Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A reader alerted us earlier this week to the fact that the Power-Jackson Cabin located on Post Oak Tritt Road, and that has been the subject of an urgent historic preservation effort, was no longer there.
Cobb Landmarks, a local historic preservation non-profit, has been raising funds to have the cabin removed and relocated elsewhere in East Cobb, to Hyde Farm, with other 1840s-era farming structures.
On Thursday, the organization said the task was completed this week, during a process of tagging, disassembling, relocating.
Cobb Landmarks raised more than $70,000 to do the work, after getting approval from the Cobb Board of Commissioners in April for $321,000 in 2011 SPLOST funds for professional restoration work on the cabin at Hyde Farm.
It’s been more than a year since the preservation effort got underway, following a rezoning request on the wooded property where the cabin stood.
The Power-Jackson Cabin, possibly built before 1840 by farmer William Power, was located on 13 undeveloped acres on Post Oak Tritt Road near McPherson Road that was part of a recent zoning case.
Landowner Kenneth B. Clary sought rezoning for a single-family subdivision, but issues over the cabin and possible Power family burials complicated the issue.
Hyde Farm is where another Power family cabin exists, as part of a working 1840s farm that was in family hands until the 1990s. Cobb PARKS oversees that property off Lower Roswell Road.
At one zoning hearing, cemetery preservationists also noted that a young mother—likely Power’s daughter—and two infants are buried on the site, further complicating development efforts.
Cobb Landmarks said there’s evidence suggesting the Power-Jackson Cabin may be the oldest standing structure in Cobb County, even predating the establishment of the county in 1832.
As for the possible burial grounds, the organization said that while “their exact location remains uncertain, we took precautions to avoid disturbing the suspected burial area during the disassembly of the cabin.”
The restoration work will be performed by Leatherwood Inc., a Tennessee-based company that restored 13 structures at Hyde Farm in 2014.
Cobb PARKS also is awaiting word on a request submitted to the National Park Service to add Hyde Farm to the National Register of Historic Places.
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Dr. Marianna Kovtich (in white suit) with staff and members of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce at the Modern Dental Center ribbon-cutting.
We reported a few months ago on the Mt. Bethel Community Center being sold to be converted into a dentistry practice.
That business has now opened. Modern Dental Center recently opened its doors at 4608 Lower Roswell Road earlier this month, providing “general cleaning for children and adults, veneers, bonding, crowns, bridges, implants, and treatment for sleep apnea,” according to a release.
Leading the practice is Dr. Marianna Kovitch, a board-certified dental sleep medicine specialist certified by the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.
She has had a fellowship from the International Congress of Oral Implantology in 2015 and a fellowship from the Academy of General Dentistry in 2018, where she also served as past president of the Georgia chapter.
“My mission is to provide exceptional dentistry you can trust in a comfortable, pain-free environment,” says Dr. Kovitch.
She said the center provides patients with the latest in technology and comfort, including a beverage station, Bose headphones, ceiling televisions and an electric car charger.
Dental services features include a 3D scanner for x-rays with a low radiation exposure using the Vatech Green CBCT system. There’s also a diode dental laser for gum recontouring, treatment of ulcers and periodontal disease.
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Cobb commissioners voted Tuesday to adopt commission electoral maps approved by the Georgia legislature more than two years ago, after using different maps that were recently ruled unconstitutional.
But commissioners couldn’t pass a resolution that would have begun a process to vacate the seat held by Jerica Richardson because her East Cobb residence is no longer in District 2.
On Tuesday night, a lengthy meeting created more heated rhetoric—along partisan and racial lines—and included a citizen launching a blistering tirade at another commissioner.
It also created more confusion about how long Richardson may be in office. County code requires that commissioners vacate their offices if they don’t live in their districts.
The board voted 3-2 to adopt the legislative maps, but with Richardson recusing herself, commissioners were knotted 2-2 on approving a motion to declare a vacancy.
Since October 22, Cobb has recognized electoral maps (left) that kept Richardson in District 2 (in pink) that were ruled unconstitutional last month. On Tuesday commissioners approved state maps that put most of East Cobb in District 3 (yellow).
If that resolution had passed, the county would have had 10 days to declare a vacancy in a process that allowed for Richardson to contest her removal in court.
On Wednesday, Cobb government issued a statement saying that Richardson is still a commissioner, but didn’t indicate for how long.
The statement said that the failure to pass a resolution declaring the District 2 seat vacant allows Richardson “to continue serving as the district’s representative.”
During Tuesday’s lengthy discussion, Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose District 3 includes most of East Cobb in the state maps, said she didn’t want Richardson to have to leave immediately.
“I do struggle with this,” Birrell said, “but I don’t support this, giving notice kicking her out. I think she should finish her term.”
‘Two years of hell’
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell called the map dispute “two years of hell.”
Richardson is part of the three-Democrat majority that voted in Oct. 2022 to adopt maps drawn by former State Rep. Erick Allen, then the Cobb legislative delegation chairman, that would have kept Richardson in her seat.
They claimed “home rule” authority to adopt those maps after the legislature approved maps that placed Richardson, who moved to a home off Post Oak Tritt Road in 2021, into District 3.
But Birrell and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill were among those saying that the Georgia Constitution allows only the legislature to conduct county reapportionment.
They read statements into the record before casting votes in meetings starting in January 2023 objecting to the “home rule” maps.
Birrell didn’t like the Allen maps because her district would be majority Democratic. She said that “she looked at all scenarios to keep Jerica in District 2, but the numbers didn’t warrant that. . . .
“It has been two years of hell going through this.”
Sheffield had previously noted that legislators told them that “when we draw maps we don’t consider political parties. It’s for the citizens of Cobb County.”
Gambrill was an initial plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging those maps and later eventually dismissed by the Georgia Supreme Court due to a lack of standing.
Another legal complaint was filed by Republican Alicia Adams in April, after she was disqualified from running in District 2 under the home rule maps that were being followed by the Cobb Board of Elections.
On July 25, Cobb Superior C0urt Judge Kellie Hill ruled in favor of Adams, declaring the “home rule” maps unconstitutional.
Hill also ordered special elections for early 2025 in District 2 and District 4, since those maps were used for May primaries.
Richardson is a first-term Democrat who decided not to seek re-election earlier this year, opting instead for an unsuccessful Congressional bid, as the map dispute lingered.
Her term expires on Dec. 31. The same goes for District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield of South Cobb, who won a May Democratic primary based on the county-adopted maps.
They voted against the resolution to adopt the legislative maps on Tuesday.
Sheffield, who on Monday described the partisan squabbling on the board as “political Crips and Bloods,” wanted to pull the item for further discussion. She also was “all for” seeing Richardson complete her term.
But Birrell, who has been insisting her colleagues “follow the law,” said the matter has dragged on too far.
“This has to end tonight,” she said. “It has gone on too long.”
While what happened to Richardson “isn’t fair,” Birrell continued, “the bottom line is we don’t have the authority to draw a map.”
She, Gambrill and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid voted in favor of adopting the state maps.
Cupid continued to claim that “a great harm” was done to Cobb by the legislature in bypassing local delegation courtesies during reapportionment.
On the motion to declare a vacancy, Gambrill and Cupid voted in favor, while Birrell and Sheffield voted against.
‘You are a joke’
After Richardson returned to the dais, several public commenters had their say.
One of them, East Marietta resident Don Barth, tore into Cupid and Sheffield.
Barth is a Democrat who was disqualified in District 2 by the Cobb County Democratic Committee in the primaries for not living in that district according to the home rule maps.
A frequent public commenter, Barth greeted commissioners by saying, “you are a joke,” and ramped up the rhetoric from there, attacking Cupid, Sheffield and Cobb County Attorney Bill Rowling in particular.
“You wonder why there’s no trust? You earn trust. You haven’t earned anything lady,” he said to Cupid. “You have been the worst thing for Cobb County.”
But Cupid cut off his comments after he yelled at Sheffield, with him shrieking that “I don’t work for you, you work for me!”
Sheffield said his comments, and their tone, made her feel “threatened.”
Barth replied that “you are a drama queen!”
After repeating that line twice, he was removed from the podium and escorted out of the room by law enforcement.
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A 30-day extension for a judicial emergency in Cobb Superior Court has been issued by Chief Judge Gregory Poole, stemming from serious issues with the court clerk’s office new online filing system.
Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole
Poole said in a release issued by Cobb government Wednesday that the emergency will continue through Oct. 6, due to a “significant backlog” in updating the system with documents.
He issued the initial emergency earlier this month, saying that serious filing issues and delays are plaguing the new system and prompting many court proceedings to be ground to a halt.
Without informing judges, Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor installed a new court filing system in June that had repeated malfunctions, and that were prompting delays in converting documents from the old system in some cases by weeks and months.
Under the emergency, there was an extension of deadlines for filing motions, setting court calendars and other proceedings.
In his extension announced Wednesday, Poole said that some documents dating back to November 2023 haven’t been uploaded, and that issues over notices, schedules and calendars remain.
“Court staff have also been confused by procedural changes in stamp-filing original documents, and indigent defendants are still being charged for access to documents,” the county release said.
“The Chief Judge continues to believe that these types of issues and conditions continue to raise serious due process and other constitutional concerns.”
The emergency order applies only to Cobb Superior Court, which handles felonies, major civil litigation, divorces, child support matters and more. State Court, Magistrate Court, Probate Court and Juvenile Court systems in Cobb are not affected by the order.
Taylor is a state constitutional elected officer whose term expires this year. A Democrat, she easily won the party primary in May over three opponents despite being dogged by controversy.
She acknowledged personally pocketing $425,000 in passport fees—court clerks are allowed to do this—a sum that far exceeded her predecessors.
Taylor allegedly ordered one of her staffers to destroy documents related to the matter, telling her to “Donald Trump this thing.”
By end of last year, Taylor’s office was falling behind filing documents to the court systems, sometimes by several months.
She told Poole some of those issues were caused by staff shortages in her office.
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Tritt Elementary School in East Cobb was evacuated early Wednesday after a fire broke out in an HVAC unit, according to the Cobb County School District.
The district said that students weren’t in the school building (4355 Post Oak Tritt Road) and everyone is safe after Cobb Fire units responded.
Cobb Fire said the fire is considered minor but an adult inside the building was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and no firefighters were injured.
Chris Smith, the Cobb Fire public information officer, said a call reporting smoke at the school was received shortly after 7 a.m. and units arrived at 7:12 a.m. to find smoke coming from a wall HVAC unit at the front of the school building and in a hallway.
He said the fire was contained by 7:16 a.m. and crews then used pressurized ventilation fans to remove smoke from hallways.
Fire units left the scene by 8:15 a.m., Smith said.
“We are currently assessing the building and any necessary changes to the schedule,” the Cobb school district said in a statement.
School buses were diverted to Hightower Trail Middle School, where Tritt classes are being conducted Wednesday, according to a district spokeswoman.
She said classes are expected to resume at Tritt on Thursday.
The person taken to a hospital was identified as a staff member, not a teacher or a student, “and is recovering well without significant injuries,” the spokeswoman said.
Joe Ovbey, who has two children who attend Tritt, told East Cobb News he tried to drop them off at 7:15 a.m. but was turned away.
He said he brought his children home as buses were taking students to Hightower Trail.
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Cobb commissioner Monique Sheffield—second from right—said that “we have become nothing more than political Bloods and Crips. . . . No offense to the Crips and Bloods.”
Instead of hammering out the beginning steps toward resolving a long, bitter dispute over electoral maps, Cobb commissioners on Monday launched into some of their harshest rhetoric yet on the matter.
During a work session to go over Tuesday’s meeting agenda, the partisan—and even racial—divides that have marked the saga boiled over more than they ever have.
The county opted last week to accept a Cobb Superior Court judge’s ruling that “home rule” maps adopted in late 2022 by the commission’s Democratic majority violated the Georgia Constitution.
As a result, the Cobb County Attorney’s Office proposed a resolution to adopt legislative-approved commission maps and give legal notice to vacate the District 2 seat—which had included some of East Cobb—due to residency issues.
That resolution is supposed to be on Tuesday night’s meeting agenda, but the work session Monday left that in doubt.
(You can watch the full discussion of the home rule issue in the video below.)
A notice to vacate, if approved, could mean that Democratic incumbent Jerica Richardson—who did not seek re-election—may have to leave office before her term expires at the end of December.
But Comissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb—one of two Republicans on the board—wanted her colleagues to repeal the “home rule” maps before doing anything else.
They were approved by the Democrats, claiming “home rule” exceptions under state law, after Richardson was drawn out of her East Cobb home. The Republican-led legislature did not consider maps approved by the county’s Democratic-majority legislative delegation that kept Richardson in District 2.
But in late July, Judge Kellie Hill said the Cobb’s action was unconstitutional because only the legislature can conduct county reapportionment. She also ordered special elections for next year to redo the results of primaries in District 2 and District 4 that were conducted with the “home rule” maps.
Birrell’s request to repeal those maps was opposed by Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who said that action was not on the agenda and hadn’t previously been discussed in work sessions.
“Until [the home rule maps are] repealed, we can’t move forward with any notice” regarding the vacancy, insisted Birrell, who reiterated a desire for outside counsel.
She and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill questioned the advice commissioners were getting from their in-house legal counsel.
Gambrill said she noticed that during an executive session on the issue, the county attorney’s staff kept separate sets of notes, with two in red (indicating the two Republican commissioners) and three others in blue (noting the Democrats).
“This is strictly political at this point,” Gambrill said. “Is our counsel going by the law or going by the majority?”
She and Cupid began raising their voices over one another, then Gambrill took aim at Richardson, who said she would recuse herself from a vote, saying “this item is being sent directly to me . . . I’m leaving my future up the four of you.”
Richardson said a vote to repeal the maps would be a home rule act that has been ruled unconstitutional and that “you can’t have it both ways.”
Monique Sheffield, a first-term Democrat from District 4 in South Cobb, blamed Republican lawmakers for bypassing local delegation courtesies during reapportionment in 2022.
“This is very political and it started at the statehouse when Commissioner Richardson was drawn out of her district,” Sheffield said.
“What’s happening in Cobb County is what’s happening nationally. People are dug in on their side, regardless of what is right.
“We have become nothing more than political Bloods and Crips,” she added, making a reference to criminal gang rivals. “No offense to the Crips and Bloods.”
That remark drew some chuckles, but the nearly 40-minute discussion was far from a laughing matter.
Sheffield took a bleaker turn, saying Richardson had received “nasty and disgusting” text messages that “takes me back to a time where people were not welcome in this country. People are still not welcome.
“When you have a young commissioner who decides to move in an area still within her district and she’s drawn out, but when she’s told she should move to an urban area, and that someone wants to ‘protect’ their community, that may not resonate to some of you but that resonates to me.”
When a spectator objected to that comment, Cupid said “you can get up and leave.”
Sheffield said that if Richardson were a Republican, “would we see all of this here? I don’t think we would.”
Richardson didn’t say anything in response to Sheffield’s comments.
The last two years, commissioners have heard “we want her out of her seat. We want blood, we want blood,” Sheffield continued, pounding her fists on the table.
At that point, Birrell interjected: “I didn’t say that.”
Sitting just a couple of feet away, Sheffield turned to her and said: “I didn’t say that you did. . . . This is an indictment on whoever feels that way.”
Later, Birrell said that her request to repeal the “home rule” maps isn’t about any of that.
“This is following the law and upholding the Constitution of the United States, the state of Georgia and Cobb County,” she said.
“The only way to settle this once and for all” is to publish public notices like were done with the “home rule” map approval process with two public meetings before voting to repeal them.
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The Cobb Chamber’s Board of Directors have named Melissa Cantrell, President and CEO of CDH Partners, as its 2026 Chairwoman of the Board.
Cantrell will succeed Chris Britton, Regional President of Brasfield & Gorrie, who begins his term as Chairman of the Board in 2025. Cantrell will start her term in January 2026 as Board Chairwoman and will serve as Board Chair Elect in 2025.
“It is an honor to be entrusted to serve as the 2026 Board Chairwoman. My passion for serving our business community and helping them achieve their goals has been fueled by the mission of the Chamber. By building the foundations of our community with a prioritization on the needs of our businesses, we’re laying the groundwork for a more vibrant and sustainable future,” said Melissa Cantrell. “I am proud to contribute to the Chamber’s vision to create a future for Cobb that makes Cobb County a dynamic place to live, work, and play!”
Cantrell is a long-time investor in the Cobb Chamber and its economic development strategy, SelectCobb. She has served on the Cobb Chamber Board of Directors and SelectCobb Board of Directors since 2015. Her most recent role has been the 2024 Member and Community Programs Chair on the Cobb Chamber’s Executive Committee. Cantrell also served as a judge for the Cobb Chamber’s 2024 Small Business of the Year award. Cantrell and her team at CDH Partners were named the 2023 Small Business of the Year.
Cantrell has also served on many Cobb Chamber committees, including the building transition taskforce, Leadership Cobb Selection Committee, Leadership Cobb Education/Workforce Day, Armed Services Program Day, and as a Marietta Area Council Director. She is a graduate of the 2014 Leadership Cobb class and an active member of the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association. She is a current class member of the Honorary Commanders program.
As President and CEO of CDH Partners, Cantrell leads the firm’s operations, plans and strategies, resourcing, employee growth, and budgets. She is also the principal of CDH Partners’ education studio, where she delivers innovative architectural design and master planning to public and private education clients.
Cantrell is a member of several industry organizations, including the Georgia Chapter of the Association of Learning Environments, the United States Green Building Council, the Georgia Association of Physical Plant Administrators, and the Georgia Board of Architects and Interior Designers. She shares her expertise with several community organizations, such as the Kennesaw State University College of Architecture Advisory Council, the Marietta High School Architecture Program Advisory Council, and the One Cumberland Board of Directors. Cantrell is also currently serving on the Cobb Chamber’s taskforce for the county’s Unified Development Code project.
“Melissa Cantrell is a remarkable leader with a proven track record of excellence and innovation. Her extensive experience as President and CEO of CDH Partners, coupled with her deep commitment to our community and chamber, makes her an ideal choice to chair the Cobb Chamber Board of Directors in 2026,” said Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “Melissa’s vision, strategic thinking, and ability to bring people together will be invaluable as we continue to advance our mission. I couldn’t be more excited to have her at the helm, and I look forward to the incredible impact she’ll make in this role.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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Concerts, garden activities and the annual lighting of the Christmas tree make up fall 2024 events at East Cobb Park.
The non-profit volunteer organization Friends for the East Cobb Park this week announced a variety of free activities that are open to the public, starting this coming Tuesday, Aug. 27.
That’s a workday for a new special garden planned by the East Cobb Garden Club, a part of the Friends organization.
Tuesday’s event begins bright and early at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a garden club meeting and workday on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. (see full fall schedule below).
What’s being called “Sunny’s Butterly Garden” is named in honor of the late Sunny Walker, a key figure in the creation of East Cobb Park (our story from April).
It will be an all-season garden featuring more than two dozen types of flowers, covering several hundred square feet. The garden is being designed by Lyn Cohen, head of the East Cobb Park Garden Club, who’s a professional landscape architect.
To be planted include redbuds, Black-Eyed Susans, daffodils, hydrangeas and other varietals.
The Music in the Park concert series returns with two dates in September and two more in October, along with a family movie screening in October.
As fall turns to winter, the park once again will stage the Holiday Lights tradition on Dec. 8, including a visit from Santa Claus, plenty of festive music of the season and refreshments.
For more about Friends for the East Cobb Park-sponsored events, click here.
Cobb PARKS handles reservations for picnic pavilions at East Cobb Park. You can do that by clicking here, or by contactingSheila Kracalaat (770) 591-3160 or email her directly Sheila.kracala@cobbcounty.org.
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Some Cobb County School District teachers took part in a special training session at Wheeler High School on Monday on a staff development day to learn about a virtual reality tool for mathematics and science.
The Prism VR headsets were given to more than 300 teachers to illustrate their potential for solving real-world problems in the STEM fields (here are a few examples).
Prisms VR was founded in 2020, by Anurupa Ganguly, an MIT engineer turned educator, who recently briefed the Cobb Board of Education on the concept. She received a National Science Foundation grant to put together a concept geared toward middle- and high school algebra students in particular.
Ganguly found that traditional STEM instruction “over-indexed on abstract representations while neglecting the other ways through which we express our thinking beyond text and symbolic notation.”
Her goal, she pointed out, was to create a learning system in which “every individual, regardless of their past experiences, would have the tools and resources to change their circumstances, fall in love with great problems, and create lives of mind to solve them.”
The Cobb school district in April expanded the use of Prisms VR to 20 schools, including Daniell, Hightower Trail and Simpson middle schools and Pope and Sprayberry high schools.
Among the Cobb teachers taking the training is Ashley Kaplan of Hightower Trail Middle School.
“The kids are going to love this. The fact they do the VR now, at home all the time with their friends and incorporating this in the classroom, this is very, very cool to bring their interest into the classroom,” Kaplan said in a release issued by the Cobb school district.
“With mobile VR/AR, the math and science classroom is no longer a sterile, word problem on a screen, piece of paper, or a video with penguins and sharks,” Ganguly said.
“Our message to students: Your job in school is to fall in love with great problems and discover frameworks of thought to solve them. Not to memorize other’s creations, only.”
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Cobb County will no longer challenge commission electoral maps that have been at the heart of a nearly two-year-long legal dispute.
Jerica Richardson
But that doesn’t mean that the chaos and confusion that’s accompanied that saga is over.
Commissioners will be asked to consider on Tuesday an agenda item that “acknowledges a finding” that “home rule maps” approved by the commission’s three Democrats in 2022 be dropped in favor of legislative-approved maps that drew District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her seat.
That’s after a Cobb Superior Court judge declared the “home rule” maps a violation of the Georgia Constitution, since only the Georgia legislature can conduct county reapportionment.
Judge Kellie Hill then ordered special elections for the District 2 and District 4 commission primaries in which the home rule maps were used.
Those elections may not be decided until June of 2025. The earliest they would be finalized would be next April, according to schedules approved last week by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.
According to a state law cited in an agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting, should the commissioners adopt the legislative maps, Richardson would no longer be a legal resident of District 2, and that office must be vacated.
The agenda item calls for approving “notice to the sitting District 2 Commissioner that the office is deemed vacant” and states that the county must give 10 days’ notice “before proceeding to fill the vacancy.”
The agenda item (you can read it here) doesn’t indicate how that vacancy might be filled, or even if it will.
In response to a request for clarification from East Cobb News, Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said that providing a notice to vacate the District 2 office came from the Cobb County Attorney’s Office, citing State Code of Georgia provisions for filling vacancies in local elected offices.
When asked what such a process might entail for vacating the District 2 seat, Cavitt said that “there will be more discussion on this Monday.”
That’s when commissioners will meet in a work session to go over Tuesday’s agenda items.
Richardson is a first-term Democrat who moved from the Delk Road area to a home off Post Oak Tritt Road shortly after her election in 2020. That’s when District 2 included a sizable portion of East Cobb.
In 2022, however, the Georgia legislature ignored maps drawn by the Cobb delegation that would have kept Richardson in District 2. Instead, lawmakers approved maps that put most of East Cobb, including her home, in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell.
District 2 includes most of the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area, as well as the I-75 corridor north to Marietta and the Town Center area.
Richardson, Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield—the board’s Democratic majority—voted to approve the Cobb delegation maps, claiming home rule authority.
Richardson’s term was to expire at the end of this year, but as the dispute dragged on, she decided not to seek re-election, and instead ran unsuccessfully for Congress in May.
East Cobb News has left a message with Richardson seeking comment on the possibility of having to vacate her seat. If she is forced to do so, she could have that notice reviewed in Cobb Superior Court.
The county complained that Hill’s ruling to order special elections would be costly to county taxpayers and that the possibility existed of having a three-member board, instead of the full complement of five elected commissioners.
Hill said that nothing in her order calling for special elections implied that there would vacancies, indicating that Richardson and Sheffield could continue serving until the special elections are held.
Birrell and Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill have said the same thing for several months.
In her July 25 decision, Hill ruled on an appeal by a Republican candidate, Alicia Adams, who had been disqualified for the District 2 primary under the home rule maps, which the Cobb elections board was following.
Adams lives within those boundaries under the legislative maps, but East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, a Democratic activist and ally of Richardson, challenged her qualification under the home rule maps.
The commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
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From left, Cobb County Democratic Committee Treasurer Sharon Marshall and 11th District delegates Tim Bailey, CCDC Second Vice Chair Erika Bailey, Jim Evangelista and Katherine Underwood at a Sunday welcome party in Chicago. Photos courtesy CCDC.
Members of the Cobb County Democratic Committee, including representatives of the 11th Congressional District that covers East Cobb, are in attendance this week in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.
They include second vice-chair Erika Bailey, who said in a CDCC release that “the energy is unbelievable” and that “I will never forget this experience.”
Marshall, who along with Vice President Kamala Harris is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, has made it a point to meet as many other delegates as possible.
Treasurer Sharon Marshall met with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock at a Georgia delegation breakfast. “He told us, ‘Infrastructure is spiritual. We are the country that built the interstate highway. We have to work together.’ ”
On Tuesday, the Georgia delegation cast its votes for the ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, following a memorable introduction by Atlanta rapper Lil Jon.
Marshall is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the same sorority that Harris belonged to during her college days. On Thursday night, Harris will accept the Democratic nomination for president, following President Joe Biden’s decision last month not to seek re-electdion.
“Nominating Kamala Harris as the first black woman and first Asian American nominee for president is an honor I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” Marshall said. “Our state is showing up and showing out at the DNC. I have never been prouder to be from Georgia!”
Cobb Democrats and the Young Democrats of Cobb will be hosting a watch party Thursday from 7-11 p.m. Details and required pre-registration can be found at this link.
Sharon Marshall (right), CCDC treasurer, stands with media personality Star Jones (left) at the 2024 DNC. Both are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the same sorority as Vice President Kamala Harris.
From left to right, CCDC Second Vice Chair Erika Bailey stands with Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and husband Tim Bailey at the Georgia Delegation breakfast.
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In what appears to be the end of the road in a long, drawn-out dispute over Cobb Commission electoral maps, a Superior Court judge Tuesday denied the county government’s last-ditch attempt to intervene in a case that’s resulted in special elections for two of the four district commission seats.
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said Wednesday that Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid “will propose an agenda item for commissioners at Tuesday’s BOC [meeting] to accept the ruling and move forward in good faith.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill
Judge Kellie Hill affirmed her ruling from July that the “home rule” maps the county has been using since October 2022 are unconstitutional and that the May primary elections using them must be vacated.
That was after a Republican candidate for Cobb Commission District 2 was disqualified for not living within the map boundaries the county was observing.
In her order, Hill called for special elections using maps approved by the Georgia legislature in 2022, saying Adams lives within the District 2 boundaries in those maps.
The special elections would be scheduled for early next year, according to actions taken last week by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.
During a hearing Tuesday, the county argued that special elections would cost Cobb taxpayers—perhaps hundreds of thousand of dollars—and that the five-member commission could be reduced to three by January 2025.
That’s when the terms of current District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson and present District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield expire.
But in upholding her ruling—and a pointthe Cobb elections board also made in its brief—Hill said the commissioners—specifically, the three Democrats in the majority who voted for the home rule maps—acted to disenfranchise voters with an improper, unconstitutional map.
She said that nothing in her order calling for special elections implied that there would be a three-person board, clarifying that Richardson and Sheffield could continue serving until the special elections are held.
The Georgia Constitution mandates that the legislature conduct county reapportionment. The “home rule” challenge was a bid to keep Richardson in her seat, after the General Assembly drew her out of her East Cobb home.
Adams filed her complaint against the Cobb elections board, which was observing the “home rule” maps. The county was not a party to that complaint, and its emergency motion to intervene—four months after the fact—was denounced by the elections board and Adams’ attorney.
It’s also not clear when the legislative maps would start to be used by the county. The “home rule” maps included areas of East Cobb in District 2.
In the legislative maps, most of East Cobb is included in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected with those maps in 2022.
Richardson, a Democrat who barely won the District 2 race in 2020 to succeed retiring Republican Commissioner Bob Ott, is not seeking a second term.
She ran for 6th District Congress and was routed in the primary by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath.
The District 2 Democratic primary was won by former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard in a runoff.
Sheffield easily won the Democratic primary in District 4 and was facing no Republican opposition in the general election.
The Cobb elections board last week set two sets of dates to re-do the primaries: from Feb. 11 to April 29 if there are general election runoffs in November; or from March 18-June 17 if there are not runoffs.
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After several months of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved site plan changes at a vacated restaurant in East Cobb for a Whataburger location.
The board voted 4-0 to approve changes that would allow Whataburger to convert the former O’Charley’s site on Sandy Plains Road at Shallowford Road into a 7,000-square-foot fast-food restaurant with drive-through service.
Stipulations approved for the O’Charley’s rezoning in 1999 included restrictions against those uses.
“Since that time, the world has become a different place,” said Kevin Moore, an attorney for Whataburger, explaining a built-up corridor with several commercial and retail complexes.
O’Charley’s closed last year on former Gordy Family land that is subject to an architectural control committee, which has been working on landscaping details that will have to come back to commissioners.
“Instead of a dark O’Charley’s, we have a brand new Whataburger.”
On the consent agenda, the board also approved a special-land-use permit for a baseball complex on 12 vacant acres on Jamerson Road, between Lake Drive and Lee Waters Road near Kell High School.
It’s located adjacent to the East Cobb Baseball complex and will have a 5,000-square-foot barndominium, a 14,400-square-foot batting cage facility, a 600-square-foot concessions building, and two baseball fields (agenda item here).
The hours will be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily for the baseball fields and concessions, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for the batting cage facility, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for the barndominium. A total of 173 parking spaces would be built at the complex.
The land has been zoned residential and includes a small lake along Lake Drive. The applicant, Blake Bondurant, has been a coach at East Cobb Baseball, a youth travel baseball organization.
In a 3-1 vote, a two-acre low-density residential lot near Atlanta Country Club was rezoned to a medium-density zoning category to split the parcel into two for the construction of a home.
Murray Gray sought rezoning from R-80 to R-40 for another home adjacent to an existing residence on the east side of Atlanta Country Club Drive and the south side of Paper Mill Road (case filing here).
He’s the owner of the existing home at 101 Atlanta Country Club Drive; the second lot would front Paper Mill Road.
While Commissioner Jerica Richardson made a motion to approve the request, Commissioner JoAnn Birell was opposed due to a nearby resident in opposition.
Commissioners voted to continue another East Cobb application until September.
Naushad Ahmed is seeking reduction of of required public road frontage at the western end of Hembree Drive from 75 feet to 28 feet for a residential development.
Ahmed, who occupies a home there on 1.41 acres, wants to divide the parcel into two two lots to build another home zoned at R-30. The staff analysis states that the back lot has only 28 feet of frontage and needs the reduction in order to meet zoning requirements.
The continuance is needed due to insufficient public notice, and six people turned out in opposition Tuesday (case file here).
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Registered voters in Cobb County and Georgia who wish to vote absentee by mail for the Nov. 5 general election have until Oct. 25 to request their ballots.
According to Georgia law, you don’t have to have a reason for requesting an absentee ballot but can do so only between 78 and 11 calendar days before an election.
Applicants must sign a signature physically—not electronically—and provide their date of birth and other voter identification information on the ballot.
Friends, family members or other individuals assisting an individual with an absentee ballot request may do so, and are required to provide a signature on the application. The ballot will be mailed to the voter.
Applications can be sent via the following methods:
Mail: Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration
P.O. Box 649
Marietta, GA 30061-0649
In-Person: Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Office
995 Roswell St. NE
Marietta, GA 30060
All absentee ballot applications will be reviewed by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration. Once you receive an absentee ballot, you must fill it out and return it before the polls close on election day.
Cobb Elections has more details on options around absentee voting.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
If you were watching the Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday night, on two occasions the livestream was paused.
That’s because public commenters were reading from sexually explicit books the Cobb County School District has pulled from library shelves.
Earlier on Thursday, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced 13 more removals, following seven books that have been pulled in the last school year, due to graphic and obscene content he said are not age-appropriate for minors.
For the last year, some parents have blasted Ragsdale for “banning” books they allege have more to do with minority and LGBTQ students than adult content, and discourage students from embracing a culture of reading.
Recently, other parents and citizens have begun to respond to those charges, and in explicit fashion to match the content at hand.
One of them is East Cobb resident JoEllen Smith, who went up to the dais and handed out a copy of her remarks, topped by a photocopy of a graphic scene from one of the books, “Gender Queer,” depicting two boys engaging in oral sex.
She started her remarks by saying that “the Democratic candidates running for school board are saying the superintendent is banning books. Not true. The books they’re fighting for are kiddie porn, and probably illegal if owned by an adult.
“Here’s from a book that normalizes pedophilia and and incest. A 12-year-old girl has a baby by her father. Here’s the quote.”
At that point, Cobb school board attorney Suzann Wilcox said she could not let those sequences be aired due to federal regulations that “prohibit certain language and material from being broadcast.”
The district livestreams public meetings on its website, and they are shown on two cable systems—Comcast and Charter.
Wilcox said “we’re not going to stop you from reading, but . . . I’m going to give our technical team a moment to adjust and then you can resume.”
While those in attendance in the board meeting room heard the explicit language, here’s what viewers saw, with no audio, for a few moments:
East Cobb News has obtained a copy of the text and the graphic that Smith, a local Republican activist, gave to board members.
Smith’s verbal remarks are from other books that have been removed in Cobb.
While we are not subject to such regulations, we are not reproducing them fully in this post but linking to them here and here, so discretion is advised if you are interested in what was said.
When the livestream resumed, Smith concluded her remarks by saying that “there are hundreds of pro-LBGT books that don’t include kiddie porn. And it’s unfairly conflating homosexuality to pedophilia which is stigmatizing our gay youth.”
That was first instance of remarks not being aired in Cobb since the school book controversy first flared up last year.
Similar actions have taken place at other school board meetings around the country in recent months.
Sharon Hudson
In April, a pastor was reading from “Push”—one of the books recently removed in Cobb—during a Broward Board of Education meeting in Florida when his microphone was cut off.
Before Smith spoke on Thursday, parent Sharon Hudson—a frequent critic of the book removals—chastised Ragsdale for his latest action.
Wearing a “Read Banned Books” shirt, she described herself as a Christian conservative Republican, but said there hasn’t been porn in Cobb schools.
“If he thinks it’s inappropriate, he’ll ban it and continue his reign of censorship,” she said. “No parent or student rights—just his decision of what they can and cannot read.”
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