East Cobb Government Archives

One-time bonus proposed for Cobb public safety employees

May 21, 2019 5:13 PM by Wendy Parker

Those pushing for better pay, benefits and retention for Cobb public safety workers haven’t been optimistic their issues will be addressed before the fiscal year 2020 budget takes effect in October.

They’ve been lobbying Cobb commissioners for weeks to take some immediate steps, and on Tuesday the county chairman’s office announced a proposal for a one-time bonus for police, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies to be voted on next week.

The bonuses come to more than $2.7 million in all, with the money coming from the county’s general fund and fire fund budgets, according to figures provided by Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt.

The bonus, which would be a flat amount of $1,475 per person, “is the first of a multi-phase approach” to addressing public safety salary and retention matters, Chairman Mike Boyce said in a statement, adding that commissioners “will be considering other measures in the weeks ahead.”

He didn’t specify what those may be. The next commission meeting is a week from today, on May 28.

The bonus is considered a merit-based payment, and will go to employees in the police, fire and sheriff’s departments who scored satisfactory or higher job performance ratings last year.

Cavitt said the current county budget for police and fire should accommodate the bonuses, but that the sheriff’s department would need an additional $694,964.

The police and sheriff’s departments are funded through the county’s general fund. Cavitt said the raises for police personnel comes to $1,004,844.

The firefighters bonuses would come from a surplus in personnel services funds and would cost $1,048,253, Cavitt said.

Susan Hampton of East Cobb, a citizen leading the effort for better pay, has been handing out flyers (see above and below) detailing what she and other citizens and public safety staffers have been calling a crisis.

Earlier this spring Boyce said he would be asking commissioners for a three-percent merit-based pay raise for all county employees, and another two percent for public safety.

Hampton has said that’s not enough, saying that a “five-percent pay raise will not make Cobb competitive” with other jurisdictions in metro Atlanta.

She says the money is there to address staffing shortages and pay and retention problems now, due to the growth in the county tax digest.

The Cobb Fraternal Order of Police has asked for a 10-percent pay raise.

The proposed bonuses come shortly after former Cobb Police Chief Mike Register was named the county’s public safety director.

In the county release, Register issued a statement saying that “I’m optimistic there are more options being considered by the Board of Commissioners who I believe are committed to addressing the ongoing problem.”

Vintage Lower Roswell Road home torn down at Woodlawn Drive

May 16, 2019 1:23 PMMay 14, 2019 10:24 AM by Wendy Parker

1930s Lower Roswell Road home — *A photo of the former Wilce Frasier home taken over the winter, as the land was put up for sale. (ECN file)*

One of the older buildings in East Cobb stands no more. A home more than 100 years old and located at 4658 Lower Roswell Road, at Woodlawn Drive, has been demolished by Cobb County government, which has had plans for several years to rework the intersection.

The demolition of the home and two smaller structures behind it took place following an expedited decision granted by Cobb commissioners on April 30 to County Manager Rob Hosack, at a cost of $18,625.

A low bid for the demolition work was awarded to Tucker Grading & Hauling, with the funds coming from the 2011 Cobb SPLOST account, according to a memo to Hosack from Cobb DOT Director Erica Parish and dated Tuesday.

The demolition was necessary, according to the memo, because the properties were in poor condition and trespassing had been taking place there.

On Tuesday, commissioners “ratified” the decision to tear down the buildings by a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb was absent. The memo was included as an agenda item.

The home had been vacant since Jan. 2018, when the homeowner, Wilce Frasier Jr., died at the age of 93. According to deed records with the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk’s office, Frasier had lived in the home since the early 1960s.

A family member, Lisa Frasier McCalvin, said the home dates from the late 1800s: “Wilce grew up in this house with his brothers and sisters . . . . it never left our family . . . . the memories I have of playing in that house are some of my fondest from my childhood.”

Wilce Frasier’s obituary noted that he was a Navy veteran during World War II and worked at Lockheed-Georgia for 30 years, and that he is buried at the Mt. Bethel church cemetery just around the corner on Johnson Ferry Road.

(After we posted this story, a reader passed along a link to a slideshow remembrance of Frasier.)

His heirs had been in negotiations with Cobb DOT regarding right-of-way for the intersection improvements. The 0.9 acres owned by Frasier, put up for sale over the winter, has been sold. It had been marketed for possible commercial use.

The intersection project is part of Lower Roswell Road improvements stretching from Woodlawn, across Johnson Ferry Road and to Davidson Road and is part of the 2011 SPLOST.

A contract for the project was approved in 2012 but the county still needs to make more right-of-way acquisitions.

The improvements at Lower Roswell and Woodlawn will include installing a median and additional turn lanes at a clogged intersection.

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!

East Cobb cityhood group talks budget, taxes at Powers Ferry civic forum

May 10, 2019 1:03 PMMay 9, 2019 7:13 PM by Wendy Parker

David Birdwell, East Cobb Cityhood group — *“We think we have time to get feedback and do this thing right,” said David Birdwell of East Cobb Cityhood group. (ECN photo)*

In their third public appearance, leaders of an East Cobb cityhood group announced Wednesday they had formed a finance committee to put in motion a working budget proposal.

David Birdwell and Rob Eble, the spokesman for the cityhood steering committee, said the panel is made up of financial experts, including corporate CFOs.

They wouldn’t identify those with the financial committee for now, but Eble said after a Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance meeting at Brumby Elementary School that one of the individuals has some public budgeting experience.

The committee also will be scrutinizing a financial feasibility study conducted for the cityhood group by researchers at Georgia State University (read it here).

“They’re going to go line-by-line through that feasibility study,” Eble said, to ensure it’s accurate and “to try and create a budget.”

The feasibility study concluded that a City of East Cobb providing police, fire and community development services (including planning and zoning), and based on a population of 96,000, would have projected revenues of $49.8 million, and expenses totalling $45.6 million (see chart from the study in graphic below).

That’s with a property tax rate levied at 2.96 mills, the same paid by homeowners in unincorporated Cobb now for fire services.

Revising the map?

The feasibility study was requirement for a cityhood bill to be filed in the recent Georgia legislative session, which includes a proposed city charter and a proposed map that is likely to change.

(View the interactive city map here)

The cityhood group also was scheduled to meet Thursday with officials at the state reapportionment office about the possibility of changing the boundary lines.

Birdwell and Eble both characterized the meeting as seeking out “scenarios” for moving the lines beyond the current boundaries, roughly the East Cobb portion of commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2, to include more of the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones.

The proposed city does not include any of the Sprayberry or Kell clusters.

Both said they didn’t know how the final lines might be drawn, as that is a function of the legislature as it considers the cityhood bill next year.

Birdwell did reiterate the cityhood group’s insistence that those living in a City of East Cobb wouldn’t be paying higher tax rates than they are now.

Changing the city lines would mean changing all those financial numbers, and Birdwell said that “if it’s a real material change, we’ll figure out a way to do the feasibility study to satisfy the [legislative] process.”

Skepticism remains

One citizen trying to keep an open mind is Connie Day, a member of the PFCA board who lives near Brumby in the Stratford neighborhood.

While she said she appreciates the cityhood group for addressing “what’s on peoples’ minds” about the issue, she wonders what the impact will be on taxes.

When asked if she thought the city could be run at or below the current county millage rate, Day laughed for a second, then said, “the skeptic in me says it’s going to be a challenge.”

Day said her property tax assessment has gone up by 20 percent, so she’s already paying more in taxes anyway. That’s not her only question.

“If feels like another layer of government,” she said. “I’m not dissatisfied with the level of services I’m getting now. Right now, I’m not feeling the pain point” that might persuade her to support cityhood (a referendum would take place if the legislature passes the cityhood bill next year).

Also listening to the cityhood group’s presentation Wednesday was Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who has noted previously that all six Cobb municipalities have higher tax millage rates than the county.

He said he was encouraged to hear about the budget proposal, so “we can get a real comparison.”

Eble said the budget committee’s work could be done in another 60 days or so.

The cityhood group is planning another town hall in mid-June.

More East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

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!

East Cobb cityhood leaders to speak at Powers Ferry community meeting

May 7, 2019 3:43 PMMay 6, 2019 12:52 PM by Wendy Parker

On Wednesday East Cobb cityhood leaders will address a meeting of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road). The PFCA, formerly known as the Terrell Mill Community Association, is a civic group, which has occasional community meetings.

Also scheduled to speak are Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, with topics including county police staffing issues and a transit update.

Other updates include what’s happening in the Powers Ferry corridor, including the MarketPlace Terrell Mill and Restaurant Row redevelopment projects.

Part of the Powers Ferry corridor would be included in the proposed City of East Cobb, down to around the intersection at Terrell Mill Road.

Below that, the Powers Ferry area is included in the Cumberland Community Improvement District, which is not included in the proposed city limits.

Last week, the cityhood group held a town hall meeting of its own at Walton High School (see links below).

Mabry Park opening the culmination of ‘imagine a place’ dreams

May 3, 2019 1:25 PM by Wendy Parker

Mabry Park opening

Thirteen years after the idea of a passive park in Northeast Cobb first came about, Thursday’s Mabry Park opening astonished even those who most avidly worked to make that dream come true.

The Friends of Mabry Park, a group of citizens pushing for a park, have long called their campaign “Imagine a Place.”

Many of them, along with members of the Mabry family, turned out for the ribbon-cutting and opening festivities, and some were blown away by what they saw.

“Wow. Just wow,” said Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who has shepherded the Mabry Park idea from the start, and it was one with many stops and starts.

“It was my baby,” she said, her voice breaking a little, “and I’m proud of it today.

“The brilliant tagline, ‘Imagine a Place.’ Here we are. I never it imagined it would look this wonderful, but it is. . . . . I’ve never seen a more beautiful park than Mabry.”

The 26 acres of former Mabry farm land on Wesley Chapel Road, near Sandy Plains Road, still has a rural feel.

The long road leading from Wesley Chapel to the new county park is lined with wooden fencing, as horses graze nearby.

A pond in the middle of the park glistens, with the late-afternoon sun rendering the surface mirror-like.

Kids shout and chatter from swings and the playground. Dogs bark, geese honk and frogs croak.

“Hearing the geese on one side, and the kids on the other, there’s no better serenade to open a park,” said Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 includes Mabry Park.

Mabry Park Opening

Peter Hortman, the current president of the Friends of Mabry Park, also got choked up talking about what for him has been a 10-year journey to this day.

“We couldn’t have gotten here without the community,” he said, rattling off names of other park advocates and asking for a show of hands from those in the Mabry family (about 20 hands went up).

“To the Mabry family,” Hortman said, “what a legacy.”

Hania Whitfield, a former Friends of Mabry Park board member and a resident of nearby Loch Highland, has regularly visited East Cobb Park and Laurel Park in Marietta. She said when she first moved to the county, she heard from neighbors that there were plenty of parks in Cobb, “but most of them had ballfields.”

Mabry Park, she said, “is more than I ever expected.”

Passive parks have been in greater demand in recent years from citizens, Cobb parks and recreation director Jimmy Gisi noted.

He said when the parks department was formed in the 1960s there was a “tremendous” need for athletic fields, to accommodate the growing legions of youth sports leagues.

“The new emphasis that we’ve heard of loud and clear from across the county is a want and a need for more passive parks.”

The county has conducted public input meetings for parks the last two years, and Gisi said “the one resonating message” is that “people are wanting more trails, more passive parkland.”

Of the six recent green space purchases by the county with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb parks bond, all of them—including 18 acres on Ebenezer Road—will have trails and passive green space as part of their master plans that are in development.

“All these amenities you will have right here, in your own backyard, at Mabry Park,” he said.

Mabry Park Opening

Mabry Park goes beyond that, in keeping with the farm history of the land. In 2004, the state designated Mabry Farm as a “centennial farm,” meaning it had been a working farm for more than 100 years.

Across the road on Wesley Chapel, a new subdivision is going up on another portion of the Mabry Farm, and the 1915 homestead was razed in early 2018 to make way.

To preserve the farm feel of the park, and to protect its natural surroundings, the county has installed modern technologies.

“You will find that the ecofeatures and attention to nature in this park will second to none,” said Cobb County Manager Rob Hosack, noting that Mabry has only a small amount of impervious surfacing at the parking lot. A retention pond was located near the lake to handle stormwater runoff.

Mabry Park cost $2.85 million to build. The county bought the future park land for $4.3 million in 2008, but the recession put a halt to any further construction plans. A master plan was completed in 2011, and final approval was delayed in late 2017 due to issues over funding.

The park construction was paid for with 2016 SPLOST money, but operating costs (around $105,000 a year) come from the county’s general fund.

Like East Cobb Park, the future building out of Mabry Park will come about based on community desires, including treehouses, another bridge over the lake and holding events there.

“The Friends of Mabry Park doesn’t end today,” Hortman said. “It has a life long beyond today. There’s a lot left to be done.”

For now, there’s plenty to enjoy, and savor: a playground, community garden and picnic pavilion, as well as 1.2 miles of trails.

“I can’t wait to come back here this weekend and walk every bit of it,” Whitfield said. “They’ve not only made this park functional, they’ve made it picturesque.”

Mabry Park Opening

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!

East Cobb City map: Defining and redrawing the lines

May 5, 2019 6:13 PMMay 2, 2019 5:18 PM by Wendy Parker

From the moment East Cobb Cityhood proponents issued a proposed map last December, questions abounded from the public: Who drew this East Cobb city map? Why isn’t my neighborhood in it?

Perhaps the biggest silent question that could have been implied is this one: What does it mean to be in East Cobb?

Advocates for a new city say one of the objectives is to help create a better sense of community identity. That certainly could be a by-product in an area that’s been building out in sprawling, unincorporated suburban fashion for nearly 50 years.

But how the City of East Cobb proposal now before the legislature, and that could go to voters in a referendum next year, finally comes to fruition depends on how those municipal boundaries may ultimately be decided.

The map that’s been drawn up is the East Cobb portion of Bob Ott’s Cobb Commission District 2, at least in unincorporated Cobb and excluding the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

That drew suspicions about Ott’s possible involvement in the cityhood effort (which he denies).

But it’s a city heavy with the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones, a little of Pope and Lassiter and none from Sprayberry and Kell.

How can that be called East Cobb?

The cityhood bill filed near the end of the 2019 legislative session includes that map, and leaders of the group insist that the map, and everything in the bill, including a proposed city charter, is subject to change.

In fact, at a town hall meeting they held Monday, they confirmed that changing the proposed boundaries is in the works, and could cross Sandy Plains Road, out toward Shallowford and Trickum Roads.

“The lines will change,” said David Birdwell, a member of the cityhood group, said at the Walton meeting. “It depends on how far we go.”

The feasibility study conducted for the cityhood group according to the present lines would include a population of 96,000, which would make East Cobb the second-largest city in metro Atlanta.

The Cityhood group also released an interactive map this week that lets readers find out whether they’re in the presently proposed boundaries.

(FWIW the coverage area of East Cobb News is most everything east of I-75 and I-575, including most of the ZIP codes of 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068 and the Cobb portion of 30075. That’s a population of around 200,000; view demographic details here.)

Subject to change

Cityhood leaders have said that some boundaries had to be submitted with the bill. The legislation also calls for a six-member city council and specified census blocks and voting precincts.

Those too are a rough draft and are likely to be changed; a few of the voting precincts indicated in the bill are either non-existent or misnumbered.

Five of the six council districts would include some or a good bit of the Walton attendance zone (it’s the third-largest high school in Cobb).

It’s uncertain for now how that school zone dynamic would change in an expanded proposed city.

Birdwell said that an amendment to the feasibility study could be requested if those lines do change, so a new study (and its budgeting and finance assumptions) may not be necessary before the legislature would take up the bill in 2020.

“It’s their discretion to make the final call,” said Karen Hallacy, another member of the cityhood group.

The legislative process

Kay Kirkpatrick, East Cobb city map — *State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick*

Even though East Cobb cityhood is considered local legislation (lawmakers in the proposed new city have to sponsor it), a bill would be voted on by both houses in the Georgia General Assembly.

State. Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb) is the House sponsor. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, also of East Cobb, said she hasn’t decided about cityhood and didn’t sign on as a sponsor.

“The meeting was very informative,” she said after the Monday town hall. “This community wants input, and I think it clarifies a lot of misconceptions. I’m like any other citizen, just getting input.”

The bill doesn’t need the support of the Cobb delegation. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, an East Cobb Republican, would need to sponsor the bill if it crosses over from the House, but for now she remains non-committal about cityhood.

“I’m trying to keep an open mind until the end of the year,” she said after the town hall. “The bill has a tough road ahead of it,” as any bill does. Some recent cityood bills and referenda also have been defeated.

By time an East Cobb bill might cross over, Kirkpatrick said, “I’ll have a better idea whether East Cobb wants to be a city.

“I’ve gotten a lot of negative feedback, but then people hear about the police and the idea of more local control,” she said. “I’ll bet they [cityhood leaders] picked up some support tonight.”

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

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!

Citizens take part in helping map Cobb’s transportation future

April 29, 2019 10:51 AM by Wendy Parker

With Crayolas, magic markers and a wide variety of maps as their canvas, citizens are getting a chance to state their preferences for how they’d like to get around the county, and elsewhere, as part of Cobb’s transportation future.

For Stephen Ake of East Cobb, his issues are on several levels, and in multiple places. He took part in a public meeting at the East Cobb Library, and they continue this week and into May.

The project is called Cobb Forward, and the more formal designation is the Cobb Transportation Plan, which is updated every five years.

Current and future trends

They were treated to a vast array of data about Cobb population growth, home prices, education and employment patterns and future land use projections.

The information was so voluminous that some complained about it not being posted online (that’s supposed to happen soon) for them to view in advance.

All the numbers and analysis will be used to build on the 2040 Cobb Comprehensive Plan, and it’s the first CTP to incorporate a broad base of information, including technology (i.e. autonomous vehicles), land use and other factors besides roads and transit.

While Cobb’s population reached 750,000 last year, that growth is slowing a bit, up just one percent between 2017-18.

Cobb’s minority population continues to rise, in terms of number and percentage, to more than 330,000, or around 42 percent of all Cobb citizens.

How Cobb residents get around matters too, with around 125,000 people who both live and work in the county, with 60 percent of residents leaving to go to work. There are an estimated 300,000 jobs in Cobb.

What’s also playing into the future transportation dynamic are growing desires for walking and biking options.

Wish lists

At a table with several other citizens, Ake placed a green pin at a spot on the map along Delk Road, near his workplace, that he thinks ought to have a raised median for safety reasons. “What they’re doing on Sandy Plains now [near Sprayberry High School] they ought to do it there, too.”

Other citizens told members of the consulting firm staff they liked the idea of more roundabouts (such as one at Lower Roswell and Little Willeo Road) and the diverging diamond on Windy Hill Road over I-75.

Transit in East Cobb is rare, with the only CobbLinc bus route traveling along Powers Ferry Road. Some expressed an interest in high-speed rail along I-75, a possible bus route from Johnson Ferry into Sandy Springs, and transit to the Marietta Square.

As for trails, completing the Noonday Creek Trail is something Ake said he’d like to see (such an option is recommended in the 2018 Cobb DOT Greenways and Trails Master Plan.)

Funding for that possibility, as well as what may come out of the Cobb Forward meetings, is another issue.

For now, the project consultants working for Cobb DOT are simply taking in the feedback, with the pledge that “everything is on the table,” before coming up with a list of feasible projects.

An online survey can be completed here through the end of May. You’ll be asked to list priorities for a number of transportation-related issues, how to allocate transportation funding and mark up maps on your own wish list.

After the town halls, a needs assessment will be conducted later this year, with recommendations made next year and final approval slated for 2021.

Cobb's transportation future

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!

East Cobb cityhood town hall to mark community ‘reset’

April 27, 2019 1:45 PMApril 27, 2019 7:33 AM by Wendy Parker

The leaders of an effort to create a City of East Cobb will be holding their own town hall meeting for the first time on Monday, vowing to foster a dialogue with the public about an incorporation process that has stumbled out of the gate.

The town hall meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Walton High School (1590 Bill Murdock Road). A panel discussion moderated by Cynthia Rozzo, publisher of the EAST COBBER magazine, will include Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb members David Birdwell, Rob Eble and Karen Hallacy.

The town hall also will include members of a cityhood effort in Mableton, which like East Cobb has had local legislation introduced to be considered next year.

Last month, Birdwell faced an occasionally rowdy audience at Cobb commissioner Bob Ott’s town hall meeting. It was the first public encounter for the cityhood group, which formed last fall, commissioned a financial feasibility study and hired a lobbyist in the General Assembly with cityhood experience.

The group didn’t say much publicly until last month’s town hall, and the cityhood legislation, sponsored by State Rep. Matt Dollar, was filed the following day.

Related Coverage

Eble told East Cobb News Friday there’s still a lot of information he has to obtain and digest after he joined the group in January, but pledged that he and the others are committed to a “reset” in communicating with the community.

“I wouldn’t vote on it today,” he said, referring to a referendum tentatively eyed for the 2020 Georgia primary next spring if the cityhood bill passes.

There’s still so much to examine, he said, and more feedback from the public to solicit.

Rob Eble, East Cobb cityhood — *Rob Eble*

He’s a life-long East Cobber, and a Walton graduate, who took a look at the feasibility study, which concluded a city could be created without a tax increase, and thinks it’s worth considering.

“It’s all about the process, and shaping it the way the community wants it,” Eble said.

Since last month’s town hall, he said the group has heard from plenty of East Cobb residents about the study—which he expects to be discussed extensively on Monday—as well as the proposed city boundaries.

For now, the map is the unincorporated East Cobb portion of Ott’s commission district (map here), and would include a population of around 96,000.

The legislation calls for a mayor to be elected citywide and a six-member city council, whose districts have yet to be drawn.

Eble said he’s heard from citizens who live in areas of East Cobb outside of the map, and they wonder why they’re not in it.

He added that the map is subject to change, and that doing so “is under discussion. We want to hear from people.”

Skepticism has abounded since the cityhood effort was revealed, most of all why this is happening in an area where no serious municipal push has been made before.

A member of citizens ad hoc group asked to look at the feasibility study quit in protest of what he called a lack of transparency.

Eble insisted that “nobody is trying to push anything down anybody’s throat.

“Nobody’s trying to prosper off this,” Eble said. “We believe that local citizens of East Cobb are much better equipped to have a say about what happens in their backyards.”

Both the East Cobb and Mableton cityhood groups have said they want more responsive local control over government services than what is provided by Cobb, which has a county-elected chairman and four district members who represent more than 185,000 people each.

The proposed East Cobb city services are police, fire and community development, including planning and zoning.

Eble said the town hall format on Monday will include presentations and questions from the audience, to be submitted on note cards.

The cityhood group also will be appearing at a meeting next month of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance. Eble said other meetings are in the works with homeowners groups and civic and business associations. Cityhood representatives also be at next weekend’s Taste of East Cobb event.

“This is education,” Eble said. “There is an opportunity to create a community 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!

Cobb public safety advocates say proposed pay raise not enough

April 24, 2019 11:47 AM by Wendy Parker

As the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the hiring of a new public safety director Tuesday night, many of those working for county public safety agencies and members of the public told them that a proposed five-percent pay increase isn’t sufficient. Susan Hampton, Cobb public safety advocates

That’s how much more Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce wants to pay them in his draft fiscal year 2020 budget proposal. The boost includes a three-percent hike for all county employees, plus another two percent for public safety personnel.

For several weeks those working for police, fire, sheriff’s office and 911/emergency agencies have told commissioners morale is deteriorating because of poor salary and benefits packages and retention rates, compared to other jurisdictions in metro Atlanta.

Among those speaking out was Susan Hampton (in photo), an East Cobb citizen who helps organize an annual public safety appreciation dinner for police officers in Precinct 4 and another for Cobb firefighters.

“I am begging you to fix it now,” she said as the last of a long line of public speakers demanding immediate action, and not later in the summer, during the budget process.

“Fix it now” was a message some brought to the meeting as they held up signs and wildly applauded what Hampton and others were saying.

Commissioners named Cobb Police Chief Mike Register the new public safety director, and he pledged to those in the audience to “make public safety a better place to work.”

The vote to approve Register was 4-1, with Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb opposed, saying he’d prefer the $300,000 or so budgeted for public safety director (half salary, the rest support staff) go to addressing staffing shortages.

Ott said he wasn’t opposed to Register, whom many praised during the evening, getting the job.

East Cobb Cityhood group to hold town hall, appear at Powers Ferry meeting

April 20, 2019 2:59 PMApril 19, 2019 3:31 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb cityhood group

The leaders of a group promoting cityhood for East Cobb have switched the location for an April 29 town hall meeting.

Rob Eble, one of the leaders of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, told East Cobb News Friday that the meeting will now take place in the theater at Walton High School (1590 Bill Murdock Road) due to capacity issues.

The meeting was originally slated for Chestnut Ridge Christian Church. More than 600 people showed up to to hear cityhood leader David Birdwelll at a March town hall meeting (above) at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Eble said the town hall at Walton will last from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will feature a moderated panel discussion and questions from citizens.

It’s the first of two public meetings cityhood leaders will be having in short order. They’re also slated to speak at a meeting of the the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance next month.

The civic association is holding a community meeting May 8 from 7-9 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road) that also will include Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott.

Other topics of discussion include public safety staffing in Cobb, a transit update, issues in the Powers Ferry corridor and news on redevelopment projects that include the MarketPlace Terrell Mill and Restaurant Row.

The day after the March town hall, local legislation was filed that will be considered next year that calls for a referendum in March 2020, and if approved, mayor and city council elections would take place next November.

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

The cityhood forces have maintained that they want more local control of government, and would provide police, fire and zoning and planning services.

Birdwell, a real estate entrepreneur, joined the group in January, a couple of months after the group commissioned a financial feasibility study. Eble, a technology consultant, is the other new “face” of the cityhood movement

The city map that was drawn and introduced with the legislation includes a population of 96,000 and takes the East Cobb portion of Ott’s District 2 and the Powers Ferry area that is not in the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Patti Rice, president of the PFCA, told East Cobb News after the town hall that the proposed map would split the community “right down the middle.”

She said while she lives just outside the proposed City of East Cobb, she’s keeping an open mind about cityhood but thinks the cityhood group “needs to organize their message.”

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!

Cobb County government offices closed for Good Friday

April 18, 2019 1:55 PMApril 18, 2019 8:54 AM by Wendy Parker

Just a reminder that Cobb County government will be closed for Good Friday, including public library branches.

The libraries will be open at their regular hours on Saturday, and those branches that have been open on Sunday (including Mountain View) will be closed on Easter Sunday.

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb SPLOST critics blast what they call a ‘never-ending slush fund’

April 15, 2019 5:09 PM by Wendy Parker

Some East Cobb citizens who’ve been demanding greater Cobb government SPLOST accountability made their arguments public at a town hall meeting last week.

*East Cobb citizen Debbie Fisher at a budget town hall in 2018 at the Sewell Mill Library. (ECN file)*

The informal group, led by Jan Barton and Debbie Fisher, has been critical not only of how the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Money has been spent, but also pointed out that was initially designed to be a finite tax has turned into what’s been called a “never-ending slush fund.”

The SPLOST collections, which are a penny on the dollar, go to funding road, facilities and technology improvements, among other things, with a specific project list that is approved by voters in a referendum.

(Here’s an overview.)

The county SPLOST is separate from the Education SPLOST, also a penny, that is collected for Cobb and Marietta schools.

The school SPLOST wasn’t part of the town hall, and isn’t included in the Cobb SPLOST critics’ arguments with the county.

In December, Barton and Fisher and their group had former state legislator Josh McKoon, an attorney, send an “ante litem” letter (meaning “before litigation”) to Cobb government officials, alleging that some of the items on the most recent SPLOST project lists didn’t include proper descriptions, and that the county hasn’t acknowledged surplus amounts of SPLOST funds from previous collection periods.

At an East Cobb budget town hall meeting last summer, Fisher claimed the county had more than $100 million in extra SPLOST funds, but Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce told her that “there’s nothing left.”

In his letter to Boyce and the other Cobb commissioners, McKoon attached a list of Cobb DOT projects his clients are claiming weren’t properly authorized by Cobb voters. They include road improvements on Sewell Mill Road between Johnson Ferry Road and Pine Road, and on Hembree Road at Pope High School.

(Read McKoon’s letter here.)

In January, Cobb County Attorney Deborah Dance responded to McKoon by saying the county “properly funded the projects identified in your correspondence” and that “mandatory SPLOST reporting by the Georgia law has been satisfied.”

Dance said that each project was either specifically included on a list for the referendum or “fit within a category approved by the electorate for each SPLOST.” Finally, Dance replied to McKoon that “Given the County’s compliance with Georgia law . . . and prior efforts to provide your clients with information concerning that compliance, the County is not aware of any additional information or actions that will serve to satisfy your clients’ concerns.”

(Read Dance’s letter here.)

Barton told East Cobb News after the town hall meeting her group hadn’t decided on any specific next steps, and that litigation is still a possibility.

Below is a Power Point that was unveiled at the town hall meeting, as well as a full video of the meeting that lasts around an hour and a half.

(SPLOST Town Hall Presentation.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poYy3Iq1hbQ&feature=youtu.be

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!

2020 Cobb budget proposal: Pay raises, Sunday library hours, law enforcement recruitment bonuses

April 11, 2019 8:09 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb budget town hall, Mike Boyce, 2020 Cobb budget proposal

As he pledged during recent town hall meetings, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce wants to pay county employees more, increase Sunday library hours and address public safety staffing and retention issues in his fiscal year 2020 budget proposal, and all without a millage rate increase.

A draft version of that budget was released on Thursday, and the proposal calls for general fund spending of $440.6 million—$20 million more than the current FY 2019 budget of $420.6 million.

The featured priorities are a three percent raise for all county employees, plus an additional two percent increase for law enforcement officers.

Other additional spending will include increased Sunday library hours, a $2,500 recruitment bonuses for new police officers, reducing the percentage of funds transferred from the Cobb Water System from 10 percent to 9 percent and eliminating fees to use county senior centers.

Here’s a summary of the draft budget proposal; it’s still a preliminary document and a formal proposal will be submitted to the Cobb Board of Commissioners and it’s subject to change.

Shallowford Road, Chimney Springs Drive resurfacing projects approved

April 9, 2019 4:53 PMApril 9, 2019 1:15 PM by Wendy Parker

Shallowford Road resurfacing project

The Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved spending $9.2 million in road resurfacing projects across the county, including a major section of Shallowford Road and all of Chimney Springs Drive in Northeast Cobb.

The Shallowford Road project (seen in map above) is the lengthiest of the 23 projects that were approved, covering 2.62 miles between Canton Road and Trickum Road.

The next-longest project is all of Chimney Springs Drive, which is a circular road with two entry points on Bishop Lake Road (seen in map below), spanning 2.54 miles.

Other nearby repavings will take place on Country Lane, a tenth-mile surface street between Chimney Springs Drive and Post Oak Tritt Road and 0.50 miles of McPherson Road between Post Oak Tritt and Shallowford Road. Chimney Springs Drive resurfacing

You can view the entire 21.81-mile project list here, and it calls for additional repavings, should funding be available, for the following roads in East Cobb:

Johnson Ferry Road, between Post Oak Tritt and Roswell Road (2.50 miles);
East Piedmont Road, between Allgood Road and Roswell Road (1.13 miles);
Maybreeze Road, between Ebenezer Road and Shallowford Road (0.66 miles);
Pete Shaw Road, between Steinhauer Road and Sandy Plains Road (1.22 miles).

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!

Cobb SPLOST funding subject of citizens town hall meeting

April 4, 2019 8:14 PMApril 4, 2019 5:13 PM by Wendy Parker

Thanks to Jan Barton, an East Cobb resident who’s helping organize a citizens town hall meeting next Tuesday about Cobb SPLOST funding, for the meeting notice and information below:

She says her group, called the Citizens Accountability Taskforce, “will present the real story about our findings and your Cobb County SPLOST taxes. You will hear how we are attempting to hold the County accountable and what you can do to help.”

They’ve been critics of long-term Cobb SPLOST collection periods (the current 2016 SPLOST ends on Dec. 21, 2021) as well as how much of the money is being used.

The group grew out of concerns over how Cobb officials brokered the stadium deal with the Atlanta Braves in 2013 and last year raised questions over increased property taxes that said could have been avoided had excess SPLOST funds been used to pay down debt.

At some budget hearings last year, they pressed Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce on the latter issue, but he told them that “there’s nothing left.”

Last month, in an East Cobb town hall meeting ahead of the upcoming fiscal year 2020 budget process, Boyce said he would be seeking a SPLOST renewal next year to start in 2022, preferably for only four years.

Next week’s citizens town hall meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at the Cobb GOP offices (799 Roswell St.).

Here’s more about what’s on their agenda, and their Facebook page.

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!

Ott says he doesn’t support replacing Cobb public safety director

April 4, 2019 12:02 PMApril 2, 2019 9:57 AM by Wendy Parker

In response to concerns about staffing, salary and retention issues for Cobb public safety personnel, Commissioner Bob Ott said last week he has a few plans to save money. One of them calls for not having a public safety director. Cobb commissioner Bob Ott

At his town hall meeting at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, Ott drew applause from constituents when he said that “I won’t be voting for the position of a new public safety director.”

Sam Heaton retired as the Cobb Public Safety Director last week, and a replacement hasn’t yet been nominated to succeed him.

But Ott said he thinks the county should go back to having each of the public safety department heads—police, fire/EMS, 911, emergency management and animal services—report to the Cobb County Manager, as has been done in the past.

Heaton is a former Cobb fire chief who was named public safety director in 2014, and was making $156,000 at the end of a 33-year career with the county.

He replaced Jack Forsythe, who resigned in protest, citing a lack of resources and staffing shortages that have come up again as commissioners prepare for the fiscal year 2020 budget.

At their last meeting in March, commissioners were pressed by current and past public safety employees and citizens to address what they called a “crisis.”

Among the pleas were to be more proactive in filling 82 open police officer positions, out of a total county sworn-officer force of 700.

Ott said the county receives around 100 applications a week for police officers, but a typical batch that size is whittled down to around 25 who meet Cobb’s qualifications.

The cost of filling all 82 positions is estimated at around $10 million. All five Cobb Police precincts have open slots in what are called patrol “beats,” including Precinct 4 in East Cobb. Cobb Fraternal Order of Police head Steven Gaynor said Precinct 4 is the least-staffed of all, with eight officers for 10 beats.

(Public safety staffing also has been cited by those pressing for East Cobb cityhood, with police and fire proposed as municipal services.)

Ott’s priority would be to fill the open beat positions. “How many of these 82 slots are needed to have all the beats [in the county] being covered?” he said.

Police officers have said having take-home cars is important for them. In the 2016 Cobb SPLOST, Ott said there was a $9 million line item sum for new police cars, and that last year he offered another $9 million, but his request was taken out of that wish list.

The biggest difference Ott said he has had with how public safety spending has been used is over compensation, benefits, raises and retention incentives.

(He’s expressed his concerns over these matters before, especially after last year’s budget adoption.)

Although he has voted for salary increases for police officers and sheriff’s deputies as part of recommendations from a consultant’s “pay and class” study in 2017, Ott said the practice is not sustainable.

He regrets the “pay and class” vote and prefers implementing a “step and grade” process for public safety employee raises that’s similar to what’s done at the Cobb County School District.

He said he and fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell have been discussing such an option.

Ott also would like to move all county government employees to a defined-contribution retirement system “because defined benefits don’t work.”

Ott and Birrell voted against the fiscal year 2019 Cobb budget that included a property tax hike, and Ott insisted last week the resources to address public safety shortages existed before that.

“There’s money all around, which is why I didn’t vote for the budget and millage rate increase,” he said.

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!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Taking on the tough sell of East Cobb Cityhood

January 1, 2022 1:01 PMMarch 31, 2019 11:52 AM by Wendy Parker

David Birdwell, East Cobb Cityhood

During Thursday night’s town hall meeting about East Cobb Cityhood, David Birdwell was patient, polite and completely earnest as he took the slings and arrows of a citizenry dubious about what he’s trying to sell.

As a new spokesman of a cityhood movement that stumbled out of the gate earlier this winter—one which refused to identify individuals, thus raising questions about its motives—Birdwell is stepping into the void at a critical time.

Joining the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc., in January, after the release of a feasibility study and after those forming the group had already hired a lobbyist in the Georgia legislature, Birdwell had to face an overflow audience at the Catholic Church of St. Ann by himself.

Rob Eble, a technology consultant who’s been designated the other half of the new public face of the cityhood effort, couldn’t attend after suffering a knee injury.

While that may serve as something of a metaphor for how some see the idea of part of East Cobb becoming a city, Birdwell is adamant that it’s an idea that “makes enough sense to explore.”

A semi-retired real estate entrepreneur, Birdwell has lived in East Cobb for the last 22 years—like many in the cityhood group, the Atlanta Country Club area to be specific—and said after reading the feasibility study he was intrigued enough to learn more.

After being contacted by those in the cityhood group—which still hadn’t gone public even as legislation and a city charter were being drawn up—Birdwell agreed to put himself front and center, something he found improbable.

“I can’t believe I did it,” Birdwell said after the meeting, as the church lights were being turned off and the doors to the parish hall were being locked.

“We don’t have a lot of answers now, but I feel convinced of the reasons why I’m doing this,” he said.

To the more than 500 East Cobb citizens who heard him out this week (or in some instances, heckled him), Birdwell also was firm about something else: “I am not a political person,” he said, prompting howls of disbelief.

They returned a short time later when he insisted that “nobody is doing this for any personal gain.”

The laughs—hearty guffaws—were deafening. Yet Birdwell carried on with his message that cityhood is about more local control, better services and a chance for East Cobbers to shape the future of their community.

Related coverage

I believe Birdwell’s sincerity about what he’s saying, and since East Cobb News began publishing about this issue in December, we’ve heard from many others who feel the same way.

It’s a familiar refrain coming from those who’ve been behind cityhood, yet who still remain in the background. But his job now is to convince tens of thousands of East Cobb residents who remain highly skeptical, if downright cynical, about what they’re being told.

What was reassuring is that there will be another town hall to continue the conversation, on April 29, at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church.

Quite frankly, he’s got a very tough sell to make.

That’s because many of those who question cityhood think the services they get from Cobb County for the taxes they pay are just fine. Some are absolutely convinced their taxes will go up, which Birdwell and the cityhood group say will not happen. Others see a number of people involved in the real estate industry who are behind this effort and get suspicious.

Birdwell may not be political, but from the get-go the cityhood effort smacked of rank politics. The map that was drawn up, and is now part of the legislation and charter submitted on Friday, to the letter matches the boundaries of the East Cobb portion of Commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2.

It doesn’t include a big chunk of what many consider East Cobb. Only the Walton, Wheeler and part of the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones are included in this map. I’ve heard from those living near Sprayberry, Kell and the rest of Pope and Lassiter: Um well, what about us?

Others have suggested, only slightly tongue-in-cheek: Are they gonna call this the City of Walton?

East Cobb cityhood legislation

Ott, who told me before the town hall this is by far the biggest such meeting he’s ever held, has been coy about his interest in cityhood. But several of his appointees served on an ad hoc citizens committee that made recommendations about the feasibility study.

Riley Lowery, Ott’s longtime political consultant, is now advising the cityhood group, which was formed in the fall, not long after Cobb commissioners narrowly voted for a tax increase. Ott voted against it, and has said often that some of his constituents are upset that the district provides 40 percent of the county’s tax revenue but doesn’t get the services in return.

Dee Gay, a member of the East Cobb cityhood steering committee, lived in Sandy Springs when it became the first of the new cities in metro Atlanta to spring from a cityhood movement.

“I like it,” she said of Birdwell’s presentation, noting that Sandy Springs cityhood was 20 years in the making. The East Cobb group wants a referendum in the 2020 primaries and actual mayor and city council elections in the 2020 general election.

The problem Birdwell faces is more than perception.

There’s a sense that unlike some other cityhood efforts in metro Atlanta, there isn’t a grassroots uprising to form a City of East Cobb. That those who were skeptical weren’t given many details for months only enhanced their concerns.

Hence, the reactions at Thursday’s town hall.

“There’s such a dearth of information right now, and people are making an emotional decision,” said Linda Carver, president of the East Cobb Civic Association.

Her organization, which represents around 10,000 households, is officially remaining neutral on cityhood.

If there was a groundswell for cityhood, she said, “I think we would have seen that a long time ago.”

This will be Birdwell’s toughest selling point, even though the cityhood group is now eager for volunteer input as town halls and other public meetings will be taking place.

“It’s important for this community to consider,” Birdwell said.

While that is true, he’s got to persuade those who live outside the Atlanta Country Club, or aren’t well-placed in the Walton High School community, or don’t belong to Ott’s kitchen cabinet.

Birdwell was dealt a poor hand, and now he’s got to play it.

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!

East Cobb cityhood bill filed; calls for referendum, initial elections in 2020

March 30, 2019 6:35 PMMarch 30, 2019 3:09 PM by Wendy Parker

State Rep. Matt Dollar, East Cobb cityhood bill

Here’s the first look at the East Cobb cityhood bill, HB 718, filed on Friday by State Rep. Matt Dollar.

To read through the 46-page bill, along with the proposed city charter, click here; the legislation, put in the hopper on the next-to-last day of the Georgia General Assembly, has no co-sponsors for now.

The cityhood bill still must be sponsored by a state senator whose district includes part of the proposed city. The only senator who qualifies is Kay Kirkpatrick, who has said she has no position on the issue for now.

If the legislature passes the bill next year, the East Cobb cityhood group wants the referendum scheduled for the 2020 primary election, with a date to be determined and likely in the spring.

Should voters approve that referendum at that time, a special election would be held for mayor and all six city council spots during the general election in November 2020.

The charter information ranges from how the city government would be set up, the services provided, the levying and collection of tax and other revenues, government functions during the transition to a municipality and the makeup of elections and council districts and appointed city boards and commissions.

Among the provisions is an valorem property tax rate that would not exceed 2.96 mills “unless the millage rate is increased, pursuant to general law.”

The cityhood group commissioned a feasibility study last fall that includes the provision of police, fire and community development services, including zoning.

The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb took its case to the public in an occasionally contentious town hall meeting Thursday, with many residents skeptical of the need for another layer of government and amid claims that property taxes would not be higher than what they currently pay as citizens of unincorporated Cobb County.

Dollar’s bill calls for a council-city manager form of government, with six council members elected by district and a mayor elected across the city. The terms would be for four years each, and elections would be staggered in biennial fashion in odd-numbered years.

The mayor would vote to break a tie, and is limited to serving two terms, although he or she could run for the council after that.

The mayor also would appoint a full-time professional city manager, subject to the confirmation of the city council.

The charter also calls for a city attorney who is not a municipal employee but who is an independent contractor. A law firm also could serve that function. The city attorney is chosen by the mayor.

The mayor also would select a city clerk, and the City of East Cobb would have a municipal court with a chief judge and other judges “as provided by ordinance.” The judges would be appointed by the city council.

Should a City of East Cobb be approved by voters, a transition period would begin on Jan. 1, 2021, with elected officials taking office, the city collecting taxes and beginning to perform other services (except for city courts).

The full transition would last two years.

The city also could exercise planning and zoning powers during the transition, although existing county zoning and land use provisions would remain in effect until they expire.

David Birdwell, one of the new co-leaders of the cityhood group, said another town hall meeting would take place on April 29 at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page
Coming Sunday on East Cobb News: Cityhood backers face challenge convincing the public

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!

Skidaway Island is latest Georgia cityhood referendum rejected by voters

March 26, 2019 2:08 PM by Wendy Parker

We’re still waiting for the East Cobb cityhood bill to be introduced in the legislature (it wasn’t in the hopper as of lunchtime Tuesday and it’s not on today’s local calendar).

Last week there was a cityhood referendum on Skidaway Island that was defeated soundly by voters, and it’s worth considering ahead of Thursday’s town hall meeting with East Cobb cityhood leaders. City of East Cobb map

The vote on Skidaway is the latest cityhood initiative that has been rejected in recent years, after the success of efforts in Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Milton, Peachtree Corners, Brookhaven, Tucker and other parts of the Atlanta suburbs.

Last November, a referendum to create a city of Eagle’s Landing in Henry County went down to defeat. So did the proposed city of Sharon Springs in Forsyth County.

Efforts in DeKalb County to create two other cities, including one area where voters rejected incorporation in 2015, are being fought.

As the Skidaway saga unfolded, local opposition mounted to the cityhood drive, and it was powerful. In the end, voters there elected to stay part of combined Savannah-Chatham County government, with 62 percent voting “no.”

Community leaders in Mableton have had a cityhood bill introduced in the legislature for many of the same reasons cited by those leading the effort in East Cobb: More local control.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page

Charlie Harper, who publishes the GeorgiaPol.com state political website and runs a Republican-focused policy consulting firm based on Powers Ferry Road, offered some perspective on the Skidaway vote on Monday that he thinks could have wider statewide implications:

“For a while, the battle of Republican bumper sticker slogans had “local control” winning out over ‘less government.’ During this successful run, success bred success for many, as the same lobbyists, consultants, and vendors seemed to form a niche that has moved from one cityhood effort to another.

“While casting no aspersions on those who are good at what they do for a living, it’s also time in the wake of this defeat to assess. Is the current list of areas exploring the option of incorporation really the result of a groundswell of public support, or have we now created an industry with the right connections and capital that is planting seeds of cityhood in the hopes that public support will then sprout?”

Those are some of the points that have been made by East Cobb News readers since we began posting about the East Cobb cityhood effort in December.

To be sure, there are supporters of cityhood who also have spoken out, and there are those who are open to listening to what those behind a proposed City of East Cobb have to say.

(Here’s the revised website for the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc.)

But there are many questions readers have been posing to us that reflect much of what drove the opposition in Skidaway.

As Harper noted about the failed effort there as well as Eagle’s Landing:

“At the core of each battle was a commercial tax base. Both were deemed necessary for long term viability with low/stable tax rates. Skidaway Island, dominated by the mega gated community The Landings, is almost exclusively residential.

“This difference, combined with the political savvy of a few key residents, led to Skidaway’s defeat.”

The financial feasibility study conducted for the Committee for Cityhood for East Cobb noted that the tax base split for the proposed city limits would be 85 percent residential and only 15 percent commercial.

That’s another major question East Cobb cityhood leaders will have to address in the coming months, starting Thursday at Bob Ott’s town hall meeting at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Nolan Hall. The church is at 4905 Roswell Road, at the corner of Bishop Lake Road.

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!

East Cobb cityhood group speaking at town hall meeting this week

March 25, 2019 2:55 PMMarch 24, 2019 10:25 AM by Wendy Parker

City of East Cobb map Several months after forming an organization to explore incorporating a portion of East Cobb, representatives of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb are formally taking their case to the public.

They are scheduled to speak Thursday at a town hall meeting of Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

At the same time, legislation calling for a local referendum on cityhood is expected to be filed in the final days of the Georgia General Assembly session.

Ron Eble and David Birdwell are among those who will be speaking at the town hall meeting. They’re part of the cityhood committee whose membership is being revealed only now.

Eble is a management consultant with Slalom Consulting, a business and technology firm. David Birdwell is a real estate entrepreneur who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area.

Ever since the cityhood group was formed last fall, only Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club, and Owen Brown, the founder of Retail Planning Corp., have been publicly identified with the group.

Related coverage

East Cobb News Cityhood information page

The committee has commissioned a City of East Cobb feasibility study and has hired a public relations representative and a lobbyist in the legislature.

That study concluded that the city, with boundaries proposed by the committee, is financially feasible and that additional tax rates wouldn’t be needed. In fact, the study, conducted by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance, suggested that a City of East Cobb would start out with a surplus of a few million dollars.

The boundaries include only unincorporated east Cobb that is in Ott’s District 2, and cover a population of 97,000. The committee has not explained why it’s not including what is generally regarded as most or all of East Cobb in its proposed city map.

Among the reasons cited for pursuing cityhood are enhancing local control of services, especially public safety, roads and zoning. The group is calling for a city government that would have an elected mayor and council and an appointed city manager, with city hall possibly being located at an expanded East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road.

A citizens group in Mableton, which also is pursuing cityhood and has had legislation filed for a referendum in 2020, is citing similar reasons for its cityhood drive.

State Rep. Matt Dollar, a Republican who represents part of the proposed City of East Cobb, told East Cobb News last week that he will be sponsoring a bill shortly calling for a referendum in 2020; as of Friday, that bill has not been introduced.

Cityhood is a two-year process in Georgia. Local legislation must at least be introduced a year before any referendum can be scheduled.

Cityhood legislation also must be sponsored by at least one state senator whose district includes a proposed new city. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, the only lawmaker in the upper chamber who could do that, told East Cobb News last week that she doesn’t have a position on cityhood for now, “but the bill will get the conversation started.”

By contrast, those in Mableton leading the cityhood effort there have held a series of public meetings over the last couple years before having legislation filed. The group still must have a feasibility study conducted.

Who else is involved?

Joining Birdwell and Eble on the committee, along with Gavalis and Brown, are Dee Gay, Karen Hallacy, Sharon McGehee, Chip Patterson, Carolyn Roddy, Jerry Quan, Kevin Taitz and John Woods, according to the group’s revamped website, which is now subtitled “Good neighbors make for good government.”

Gavalis is an appointee of Ott’s, serving on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission. He’s also served on the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.

The group also is being advised by Riley Lowery, a political consultant who has long advised Ott, and who has been sparring with some citizens in recent days on social media about the cityhood effort and his role in it.

East Cobb News asked Phil Kent, the cityhood group’s P.R. representative, to provide basic biographical information about the rest of the committee. He replied that he doesn’t know “most of the East Cobbers” with the expanded group and “suggest you perform old-fashioned journalism research” by attending the town hall meeting.

When East Cobb News followed up that reply with a request to get the information before the town hall, and to explain how these individuals were selected and what their roles will be, Kent did not respond. Here’s a bit more about them:

Dee Gay: A commercial real estate broker who is active with the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club, and who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area;
Karen Hallacy: Longtime East Cobb civic activist, president of Georgia PTA and Ott’s appointee to the Development Authority of Cobb County;
Sharon McGehee: Associate director of advancement at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy;
Chip Patterson: Atlanta Country Club area resident and a partner in Three P Partners, an Atlanta real estate development firm, as well as a former head of the Walton Touchdown Club;
Jerry Quan: The former commander of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 station in East Cobb, now serving with the Cobb County School District police department. He’s a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year;
Carolyn Roddy: An administrative law attorney in Marietta;
Kevin Taitz: Technology consultant at Slalom Consulting;
John Woods: CEO of Southport Capital, based in the Cobb Galleria, and a chairman of the Walton Touchdown Club. Three sons played football at Walton, most recently Dominick Blaylock, an all-state wide receiver and University of Georgia signee. Woods also is the owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball team.

The town hall meeting starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Nolan Hall at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, 4905 Roswell Road (at Bishop Lake Road).

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!

Related stories

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Revising the map?

Skepticism remains

More East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related stories

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Subject to change

The legislative process

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related links

Current and future trends

Wish lists

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related stories

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related stories

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related coverage

Who else is involved?

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this: