Top Cobb law firm to draw school board reapportionment map

David Banks, Cobb school board — *David Banks is the only sitting member of the Cobb Board of Education who’s gone through a previous reapportionment process.*

The Cobb Board of Education last week voted to hire a high-profile law firm in Cobb County to draw a map of school board posts for reapportionment.

While the board’s three Democrats were in the minority of a 4-3 vote, David Banks of East Cobb, part of the four-member Republican majority, initially said he couldn’t support the hiring of Taylor English Duma LLP, based in the Cumberland area.

Banks, the only sitting board member to go through reapportionment from the 2010 Census, said at a board work session last Thursday that he didn’t think hiring a third party was appropriate and that the maps would be “whatever the legislature decides it looks like.”

But he joined his GOP colleagues later in approving the hiring of Taylor English Duma to draw the board’s political lines based on 2020 Census results.

The board will be asked later to approve a contract for Taylor English Duma after a cost estimate is determined.

(PLEASE NOTE: These lines are for the seven posts, or districts, for elected Cobb school board seats, which are determined by the Georgia General Assembly. They have no bearing on specific school attendance zones, which are drawn administratively by the Cobb County School District staff.)

Board chairman Randy Scamihorn said he wanted Taylor English Duma because of what he said was a bipartisan track record of reapportionment work. He presented no other bidders.

The Democrats objected on other grounds, saying they weren’t given much information beforehand, including how much the mapping work will cost.

They also wanted to consider additional bidders, and didn’t like that former State Rep. Earl Ehrart of West Cobb, a staunch Republican, is the CEO of Taylor English Decisions, a government and economic development consulting arm of Taylor English Duma.

Taylor English Decisions—whose staff includes noted Cobb zoning attorney James Balli and former Cobb County Manager Rob Hosack—is not involved in reapportionment matters.

Cobb school board post map — *For a more detailed view, **click here**. The area in white is the map for Marietta City Schools.*

The map forwarded to the Cobb legislative delegation from the school board would only be advisory. While Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the county delegation, the final decision on the map would come from the Republican-dominated legislature.

So how those boundaries may change figures to be a subject of intense scrutiny, given the board’s partisan divide.

Until 2018, the board held a 6-1 Republican majority. That’s when Democrats Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard were elected to seats held by Republicans.

They’ve vocally and openly clashed with the Republicans on a number of issues in their nearly three years on the board.

And both of their seats will be up in the 2022 elections, after the new map takes effect. How Post 6, represented by Davis, may change could prove worth watching.

That post includes most of the Walton and Wheeler clusters, but Davis, who lives in the Campbell High School cluster, edged Republican incumbent Scott Sweeney of East Cobb due to a high turnout in her part of the post.

Also up for election in 2022 will be the seat of Republican David Chastain of Post 4 in Northeast Cobb, which includes the Kell and Sprayberry clusters.

He’s indicating he will seek a fourth term; Howard and Davis have not announced their plans.

Democrats missed a golden chance to swing the majority in their favor with the other three Republicans on the ballot in the 2020 elections. Scamihorn won easily in Post 1 in Northwest Cobb, while Brad Wheeler foiled a Democratic challenger by fewer than 2,000 votes in his West Cobb Post 5.

So did Banks in Post 5—the Pope and Lassiter clusters—who held off Democratic newcomer Julia Hurtado by 2,639 votes to win a fourth term.