Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce will preside over his final meeting Tuesday.
With the end-of-the-year deadline approaching, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked Tuesday night to approve most of what’s left of its allocated federal CARES Act funding.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and can be seen on Cobb County Government’s website, YouTube and Facebook pages and its CobbTV public access Channel 23 on Comcast.
The CARES Act requests on Tuesday’s agenda call for spending $350,000 for rental assistance for people facing eviction due to COVID-related business closures, and another $350,000 to provide emergency food assistance to those in need before the end of the year.
Another $105,1000 is being requested by CobbWorks for job-training programs. In addition, the agenda item also asks for an unspecified amount of funding to be reimbursed to Cobb public safety agencies for payroll expenses related to the COVID response.
In October commissioners approved spending 20 percent of those costs with CARES Act money through Dec. 26. Tuesday’s agenda item calls for reimbursing the county’s general fund, fire fund and E-911 payroll accounts for the police and fire departments, emergency management agency and sheriff’s office.
Under the CARES Act, all spending must be designated by Dec. 31. The funding was approved by Congress to help state and local governments mitigate the economic, food, housing and other impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns.
Cobb County Government received $132 million in CARES Act funding. The biggest amount of that money, nearly $50 million, was used to provide grants to more than 3,000 locally based small businesses. Another $14 million was approved to assist renters and homeowners with rental and mortgage payments, and nearly $2 million was given to non-profits who provide food assistance.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the last for Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who was defeated in his re-election bid by Commissioner Lisa Cupid, and for Commissioner Bob Ott, who is retiring after three terms serving District 2, which includes part of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Vinings area.
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Bob Ott at the construction site of the new Braves stadium; at a town hall meeting; and at one of many community events during his 12 years as a Cobb commissioner.
Bob Ott’s tenure on the Cobb Board of Commissioners began with a major crisis, and it’s ending with one.
The District 2 commissioner took office in 2009 not long before catastrophic flooding heavily damaged parts of Cobb County, especially along the Chattahoochee River.
As he prepares for his final meetings on Tuesday, he said he’s pleased with efforts by the board to assist Cobb citizens, business owners and non-profit groups reeling from COVID-19 and related shutdowns and closures.
“From the great floods to the pandemic,” Ott noted in an interview with East Cobb News this week.
He’s been making parting remarks to community groups and sharing memories and photos with readers of his weekly e-mail newsletter in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, there will be a final zoning hearing in the morning, and a regular meeting in the evening. Ott said he’ll be publishing an open letter and is planning a farewell address to deliver as the gavel comes down on a 12-year career as a commissioner.
The only regret he has, he said, is not being able to close out with town hall meetings that he says is among his proudest accomplishments.
Ott speaking to an East Cobb business group in September.
“That’s probably the hardest part of all this,” said Ott, who pledged accessibility when he was first elected.
In addition to the town halls, he started a weekly newsletter, following what he had seen from former Congressman Tom Price, and for five years was the host of the “2Talk” program on the Cobb government’s public access channel in which he interviewed county department heads and other officials.
A Delta Air Lines pilot who had not been involved in politics until a zoning case near his home in the Powers Ferry corridor, Ott said opening up the process of government to citizens has been an important part of what he sought office to achieve.
But since he defeated former commissioner Joe Lee Thompson—who had appointed him to the Cobb Planning Commission—in 2008, the demands of the job have become considerable.
“I don’t think people know what the job entails,” Ott said. “It’s more of a full-time job than working at Delta.”
Each of the four district commissioners is paid a part-time salary, and has a full-time administrative assistant. When he announced in January he wouldn’t be seeking a fourth term, Ott made similar overtones.
It’s a job that Ott, a Republican, is handing off to his successor, Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is being sworn in on Dec. 31. He’s met and spoken with her several times since her election on Nov. 3, and has invited her to meetings with staff.
“I’m a firm believer that I needed to include her in on that,” said Ott, who endorsed her Republican opponent, Fitz Johnson.
Ott said while he advised Richardson to keep some of his appointments for the sake of continuity, “I told her I won’t be telling her how to do that job.”
Ott at a citizens meeting during the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford Master Plan process.
From civic groups to a stadium
A native of Westfield, N.J., Ott came to metro Atlanta in 1991 as a Delta pilot. After he got married and settled into a home in Terrell Mill Estates, a major residential zoning proposal came that he and other nearby residents opposed.
He parlayed that activity into serving as the president of the East Cobb Civic Association before his appointment to the planning board.
Starting the town halls as a commissioner, he said, was important for citizens to feel as though they had a connection with the government.
“The felt like they had a voice,” he said.
Ott oversaw community-driven processes to create master plans in District 2, including areas along Powers Ferry and Johnson Ferry roads, in Vinings, and most recently, the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area.
Ott, right, and former Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee with Boy Scouts at a Braves-related event.
The biggest vote Ott cast was for the 2013 memorandum of understanding with the Atlanta Braves for a new baseball stadium in the Cumberland area.
The normally accessible Ott stayed out of the public eye for two weeks after the proposal was revealed, holding a town hall meeting the night before he joined the board majority in a 4-1 vote to approve the deal.
He said he understands why some citizens still remain chastened about the process, but maintains that the stadium—now called Truist Park—and subsequent development surrounding it “has been a huge revenue generator for the county.”
Ott said the area has seen an increase of more than 22,000 jobs, and has sparked redevelopment interest in ancillary areas, including the Powers Ferry corridor.
After the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in shutdowns that closed many businesses and threw many workers out of jobs, Cobb County received $132 million in federal CARES funding.
Ott proposed spending $50 million for small business owners to stay afloat, and a special panel formed by the Cobb Chamber or Commerce’s SelectCobb economic development arm selected 3,715 businesses to receive the grants.
Commissioners also approved CARES Act funding to provide mortgage and rental assistance and to help non-profits who provide food for those in need.
But if those affected by pandemic closures “don’t have a job,” Ott said, “they can’t take care of their families. We had to figure out a way to keep these businesses open.”
A low-tax Republican—Ott frequently told citizens he’d never vote to raise their property taxes—he says that government works best “when it helps people help themselves.”
Ott said his biggest town hall crowd was in early 2019 regarding East Cobb cityhood.
Political and personal change
Ott’s transition to a private citizen comes as the county is undergoing a political, demographic and generational transition.
He’s been part of a 4-1 Republican majority; in January, Democrats will have a 3-2 majority following commissioner Lisa Cupid’s election as board chair over Republican incumbent Mike Boyce.
Ott—who feuded with Boyce and predecessor Tim Lee, another fellow Republican, on taxes and spending issues—said of the partisan dynamics on the board that “there’s a lot more to the job than what you see from the outside.”
He wouldn’t predict what issues might be prominent on a Democratic majority, other than continuing budget and COVID responses.
While he admitted there probably will be some 3-2 party-line votes, “there’s no guarantee” it will happen on all major votes.
Former commissioner Thea Powell was Ott’s aide during the Atlanta Braves stadium deal.
“You’ve got to give Democrats a credit,” he said, noting how the Cobb precinct maps in countywide elections looked very similar. “They campaigned where they knew they needed to.”
Ott’s been coy about his involvement with a group pushing for East Cobb Cityhood. He held a packed-house town-hall at the Catholic Church of St. Ann in March 2019, explaining that “you have to be able to talk to the people.”
The day after that meeting, an incorporation bill requested by the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb was introduced in the Georgia legislature by State Rep. Matt Dollar.
A good bit of vocal opposition brewed after that, and last December the pro-cityhood group said it wouldn’t pursue legislation after some commissioners and legislators said they didn’t support it.
Those include Republicans and conservatives who’ve said a city would add another layer of government.
Ott never publicly offered his thoughts at the time, but says now that if people in East Cobb “get concerned about the direction of the board, that conversation might start back up again.”
For the time being, Ott is stepping away from public activities. He noted he has only a few items on his January calendar, involving Boy Scouts and other groups at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, where he’s a longtime member.
He said he’s working on some projects around the house, including woodworking, and enjoys a wine-making hobby, and other “things I haven’t had time time to do.”
He and his wife Judy are also becoming empty nesters. Their daughter Katie is a recent graduate of Berry College and their son Chris attends Auburn University.
Since the pandemic, Ott has been tracking local and state COVID-19 data in a daily e-mail he sends to around 50 people, including elected officials and school superintendents.
Ott hasn’t flown for Delta since March but is on call as a pilot for international routes that include Amsterdam and San Juan, and has 16 months until his federally mandated retirement at age 65.
He said it’s unlikely he’ll seek elective office again, but eventually thinks he’ll be involved in public life in some fashion in the future.
“Twelve years in politics is a long time,” said Ott.
Ott and his wife Judy at a farewell reception for Cobb commissioners this week.
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Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott sends along word that Ansie Krige, the longtime branch manager at the East Cobb Library, died suddenly on Dec. 5.
“She loved that library,” said Ott. “It’s a huge loss.”
Thomas Brooks, a spokesman for the Cobb County Public Library System, said in a statement that Krige’s passing “was unexpected and we haven’t heard an update from her family. Ansie had a major, positive impact for the East Cobb community for many years.”
A private celebration of her life will be held in Denver.
Here’s more from what Ott distributed Friday in his e-mail newsletter:
Cobb Library staff members and community leaders expressed shock over the unexpected loss of Ansie Krige. She led the staff of one of the Cobb library system’s busiest locations. She was known as an advocate for education, health, and positive social connections for the East Cobb community. Many library patrons regularly sought her out during their visits to the library to share in conversations about family, literature, animals, and more. Known as a gracious host to library patrons, guest authors and speakers at the library, Mrs. Krige developed innovative programs and built a library collection aligned with community needs. Among the signature programs for the library system she developed is the Senior Wellness Series offering exercise, yoga, physical therapy assessments and more to capacity crowds of senior citizens. In lieu of flowers, the Krige family requests donations in memory of Ansie Krige to the Humane Society.
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Cobb Commissioner-elect Jerica Richardson has announced that she will be sworn in on Dec. 31, representing District 2 that includes part of East Cobb.
She’s one of several newly elected office-holders who will be having swearing-in ceremonies that will be live-streamed on Cobb TV and Cobb County Government’s online channels.
That’s due to COVID-19 restrictions that will limit ceremonies to small gatherings.
Richardson, a Democrat, will officially take office on Jan. 1, succeeding Republican Bob Ott, who is retiring after three terms.
Her swearing-in takes place on Dec. 31 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cobb Civic Center.
Richardson was the featured speaker Tuesday at a breakfast of the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. You can watch her full remarks, which were given at the Indian Hills Country Club, in the video below.
A first-time candidate for public office, Richardson is a technology manager at Equifax. She edged Republican Fitz Johnson in the Nov. 3 general election on a platform of “Connecting Cobb.” (See campaign stories at the bottom of this post for more details.)
The East Cobb Area Council also on Tuesday honored Mitch Rhoden as its 2020 East Cobb Citizen of the Year. That presentation is at the end of the video.
Also appearing at Tuesday’s breakfast was Ott and commissioner Lisa Cupid, who recently defeated incumbent Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce.
She will be sworn in as chairwoman on Jan. 7 at 3 p.m., also at the Cobb Civic Center.
Boyce and Ott will be serving in their final meetings next Tuesday, Dec. 15, when the commission has its last business meeting and zoning hearing of 2020.
Cupid, Richardson and District 4 commissioner-elect Monique Sheffield will form a Democratic majority when the Cobb Board of Commissioners meets on Jan. 12.
Cobb Government issued the following schedule of live-streaming of swearing-in ceremonies it is showing, starting this Thursday. It’s tentative and subject to change:
3:45 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10
Judge Jason Marbutt
Ceremonial Courtroom
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Friday, Dec. 11, is the deadline for Cobb County homeowners who have been affected by COVID-19 to apply for up to $4,800 in mortgage payment assistance. Cobb homeowners who have fallen behind in their mortgage payments due to a COVID-19 related involuntary financial hardship, medical hardship, death of a spouse/co-borrower, can still apply for up $4,800 of mortgage payment assistance, as well as optional homeownership counseling. Applications will be accepted through Dec.11 at www.CobbHomeSaver.org.
The funding will come out of the $132 million allocated to the county in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The “Cobb HomeSaver Program” provides mortgage payment assistance and/or homeowner counseling to Cobb County homeowners that have been adversely affected by COVID-19.
Cobb County Homeowners should visit CobbHomeSaver.org for a complete list of the eligibility criteria and to apply. Grant applications will be accepted on a “first-come, first-served” basis. The grant amount awarded to homeowners may vary.
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Today, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, joined by the Cobb Chamber and the Cobb County Coalition of Business Associations proclaimed November 28 as “Small Business Saturday” in Cobb County, and urged all residents to support small businesses and merchants on this day and throughout the year.
“At the Cobb Chamber, the strength of our small business community is a top priority. And, this year, Cobb’s small business owners need our community’s support and patronage now more than ever, said Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “Small Business Saturday is a great way to unite our neighbors in investing in local merchants, shops and restaurants. Join us in supporting our local small businesses not just on this day, but all year long.”
Since its inception in 2010, Small Business Saturday, backed by American Express, has promoted the significance of supporting small, independently owned businesses across the country. Falling between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is dedicated to supporting the diverse range of local businesses that help create jobs, boost the economy, and keep communities thriving across the country.
Per the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are currently 30.7 million small businesses in the country, representing 99.7 percent of all businesses with paid employees. From 2000-2018, small businesses were responsible for nearly 64.9 percent of net new jobs created. Sixty-two percent of U.S. small businesses reported the need for consumer spending to return to pre-COVID levels by the end of 2020 in order to remain in business.
Small Business Saturday is supported by advocacy groups, as well as public and private organizations across the country. In 2019, U.S. consumers reported spending a record high of an estimated $19.6 billion at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday. Ninety-five percent of consumers who shopped on Small Business Saturday said that it encourages them to shop or eat at small, independently-owned businesses all year long, not just during the holiday season.
For more information about Small Business Saturday and how to participate, visit shopsmall.com or contact Pam Woo, of the Small Business Saturday Coalition, at pwoo@wipp.org.
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Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a $690,809 contract for traffic improvements at the intersection of Old Canton Road and Holly Springs Road.
Funding for the project is provided in the 2016 Cobb Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Glosson was the low bidder against six other companies, and the measure was approved by commissioners on their consent agenda.
A total of $1 million was budgeted for the project, which will include the construction of pedestrian refuge islands, a guardrail, signage and striping at a three-way intersection.
About $170,000 has been spent in initial costs, and another $27,000 will be spent to relocate water lines (to be paid with Cobb Water System funds).
Initially the project called for a roundabout, but that option was removed after feedback from the community and Cobb DOT staff after open house sessions.
What’s shown above is a concept map; to see a larger view click here.
The project is expected to take around six months once construction begins.
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A week after he lost his re-election bid to one of his colleagues, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce pledged to assist her as she is set to take office in January.
He also expressed dismay over heated disputes involving the presidential election, both at the national and state levels.
At the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners regular meeting, Boyce congratulated Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who defeated him with 53 percent of the vote.
He’s a Republican who like other countywide GOP office holders was swept out in a Democratic surge. Cupid, currently the only Democrat on the five-member board, will lead a 3-2 Democratic majority when she takes over.
Noting that more than 300,000 people voted in Cobb County, Boyce said that “I think that’s a great example of true democracy in action.
“I think it’s also important as part of this process that we have a transition in grace. That we acknowledge the voice of the people, we hear them and we move on.”
He said it’s important for Cobb citizens “that this message gets out loud and clear to our national and state leaders that this transition is part of the election process.
“I find it extraordinary that four years ago nobody complained about the results of the election, and four years later we have people who question the integrity of the voting process—because they lost.
“That doesn’t reflect well of leadership. That doesn’t happen in Cobb County. That’s not going to happen in Cobb County as long as I’m the chairman.”
Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are facing Jan. 5 runoffs against Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively, and as the close voting in Georgia in the presidential race appears to have set up a recount.
Without citing any specifics, they accused him of mismanagement and a lack of transparency. Raffensperger responded by saying that if there has been any illegal voting it “is unlikely” it would rise to the numbers to change the outcome in Georgia.
“As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate,” Raffensperger said. “I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that.”
(Loeffler and Perdue are holding a runoff rally Wednesday morning at Cobb Republican headquarters in Marietta.)
Democratic president-elect Joe Biden leads Republican president Donald Trump in Georgia by around 10,000 votes, after Trump led by more than 370,000 at the end of election night.
But as has been the case in other states, notably Pennslyvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Biden moved ahead based largely on absentee ballots.
Biden made a victory speech on Saturday but Trump has not conceded, as his campaign is alleging voter fraud in those states and elsewere. He’s also refusing to cooperate in any transition efforts.
Boyce, who defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in 2016, is a retired Marine colonel who mentioned that it’s Veterans Day on Wednesday, “a great time to remember what we stand for. Many of us fought for freedom and still fight for freedom we all fight for freedom in our own ways.”
He said the best way to to that “is to acknowledge the will and voice of the people and to continue this transition in grace.”
Cupid will become the first Democrat to head county government since longtime chairman Ernest Barrett retired in 1984, and will be the first woman and African-American to hold the position.
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Dr. Jackie McMorris, Cobb’s county manager, has named James (Jimmy) Gisi as the county’s deputy county manager. Gisi is filling the position after the Board of Commissioners appointed McMorris county manager last April. He will step into the new position on November 15.
Gisi has served as the director of Cobb’s PARKS department since December 2016. He previously held the P.A.R.K.S. director position for 10 years before serving as the executive director of the Georgia Recreation and Park Association. In addition to his more than 33 years of government expertise, Gisi holds a Bachelor’s degree in recreation and leisure studies from the University of Georgia and a Master’s degree in public administration from Valdosta State University.
“Jimmy has worked for the county in various capacities and always stands ready and willing to help anytime we need his assistance,” said McMorris. “His experience working in parks and recreation, as well as government services and legislation, is going to be a great asset to help move the county forward for generations to come.”
“It is truly an honor to be selected as Cobb County’s next deputy county manager. I appreciate the confidence and trust the county manager has placed in me and I look forward to joining her management team,” Gisi said. “Cobb County is truly a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family. Our employees are the best at what they do and we should always strive to maintain our high standards while also seeking to raise the bar of service delivery.”
A longtime resident of Cobb County, Gisi resides in Powder Springs with Angela, his wife of 36 years. He is an ardent college football fan, avid hunter and spoils his three (soon to be four) grandsons anyway he can.
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After soaking in the reality of winning her first stab at public office—and culminating an historic election in Cobb County in the process—District 2 commissioner-elect Jerica Richardson admitted there’s some sobering work ahead for her and her colleagues in the coming months.
She’s one of two new faces on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which in January will have a Democratic majority and will be all female.
That majority also is made of black women, including Richardson, a 31-year-old Equifax manager, who edged out Republican Fitz Johnson in this week’s elections.
Chair-elect Lisa Cupid defeated incumbent Mike Boyce and Monique Sheffield was elected to succeed Cupid as District 4 commissioner in South Cobb.
As of Saturday, and with a few absentee and provisional ballots to count, Richardson was leading Johnson by 1,224 votes, 53,642 to 52,418 (updated results can be found here).
Johnson essentially conceded on Thursday, saying “it doesn’t look great.”
“I was hearing from a lot of people that [the closeness of the results] was because of the quality of the candidates,” said Richardson, who called Johnson “a Cobb County success story. He ran a real cordial race.”
After running the campaigns of Cobb State Rep. Erick Allen and Cobb school board member Jaha Howard, Richardson said she viewed her maiden campaign as an effort to “build bridges in deep waters.”
It was among various metaphors she’s used in her “Connecting Cobb” theme of her campaign (previous ECN story here).
In succeeding retiring commissioner Bob Ott, she’ll inherit a distinct district in itself. In includes most of East Cobb below Sandy Plains Road and the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area.
Johnson won most of the East Cobb precincts, and Richardson prevailed in the latter.
“Colors on a map don’t tell the whole story of a community,” said Richardson, who lived in a neighborhood near The Avenue in East Cobb and now resides in the Delk Road area.
Part of her campaign outreach, she said, has been to “cut through echo chambers. If this is an opportunity to build those bridges then this is that year.”
Tackling a county budget affected by the continuing economic fallout from COVID-related lockdowns and other consequences of the pandemic loom large.
“There are going to be some really hard conversations,” Richardson said. “What are our priorities? Our focus? Our vision. And we’ll have to make decisions based on that.”
Among short-term priorities, she favors closing the Sterigenics plant “until further notice.” Homeowners living near the Smyrna-based company that sterilizes medical equipment have filed a lawsuit over what they claim have been cancer-causing emissions.
On a broader and longer-term scale, she said it’s going to be vital to bring as many individuals and areas of Cobb to the table to hash them out, to “build the synergy” of a community she said hasn’t been fully represented on the board.
“The commissioners haven’t had a united vision,” she said, noting that in recent years, it’s been four Republicans and one Democrat—Cupid—who’s often voted alone.
“I don’t see people as red or blue, I see them as an individual,” Richardson said.
During the campaign, Richardson set up some “open office hours” to get to know voters—in a socially-distanced manner—and plans to keep doing so.
She campaigned on a few occasions with Howard, who’s become a firebrand on the school board, angering his Republican colleagues and most recently, taking a knee during the pledge of allegiance at a meeting.
Richardson said “that’s not my method, but I will be having conversations with different groups of people.”
She said Howard was responding to school parents who weren’t being heard, “but he was always willing to listen.”
Richardson acknowledged that a new dynamic on the commission will take some getting used to in Cobb County, which has been dominated by a white, conservative and mostly male political establishment for decades.
“When things change, there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty,” she said. “The only way we’re able to overcome the challenges that we have is to focus on love,” and what she says are the three unifying things that are of utmost importance: expanding liberty, empathy and opportunity” for Cobb citizens.
“If we can do those things, we can overcome every challenge,” Richardson said. “I really believe it.”
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By a unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to revoke the business license of Tokyo Valentino, a sex shop that opened in East Cobb in June.
The store had its license suspended in September, pending an appeal, and had been allowed to remain open. The hearing was delayed by a month at the request of Tokyo Valentino.
After a due-cause hearing that lasted more than two hours, commissioners rejected appeals by the store’s attorney that the county’s action to suspend the license was based on arguments that were “not material,” and posed constitutional issues.
The county’s business license division in September alleged that Tokyo Valentino’s owner, Michael Morrison, misrepresented the intent of his business with the application of a license under the name of 1290 Clothing LLC as a general retail clothing store.
That license was granted in March, but when the business opened on June 9 at the former Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road it was as Tokyo Valentino.
Morrison owns five other adult retail stores under the Tokyo Valentino name in metro Atlanta and a similar store in Brookhaven called Stardust.
Scott Bergthold, a private attorney from Chattanooga hired by the county and who specializes in defending local adult retail ordinances, said the change from 1290 Clothing to Tokyo Valentino “was a clear bait and switch.”
He presented exhibits during the hearing showing that adult retail items not listed on the business license application—lotions and lubes, sex toys and smoke products—comprised 70 percent of what was on display at the East Cobb Tokyo Valentino store.
Clothing—specifically lingerie—accounted for only 14 percent of the inventory, according to a listing introduced as an exhibit.
Cary Wiggins, the attorney for Tokyo Valentino, pointed to several businesses in Cobb that ended up doing something different than what they indicated in their business licenses, but they were not shut down.
He said the county had no proof that Morrison, listed on state business formation documents for 1290 Clothing as the manager but not on the county business license application, was the head of the East Cobb business.
The person listed on the latter, Tomika Hugley, left that job, and in an August e-mail presented by Bergthold, said she “wanted to cut all ties.”
According to an e-mail Bergthold presented, Hugley contacted Ellisia Webb, the county’s business license division manager, that she wanted the 1290 Clothing business license to be cancelled.
“I was not involved in the ordering of any inventory or products,” Hugley wrote in the e-mail. “I have pleaded for my previous partners to make changes and they have refused to do so. . . . The store that currently exists should apply for a proper business license.”
Wiggins said comments by Morrison made in news media accounts, including East Cobb News, and cited in the allegations were not relevant to the county’s case.
“Mr. Morrison has the right to not give the papers a straight answer,” Wiggins said. “You are allowed to lie.”
Wiggins also said his client “did not intend to break the law. It’s a good business. It’s a clean business. To hold those newspaper quotes against him are improper.
“Who did he mislead? The reporter for the East Cobb News? Well good.”
In late May, East Cobb Newsfirst reported that a business named 1290 Clothing had received a business license amid concerns that it would become a Tokyo Valentino store instead.
When East Cobb News reached Morrison for contact, he said that “I have no idea what you are referring to.”
Morrison told other outlets he wasn’t sure what might go into that space, and at one point said it would sell “electric dance music” and “festival clothing.”
That was before the store opened on June 9, and it didn’t need needing any rezoning due to the general commercial rezoning for the property that’s been in effect since the 1970s.
A number of local residents signed an online petition, and in September commissioners overhauled the county code—with provisions drafted by Bergthold that place more restrictions on sexually oriented businesses.
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott told Wiggins that other businesses that misrepresented themselves have been shut down, especially restaurants that don’t sell enough food to meet requirements to hold an alcohol license.
“You did not make your case,” Ott said shortly after midnight, near the end of a contentious hearing.
Tokyo Valentino has been embroiled in legal disputes in other metro Atlanta jurisdictions, but this was its first store in unincorporated Cobb.
In June, the Marietta City Council revoked the business license of a Tokyo Valentino store on Cobb Parkway for 180 days, saying the store inventory didn’t match what was on its application.
Tokyo Valentino is appealing that decision in Cobb Superior Court. The East Cobb store is likely to remain open with an expected appeal of the commission’s decision.
Wiggins hinted at possible legal action Tuesday, citing the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the First Amendment.
Lisa Cupid, the only attorney among the commissioners, told Wiggins that she wondered if “there was an intent to mislead when you don’t list the core of the business. It makes me perceive that there is some desire to mislead.”
Wiggins said later that he “would hate to see a county revoke a business license because some people—a small majority—don’t like it.”
He said his client “did its best within the bounds of the law to complete the application.”
Before the vote, however, chairman Mike Boyce said “I can’t get over an application by somebody who bowed out,” a reference to Hugley.
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Officially, those in Cobb County government can’t openly push for the renewal of the county’s Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax that’s on the ballot this year.
What’s being called the 2022 Cobb SPLOST—for the year when a new sales tax collection period would begin—doesn’t have much in the way of big-ticket items, such as new facilities, upgrades or acquisitions.
Instead, the vast majority of the $750 million in spending over six years (down from an original estimate of $810 million) would go to transportation projects, public safety improvements and community amenities, including more park space and development.
Those major items include an $8 million earmark to complete acquisition of 24 acres of land owned by Wylene Tritt next to East Cobb Park.
It’s the most expensive item on a lengthy list of “community impact projects” that the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved for the 2022 project list in May.
Another project on the list is $4 million for the repurposing of Shaw Park in Northeast Cobb and a replacement for the nearby Cobb Fire Station No. 12.
Nearly half of funding on that list would go for transportation and road improvement projects. The rest of the projects would be funded accordingly:
$82 million for public safety
$46 million in countywide projects
$32 million for community impact projects
$27.8 million for public services (parks, libraries)
$18 million combined for projects in Cobb’s six cities
$4 million for Cobb Sheriff’s Office improvements
While commissioners and official county communications to the public are noting that the SPLOST extension is on the ballot, the information is objective, for the most part.
“We can’t advocate for it,” Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said in an August interview with East Cobb News.
Before the SPLOST officially was approved for referendum, the county held several town halls that became virtual due to COVID-19 closures.
As Cobb voters are turning out heavily in early and absentee voting, county messages on its social media platforms, e-mails and website have been regularly reminding voter of what current SPLOSTs and the current one have yielded.
A video summary opens with the reminder that “this is not a new tax!” and that the current collection period doesn’t end this year, on Dec. 31, 2020.
In recent days the county has been posting on its Facebook page a “countdown” of its “Top 10” list of SPLOST projects over time, including the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that opened at the end of 2017.
SPLOST critics like to point out the project list has become a “slush fund” that defies the term “special use.”
We heard from such a reader over the weekend, who wrote in to say that “SPLOST funds cannot be used for maintenance and repair.”
It’s been estimated that nearly 90 percent of Cobb DOT’s budget comes in SPLOST funds for just those purposes, which form the backbone of the items on the 2022 wish list.
Boyce was mindful of how the Atlanta Transportation SPLOST went down to heavy defeat in 2012, saying that those pushing for that tax disregarded what they were hearing from voters.
Even in spite of the disconnected nature of virtual town halls and indirect feedback in recent months, he said he feels confident that “we’ve done our homework.”
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Cobb County government said Friday afternoon that the county animal shelter has closed temporarily because “an unknown illness has affected dogs and cats in the shelter.”
The county said in the announcement that the University of Georgia is conducting tests with the results coming early next week.
Until then, adoption appointments with the public are being cancelled.
The shelter, located in the Cobb government services complex on County Services Road west of Marietta, closed for two weeks last October due to a strep zoo outbreak.
Two dogs at the shelter died from the contagious virus and the facility was thoroughly cleaned.
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Early voting lines at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Monday were as long as four hours, and even longer at The Art Place. (ECN photo)
The day after citizens waited for hours to start the early voting period, the two Cobb commissioners facing one another in the chairman’s election sounded off on the subject.
At the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting Lisa Cupid, who represents South Cobb, showed national television news footage of long lines that snaked around one of the county’s 11 early voting locations.
The number of those locations and early voting dates have been expanded ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. But more than 7,000 Cobb voters stood in lines lasting several hours in some places, the result of increased turnout and social-distancing protocols.
Cupid, the lone Democrat on the board, said that “I know we can do better, I know we should do better . . . so people don’t have to wait for eight to 10 hours to vote in Cobb County, in the year 2020.”
She said while the strong voting numbers reflect voter energy and excitement, “it’s another thing to question whether or not our voters should have to experience something like that.”
Cupid was critical of her colleagues for nixing a $200,000 request by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration in July to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters in the county.
Cobb Elections has set up an expedited process to mail absentee ballots to voters who request them online, but Cupid asked “how much did it cost to have our poll workers to have to stay late” processing the votes of those who stood in line well after closing time.
“This is not a condition that we should ignore,” Cupid said. “When people talk about voter suppression, it’s these types of events that they’re referring to.”
Early voting continues Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 30 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24.
The Cobb government GIS office is providing wait-time updates for each of the early voting locations. On Monday the longest estimate at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) was four hours; at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), it was as long as five hours.
County spokesman Ross Cavitt said there have been some complaints about how timely the wait-time maps are, and that poll managers are updating that information.
Janine Eveler, the director of Cobb Elections, said in an e-mailed statement that “each poll manager at the voting sites has a login and updates the wait times periodically when they have the opportunity. The wait time is an estimate for that particular moment in time, but voter experiences may vary.”
Commissioner Keli Gambrill said of the 7,062 people who voted early on Monday, 1,386 of them had to cancel absentee ballots, which she said also adds to the waiting time at the polls.
That has to be done before a voter can cast a vote in person.
Mike Boyce, the Republican chairman, spoke last, as is the custom at the end of meetings, and pulled down his mask to respond to Cupid’s comments.
Although not addressing her directly, Boyce said it’s “unfortunate that in this day and age that we’ve politicized the voting process.”
He said the partisan actions of both Democratic and Republican parties are to blame for creating a “narrative” of mistrust, regardless of how someone may vote.
Boyce noted that the commission approved spending $300,000 for security cameras to monitor 16 absentee drop boxes that have been placed around the county, “yet there are people who don’t believe those drop boxes are trustworthy.”
A retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, Boyce admitted that while lines are inconvenient, “what is it worth to you to stand in line for one of the greatest freedoms we have have, called voting? And for those who fought for you to be able to stand in line today?
“Here’s what standing in line means for me: When you show that photo of lines to people living in China, or North Korea, or Belorussia, that shows that people will stand in line to do what it takes to show that the people are in charge.
“Everyone who stands in line stands for those who went before us and gave us this freedom to do what I believe is the most important thing our government responds to, and that is to hear the will and the voice of the people through the ballot box.”
Regardless of the method of voting, Boyce added, “those who go and do it are the true heroes right now. Those who don’t, you have to ask yourself, what is it about this country that you don’t like? That you don’t go and do your duty and don’t vote?”
The county also said Tuesday that voters concerned about their absentee ballot status can use a tracking website from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office that can be found here.
The absentee ballot drop boxes in Cobb include the East Cobb government center, Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road), Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive) and Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
A full list of drop boxes can be found here. They will be open 24/7 until 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3.
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The last library branch in East Cobb that had been fully closed since March opened on Monday for curbside service only.
The inside of Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Road) remains closed to the public, but patrons can order checkout materials as follows:
Monday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mountain View Regional Library, East Cobb Library and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center are open for limited purposes Monday-Friday and also have curbside pickup.
Per the Cobb County Public Library System, patrons seeking to pick up curbside should schedule an appointment at least an hour in advance.
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Sept. 30 had been the deadline for returning U.S. Census forms, but that’s been extended to Oct. 31 by a federal judge for COVID-19 reasons.
The Secretary of Commerce had asked the deadline be pushed only to next Monday, Oct. 5, and collection operations still could be halted before the end of the month.
We posted a couple weeks back that the self-response rate in Cobb County was 66 percent; it’s now risen to 70 percent, both via traditional mail and online.
You can check response rates via Census tracts, Congressional districts and more by clicking here; the darker colors indicate higher response rates, as some in East Cobb are in the high 80s.
Federal funding for hospitals, schools, transportation and other services is based on Census data that’s done once in a decade.
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On Monday construction crews began the Blackjack Mountain water main replacement, which stretches from I-75 and Barnes Mill Road to the Quarles treatment plant on Lower Roswell Road.
A new 36-inch main will replace the 30-inch piping that’s there now. There are some traffic closures that also started Monday as well, as explained below by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority:
Garney Construction is the contractor for the project and is already in progress of mobilizing and performing clearing operations for the replacement that will occur from Holt Road working westbound towards Barnes Mill Road inside of CCMWA’s utility easement. We are expecting to start replacement of the water main near the intersection of Barnes Mill Rd. and Hwy 41 on Monday 9/28, and continue working east along Barnes Mill towards the dead end at I-75. We have lane closures that will also occur in this reach inside the City of Marietta limits, within the 9AM to 4PM timeframe.
We also expect to start jack and boring operations under Roswell Road (GA-120), just south of Wood Trail Lane, within the next two weeks. Any clearing/above ground disturbance work related to the jack and bore should be outside of the existing GDOT Right-of-Way, and have no impact to traffic on Roswell Road.
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Three Cobb County senior centers will be reopening Oct. 5 after being closed since March due to COVID-19 restrictions.
But the Tim D. Lee Senior Center in East Cobb will remain closed for an unspecified time because of ongoing renovations.
County spokesman Ross Cavitt said the renovations are extensive, and are related to roofing issues caused by water leaks, and that “COVID has made the progress slower than we had hoped.”
He said Cobb Senior Services has retained an engineering firm to work on a redesign to direct water away from the north side of the building, which has had water retention issues after rain. Cavitt said a reopening date hasn’t been determined.
The senior centers are the last county facilities to reopen from COVID-19 closures. Those reopening on a limited basis Oct. 5 are the Freeman Poole Senior Center in Smyrna, the Cobb Senior Wellness Center in Marietta and the West Cobb Senior Center. The North Cobb Senior Center will reopen on Nov. 5.
Those centers will be subject to additional safety protocols and and other measures which can be found here:
“Everyone must be registered in advance before coming to a center, temperature screenings will be conducted at the door, and rooms will be setup to allow social distancing. While there will be some in-person activities, we will continue to offer virtual programs on our Facebook pages and via online links. We have given much thought and care in preparing for seniors to return and are eagerly looking forward to seeing them.”
Kathy Lathem, strategic partnership manager for Cobb Senior Services, said the department continued to provide transportation for seniors for medical appointments, shopping and banking, and also continued Meals on Wheels. Here’s more about what’s been happening over the last seven months:
“We began partnering with local organizations and the community for donations of shelf stable items and toiletries; WOW, did they ever respond!! From April thru mid-July, we were able to hold weekly food giveaways for Cobb residents age 60+, resulting in:
2,677 people served
1,260 produce/dairy boxes given
2,335 restaurant meals provided
“After a break to secure more donations, the food giveaway resumed on September 3rd. The next one takes place this Thursday, September 24 at our office, 1150 Powder Springs St, Marietta, 30064 from 11am until Noon, or while supplies last. An ID showing birth date and Cobb County home address is required upon arrival for each senior being served. Visit www.CobbSeniors.org for upcoming dates and locations.”
There’s a continuing food drive with needed items listed below.
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By a 3-2 vote the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the creation of what will be called the Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, a citizens’ body that will report to the county manager.
The objective of the appointed body will be to “develop proactive solutions embracing diversity by collaborating with government and community stakeholders to make Cobb County a more inclusive and enjoyable place for all citizens to live, learn, work and visit.”
The council was proposed by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who was one of the votes in favor, along with commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb.
But Lisa Cupid, the commission’s only black member, and its only Democrat, was one of the votes against the measure, saying it “was difficult to digest this with any seriousness.”
Not only was there not a work session, she said the resolution expressing the board’s sentiment in reaching out to the diverse communities of the county isn’t backed up by recent votes.
Among them was the board rejecting her proposal earlier this month for three county non-profits to provide rental assistance with federal CARES Act funding. That program will instead be administered by an out-of-county non-profit that’s also working with Cobb homeowners affected financially by COVID-related closures to make mortgage payments.
“This board doesn’t foster that kind of collaboration,” she said in reference to the Cobb non-profits, further objecting to the resolution initially being put on Tuesday’s consent agenda.
Cupid, who is challenging Boyce in the chairman’s race in November, said that while she supported the resolution in spirit, she understood how it might look if she voted against it. She said she first heard about the proposed council on Aug. 27, and at one point said she “just got tired of playing along.
“What’s the detriment to me if I say no right before an election?”
Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb opposed the resolution for other reasons, saying she thought it would be a “quasi-shadow government in the name of diversity.”
She also didn’t like that there wasn’t a work session and thought the council “would have a direct bearing on county policy.”
Birrell said she had some initial reservations but thought there had been ample time for commissioners to express their concerns about the resolution.
Ott, who is retiring at the end of the year, said he has been involved in three previous attempts to re-form what had been the Cobb Community Relations Council.
That body, formed in the early 1990s, has dissolved, and he said it’s important for there to be continuing dialogue in Cobb across racial, religious and cultural lines.
“We can’t just sit back while Rome burns,” Ott said. “Is this perfect? No.”
But he said “it’s more healthy when there is disagreement because it opens discussions and dialogue. It allows things to change.”
Ott said he was pleased that Ben Williams of the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an occasional critic of the county on racial issues, endorsed the resolution.
During a public comment before the vote Tuesday, Williams said the language is “clear, strong and resolute, reflecting where this board is.”
Cupid said in reference to Williams’ remark that “I’m not convinced of that.”
Boyce was the only commissioner who did not take part in the discussion.
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Faith leaders in East Cobb attended an event at Temple Kol Emeth in August following the discovery of anti-Semitic graffiti scrawlings in nearby neighborhoods. (ECN file)
An effort to reconstitute a dormant human relations commission in Cobb County will come before county commissioners on Tuesday.
Chairman Mike Boyce is proposing the creation of the Cobb Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, with the intent to “develop proactive solutions embracing diversity by collaborating with government and community stakeholders to make Cobb County a more inclusive and enjoyable place for all citizens to live, learn, work and visit.”
Council members would be appointed by commissioners, and several organizations also would have appointed members, including the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, the Cobb chapter of the NAACP, the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Cobb County Bar Association and Kennesaw State University.
Additional members who “represent the diversity within Cobb County” would be chosen by council members, and those in county government leadership positions “will serve as subject matter experts as issues/opportunities arise.”
The proposal to create the council comes after commissioners approved an anti-racism resolution in June, following protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
It was at that event, at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb, that commissioner Bob Ott said a new appointed body was in the works.
The former human relations commission dissolved due to what he said was veering away from its mission.
That panel was formed after Cobb commissioners approved a resolution condemning “the gay lifestyle” in 1993. That came about when then-commissioner Gordon Wysong of East Cobb objected to county arts funding that included the Theater in the Square, which had been showing a play about a gay relationship.
The anti-gay resolution caused a national media frenzy and prompted Atlanta Olympic organizers to pull volleyball matches slated for the Cobb Galleria Centre and a torch relay route in the county before the 1996 Olympics.
The issue dogged Bill Byrne, the county chairman at the time, as he ran for his old seat in 2012 and he had to answer to it when he ran for commissioner in 2014.
Among those involved with the human relations commission was Rabbi Steven Lebow, recently retired from Kol Emeth, who organized a protest against the anti-gay resolution on the Marietta Square.
The proposed Council for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation would serve under the direction of Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris and included in its mission is the following:
” . . . identify opportunities across a broad spectrum to assist in the education and mitigation of systemic, institutional, and structural racism. It shall provide opportunities for members of the community to participate in small group discussion, anti-racism training, and access resources to foster and improve open and honest communication among governmental entities, Cobb County residents and employees. It shall inform the community about the goals of CJPR and encourage organizational and community partnerships through conferences, workshops, and special events.”
You can read the agenda item here and the proposed resolution here.
The Cobb commissioners meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
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