityhood, to borrow Eble’s phrase to me, is a good time to rethink those matters, as well as to be fully forthcoming with the public before gearing up for 2021.

At the outset, the cityhood group should lay out all of its finances, including how much money has been spent, and who’s been footing the bills.

Identify everybody who’s given money to the cause, and been involved in the effort in a significant way. Everybody.

This isn’t a private business deal, but an entirely public matter that could affect the lives of more than 100,000 people.

Follow the lead of the Mableton cityhood effort, which conducted extensive town halls over a couple of years to really hear what the public thinks, without note card questions and a “here’s what we want to do” mentality.

Like Mableton, have a city map fully detailed, including city council districts that were indicated in the East Cobb bill but never visualized, and provide an online survey.

Better communications include regular use of social media. The East Cobb cityhood group barely updated those platforms and its website, which is absurd heading into the third decade of the 21st century.

Cityhood leaders should have regular discussions with legislators and other local elected officials, since without their support a referendum will likely never happen.

The East Cobb cityhood group certainly has serious intentions. It had the money to buy access and line up the mechanics of getting a bill passed in the legislature.

What it didn’t have was a concept of what it really takes to gather public support, and its efforts to explain its reasons for cityhood were belated and underwhelming.

Something as substantive as creating a new local government shouldn’t be accepted as easily as cityhood leaders may have thought. Nor should it be categorically rejected as the anti-city East Cobb Alliance has maintained.

For those of us who have an open mind about the issue, we’re still receptive to hearing a better case being made.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: East Cobb cityhood, a golden goose and boiling frogs

January 1, 2022 1:02 PMNovember 16, 2019 2:42 PM by Wendy Parker

In trying to lay out a case for why a City of East Cobb might be a better value for citizens’ tax money than Cobb County government, those behind a cityhood movement used some animal analogies this week.

They described East Cobb as a “golden goose,” with its middle class and wealthy homeowners comprising a hefty portion of the county’s tax base, and not receiving the public services, especially police and fire protection, to justify their property tax bills.

East Cobb citizens, they argued, may feel like a frog in slowly boiling water, unaware of how much worse the heat can get if they don’t figure out a way to jump out.

“How are we being boiled?” shouted a woman from the back of the auditorium at Wheeler High School, angry not at the message she was hearing, but the messengers.

Like many of the more than 100 or so people in attendance at a town hall meeting Monday night, she was more than skeptical of the cityhood narrative that East Cobb would be better off as a new city, with more responsive local government delivered without a tax increase.

It’s a message that the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb has been trying to make for several months, and that was renewed again this week.

“I was one of the frogs,” said Bill Green, who described himself as a cityhood skeptic, then became part of what was called the Independent Financial Group that concluded that a City of East Cobb is fiscally viable.

Before attending the cityhood’s first town hall meeting in March, he said, “I didn’t know what was going on.”

His comments to many of those in the Wheeler auditorium were unconvincing.

Cityhood leaders were heckled repeatedly by citizens unhappy about what they said is a lack of information, or a lack of transparency, or some of both.

Most of all, they remain deeply skeptical that the cityhood group that formed a little more than a year ago has given them any good reason to support a dramatic change in how their local government operates.

“I think it’s a solution in search of a problem,” said John Morgan, who lives in the nearby Willow Ridge subdivision.

He said he moved to East Cobb from DeKalb County more than 30 years ago, is satisfied with the Cobb County services he gets and doesn’t understand calls for what he said would be “another layer of bureaucracy.” Furthermore, slicing off an affluent part of Cobb would be “devastating” for the county and its AAA bond rating.

“And for what? We have a great life here. Why this?”

Falling on deaf ears

It’s a refrain that’s been heard repeatedly, and increasingly with more vigor, in recent weeks. A newly formed citizens group opposing cityhood, the East Cobb Alliance, was part of a debate with cityhood leader David Birdwell on Tuesday at a luncheon meeting of the East Cobb Business Association.

Mindy Seger, an accountant, went toe-to-toe with Birdwell on several fronts, taking issue with a financial feasibility study, claims of better police and fire services, and individuals on the cityhood committee with real estate ties.

When Birdwell said only three of the 14 cityhood leaders had real estate estate backgrounds, including himself, she asked, “can we get that list?” (It was released on Friday, on the cityhood’s revamped website, and contained several changes from the initial group members announced in March).

When asked to identify those who’ve been funding cityhood expenses, Birdwell would say only that a “large group” of East Cobb residents have been making donations.

In several ways, Seger is the ideal representative for those dead-set against cityhood. She was well-prepared and kept to factual concerns opponents have had in what has been an emotionally fraught issue.

East Cobb city forum — *Mindy Seger of the anti-city East Cobb Alliance debates David Birdwell of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb. (ECN file)*

Like others who’ve come together to fight cityhood, she’s new to this kind of activism. She said after the debate that “there’s kind of been a political awakening” in East Cobb over the issue.

“It’s gotten people engaged,” Seger said, “and that’s a good thing.”

The citizens the cityhood group needs to win over are people like Joe O’Connor, a longtime East Cobb resident who liked the idea of cityhood after Cobb property tax rates went up in 2018.

When the financial feasibility study was released, O’Connor, who worked on East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott’s first campaign for office in 2008, was among those asked by the cityhood group to offer his thoughts.

When O’Connor asked who funded the study, he said he was told it was none of his business, and he promptly resigned.

Now, O’Connor couldn’t be more opposed to cityhood. At the ECBA luncheon, he said he received a call a couple weeks ago from a pollster asking questions about cityhood that he thought were designed to produce a “yes” vote. He said he told the caller his vote would be no, and in no uncertain terms.

“It’s obvious they’re not going to tell who’s behind this financially,” O’Connor said. “I never invest in a company when I don’t know who’s running it.”

At the Wheeler town hall meeting, resident Patty Hawkins said she’s got an open mind about cityhood, but wanted to get more information about the proposed city boundary line changes (they now include the Pope and Lassiter school clusters).

“I think it’s something to consider,” said Hawkins, who said “I think I’d vote for it,” but there’s still more she wants to learn about the issue.

For the moment, the cityhood opinion that matters the most may belong to State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb. The cityhood bill introduced last session by State Rep. Matt Dollar still needs a local senate sponsor if it’s to pass the legislature and establish a referendum next year.

Kirkpatrick told the crowd at Wheeler she’s getting mostly negative feedback about cityhood, but is keeping an open mind and welcoming feedback from constituents. She’s planning to do some of her own polling on cityhood before the end of the year, which could decide whether the bill will be taken up at all when the legislature returns in January.

After nearly a year since the cityhood effort was revealed, the lack of a genuine public groundswell remains the single biggest challenge for those proposing a City of East Cobb.

While a key lawmaker feels the boiling heat, and as the community watches to see which way she’ll jump, those who think their “golden goose” is being cooked with a cityhood effort are as loud and organized as they’ve ever been, and couldn’t be more distrustful.

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East Cobb city financial review group: No police services to start

September 20, 2019 6:17 PMSeptember 18, 2019 6:13 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb city financial review

An independent group of finance and legal professionals reviewing a feasibility study for the proposed City of East Cobb has concluded that it’s not only financially viable, but also could offer enhanced services and reduce property tax rates.

But the five-member Independent Financial Group, which was formed in May, also is recommending a future East Cobb city government not provide police services from the beginning, should a city be created.

That’s because the review group says determining the actual revenues for an East Cobb city police force wouldn’t be known until a city government would work out a revenue-shifting agreement with Cobb County.

The feasibility study, commissioned last fall by the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb and conducted by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance (read it here), “lacks sufficient funding for police protection and does not assume an equitable agreement,” according to the IFG, which is releasing its findings to the public.

A summary of the key findings of the financial review group can be found here; the full 15-page report can be found here.

The GSU study estimated a City of East Cobb annual budget of around $49 million, with police expenses costing $13.2 million. It based those figures on a property tax rate of 2.96 mills, and cityhood leaders have said a city can operate without higher taxes than what East Cobb taxpayers are currently paying.

Police is one of the three services the East Cobb cityhood group is proposing to provide (cities must provide at least three), along with fire and community development, which includes zoning.

The cityhood group is proposing to carve out most of unincorporated Cobb Commission District 2 for a City of East Cobb, with nearly 96,000 residents, for what advocates maintain would be “more local control” of government services.

Legislation introduced by State Rep. Matt Dollar, an East Cobb Republican, must pass next year calling for a referendum in November 2020. If a city is approved, elections for mayor and city council would take place at the start of a transition period from 2021-22. That would include the transfer of county-provided services before the City of East Cobb’s first full budget in 2023.

To budget for police, or not

The review group hasn’t yet put together what Green calls a “strawman” budget proposal because it’s still seeking financial data from the county, in particular for public safety services.

In what it calls its “near-term most likely” scenario, the review group has outlined a $40.3 million annual budget without police. Property taxes would provide $24.9 million in revenues. The biggest expenses would be administrative ($12.2 million) and fire ($9.9 million).

First-year expenditures under this scenario would be $28.6 million, with a surplus of $11.6 million. Recurring expenditures would cost $27.9 million and the recurring surplus would be $12.4 million.

Those revenues do not include new franchise fees, which were factored into the GSU feasibility study at $6.1 million a year. Franchise fees are imposed by cities for such services as utilities, so current East Cobb residents don’t pay them. But they do pay franchise fees assessed on cable television bills.

“We’re tossing them out because we don’t think they’re needed,” Green said.

In addition, “many citizens of East Cobb are unlikely to accept any new taxes or fees, unless the property tax millage rate were reduced to offset the new franchise fees,” the review group wrote in its report.

The IFG’s “intended scenario” budget with police, fire and community development would have $50.8 million in revenues and $46.8 million in expenses. The police line-item is the same $13.2 million that’s in the GSU study. It also would have $11.4 million in intergovernmental revenues, including an agreement with Cobb over shifting police services to a new city.

The state Service Delivery Strategy Act of 1997 (also known as SDS and HB 489) spells out intergovernmental agreements between cities and counties. The Cobb Six Cities Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, has existed since 1999.

The East Cobb city review group is recommending that before providing police services, a new city government should push to renegotiate the current 10-year MOU (which ends in 2024) for what it sees as double taxation. The MOU allows for cities to draw a share of funds from counties for services, based on a city’s share of the combined municipal tax digest.

The Cobb MOU allocated $4.85 million total among the six cities in 2017, and $5.45 million is expected by 2023, according to the GSU study.

An East Cobb city would get around $2.5 million, or 50 percent of that amount, since half the tax digest value of what would be seven cities would be in East Cobb.

But the bigger issue is what the East Cobb review group has found to be double taxation by the county for police services in cities not patrolled by Cobb Police.

Every property owner in Cobb was levied a county general fund tax rate of 6.76 mills in 2017. The review group found that in spite of provisions of HB 489, taxpayers in Cobb’s cities are actually paying 8.46 mills, the current general fund millage rate, under the MOU, the same as unincorporated Cobb.

Green called that “a red flag,” and the review group report goes deeper on the subject by saying that “in return, these cities appear to have accepted insufficient intergovernmental transfers from the County.”

Furthermore, the East Cobb cityhood’s lawyer “has commented that the cities should be prepared to litigate aggressively, if necessary, to force County compliance with the SDS Act’s spirit and letter.”

The IFG calculated that East Cobb taxpayers generate $10.5 million a year in general fund revenues for county police operations alone, a figure that “is expected to grow.”

The GSU feasibility study also has determined that $7.8 million of a projected $8.6 million in start-up costs would be for equipping and training a 142-officer police force.

The IFG is suggesting instead a 90-officer force “until further detailed budgeting is complete.”

Surplus, taxes, services and more

Without police costs to start, the review group believes a City of East Cobb would be able to keep a healthy surplus to improve services, if it chooses to spend some of that money, or possibly reduce the current millage rate.

The Cobb Fire Department, Green said, is “world-class. Our opinion is that we would want to replicate what we’re getting now and enhance it.”

According to the proposed city map, the City of East Cobb would have five fire stations. If those boundaries expand, as some with the cityhood committee have been suggesting, another fire station could be added.

The review group says “a meaningful tax cut is possible because county taxes currently generated from East Cobb taxpayers . . . far exceed the expenditures made by the County for services benefitting East Cobb,” the review report states.

“The opportunity to mitigate this current imbalance is what makes a future City of East Cobb compelling from a purely financial standpoint.”

At the end of it all, Green said, “we [the review group] don’t make that decision. It’s a political decision, the voters who elect a city council, will make that decision.”

East Cobb News will follow up this post with reaction from pro- and anti-cityhood forces and will examine more details of the review group’s report.

Cityhood committee member Rob Eble told East Cobb News recently there are plans for a town hall meeting in October, but a date hasn’t been scheduled.

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East Cobb cityhood opponents emerge with new citizens group

August 11, 2019 1:27 PMAugust 11, 2019 11:39 AM by Wendy Parker

The East Cobb cityhood effort is gaining more visible opponents with a new citizens group called the East Cobb Alliance, which launched a website and a public Facebook group last week.

According to the group’s About page, the East Cobb Alliance is:

“A non-partisan coalition of East Cobb residents, businesses, and stakeholders who share the common vision that there is no need to incorporate any part of Unincorporated East Cobb into an additional layer of city-government, and want to work together to educate and inform the voters who will be responsible for casting a “Yes” or “No” vote to incorporate.”

Bill Simon is one of three people listed among the group’s organizers. He’s got a consulting and finance background and runs a small business marketing agency in East Cobb.

The others are Emmanuel Kipreos, an accountant with children attending Timber Ridge Elementary School and Mindy Seger, also an accountant raising her family in East Cobb.

When asked by East Cobb News how many people are involved in or who have expressed interest in the East Cobb Alliance, Simon referred to an invitation-only Facebook group of cityhood opponents he said has 300-plus members.

As for next steps, Simon said “what we are now working on is building the coalition up to be able to get the word out that 1) there is an effort to incorporate parts of East Cobb into a new city, and 2) why it is a bad idea that will cost more money.”

The East Cobb Alliance has posted financial breakdowns of the costs and services proposed by the cityhood group, especially those pertaining to police and fire services, as well as franchise fees, intergovernmental revenues and the East Cobb city financial feasibility study.

That study by Georgia State University declared the proposed city—with around 96,000 residents—is not only financially feasible but would start with a surplus of more than $3 million. The cityhood group claims a City of East Cobb could operate without levying a higher property tax rate than what citizens currently pay in unincorporated Cobb.

The cityhood committee this spring appointed an independent financial group to examine the study and develop a working budget proposal.

Contacted late last week by East Cobb News, cityhood leader Rob Eble said he understands that the finance group’s work is done, and that it is “validating findings.”

The cityhood group had tentatively eyed August for another town hall meeting on the subject, but one has not been scheduled.

The cityhood bill introduced by State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb near the end of the 2019 legislative session is slated to be taken up in the Georgia General Assembly next year.

If passed, the legislation would set up a cityhood referendum, which also would be held next year.

The East Cobb Alliance site also has a section entitled “cityhood charades,” examining those behind the cityhood group, especially those with real estate backgrounds and connections.

Simon said the East Cobb Alliance is asking for contributions from interested citizens, “as we have come out of personal pocket for Open Records, web domain, web hosting, and we will be wanting to print material to distribute as well.”

‘They’re stealing our stuff!’

An anonymously written blog has surfaced called Stop East Cobb Cityhood, calling the effort “a solution in search of a problem.” It expresses similar concerns as the East Cobb Alliance over taxes and real estate interests, but drips with sarcasm and colorful language more than financial analysis.

The eight blog posts that have been published aren’t dated, and some refer to committee president Joe Gavalis as “grifter-in-chief” or “charlatan-in-chief.” The pro-cityhood forces also are described alternately as “fraudsters,” “hucksters” and “tricksters.”

Some of the posts include photos of Barney Fife, Austin Powers and the McDonald’s Hamburglar to make acid points about what the blogger argues is a lack of specifics about a proposed City of East Cobb, and what’s driving it:

“The cityhood hustle is a naked land grab by a secretive bunch of connivers licking their chops at the prospect of turning our community into their personal ATM.”

The only identifying information about the Stop East Cobb Cityhood blog says that:

“We are homeowners in East Cobb who value our property rights and low taxes. We invite each and every one of you to compare the facts presented here with the shifting narrative and hide-the-ball tactics of the promoters. East Cobb is a special place with just the right balance of homes, businesses and open spaces. Let’s not hand over control of our homes and businesses to a group of insiders who want to cash in at our expense.”

Simon said he wasn’t aware of the Stop East Cobb Cityhood blog or who may be behind it and that the East Cobb Alliance is not associated with it.

A link to the Stop East Cobb Cityhood site is being promoted in Google search engine rankings as a paid advertisement with the headline: “Say No To Higher Taxes | Stop East Cobb Cityhood Today.”

More East Cobb Cityhood Coverage

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East Cobb City map: Defining and redrawing the lines

May 5, 2019 6:13 PMMay 2, 2019 5:18 PM by Wendy Parker

From the moment East Cobb Cityhood proponents issued a proposed map last December, questions abounded from the public: Who drew this East Cobb city map? Why isn’t my neighborhood in it?

Perhaps the biggest silent question that could have been implied is this one: What does it mean to be in East Cobb?

Advocates for a new city say one of the objectives is to help create a better sense of community identity. That certainly could be a by-product in an area that’s been building out in sprawling, unincorporated suburban fashion for nearly 50 years.

But how the City of East Cobb proposal now before the legislature, and that could go to voters in a referendum next year, finally comes to fruition depends on how those municipal boundaries may ultimately be decided.

The map that’s been drawn up is the East Cobb portion of Bob Ott’s Cobb Commission District 2, at least in unincorporated Cobb and excluding the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

That drew suspicions about Ott’s possible involvement in the cityhood effort (which he denies).

But it’s a city heavy with the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones, a little of Pope and Lassiter and none from Sprayberry and Kell.

How can that be called East Cobb?

The cityhood bill filed near the end of the 2019 legislative session includes that map, and leaders of the group insist that the map, and everything in the bill, including a proposed city charter, is subject to change.

In fact, at a town hall meeting they held Monday, they confirmed that changing the proposed boundaries is in the works, and could cross Sandy Plains Road, out toward Shallowford and Trickum Roads.

“The lines will change,” said David Birdwell, a member of the cityhood group, said at the Walton meeting. “It depends on how far we go.”

The feasibility study conducted for the cityhood group according to the present lines would include a population of 96,000, which would make East Cobb the second-largest city in metro Atlanta.

The Cityhood group also released an interactive map this week that lets readers find out whether they’re in the presently proposed boundaries.

(FWIW the coverage area of East Cobb News is most everything east of I-75 and I-575, including most of the ZIP codes of 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068 and the Cobb portion of 30075. That’s a population of around 200,000; view demographic details here.)

Subject to change

Cityhood leaders have said that some boundaries had to be submitted with the bill. The legislation also calls for a six-member city council and specified census blocks and voting precincts.

Those too are a rough draft and are likely to be changed; a few of the voting precincts indicated in the bill are either non-existent or misnumbered.

Five of the six council districts would include some or a good bit of the Walton attendance zone (it’s the third-largest high school in Cobb).

It’s uncertain for now how that school zone dynamic would change in an expanded proposed city.

Birdwell said that an amendment to the feasibility study could be requested if those lines do change, so a new study (and its budgeting and finance assumptions) may not be necessary before the legislature would take up the bill in 2020.

“It’s their discretion to make the final call,” said Karen Hallacy, another member of the cityhood group.

The legislative process

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

Even though East Cobb cityhood is considered local legislation (lawmakers in the proposed new city have to sponsor it), a bill would be voted on by both houses in the Georgia General Assembly.

State. Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb) is the House sponsor. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, also of East Cobb, said she hasn’t decided about cityhood and didn’t sign on as a sponsor.

“The meeting was very informative,” she said after the Monday town hall. “This community wants input, and I think it clarifies a lot of misconceptions. I’m like any other citizen, just getting input.”

The bill doesn’t need the support of the Cobb delegation. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, an East Cobb Republican, would need to sponsor the bill if it crosses over from the House, but for now she remains non-committal about cityhood.

“I’m trying to keep an open mind until the end of the year,” she said after the town hall. “The bill has a tough road ahead of it,” as any bill does. Some recent cityood bills and referenda also have been defeated.

By time an East Cobb bill might cross over, Kirkpatrick said, “I’ll have a better idea whether East Cobb wants to be a city.

“I’ve gotten a lot of negative feedback, but then people hear about the police and the idea of more local control,” she said. “I’ll bet they [cityhood leaders] picked up some support tonight.”

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

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East Cobb cityhood proponents press their case for ‘more local control’

May 1, 2019 8:07 PMApril 30, 2019 7:36 AM by Wendy Parker

In trying to persuade their fellow East Cobb citizens about the benefits of creating a new municipality, the leaders of an East Cobb Cityhood effort invited their peers from South Cobb to a town hall meeting at Walton High School Monday night.

While there were skeptics among the 400 or so people gathered in the school cafeteria, the message they got was that Cobb County has grown so much that county government can’t adequately provide services.

“I kind of see how it doesn’t quite work,” said Galt Porter, who’s part of the South Cobb Alliance and a member of the Cobb Planning Commission. “We have more people in unincorporated Cobb than the city of Atlanta.”

For the last two years, Porter and others have been meeting with citizens interested in forming what could become the City of Mableton.

Like the East Cobb group, they’ve had a bill submitted to be taken up by the Georgia legislature next year that would call for a referendum.

The point they tried to drive home to the East Cobb audience was that local government needs to be much more local than it is now.

“While we have different things that we’re asking for, everyone is looking for representation closer to home,” said Tre Hutchins of the South Cobb Alliance, who attended elementary and middle school in East Cobb.

*Tre Hutchins and Galt Porter of the South Cobb Alliance, which is pursuing cityhood for Mableton.*

The five-member Cobb Board of Commissioners is governed by a chairman elected countywide, and four commissioners who represent around 190,000 people each.

In the East Cobb legislation, the city would be governed by a mayor elected at-large to cover a population of around 96,000 and a six-member city council representing districts with around 16,000 people each.

That means more local control over zoning and planning, code enforcement, public safety and roads, the services the East Cobb group has put forward for a city to provide.

A feasibility study conducted by Georgia State University concluded that a City of East Cobb is financially viable without a tax increase beyond the proposed 2.96 mills, and would even start with a $4.2 million surplus.

“We’re not recreating the wheel here,” said East Cobb cityhood leader David Birdwell, noting that only one of the 10 cities created in metro Atlanta since 2005 has raised taxes.

He said he contacted friends in five of those cities, “and not one has said it wasn’t a good thing to do.”

Audience members could ask questions only by writing them down on index cards, and some were dubious of the motives behind cityhood.

Questioning motives

The first questioner wanted to know if anyone involved in the cityhood effort would refrain from running for mayor or city council, at least for the first eight years of a City of East Cobb.

Porter was dumbfounded.

“All these people, who have volunteered their time and worked so hard, you would want them to just walk out?”

“Yes! Yes!” cried a few citizens.

At that point, Rob Eble, another cityhood leader, stood up on crutches (he recently suffered a leg injury at work) and tried to inject some tongue-in-cheek humor.

“Hell no! We don’t want to do it!”

Birdwell said he has no interest in running for political office. Karen Hallacy, a state PTA leader, legislative lobbyist and appointee to the Development Authority of Cobb County, echoed Porter.

“If we tell them that they have no chance of running,” she said, “you’ll disqualify people with a lot of talent.”

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

Later, a questioner wanted to know where an East Cobb City Hall would be located. Hallacy said the current East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road would be a possibility, at a reasonable cost, and could also house the city’s police and fire headquarters, since those operations already exist there.

“It’s small,” a citizen shouted out.

“We plan to keep government small,” Hallacy said, to some wild applause.

The art of persuasion

Allen Gilly, who’s lived near Walton for 45 years, is the kind of citizen the cityhood group needs to convince. He said after the meeting he hadn’t heard about cityhood until his sister-in-law told him about it.

He’s never seen a need for East Cobb to have its own government. He admitted “I heard some positive things but I still have some concerns and questions.”

What he liked was the message of more local control, even though he thinks Cobb government is “great.”

But Gilly does wonder about the speed of the cityhood process. If legislation is approved next year, a referendum would take place in November 2020.

“Do we have to do this next year?” he said. “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right.

“Show me how it’s better, and if it’s better, I’m all in.”

The cityhood group will appear next week before the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance. That meeting is Wednesday, May 8, at 7 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road).

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East Cobb Cityhood group to hold town hall, appear at Powers Ferry meeting

April 20, 2019 2:59 PMApril 19, 2019 3:31 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb cityhood group

The leaders of a group promoting cityhood for East Cobb have switched the location for an April 29 town hall meeting.

Rob Eble, one of the leaders of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, told East Cobb News Friday that the meeting will now take place in the theater at Walton High School (1590 Bill Murdock Road) due to capacity issues.

The meeting was originally slated for Chestnut Ridge Christian Church. More than 600 people showed up to to hear cityhood leader David Birdwelll at a March town hall meeting (above) at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Eble said the town hall at Walton will last from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will feature a moderated panel discussion and questions from citizens.

It’s the first of two public meetings cityhood leaders will be having in short order. They’re also slated to speak at a meeting of the the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance next month.

The civic association is holding a community meeting May 8 from 7-9 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road) that also will include Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott.

Other topics of discussion include public safety staffing in Cobb, a transit update, issues in the Powers Ferry corridor and news on redevelopment projects that include the MarketPlace Terrell Mill and Restaurant Row.

The day after the March town hall, local legislation was filed that will be considered next year that calls for a referendum in March 2020, and if approved, mayor and city council elections would take place next November.

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

The cityhood forces have maintained that they want more local control of government, and would provide police, fire and zoning and planning services.

Birdwell, a real estate entrepreneur, joined the group in January, a couple of months after the group commissioned a financial feasibility study. Eble, a technology consultant, is the other new “face” of the cityhood movement

The city map that was drawn and introduced with the legislation includes a population of 96,000 and takes the East Cobb portion of Ott’s District 2 and the Powers Ferry area that is not in the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Patti Rice, president of the PFCA, told East Cobb News after the town hall that the proposed map would split the community “right down the middle.”

She said while she lives just outside the proposed City of East Cobb, she’s keeping an open mind about cityhood but thinks the cityhood group “needs to organize their message.”

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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 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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Skidaway Island is latest Georgia cityhood referendum rejected by voters

March 26, 2019 2:08 PM by Wendy Parker

We’re still waiting for the East Cobb cityhood bill to be introduced in the legislature (it wasn’t in the hopper as of lunchtime Tuesday and it’s not on today’s local calendar).

Last week there was a cityhood referendum on Skidaway Island that was defeated soundly by voters, and it’s worth considering ahead of Thursday’s town hall meeting with East Cobb cityhood leaders. City of East Cobb map

The vote on Skidaway is the latest cityhood initiative that has been rejected in recent years, after the success of efforts in Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Milton, Peachtree Corners, Brookhaven, Tucker and other parts of the Atlanta suburbs.

Last November, a referendum to create a city of Eagle’s Landing in Henry County went down to defeat. So did the proposed city of Sharon Springs in Forsyth County.

Efforts in DeKalb County to create two other cities, including one area where voters rejected incorporation in 2015, are being fought.

As the Skidaway saga unfolded, local opposition mounted to the cityhood drive, and it was powerful. In the end, voters there elected to stay part of combined Savannah-Chatham County government, with 62 percent voting “no.”

Community leaders in Mableton have had a cityhood bill introduced in the legislature for many of the same reasons cited by those leading the effort in East Cobb: More local control.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page

Charlie Harper, who publishes the GeorgiaPol.com state political website and runs a Republican-focused policy consulting firm based on Powers Ferry Road, offered some perspective on the Skidaway vote on Monday that he thinks could have wider statewide implications:

“For a while, the battle of Republican bumper sticker slogans had “local control” winning out over ‘less government.’ During this successful run, success bred success for many, as the same lobbyists, consultants, and vendors seemed to form a niche that has moved from one cityhood effort to another.

“While casting no aspersions on those who are good at what they do for a living, it’s also time in the wake of this defeat to assess. Is the current list of areas exploring the option of incorporation really the result of a groundswell of public support, or have we now created an industry with the right connections and capital that is planting seeds of cityhood in the hopes that public support will then sprout?”

Those are some of the points that have been made by East Cobb News readers since we began posting about the East Cobb cityhood effort in December.

To be sure, there are supporters of cityhood who also have spoken out, and there are those who are open to listening to what those behind a proposed City of East Cobb have to say.

(Here’s the revised website for the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc.)

But there are many questions readers have been posing to us that reflect much of what drove the opposition in Skidaway.

As Harper noted about the failed effort there as well as Eagle’s Landing:

“At the core of each battle was a commercial tax base. Both were deemed necessary for long term viability with low/stable tax rates. Skidaway Island, dominated by the mega gated community The Landings, is almost exclusively residential.

“This difference, combined with the political savvy of a few key residents, led to Skidaway’s defeat.”

The financial feasibility study conducted for the Committee for Cityhood for East Cobb noted that the tax base split for the proposed city limits would be 85 percent residential and only 15 percent commercial.

That’s another major question East Cobb cityhood leaders will have to address in the coming months, starting Thursday at Bob Ott’s town hall meeting at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Nolan Hall. The church is at 4905 Roswell Road, at the corner of Bishop Lake Road.

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Ott to hold East Cobb town hall meeting in late March

March 12, 2019 10:01 AMFebruary 18, 2019 5:02 PM by Wendy Parker

Ott town hall meeting

The upcoming town hall meeting for Cobb commissioner Bob Ott comes with East Cobb cityhood efforts underway and as a new county budget season on the horizon.

Ott’s office announced Friday his town hall will be March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road).

His town halls usually don’t have a preset agenda, but Ott has indicated recently he wants to provide the public with more information about a proposed City of East Cobb initiative that was revealed in recent months (see our East Cobb Cityhood Resource Page for more).

The map drawn up by cityhood proponents would include unincorporated parts of Ott’s District 2 east of I-75, excluding the Cumblerand Community Improvement District.

Ott said he’s not part of this drive, which was launched by Atlanta Country Club resident Joe Gavalis, his appointee to the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission.

Ott has said he’s sympathetic with constituents who’ve complained that District 2, which includes some of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area, provides 40 percent of county tax revenue but doesn’t get that percentage back in services.

That’s one of the factors cited by the Committee for the City of East Cobb, Inc., for pursuing possible cityhood, along with public safety staffing and greater local control of services, including zoning and development.

The group, which formed last September, lists commercial real estate developer G. Owen Brown as its treasurer, but others who are part of the group and who helped fund a municipal feasibility study have not been identified.

The group has hired Republican political consultant and TV pundit Phil Kent to handle public relations and John Garst, another GOP political consultant, to lobby in the legislature.

No local legislation has yet been introduced in the current session of the Georgia General Assembly to call for a referendum that would be required for an East Cobb city to be created. The earliest that vote could take place is 2020.

Some citizens groups of their own have formed Facebook groups relating to the East Cobb Cityhood issue.

One is the City of East Cobb Citizens Group, which sprang up out of a thread on the Nextdoor social platform, saying it is non-partisan and has not taken a position on the issue.

Also coming up in early March are budget and transit town hall meetings by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce. The first of those sessions take place March 5 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center and March 6 at the East Cobb Senior Center.

After pushing for a property tax hike last year, Boyce has said he will not ask for another one for the fiscal year 2020 budget. Both Ott and Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb voted against that increase.

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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 committee leader declines to identify group, or indicate when public response may take place

February 2, 2019 1:29 PMDecember 15, 2018 7:27 PM by Wendy Parker

The president of a committee exploring possible cityhood for East Cobb is declining to identify those he has been meeting with and is not indicating when the group may begin a community dialogue about the issue.

Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area, said in response to written questions from East Cobb News this weekend that he and others he has been discussing cityhood with are still examining a feasibility study released this week.

That study, commissioned by his Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., was conducted by Georgia State University researchers, who concluded that based on the data they were given to work with, such a city is “financially feasible.”

The most likely next step would be introduction of state legislation, a two-year process that would require a public referendum. If such a bill is introduced next year, the earliest such a vote could take place would be 2020.

Gavalis said if “a review of the GSU study and the community response indicate a desire to proceed,” the group “will work with our elected officials to introduce appropriate legislation.”

He would not say when the public would be fully briefed on the cityhood group’s plans, only that “meetings with our fellow citizens in our community will be initiated” and media outlets “utilized.”

The group also has launched a website, but there’s no other information there than what’s previously been released.

Gavalis said he began the cityhood inquiry “after hearing that others in our county were looking to form a new city,” a reference to conversations taking place in South Cobb, and to see if a new city of East Cobb would be feasible.

During that process, he said, “hundreds of neighbors, business owners and social groups were engaged in recent months about their interest in creating a city in East Cobb. Many asked me to spearhead a loose-knit group to help foster debate regarding the idea.”

He did not identify anyone by name. The only other name that has been made public about the cityhood committee is G. Owen Brown, who is listed on state filing documents as the group’s incorporator. Brown is the founder of the Retail Planning Corporation, an East Cobb-based commercial real estate firm located on Johnson Ferry Road.

Gavalis said that one of the driving forces behind East Cobb cityhood is more local control of government services. Currently, he said, each of the four Cobb district commissioners serves 175,000 people. In the City of East Cobb map that’s been proposed, each city council member would represent around 12,000 citizens, “who would be better served regarding local services and other issues.”

Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents District 2 that covers the proposed city map, has pointed out previously that roughly 40 percent of property tax revenue comes from his district. He has said some residents have told him they don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth.

His district also includes the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area, with major corporate and commercial offices, but it is not part of the proposed City of East Cobb.

For a more detailed map of the proposed City of East Cobb, click here.

When asked which services were priorities for the cityhood group, Gavalis said that community development (which includes planning and zoning), police and fire “are high on the list.” State law requires new cities to provide a minimum of three services.

Gavalis is a retired federal agent who serves on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission and has also been on the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force. He noted that regarding East Cobb cityhood, “discussions have always taken place since former Cobb Commissioner Bill Byrne proposed a city [in the 2012 elections], and there have always been cityhood movements in metro Atlanta over the last decade.”

Gavalis said there is an East Cobb cityhood steering committee that “is an unofficial group of citizens with knowledge of our community who have volunteered to look at the issues of forming a new city with no pre-set determination for or against a city.”

He said those individuals, whom he also declined to identify, are also examining the feasibility study.

That study cost $36,000, according to a copy of the contract East Cobb News obtained through an open records request. Here’s the full report, which was delivered to the cityhood group on Dec. 7.

Gavalis also would not identify who paid for the study, saying only that “citizens, neighbors and business owners have financially contributed for the cost.” He’s anticipating other donations in the future but would not elaborate.

He also declined to indicate how much the group is paying Phil Kent, CEO of the Cobb-based Insider Advantage political publication and panelist on the Fox 5 public affairs program “The Georgia Gang.” Kent has been retained by the cityhood group to serve in a public relations capacity.

The proposed City of East Cobb map that the cityhood group released doesn’t include all of what’s considered East Cobb. With a population of 96,000, it contains only unincorporated Cobb east of I-75 that is in Cobb Commission District 2, and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Asked why areas north of Sandy Plains Road are not included in the map, Gavalis would say only that the map “uses boundaries of voting districts already set by the legislature. The proposed map is clean, with no conflicting boundaries.”

The feasibility study indicated that no property taxes would need to be levied above what East Cobb residents are paying for county services.

Gavalis also was asked to respond to citizens who may be happy with the services they’re getting and worry that they might be asked to pay for another layer of government.

“Many residents are not happy and have concerns about the county adequately addressing the values and wishes of East Cobbers.”

He also would not identify those residents or specify their concerns.

Gavalis said that the proposed city is based on a tax base that’s 85 percent residential and 15 percent commercial, similar to Milton in North Fulton. He said officials there have indicated they have not raised the millage rate since 2006.

The GSU study for East Cobb suggested a millage rate of 2.96 and said it may even begin operations with a surplus of nearly $3 million.

“A smaller government can focus on providing the services important to their residents in a timely fashion and can work closely with their citizens to create the type of community they desire,” Gavalis said.

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City of East Cobb proposed by citizens group; study underway

February 2, 2019 1:30 PMNovember 27, 2018 1:11 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Black Friday traffic — *Johnson Ferry Road at Roswell Road in the heart of East Cobb.*

This isn’t a new topic, and it’s one that hasn’t gone very far beyond the talking stage in the past: Should there be such a thing as a City of East Cobb?

A group of mostly unidentified people is behind a new push to create what would be the second-largest municipality in metro Atlanta.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc., is led by Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area. His group has commissioned a feasibility study being conducted by the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State University. He has not returned calls seeking comment.

However, the suggested City of East Cobb his group is advocating would not include all of East Cobb.

According to a map Gavalis furnished to the MDJ, the proposed map would fall almost entirely within Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2.

The area generally regarded as East Cobb includes most of the ZIP codes 30062, 30066, 30067 and 30068, as well as the Cobb portion of 30075, and has an estimated population of 200,000.

The proposed City of East Cobb borders generally fall south of Sandy Plains Road, until it gets closer to the Fulton County line. The southern boundaries would fall roughly along the Powers Ferry Road corridor north of Terrell Mill Road.

The western edges of the city would run along Roswell Road Sewell Road and Holly Springs Road to Post Oak Tritt Road.

Everything east and north of that would become a city in what has long embodied classic suburban Sunbelt sprawl.

Cityhood measures require state legislation to call for a referendum that voters in the proposed municipality would decide. Under Georgia law, cities must provide a minimum of three services.

The cityhood effort in East Cobb comes after the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a property tax hike for the first time since the recession. There has been some grumbling that East Cobb provides 40 percent of county tax revenue but some citizens don’t feel they’re getting their money’s worth in services.

After voting against the tax increase, Ott claimed that all District 2 residents were getting from the tax hike in the fiscal year 2019 budget was “1 DOT work crew.”

According to the East Cobb cityhood group’s contract with Georgia State, it is spending $36,000 for the study, which will develop revenue and expense estimates based on property tax files, a boundary map and estimated business license revenue.

The contract indicates that the feasibility of municipal services to be studied include police, fire management, parks and recreation, community development (libraries) and roads.

Gavalis is the lone signatory from the committee for the contract, which also lists G. Owen Brown, of Retail Planning Corp., a commercial real estate company based on Johnson Ferry Road, as a representative for the cityhood group.

The study is expected to be completed by mid-December. According to the contract, the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State is using a similar methodology as a feasibility study it conducted for Tucker, which became incorporated in 2015.

According to the East Cobb cityhood contract, a team of three CSLF researchers will:

” . . . estimate the total annual cost of government operations, including general administrative services and the discretionary services, based on the experience of several comparison cities in Georgia. The set of comparison cities in Georgia will include between four to six cities with similar demographic and economic conditions to the proposed area.

“In addition, the cost estimates will include the cost associated with purchasing any assets in the proposed incorporation area that are currently owned by Cobb County and any one-time costs associated with the initiation of municipal operations.”

The last time the City of East Cobb issue was raised also came after county commissioners voted to increase taxes, and during the heat of a political campaign. During the 2012 Republican runoff for Cobb Commission Chairman, challenger Bill Byrne proposed the idea but it didn’t gain much traction.

Byrne, a former chairman, was seeking to regain his seat against then-incumbent Tim Lee, who eventually edged him in the runoff.

Byrne would have had an elected mayor and five city council members for the City of East Cobb, which would have had its own police, fire, water and sewer services, purchased from the county for $1 a year. He also wanted the county, in his plan, to spend $1 million to build an East Cobb City Hall.

Byrne had attacked Lee for raising the property tax millage rate in 2011, during the aftermath of the recession.

At the time, Byrne’s idea didn’t resonate in East Cobb as it has elsewhere in metro Atlanta. This was right after citizens of Brookhaven voted to incorporate, and followed other successful cityhood drives in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton.

But that sentiment hasn’t seriously spread in Cobb, which has six cities that have been incorporated for more than a century, and in some cases before the Civil War.

In 2009 there was a group called Citizens for the City of East Cobb that launched a website but never identified itself or pressed for action beyond that.

[yop_poll id=1]

Some of the most recent cityhood efforts elsewhere in metro Atlanta have failed. Earlier this month, a push to create the city of Eagle’s Landing out of Stockbridge fell short in a referendum.

Earlier this year, voters in a portion of Forsyth County turned down a similar measure that would have created the City of Sharon Springs, with a population of 50,000.

Others that have become cities have ended up providing fewer services than what is being studied for East Cobb.

Tucker, which has population of 35,000, provides zoning and planning, code enforcement and community development, and last year added overseeing the Tucker Recreation Center.

Tucker doesn’t charge a millage rate—city residents still pay the full DeKalb millage rate for county-provided services—but generates revenue from business permits, alcohol and excise taxes and utility franchise fees.

Other cityhood drives are continuing, including the Towne Lake community of Cherokee County, with a goal of having a referendum there in 2020.

The only services being suggested for Towne Lake are zoning and planning, code enforcement and sanitation, which would be optional. Those organizing cityhood there say they’re doing it to preserve property values.

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