Month: December 2018

One of the late-breaking major stories in East Cobb in 2018 figures to linger well into 2019 and beyond: An exploration of a possible city of East Cobb.

It’s not the first time such an idea has been floated, but a group called the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc. has spent $36,000 for a feasibility study that currently is circulating among a hand-picked group of community leaders. 

Both the committee and the citizens group chosen to examine the study have not been fully identified, and those contacted by East Cobb News to provide further information beyond perfunctory press releases have been reluctant to discuss anything.

That includes likely next steps, and possibly the introduction of state legislation calling for a referendum that is part of a two-year process.

Joe Gavalis is the cityhood group’s president and a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area. G. Owen Brown, founder of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corporation, is listed as the group’s incorporator, and political consultant and TV pundit Phil Kent has been hired for public relations.

One member of the citizens advisory board, Joe O’Connor, resigned in protest, telling Gavalis that the cityhood effort needs better transparency.

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

Other members of the citizens group told East Cobb News right before Christmas that they’ve just begun looking at the study and haven’t formed any impressions. Former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell said while she has some problems with the study’s numbers and methodologies, the idea of cityhood is worth examining.

The study, conducted by researchers at Georgia State University, concluded that East Cobb cityhood is “feasible” given the data they were given to work with.

Among the concerns is that 85 percent of the proposed city’s tax base would be from residential property, and only 15 percent is commercial property.

Another question that’s been raised is the proposed city map, which doesn’t include all of East Cobb. Its boundaries include only areas of unincorporated Cobb in commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2 that are east of I-75 and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The northern boundaries of the proposed city, in fact, identically match the northern boundaries of District 2, which was redrawn and went into effect in 2017. The population of the proposed city would be around 96,000, roughly half of what is generally considered East Cobb.

In addition, the exact reasons why the cityhood group is pursuing this effort also haven’t been fully revealed. Gavalis has said there is displeasure that District 2 property taxes provide 40 percent of Cobb property tax revenue, and that some want more of their tax money to stay here.

He did say that among the potential service priorities for a city of East Cobb would be police and fire, as well as community development (planning and zoning).

Gavalis has said that the community will be informed of the cityhood’s next steps but did not indicate when that might be.

“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,” he said.

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