AARP Tax-Aide volunteers will provide free tax assistance at three Cobb County libraries in February through mid-April. This service is provided by appointment only.
Mountain View Regional Library: Thursdays, Feb. 3 – April 14, 10 am – 2 pm. Patrons must come in person to the library during designated hours to make an appointment for a future date.
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Town Center at Cobb will host the American Red Cross for a blood driveon Wednesday, Feb. 2 and Thursday, Feb. 3 from noon-5 p.m. Donations are urgently needed as the organization is experiencing its worst blood shortage in decades.
Why get involved? Here are some quick facts, courtesy of the American Red Cross:
Someone needs blood every two seconds in the U.S.
Just one pint of blood can save up to three lives.
Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed in the U.S. every day.
Approximately 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate – yet less than 10 percent actually do.
The American Red Cross supplies approximately 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply.
WHERE:Town Center at Cobb – Upper Level JCPenney Wing 400 Ernest Barrett Pkwy Kennesaw, GA 30144
HOW: Visit redcrossblood.org using sponsor code ‘tcac’ to schedule an appointment in advance. Reservations are recommended but are not required. To learn more, please visit towncenteratcobb.com.
The American Red Cross is following FBA blood donation eligibility guidance for potential donors who have received a COVID-19 vaccination. To determine eligibility, donors that have received a vaccine should know the name of the manufacturer. To learn more, please visit redcrossblood.org.
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An employee at Blackwell Elementary School in Northeast Cobb has been charged with eavesdropping and cruelty to children after Cobb Police said a student saw a surveillance camera in a boys bathroom this week and reported it to a teacher.
A warrant taken out on Friday against Justin Julian, 37, of Acworth, shows that he has been charged with three counts of unlawful surveillance and one count of first degree child cruelty—all felonies—after separate alleged incidents at the Canton Road school on Wednesday.
He was taken into custody on Friday and was released from the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Saturday on a $15,000 bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
The warrant alleges that Julian placed a camera in a boys bathroom and on Wednesday afternoon observed a 10-year-old boy using the urinal. According to the warrant, the boy saw the camera “and was distraught and notified a school teacher.”
The warrant also alleges that Julian watched an 8-year-old boy and another 10-year-old boy use the urinal via a bathroom camera during the same time period.
Neither the warrant nor a message that went out to the Blackwell community specified Julian’s job at the school.
The Blackwell message said that school officials reported the allegations “to the local authorities and worked closely with them throughout the investigation.”
The staff member, the Blackwell message said, “is no longer allowed in our school building.”
The warrant states that Julian was required to wear an ankle monitor before he was released and he is not allowed to have contract with children 16 or under, or linger anywhere children of that age range are present.
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Mike Boyce took plenty of heat at a budget town hall at the East Cobb Senior Center from citizens angry about his proposed tax increase in 2018 (ECN file).
On a chilly, but sunny Saturday in early November 2019, Mike Boyce was visiting with veterans on Old Canton Road at United Military Care, a non-profit that helps veterans in need.
The occasion was a barbecue luncheon to observe Veterans Day, and a few dozen people turned out for hamburgers, hot dogs and the sounds of a local band playing 1960s pop songs that resonated with memories of the Vietnam War.
The group was the Tunnel Rats, and as Boyce took a seat next to mine in the sun, he told me over the music, “I’ve got their CDs.”
A retired Marine colonel, Boyce was too young to suit up for that conflict, but his 30 years in the Corps shaped what became for him a life of service in uniform and beyond.
On this occasion, he wasn’t glad-handing or politicking as Mike Boyce, Cobb Commission Chairman, but as a veteran himself, and a private citizen appreciative of the service and sacrifices of others.
He was as approachable and interested in hearing from his fellow veterans as he was during the many town hall and other public meetings he conducted during his four years in office, even from citizens furious when he proposed a property tax increase.
For Boyce, serving in public office was no different than the military. After he lost his re-election bid in 2020, he participated in a leadership program at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.
That’s where he was two weeks ago when he suffered two strokes. In announcing his death on Tuesday at the age of 72, his wife Judy Boyce said he was “having the time of his life,” mentoring students, riding his bicycle around the inviting Notre Dame campus (I’ve been there, and it’s fantastic) and starting a new chapter in his life.
Like many in Cobb County, I was shocked to hear the news. Judy Boyce said in a message that her husband’s strokes were “unrecoverable.”
A funeral Mass for Boyce will take place next Thursday, Feb. 3, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in South Bend, Ind., starting at 9:30 a.m. It may be live-streamed and updates will be posted here.
A memorial service also is scheduled for Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road), where Boyce was a member.
When he left office, Boyce remained high-energy, vigorous and spirited.
That’s how he approached the job he inherited from Tim Lee, whom he defeated as chairman in 2016, campaigning against his predecessor’s handling of the Atlanta Braves stadium deal.
Boyce ran a true grassroots campaign, dutifully knocking on doors and spending plenty of time around the county, and not just his base in East Cobb. He was vastly outspent and didn’t have the county’s business and political leadership behind him, but he prevailed.
It was a slog, as were many of the budget town halls and other public meetings he conducted during an eventful four years in public office. But his Marine persona was unmistakeable.
As he liked to say about some of those political conflicts, “I’ve been through a lot worse.”
After taking plenty of flack at the East Cobb Senior Center at a budget town hall meeting, Boyce didn’t pack up his presentation materials and quickly scuttle away. Instead, he stuck around to hear citizens agitated about their taxes going up.
As much as he let them sound off, Boyce never backed away from what he said was the necessity of passing a “restoration budget,” one that provided additional funding for parks and libraries, among other things, for Cobb to remain “a five-star county.”
There also was the Mike Boyce who had some gruff Great Santini moments.
During a budget retreat, weary that commissioners weren’t signing on to the tax hike, he blurted out “I get it. You don’t want to stick your neck out. But this isn’t hard. It’s $30 million in an economy of billions. You would think we’re living in Albania! I just don’t understand.”
In the end, he got the third vote he needed. Commissioner Bob Weatherford, a Republican who provided it, was promptly voted out of office.
The Cobb Republican Party, which never warmed up to Boyce, spoke out against the increase.
So did former Commissioner Thea Powell, an East Cobb Republican whom Boyce had appointed to the Cobb Planning Commission.
Not long after calling the proposed tax increase “a dog’s breakfast,” she was summarily replaced.
The “Tax Hike Mike” moniker was born as the political winds in Cobb County were changing.
In 2018, Democrats even made headway in Republican East Cobb, snaring a Congressional and a school board seat.
Boyce often mentioned how the job of chairman was much more than he ever imagined, but as he decided on running for re-election, I asked him: “Are you up for this?”
Without hesitation, he said “Yes.”
I saw him at other community events, including occasionally slipping in at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon when a zoning meeting ended early.
Boyce wasn’t always there to make a public speech, but was hobnobbing with the locals.
At heart, I think Mike Boyce was a citizen-servant who never saw himself as a professional politician.
One of Boyce’s finest moments in public office came in November 2020, shortly after he had been defeated by commissioner Lisa Cupid.
Amid the partisan bickering over Georgia’s voting in the presidential election, Boyce offered “a transition in grace,” saying that “we acknowledge the voice of the people, we hear them and we move on.”
That was the guiding spirit that prompted Boyce to get into public office, and that’s how he left it.
While his family grieves and our community mourns, we should consider ourselves grateful for his commitment to service, and the example he set.
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While the East Coast of the United States braces for a Nor’easter, much of Georgia is about to go into a rare deep freeze this weekend.
The National Weather Service in Atlanta has several special weather statements as temperatures will drop to their lowest in more than two years.
A wind chill advisory is in effect for Cobb County, metro Atlanta and North Georgia through Saturday morning.
Temperatures Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings are expected to drop into the low 20s and the high teens.
Saturday’s high is expected to reach only into the mid 30s. Although warmer weather returns on Sunday with highs in the mid 40s, wind conditions could result in a wind chill factor in some places in the single digits.
There’s also a “red flag” warning on Saturday, meaning that the combination of high winds and low humidity could lead to quickly spreading fires.
Temperatures will be warmer for the start of next week, with highs in the low 60s and sunny skies in the forecast from Monday through Thursday.
But evenings will still be cold, ranging from the high 20s to the low 40s during those days.
Rain is expected Wednesday and Thursday, and colder highs will resume toward the end of next week, in the mid 40s, along with lows in the high 20s.
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The Cobb school board’s Republican majority is recommending a map that would leave East Cobb with two seats. For a larger view click here.
Republican members of the Cobb legislative delegation have filed a bill that would redistrict Cobb Board of Education posts along similar lines recommended recently by the school board’s GOP majority.
State Rep. Ginny Ehrhart of West Cobb filed HB 1028 on Wednesday (you can read it here) as the Cobb legislative delegation—which has a one-member Democratic majority—was meeting over reapportionment.
Co-sponsors of the bill include East Cobb Republicans John Carson, Matt Dollar and Don Parsons.
The delegation is carving out Cobb commission and school board lines for the next decade following the 2020 Census.
The local reapportionment process is usually completed within a county’s delegation before being submitted as a bill that must pass the full legislature, typically in consent fashion on what’s called a local calendar.
Instead, Ehrhart’s legislation will start in the House, after getting a first reading and committee assignment next week.
(PLEASE NOTE: The process of redistricting elected school board posts has nothing to do with the boundaries of school attendance zones, which are drawn by school district administrative staff and are done mainly to balance out school capacity.)
For the last three years, the Cobb school board has held a 4-3 Republican majority (after the GOP previously enjoyed a 6-1 advantage), and has been roiled in a number of controversies that generally have fallen along partisan lines.
State Rep. Erick Allen, a Smyrna Democrat and the Cobb delegation chairman, proposed a draft map of Cobb school board posts earlier this month that would make few changes to the current lines.
The four Republicans on the Cobb school board approved a map designed to maintain their majority. The map would take out most of the East Cobb portion of Post 6 that currently includes the Walton and Wheeler high school clusters.
That seat is currently held by first-term Democrat Charisse Davis, who under the GOP map would be drawn in the same post as Jaha Howard, another first-term Democrat who represents Post 2 in the Smyrna area.
The school board’s recommendation is advisory, but Ehrhart’s bill follows similar lines.
Post 6 would be centered in the Smyrna-Vinings area, keeping several precincts in the Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill corridors.
The Walton-Wheeler zones would mostly be shifted to Post 5, which covers the Lassiter and Pope attendance zones.
That seat is held by Republican vice chairman David Banks.
The new lines, however they might be drawn, will take effect for 2022 elections that include three school board seats.
They are Post 2 (Howard has declared his intent to run for state school superintendent); Post 6 (Davis has not announced her plans) and Post 4 in Northeast Cobb (incumbent David Chastain has said he will be seeking another term).
The Cobb delegation also will be redrawing the four district lines for the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
On Tuesday, the commission’s three Democrats voted in favor of a map drawn by Allen that makes minimal changes to the current lines.
But the two Republicans, JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb and Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, voted against that map.
They are both up for re-election this year. Birrell said she does not support the proposed map because it has taken out some of her East Cobb precincts.
Like the school board’s map, the commissioners’ action is “more of an endorsement vote,” deputy county manager Jimmy Gisi said during the Tuesday meeting.
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The Georgia House on Thursday voted to approve a bill that would allow for a referendum for a proposed city of East Cobb.
After an hour of debate, the vote was 98-63, and the bill now goes to the Georgia Senate.
East Cobb Republican State Rep. Matt Dollar, the bill’s chief sponsor, voted in favor of the bill, along with other East Cobb Republicans John Carson and Sharon Cooper.
The latter is one of three co-sponsors of the East Cobb Cityhood bill, but was the only one of the trio who did not speak during the floor debate.
(You can watch a replay of the House floor session by clicking here and on the House Chamber Day 8 tab; the East Cobb debate begins around the 1:49 mark).
Voting against the bill was another East Cobb Republican, State Rep. Don Parsons, who said he wasn’t consulted about the legislation, nor has he ever heard anything from a citizens group supporting cityhood since the issue first arose four years ago.
He also objected because doesn’t think the proposed city area—around 60,000 people centered along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor—represents a community of interest.
“There is no city of east Cobb waiting to be incorporated,” he said. “There’s nothing that draws it together as a city.”
Also opposing the bill were Cobb Democrats who wanted all four current Cobb cityhood bills—including Vinings, Mableton and Lost Mountain—to be considered together.
Cobb delegation chairman Erick Allen, a Smyrna Democrat, was among those asking for a delay in an East Cobb vote for that and other reasons.
Among the charges opponents have made against the East Cobb bill would be that its proposed services—police and fire, planning and zoning and code enforcement—would add another layer of government.
But State Rep. Ed Setzler of West Cobb, another co-sponsor, said the bill isn’t about adding more government, but “representative government.”
While the current four Cobb district commissioners represent around 200,000 people, the six city council members in East Cobb would represent around 8,000 people.
“Why do the people of Smyrna deserve that level of self-governance, and the people of my community do not even deserve the right to decide if they want it?” Dollar said in his concluding remarks before the vote.
Opponents also questioned last-minute changes to Dollar’s bill this week, including moving up the East Cobb cityhood referendum from November to May.
“People need more than a couple of months of education to learn how the city would work,” said Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Democrat and former member of the Smyrna City Council.
A co-sponsor of the Mableton cityhood bill, she said she’s not opposed to cities, but said the East Cobb bill—a substitute of legislation first introduced last year by Dollar and Cooper—is being rushed through and is “not ready for a vote. Certainly not in May.”
Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones, a Republican from North Fulton, noted than in 15 years of new cities being formed, mostly in metro Atlanta, residents of those municipalities are generally satisfied.
They include Milton and Johns Creek in her district, as well as Peachtree Corners, Tucker and South Fulton.
“It has been a resounding success,” she said, imploring her colleagues to let the citizens of the proposed East Cobb city to have a say in how they may want local governance.
“Keep an open mind, and let the people vote,” Jones said.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Jan. 24have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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The committee instructions include allowing up to an hour for debate before a vote. You can watch a replay of the Rules Committee meeting by clicking here.
The House session on Thursday begins at 10 a.m. and you can watch that by clicking here.
Only a few questions were raised by the Rules Committee. One member asked Dollar if he knew the financial impact a City of East Cobb would have on Cobb County government.
Dollar said he didn’t know and since he first introduced a Cityhood bill in 2019 he has not heard anything from county officials about those concerns.
However, at a House Governmental Affairs Committee meeting Jan. 13, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann and Public Safety Director Randy Crider said they wanted more time to examine the possible impact of an East Cobb city.
It’s one of four bills in this legislative session that would create new cities in Cobb County, along with Vinings, Lost Mountain and Mableton.
A financial feasibility study required as part of the East Cobb legislation was released only in November, and included police and fire services that were not part of the bill Dollar and State Rep. Sharon Cooper introduced in 2021.
East Cobb Cityhood leaders commissioned the study in July and did not disclose until after the report was concluded that public safety was included in August.
Those leaders said in November that there was public feedback supporting those services, but they did not elaborate.
Critics of the East Cobb bill have said the study didn’t full provide a full financial picture of the cost and maintenance of public safety equipment, as well as financials for hiring police officers and firefighters.
His bill would call for a referendum for eligible voters in the proposed city of nearly 60,000 people to decide whether or not to incorporate.
The latest revision to the bill would move the referendum up from the Nov. 6 general election to the May 24 general primary, and to have a mayor directly elected citywide.
Those changes can be found by clicking here; it’s version LC 47 1445S in the upper right corner.
The East Cobb bill is the first Cityhood bill taken up by the legislature this year. The a subcommittee of the House Governmental Affairs Committee was hearing the Vinings and Lost Mountain bills Thursday afternoon.
A bill to create a city of Buckhead out of Atlanta also has been filed and has drawn considerable interest and opposition.
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He and his wife Judy had been attending a leadership seminar at the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater, when he was stricken.
An update on Monday morning on a CaringBridge page said that the Boyces were to meet with doctors to establish his progress.
Judy Boyce posted an update early Tuesday evening saying that her husband “was a man of God who always put other people first.”
She said he was “thrilled to return” to Notre Dame last fall to participate in the school’s Inspired Leadership Initiative program.
“He had never been happier than he was in the past few months, participating in this program, bicycling to campus and interacting with and mentoring students,” she said. “He was having the time of his life.”
Boyce, a Republican and a retired Marine officer who lived in East Cobb, served as chairman for one term, and was defeated by Democratic current chairwoman Lisa Cupid in 2020.
He was an active member of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.
The Cobb government statement that while in office, “Boyce garnered a reputation as a true public servant, putting the needs of those he served above anything else. Although the retired Marine Colonel often leaned on his military leadership skills, those who worked for him knew he had a soft heart for the county’s employees and often preached he needed to “take care of his troops.”
The statement also quoted Cupid as saying that “he loved the county and our country and dedicated himself to making Cobb a better and more inclusive place for everyone. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this very difficult time.”
Said Cobb County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris: “On behalf of the leadership team, we are grateful for his leadership and he’ll be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
The Cobb County Republican Party posted a message on its Facebook page Tuesday evening, saying that Boyce “will leave a void in Cobb County. He served his country well and was a friend to so many. Our hearts are broken. Please keep his family in your prayers.”
Judy Boyce said contributions may be made to the University of Notre Dame via the Michael H. Boyce Memorial Fund. Gifts may be made online at https://giving.nd.edu/Boyce, by phone at 574-631-5150, or by mail: University of Notre Dame Department of Development, 1100 Grace Hall, Notre Dame, Ind. 46556.
“Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult chapter,” Judy Boyce said in her update.
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State Rep. Matt Dollar, East Cobb cityhood bill chief sponsor
The East Cobb Cityhood bill that was favorably reported out of a State House Committee earlier this month would move up a referendum for voters in the proposed city limits from November to May.
If approved by the Georgia General Assembly during the current session, the bill would call for a May 24 referendum for eligible voters in the proposed city limits.
That’s the date of the 2022 general primary in Georgia.
Those voters would determine whether a City of East Cobb with a population of around 60,000, would be created out of a 25-square-mile area of unincorporated Cobb along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.
Another significant change presented by chief sponsor State Rep. Matt Dollar on Monday to the House Governmental Affairs Committee would change the council-mayor form of government—you can watch a replay of the meeting here.
The original HB 841 called for a “weak mayor” form of government with six city council members. They would choose among themselves a mayor to serve a two-year term—with a two-term limit.
In Dollar’s change announced Monday, a mayor would be elected citywide, and six city council members also would be elected citywide. But two members would have to reside in each of three council districts.
Dollar said in a brief committee meeting Monday that the changes were being made due to feedback from the public and by committee lawmakers.
The revised bill HB 841 (you can read it here) was offered as a substitute just as the committee and one of its subcommittees met two weeks ago to consider it.
Supporters and opponents of the bill, including lawmakers and citizens, spoke at both meetings.
Referendum language in the original version of HB 841.
But what wasn’t discussed was the new referendum date. Neither Dollar nor Ed Setzler, a new co-sponsor who is a Republican from North Cobb, mentioned it during those public meetings two weeks ago.
The substitute bill was not posted online for the general public until after the full committee issued a “do pass” recommendation.
The original legislation submitted in 2021 by Dollar and State Rep. Sharon Cooper, both East Cobb Republicans, called for a referendum to be included on Nov. 6 general election ballot.
The May referendum language in the substitute HB 841 reported out a House committee.
Lawmakers returned to regular business on Monday after spending last week in budget meetings.
East Cobb News left a message with Dollar on Sunday seeking comment about the proposed change in the referendum date.
At Monday’s committee meeting, he said the reason for changing it was to have a mayor and city council elected in November to avoid a special election in early 2023.
He said the mayor and council members would be elected to four-year terms, and would be limited to serving three terms.
But committee member Mary Margaret Oliver was skeptical that there would be sufficient time for a Cityhood bill that passed early in the legislative session and signed into law to be put on the May primary ballot.
She called the process “maximum chaos.”
East Cobb News also contacted the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood on Sunday.
In an e-mailed response Sunday evening, spokeswoman Cindy Cooperman said the group “has evaluated and is supportive of holding a referendum vote in the May primary. If the majority of residents in East Cobb vote yes to Cityhood, it opens the door for a council to be elected in November thereby avoiding the need for a special election. In addition to being more cost effective, this timing is ideal to get an elected council in place for 2023.”
On Monday, the Governmental Affairs Committee voted to favorably report the bill.
The next step will be for HB 841 to go to the House Rules Committee, which would schedule the bill for a debate and vote by the full House.
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The festival, which benefits Walton High School music programs, will take place at its usual venue—the recreational parking lots at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church—from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition to food samples from local restaurants, there will be music, a kids’ zone, a raffle and silent auction and “Best of” voting.
Restaurants and local businesses can apply to be vendors by clicking here.
The Taste of Marietta festival will take place a couple weeks before, on April 24 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Marietta Square.
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The 2022 Polar Bear Run at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church is scheduled to take place next Saturday, Jan. 29, starting at 8 a.m.
While the event is for participants of all ages, it’s also one of the earliest qualifiers for the Peachtree Road Race.
A 2K fun run starts at 8 a.m., followed by a 5K timed run and cub run and cub dash follows at 9:15 a.m.
Registration is still underway and can be done by clicking here. Costs range from $25 for the cub races through $35 in advance for the 5K.
The Polar Bear Run is in its 34th year, and proceeds benefit the Johnson Ferry Academy high school music students who need financial assistance to attend an annual summer mission trip.
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The meeting, which was to have taken place at the Mountain View Regional Library, is being limited to online participation due to county COVID-19 restrictions.
The first community meeting was cancelled on Jan. 13 due to the current Omicron variant surge.
Monday’s event lasts from 6-8 p.m. and will be conducted via Webex. The signup link can be found by clicking here. The meeting number is2300 863 0071 and the password is “plan5.”
Participants also can join by telephone at +1-415-655-0003 with an access code of 2300 863 0071.
Every five years the state requires local governments to update their long-term planning priorities. The last update in Cobb was in 2017 (you can read it here).
The update covers a wide range of planning topics, including land use, transportation, housing, economic development, community facilities, human services, public health, education, natural and historic resources, public safety, intergovernment coordination, disaster resilience, military compatability and place-making.
Among the development issues in the update that’s raised concern is the proposed creation of a Unified Development Code.
The Cobb Community Development Agency has proposed a UDC—which exists in Atlanta, DeKalb County and the city of Roswell— that incorporates zoning, planning and land-use with design, landscaping, architectural and other guidelines.
The agency said on an information page that the changes are needed to “streamline these documents into one combined document that would be more easily accessible to the public, designers, and County staff reviewers.”
But some civic leaders around the county have been critical of UDC, saying it would change the suburban nature of many Cobb communities (see our previous post). One opponent has said it amounts to declaring “war” on the suburbs.
The 2040 Comprehensive Plan update process will take several months, with additional public meetings to be scheduled, and culminating with a vote by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
A future meeting is slated for the Mountain View Regional Library, with a date to be determined.
There will be an open house at the Cobb Civic Center on April 14.
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For a more detailed view of the proposed map, click here.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked on Tuesday to vote on a redistricting map to be recommended to the county’s legislative delegation.
Lines for the four commission districts will be drawn during the current legislative session, and the map proposed for Tuesday’s meeting does not call for dramatically shifting boundaries.
But some precincts in East Cobb would be redrawn in the map proposal by State Rep. Erick Allen, a Smyrna Democrat who heads the county’s legislative delegation.
District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson, a Democrat, would lose the Willeo, Shallowford Falls and Sewell Mill 1 precinct and parts of the Sewell Mill 3 and Fullers Park precincts.
They would move to District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell. Click here to see the present map.
She’s up for re-election this year, as is her fellow Republican Keli Gambrill of District 1 in North Cobb.
District 2 has the largest population of the four, with a 2020 Census total of 193,175, an increase of 1,638 from the last Census, and includes much of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.
District 3, which stretches to the Town Center/KSU area, has a population of 189,682; the District 1 population is 190,629; and District 4, which covers most of South Cobb, the population is 192,663.
If the commissioners approve the map recommendation, it would be only advisory.
In December, the Cobb Board of Education voted along party lines—it has a Republican majority—to recommend a map designed to keep that GOP edge.
Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the 21-member Cobb legislative delegation, which will make the final decisions for the school board and commission boundaries.
The commission meeting Tuesday also will include the first public hearings on code amendments (agenda item and proposed changes).
Topics of note include alcoholic beverage uses, regulation of health spas and short-term rentals, and traffic plan requirements for certain zoning and land-use permit applications.
Commissioners revise code amendments every January and don’t hear zoning cases during the month.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), but it will be conducted in virtual format due to continuing COVID restrictions.
There will be two general comment sessions for residents, as well as the public hearing for the code amendments, that the public can participate in virtually. The details can be found in the full agenda packet by clicking here.
The meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.
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The Cobb County School District resumed public reporting of new COVID-19 cases this week after not doing so to start the spring semester.
But changes are underway to alter the present reporting system, and in Friday’s update only the district-wide total number of cases—1,856— were disclosed in its weekly notification report.
That’s for the past week, Jan. 14-21, and is a single-week high during the current school year.
The totals no longer include a school-by-school breakdown, as has been done for most of the past two years.
There also was no information provided on COVID case numbers reported before that. The spring semester in Cobb began on Jan. 5.
Until Friday, district’s notification report page had not been updated since Dec. 17, 2021, the last day of the fall semester.
At the time, there were 6,709 cumulative cases reported among students and staff since July 1, 2021.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday night that as the Omicron variant subsides, reporting those figures will be done differently.
“Most organizations have encouraged case counts not be the primary emphasis,” said Ragsdale, reading from prepared remarks, and citing the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House COVID-19 adviser.
“We are taking the guidance to not focus on case counts,” Ragsdale said. Changing school district protocols is a “multi-step process that will result in no numbers being seen on a web page after the Omicron variant goes through. We will still report, as required, to DPH.”
On Jan. 6. Ragsdale said the district was changing some COVID protocols, including eliminating most contract-tracing, after a new state public health order was issued for schools.
On Thursday, Ragsdale later discussed mental health issues affecting youth, as well as learning loss caused by COVID-19 disruptions, saying some mitigation efforts have been “damaging to students.”
“The bottom line is that we are having school,” he said, “and we are trying to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Because we know a normal school day for our students is what’s going to benefit them most.”
He added that parents should keep their kids home if they are sick, but “otherwise, they need to be in school, where teaching and learning are going to be going on every day.”
Board memberJaha Howard tried to question Ragsdale at that point, but chairman David Chastain told him that “if you have any questions, you can call the superintendent. We’re going to move forward with the agenda.”
Howard voted against adopting the Thursday night business meeting agenda at a Thursday afternoon work session because it contained no specific COVID-related items.
The superintendent made the COVID remarks during dedicated time for him to speak on a variety topics and that typically aren’t published on the agenda.
Howard has attempted to question Ragsdale at previous board meetings about COVID and other issues, without much success.
After a brief interchange with Howard, Chastain repeated his comments, and the board began acting on other agenda items.
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As she hinted last week, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has extended a declaration of emergency regarding COVID-19 until mid-February.
A current emergency declaration was to have expired on Friday. A message sent out by the county late Thursday afternoon said that the new order is “for another 30 days but will be reevaluated if the surge eases.”
She cited the continuing spread of the virus, and specifically the Omicron variant, and the impact to local hospitals for her new order.
“Cases remain well above high community spread, and until we get those numbers down we need to encourage residents to take precautions; to continue wearing masks, watching their distance, and washing their hands,” Cupid said. “Those precautions are outlined in this order.”
That’s still excessively beyond the “high” transmission threshold of 100 cases per 100K.
The order keeps the county’s emergency operations plan in place and calls for continuing portions of public meetings online.
That includes a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session and regular meeting next Tuesday.
The county statement Thursday said that mask requirements and social distancing guidelines that have been in effect in county government facilities will expire at the end of the month.
But “that could also change if circumstances warrant it.”
The mask mandate applies to all indoor county facilities, including libraries and recreation centers.
It does not apply to private or non-county buildings, nor the Cobb County School District.
County courthouses continue to operate under a mask mandate ordered by the Georgia Supreme Court.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Jan. 17 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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County spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a release that more kits are expected in a few days after being delayed to an increase in demand for tests.
The kits will be available to the public at the park pavilion, with access from Al Bishop Drive.
Cavitt said individuals will receive one kit per person, with a maximum of four per vehicle.
“With such a limited supply, the distribution is not expected to take long,” Cavitt said.
He said county officials will be working with Cobb and Douglas Public Health to distribute the additional kits later in January, at designated events and with local non-profits.
“The intent is to target residents that may not be able to go to testing sites or order kits online from the federal government,” the county release said.
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Former Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce remains hospitalized in Indiana after having surgery Tuesday.
Cobb County Government sent a message Tuesday saying that Boyce, an East Cobb resident, suffered two strokes “in recent days.”
Boyce and his wife Judy had been attending a leadership program at the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater, when he was stricken.
An update Tuesday posted to the CaringBridge website said Boyce is on a ventilator and is being sedated as doctors obeserve how he responds.
“Needless to say, this is a very grave situation for our dear friend,” the update states. “Prayer is a powerful thing! Let’s all continue to pray for Mike and Judy.”
More than 100 people have sent messages, including Piedmont Church pastor and MUST Ministries head Ike Reighard as well as Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris and current Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
UPDATED, SATURDAY, JAN. 22:
Boyce remains in a hospital in South Bend, Ind., and has been visited by family members.
“They are all talking to him and he is showing signs of recognition by occasionally movement of his feet and legs,” wrote Sue Ballard Stone on the CaringBridge page.
“The doctors love the fact that they are talking with him and playing his playlist from the iPod for the time they are there.”
Boyce, a retired Marine colonel, defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in the 2016 Republican primary, then was unopposed in the general election.
He was defeated in his re-election bid in 2020 by Democratic current chairwoman Lisa Cupid.
Boyce is an active member of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in East Cobb.
“We know Mike is a fighter,” McMorris said in a statement issued by the county. “Our prayers are with him, as well as Judy and the family. We are hopeful of a speedy recovery and praying he can come through this. Our county family hopes to see him back in Cobb County as soon as possible.”
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