After a week and a half of classes in the spring semester, the Cobb County School District has not updated its COVID-19 case data.
Each Friday during the 2020-21 school year and in the fall semester of 2021, the district revised those figures each Friday, with breakdowns according to each school.
But for the last two Fridays, those numbers have not been provided on the district’s COVID Case Notification page.
Instead, the page shows it was last updated on Dec. 17, 2021, the last day of the fall semester, with a figure of 6,709 cumulative cases reported among students and staff since July 1, 2021.
In December, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the district was changing some of its COVID protocols, including eliminating much of its contact-tracing and revising procedures for staff quarantine if they’re identified as close contacts.
At a Cobb school board meeting, Ragsdale didn’t reference how the district may be counting and publicly reporting COVID cases.
On Friday, East Cobb News asked the district about the status of keeping those figures current.
A spokeswoman responded by saying only that “recent changes to our public health protocols, and their impact on accurate COVID-19 case counts, are under review. Once determined, we will provide an update on our COVID-19 webpage about what process we will use going forward.”
That’s the same answer she has given to other news outlets.
Nearly two years into the pandemic, and the highly infectious Omicron variant is yielding record transmission levels in Cobb, Georgia and elsewhere.
As of Friday, the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 people in Cobb County was around 2,500, far higher than the “high” transmission rate of 100/100K.
Those figures are not broken down by public school district or private schools.
The single-day high recently reported in Cobb was 252 on Dec. 30; on Jan. 12, the number was 171, part of a downward trend that’s generally dipping below 200.
The spring semester resumes on Tuesday. The COVID protocol changes may be discussed Thursday at Cobb school board meetings, which are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and include time for public comment.
Agendas for the meetings will be posted at this link on Tuesday.
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There’s a flashing light at the traffic signal at Johnson Ferry and Lassiter roads, indicating a power outage. Photo: Georgia 511
Some light accumulated snow began to fall in East Cobb late Sunday morning and into the afternoon, and as slushy roads were in the process of freezing.
While roads are passable for now and there are no major issues on the roads, Cobb officials are urging the public to avoid travel if possible today.
Temperatures are hovering just above freezing, but are expected to drop into the high 20s Sunday night and into Monday morning.
As the winter storm approached, high winds were knocking down trees and power lines in parts of the county, Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a social media posting.
He was standing at the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Lassiter Road, one of three intersections in the county where the traffic signal is out.
Cavitt said there’s a power outage in the area, prompting the traffic signal to be flashing in all directions.
That’s one of 21 traffic signals in the county that are flashing or are out.
Sprucebough Drive, located off Johnson Ferry Road, is closed due to trees falling on power lines, a Cobb government message said right before noon.
Cobb EMC is reporting that there are more than 1,000 customers without electricity in the Sandy Plains-Shallowford area, with service restoration estimated for later Sunday afternoon.
The Georgia Power outage map isn’t showing any service issues in the East Cobb area for the time being.
A winter weather advisory remains in place for Cobb until midnight Monday, but a high wind warning continues until 2 p.m. today.
Winds today have been in the 10-15 mph range, according to the National Weather Service, but the wind could reach gusts up to 30 mph in some places.
A wind advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Monday.
According to the National Weather Service, there’s an 80 percent chance of rain, sleet and snow Sunday. Tonight the precipitation will fall to 30 percent, with lows dropping into the high 20s.
Monday will be partly sunny with highs in the high 30s and lows in the mid 20s.
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Members of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood with State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (third from left) at the Georgia Capitol this week.
After a bill to call for a referendum about creating a City of East Cobb passed a Georgia House Committee this week, the group pushing for the legislation created a petition to build public support.
“The residents of East Cobb deserve the right to vote in a referendum to decide whether we should become the City of East Cobb,” states the petition, which is addressed to East Cobb-area legislators, including the bill’s sponsors.
“The decision is best left in the hands of the voters in the next election. We should not be denied our right to vote on the question of local, representative government for our community.”
If the bill fails to pass in the Georgia General Assembly, there would be no referendum, and the cityhood issue would have to begin again in the next legislative cycle.
In 2019, an East Cobb cityhood bill was abandoned by supporters and never was considered by the legislature.
At a subcommittee hearing Wednesday and the committee meeting Thursday, local officials were asked by a lawmaker if the citizens of East Cobb should be able to vote on whether a city should be created.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid wanted more time to examine the bill and a financial feasibility study, saying voters don’t have “clear and accurate information.”
She said she doesn’t oppose cityhood bills in general, but “I’m in opposition to a bill being passed that has not been made clear, with information that is incomplete or is inaccurate so voters can make a wise decision.”
When pressed by State Rep. Barry Fleming about whether she opposed HB 841 (a substitute to the original bill) as it is written now, she said, “at this time, yes.”
On Saturday afternoon, the East Cobb Alliance, a group of citizens opposed to cityhood, issued a response to the cityhood group’s online petition, accusing the latter’s e-mail of largely containing “half-truths” about the issue of a referendum and other topics.
In a lengthy e-mail message, the Alliance, who had a representative at the legislative meetings this week, also said “the actual ballot language is not crystal clear as to what regular voters (not legislators and lawyers, but regular people) can decipher on the ballot. It is as convoluted as the trick-polling in which the Cityhood group has engaged.”
The Alliance message also delves into the addition of police and fire services to the East Cobb financial feasibility study, after proposing a “city lite” set of services without public safety in the bill introduced in 2021.
“Right out of the gate, a City of East Cobb will be operating at a huge loss, and the city will have to take on heavy debt immediately,” the Alliance e-mail concludes.
East Cobb House Republican Matt Dollar was the only co-sponsor in 2019, but this time around got the support of State Rep. Sharon Cooper.
HB 841 also will need a local sponsor in the Senate if it passes in the full House. (A House vote will not take place before Jan. 24, since the legislature will be holding budget meetings all next week.)
In 2019, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican from East Cobb, said she couldn’t support the bill because she got a lot of negative feedback from constituents.
She told East Cobb News on Friday that she is more receptive to the bill this time.
“The bill and the map are much different than 2019 and I am getting a lot more positive feedback on it this time,” she said. “I have said all along that if there was sufficient interest from the citizens in voting on this issue, I would support it and that appears to be the case this time. Then the community can vote it up or down.”
Kirkpatrick, however, isn’t a co-sponsor. While she represents the proposed City of East Cobb currently, her District 32 will not include any of that area in the 2022 election, due to redrawn lines during reapportionment.
Instead, the Senate co-sponsor would be John Albers, a Republican from North Fulton, whose District 56 will soon include the proposed East Cobb city area.
Among the signatories to the East Cobb Cityhood group’s petition include Scott Sweeney, a former Cobb Board of Education member who joined the group last year, and current school board member David Banks, who represents the Pope and Lassiter clusters in East Cobb.
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For more details about Storm Izzy, click here. Source: National Weather Service Atlanta
What’s being called Winter Storm Izzy was approaching Georgia Saturday morning, and the National Weather Service expanded its winter weather advisory to include most of Cobb County and metro Atlanta.
The advisory begins at 10 p.m. Sunday and continues until midnight Monday as North Georgia braces for snow, sleet, ice and other winter weather.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for most of North Georgia.
The advisory, which was issued at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, says there’s an expectation of up to 2 inches of accumulated snow and up to two-tenths of an inch of ice accumulation during that time.
High winds also will be a factor, with gusts predicted of up to 40 mph in some areas.
The Cobb area is likely to get precipitation on Sunday morning. As a result, many churches have cancelled in-person services and will be worshipping online.
Citizens are advised to be off the roads before 6 p.m. Saturday and to avoid unnecessary travel after that.
The high Saturday is expected to reach into the high 40s, but temperatures will drop near freezing Saturday night.
Sunday’s high is expected to be in the mid 30s, with a 90 percent chance of a wintry mix.
Sunday’s low will dip into the high 20s.
Monday will be clear and sunny, but with highs also in the low 40s and lows in the mid 20s.
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Starting Monday and continuing through Jan. 28, the CycleBar location in East Cobb (4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 450 in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center) is conducting a winter coat drive.
New and gently used coats of all ages can be dropped off there Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
CycleBar will be donating the collected coats through the Cobb County School District.
Those who donate coats will get 3 free rides at CycleBar as a thank-you gift.
More details can be found at the link above or by calling 770-672-0198.
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Sam Opdenbosch, owner of Sam’s Cookie Company, won the Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge” on December 23rd, 2021. The competition, which invites five cookie artists from around the country, challenges bakers to create holiday themed desserts for a $10,000 prize.
Opdenbosch, a licensed home baker and owner of Sam’s Cookie Company, has decided to donate all $10,000 to organizations that have been hit hardest by this unprecedented COVID crisis.
The Piedmont Healthcare Staff Support Fund will receive $5,000. Angels Among Us Pet Rescue and Furkids will each receive $2,500.
In Christmas Cookie Challenge, five confident and daring bakers compete to prove their holiday cookie-making skills. Tough-love judges are on hand to crown the holiday cookie master, who will go home with a $10,000 prize! In Season 5, Episode 8 Reindeer Auditions Santa’s recruiting new animals for his team, and it’s up to five of the best cookie makers around to come up with the candidates! After hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson select which reindeer replacements will make the squad, it’s time for fun with a frosty friend as the cookiers craft one-of-a-kind 3-D snowmen. To infuse their cookie snowmen with a chilly flavor, the competitors incorporate frozen fruits like blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry. With $10,000 on the line, only one can be “Best in Snow.”
Samantha made it to the second round by using strong animals to replace the reindeer. She created a llama and polar bear to help Santa deliver presents. “For the final challenge of the season, the bakers were tasked with crafting one-of-a-kind 3-D snowmen made entirely of cookies. Eddie loved the detail on Samantha’s chocolate espresso blackberry cookie, noting that she did an excellent job on the piping.”
“Being on Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge season 5, episode 8 “Reindeer Auditions” was one of the most amazing experiences I have had! Not only to be on the show but to take home $10,000 is still unbelievable!!!!! Being able to donate the winnings to incredible organizations like these has made this one of the most memorable moments of my life.”
The Piedmont staff support fund provides funding for initiatives that raise employee morale, aid staff in their self-care, or help employees as they care for their loved ones at home. Examples for these initiatives include but are not limited to staff celebrations, daycare expenses, meal support, technology and tutoring needed by children for at home learning, mental and emotional support services and more.
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Walton High School has created a Sports Hall of Fame and its inaugural class includes longtime former football coach Ed Dudley.
He’s one of seven people who will be honored next Friday, Jan. 21, between the Raiders’ girls and boys varsity basketball games against Harrison.
Dudley coached the Raiders from 1995-2008 and led them to the school’s first five region titles. He also took Walton to the state semifinals twice, and was twice named the Cobb County Coach of the Year.
The Dudley football field house at Raider Valley is named in his honor. He is currently the head coach at Winder-Barrow High School.
Lee Anne Case (1983-86)—4-time state champion in cross country; 1986 Georgia high school female athlete of the year; 1985-86 national high school All-American; 2-time Georgia state record holder in 1600m, 3200m runs; 4-time letter-winner at Auburn University.
Holden Fender (Soccer 2008-12)—2012 Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year; member of the U.S. U17, U19, U20 United States men’s national teams; Georgia state champion 2011; 3-time state Final Four participant; Played college at UCLA (2012) and N.C. State and was All-ACC in 2014.
Lee Gower (Head Coach Track & Field and Cross Country 1975-85)—4-time boys state championships; 3-time girls cross country state championships; 9-time cross country region championships; 6-time track and field regional championships; coached 2 girls cross country All-Americans and 19 individual state champions.
Keith Grunewald (1986-90 Baseball): 4-year starter at shortstop; 1990 All-State, All-Region & Tourney MVP; 2-time regional champion; Highest MLB draftee (59th) in Walton HS history at the time; 3-year starter as football quarterback; in 1988 led Cobb in total yards, passing yards and passing TDs; 1989 All-State; 3-year letterman in basketball and 2-year starter, played on Walton’s first region champion in 1989.
Dr. Hugh McLeod (1982-2011): Team Doctor for Walton Athletics for 29 years; founded the Walton Sports Medicine Program; namesake of the Hugh C. McLeod III, MD Sports Medicine Facility at Walton; funded trainer program at Walton.
Alena Palmquist (1980-84 track and field): 9-time Georgia State Champion; held state records in mile and 2-mile run; part of 2-time team state champions in cross country; 3-time Atlanta Track Club Runner of the Year; 5-time All-American.
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For more details of this weekend’s winter weather advisory, click here.
With winter weather in the forecast early next week, Cobb County government is delaying a planned COVID test distribution event that had been scheduled for Monday.
The county put out a statement late Thursday afternoon saying that Cobb DOT crews were preparing for a mixture of snow and ice that are in the forecast for Sunday morning.
Temperatures aren’t expected to reach much above freezing Sunday, with a 100 percent chance of precipitation in the forecast that includes the possibility of snow, ice or a combination.
Monday’s forecast is partly sunny with highs only in the high 30s.
That’s the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and Cobb officials were planning the use the occasion to distribute free COVID tests at Jim Miller Park, followed by the official holiday observance with the Cobb NAACP that has been moved to a virtual setting.
But the county statement Thursday said that the distribution is being postponed to later in the week.
Cobb commissioners will be meeting Monday at 9 a.m. in a special-called virtual meeting to receive a COVID update from Cobb and Douglas Public Health and the Wellstar Health System. That meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s YouTube channel.
Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said DOT crews will begin pre-treating some bridges, overpasses and “known trouble spots” around the county starting at 6 p.m. Saturday.
He said crews will maintain shifts “around the clock” into Monday to respond.
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Despite requests from Cobb County government officials for a delay, the Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee approved the East Cobb Cityhood bill Thursday morning.
After a nearly 90-minute discussion, the committee voted 9-4 to send the bill to the full House.
The bill, if passed by the legislature, would call for a November referendum for voters in the proposed city of 55,000 to decide on incorporation.
It’s the first of four cityhood bills in Cobb County to be considered this year, and drew the attendance of Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and two of her department heads.
HB 841 has been revised from when it was proposed in March 2021 by East Cobb Republican House members Matt Dollar and Sharon Cooper (substitute bill as approved here).
A substitute bill was made available at Thursday’s meeting but has not yet been posted online; the bill has an additional co-sponsor in Republican Rep. Ed Setzler of West Cobb, who’s the main sponsor of a Lost Mountain cityhood bill.
Public safety services were added to a feasibility study that concluded in November that a proposed city of East Cobb would be financially viable, with an annual surplus of $3 million.
Those issues prompted remarks by Cupid to the committee that she wanted the community to have an opportunity to better understand “the merits of what’s in the feasibility study.”
She said she wasn’t opposed to cities, but “I’m opposed to persons having to vote and not having clear and accurate information beforehand.”
When pressed by committee member Rep. Barry Fleming if she would campaign against an East Cobb referendum, she said it was her role to represent all Cobb citizens on an issue that would have a financial impact on the county.
“So you’re in opposition to the bill, correct?” Fleming asked her.
“I don’t believe I stated that sir,” Cupid said.
“I’m asking,” he said.
Cupid said that “I’m in opposition to a bill being passed that has not been made clear, with information that is incomplete or is inaccurate so voters can make a wise decision.”
When he pressed her further if she opposed the bill as it is written now, she said, “at this time, yes.”
While cityhood bills in Georgia must have a financial feasibility study, they’re not required to include a study on how a new city would impact its county.
Bill Volckmann, Cobb’s chief financial officer, told the committee he wanted to have more time to examine how the city of East Cobb’s proposed major revenue mechanisms would impact the county.
The other three Cobb cityhood bills—Mableton, Vinings and Lost Mountain—do not include public safety services.
The East Cobb feasibility study includes the proposed transfer of 2.6 mills in the current Cobb fire fund to provide most of the city’s revenues.
Volckman said that would negatively affect the county’s general fund and its 911 fund and while he was not for or against East Cobb cityhood, “that is something we would like to have some time to go through and share those impacts with the citizens so they can make an informed decision.”
Cobb public safety director Randy Crider noted that the Cobb Fire Department—of which he was formerly chief—has a top insurance rating and was “curious to know how [East Cobb] residents would have a better fire department.”
Marietta also has what’s called an ISO 1 rating, and has six fire stations. Smyrna has five fire stations. They’re the only two cities in Cobb with separate fire departments, and Cobb Fire provides support for major fires and in special situations.
Crider said that given that the proposed East Cobb fire department would have only two stations serving a city with 25 square miles, “how much are we going to be relied on to provide support?”
Committee members didn’t question them, but some were concerned about another aspect of the bill, its governing structure.
According to the proposed East Cobb city charter, a six-member city council would be elected, with three members coming from three separate districts and three others elected at-large.
Council members would then choose a mayor among themselves to serve a two-year term.
Dollar said the reasoning behind that structure is that “we’re wary of one person coming in with a vision for East Cobb.
“We wanted this to be a true city council,” he said.
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Democrat who formerly served on the Smyrna City Council, isn’t on the committee, but participated remotely.
She said such a structure could conceivably concentrate power to potentially having four council members from the same neighborhood, down to the level of a cul-de-sac.
“That’s not a city,” Anulewicz said. “That’s an HOA.”
But supporters of the bill from the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood reiterated points they made to the subcommittee Wednesday about the need for local representation closer to the community level.
Setzler questioned whether East Cobb residents now are getting an adequate level of police and fire services.
Craig Chapin, the cityhood group’s president, said he and other supporters don’t feel like their concerns are being heard on a Cobb Board of Commissioners whose four district members each represent nearly 200,000 people.
“This isn’t a criticism of Cobb or its leadership,” he said. “We want the ability to have local control.”
The next step for the cityhood bill will be to be placed on the calendar for the full House to consider.
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State Rep. Matt Dollar, sponsor of the East Cobb Cityhood bill, and Mindy Seger, a leader of the opposition East Cobb Alliance.
A bill that would call for a referendum on creating a City of East Cobb could get a committee vote as early as Thursday after the legislation got its first full hearing Wednesday.
East Cobb residents spoke both in favor and against the cityhood bill before lawmakers on Wednesday (you can watch the hearing by clicking here).
A special panel of the Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee heard arguments that echoed public debate when East Cobb cityhood first came up in 2019.
The bill is listed on the agenda of the full committee, which meets at 8 a.m. Thursday. You can watch that meeting by clicking here.
Unlike the first campaign for cityhood—which was abandoned by the bill’s supporters after vocal opposition surfaced at town halls—the current effort was conducted last year in virtual format and small gatherings.
At the hearing at the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, proponents of cityhood, including chief sponsor Rep. Matt Dollar, stressed the importance of local government control in Cobb County, whose four district commissioners now serve around 200,000 citizens each.
Opponents made familiar complaints that cityhood would be adding another layer of government and questioned who was behind the campaign, despite newcomers who represented the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood.
“East Cobb, it is a place,” said Dollar, who sponsored the original bill in 2019 and now has the support of Rep. Sharon Cooper, another East Cobb Republican.
“It’s very relative. East Cobb means something different to everyone who’s out there.”
He said cityhood supporters have gathered plenty of feedback from the first campaign to incorporate into their drive to create a city of 55,000 people with public safety, planning and zoning and code enforcement services.
Dollar, who is not seeking re-election this year, said initially he was opposed to the cityhood bill.
“I think it’s a positive thing for a place I’ve called home my entire life,” said Dollar, who added that he’s recently bought a new home in East Cobb.
“It’s our forever home. I’m not leaving.”
What’s changed since 2019?
The political dynamics in Cobb County, for starters.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners now has a Democratic majority after Republicans began dominating in the 1980s.
Pamela Reardon, a realtor who said she opposed the initial cityhood effort, is now on board because of zoning and development issues in Cobb, suggesting that current county elected officials are plotting a high-density future for the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.
“What scares me to death is the direction these commissioners are taking the county,” she said. “They make no bones that their goal is to urbanize our suburbs.”
But other East Cobb residents were just as adamant that they didn’t see a need for a new city.
“What’s in it for me other than more taxes?” said Robert Hanson, a retiree. “Who’s really behind this?”
He suggested Cobb County have a singular government, folding in the six existing cities and “eliminating politicians and bureaucracy.”
Resident Norman Black said “I don’t know of anyone whose opinion was solicited before this bill. It came from out of the blue.”
Mindy Seger, a leader of the East Cobb Alliance, which formed in 2019 to oppose cityhood, reiterated to the subcommittee that creating a city would be creating a new layer of government, and that while there are some new faces on the cityhood committee, “it’s the same song and dance.”
She questioned the late summer 2021 addition of police and fire services to a financial feasibility study, which was released in November and showed an annual revenue surplus of $3 million.
But Seger said the study didn’t include cost estimates for police and fire personnel, equipment and related expenses.
And she questioned the current bill’s governance structure of a weak mayor system—in which city council members would elect one of their own to serve two-year mayoral terms.
That’s a format similar to the Cobb Board of Education, which has been roiled in controversy over the last three years.
“It’s not the best model of governance right now,” she said in response to a question by Rep. Barry Fleming, a Republican from Harlem (near Augusta).
She was countered by State Rep. Ed Setzler, who spoke to the subcommittee in favor of East Cobb Cityhood.
He’s a Republican from West Cobb and is the sponsor of a bill to create a City of Lost Mountain, primarily for zoning and development reasons.
Setzler said that “it’s not more government, it’s representative government.”
He said his constituents in the cities of Acworth and Kennesaw get “40 times the representation” from their city council members as those in his district living in unincorporated Cobb County from a single commissioner.
With a city of East Cobb, he said, citizens would get “20 times the representation that you have now.
“The cityhood movement needs to be seen in the context of quality of life and representative government.”
State Rep. Mary Frances Williams, a Democrat from Marietta who represents part of Northeast Cobb that’s not in the proposed city, asked Setzler about East Cobb’s demographics—which she said were around 75 percent white—in comparison to the rest of the county.
He said he’s supported cityhood across the board, including South Fulton, with a high minority population, and countered that her premise “is wrong to ask. Does this group look the same as a broader group of people?”
She replied that “you haven’t really answered my question but thank you” and said she was curious about “why cityhood is being pursued here.”
Another Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Mesha Mainor of Atlanta, said she was familiar with East Cobb after having lived in Sandy Springs.
“East Cobb is its own place,” she said.
Cityhood committee members who spoke Wednesday said that’s why they’re getting involved now, after not doing so or being unaware of the issue three years ago.
“A lot of times it seems our representatives are out of touch,” said Cindy Cooperman, the group’s communications leader. “I’m not getting the engagement or representation I’m looking for.”
Another newcomer to the cityhood campaign, Sarah Haas, said she’s taking part now to help preserve “the character of East Cobb,” particularly regarding development and redevelopment.
“How do we have local control and a local voice?” said Craig Chapin, the group’s president. “This isn’t secession from Cobb County.
“Folks who live in the community should be making the decisions that are the most relevant to our community.”
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Jan. 10 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A special subcommittee of the House Governmental Affairs will hear HB 841 at 1 p.m. in Room 406 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building (18 Capitol Square, SW, Atlanta).
It’s a hybrid hearing that also will be live-streamed at this link; the meeting is for hearing purposes only, and will deal only with the East Cobb legislation, according to the agenda item.
The bill, HB 841, was filed at the end of the 2021 legislative session by two East Cobb Republican House members, Matt Dollar and Sharon Cooper.
Under state law, cityhood bills must be considered over two years in the same legislative cycle, meaning they are introduced in the first year and considered in the second year.
The hearing by the special subcommittee is the first step in that process; the bill would eventually have to be voted out of the Governmental Affairs Committee to reach the full house floor. The Senate also would act along similar lines if the bill is approved in the House and then “crosses over.”
The full legislature must vote to approve the bill, which calls for an incorporation referendum in November 2022 to be decided by voters in the proposed city boundaries.
The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood hasn’t publicized the subcommittee hearing, but a group opposed to cityhood, the East Cobb Alliance, sent out an e-mail alert Tuesday afternoon urging those interested in speaking against the bill to show up in person.
“You do not need any long-winded speech to oppose,” the e-mail read. “You can just appear, sit down, and say ‘I oppose this legislation as I oppose a new city being jammed down my throat by a handful of people who keep pushing their agenda to add government to my life!’
“Or, say whatever you want in your words.”
This is the second East Cobb cityhood bill filed since 2019, when Dollar first submitted legislation that was later abandoned by its initial supporters.
Community opposition included local and state lawmakers, among them State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, who would need to sponsor the current bill. State law requires cityhood bills to have local sponsors in both chambers.
Cooper didn’t support the first bill but appeared with Dollar on a cityhood virtual town hall last year.
Current supporters said their reasons for backing cityhood now is to preserve the suburban feel of the community, with planning and zoning and code enforcement among the proposed services.
After a financial feasibility study was released in November, the cityhood group said it was adding police and fire services, which had been part of the initial cityhood campaign.
However, any services ultimately would be decided by the city council, should a cityhood referendum pass. State law mandates a minimum of three services for new cities.
The proposed charter that’s included in HB 841 also calls for a different governing structure, with six city council members coming from three districts (two members from each district), and with the council then selecting a mayor.
The current bill includes much smaller boundaries than the 2019 legislation, with around 55,000 in a city centered along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.
The special subcommittee conducting Wednesday’s hearing includes State Rep. Mary Frances Williams, a Democrat from Marietta whose District 37 includes some of Northeast Cobb, but not the proposed East Cobb city area.
Three other cityhood bills in Cobb—for Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton—will undergo a similar process—but no committee hearings have been immediately assigned.
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Cobb and Douglas Public Health director Dr. Janet Memark.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid will conduct a virtual town hall Thursday to discuss the county’s response to the latest COVID-19 surge.
She will be joined Cobb and Douglas Public Health director Dr. Janet Memark and WellStar’s Medical Director of Infectious Disease, Dr. Danny Branstetter starting at 6:30 p.m.
The town hall will be live-streamed on the county’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Citizens can ask questions during the meeting or in advance by e-mailing: comments@cobbcounty.org.
On Tuesday, Memark briefed the Cobb Board of Commissioners about skyrocketing COVID-19 metrics, including a current 14-day average of 2,657 cases per 100,000 people.
That’s far above the “high” transmission threshold of 100/100K, and Memark attributed that to the fast-moving Omicron variant.
While many of the symptoms of that variant are milder than previous versions of the virus, she said local hospitalization capacity is being strained.
Cupid, who declared a state of emergency through Jan. 22, defended the county’s decision to limit attendance at county-run aquatic centers for high school swimming meets.
Commissioners have received a high volume of e-mails complaining that family members aren’t being allowed inside to watch the competition.
“We do feel for the parents who have been impacted,” she said during a virtual meeting, in which she was masked but was the only commissioner in attendance in the board’s public meeting room.
“We’re hoping to get through this and reduce that very high number. We can share numbers with you, but the most compelling are the experiences we are seeing and feeling in real time.
“People are still experiencing impacts . . . long COVID due to the Omicron variant. These are not conditions that we want anyone to experience. We’ve also got to think about our health care infrastructure.”
(You can watch Memark’s presentation by clicking here; it’s at the beginning of the meeting.)
Memark outlined extra testing efforts, including additional sites for the public to get tested. She also urged those unvaccinated to do so, including booster shots.
Cobb’s “fully vaccinated” population is only 58 percent, with 64 percent having had at least an initial dose and only 20 percent boosted.
More testing and vaccination information from Cobb and Douglas Public Health by clicking here.
Cupid said more information about 60,000 at-home test kits ordered last week by the Cobb Emergency Management Agency will be coming later this week. There will be a distribution event from 8-10 a.m. Monday at Jim Miller Park.
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The Cobb government/Cobb NAACP celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday next Monday will be held in a virtual setting due to the COVID-19 surge.
The county announced that the service will still begin at 10 a.m., as initially scheduled, but will be available for online viewing only on CobbTV, the county’s Facebook page and on YouTube.
The celebration includes the introducing the 2022 Living the Dream Award honorees, who are community members who demonstrate leadership and commitment to making Cobb more diverse and inclusive.
MLK Day is a day of service, and the Cobb organizers are encouraging volunteers to find opportunities via Americorps or Hands-on Atlanta.
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The 2022 session of the Georgia General Assembly began on Monday, with local reapportionment and cityhood bills of particular interest for the the Cobb delegation.
Outgoing State Rep. Matt Dollar is sponsoring the East Cobb cityhood bill, along with State Rep. Sharon Cooper.
The proposed City of East Cobb is one of four cityhood bills that have been introduced by Cobb lawmakers, along with Vinings, Lost Mountain and Mableton.
The Cobb delegation also will redraw lines for the four district seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and all seven posts on the Cobb Board of Education.
The initial East Cobb cityhood bill introduced in 2019 was abandoned by a committee pushing for incorporation after opposition surfaced from the community and Cobb elected officials.
State Rep. Matt Dollar has the support of State Rep. Sharon Cooper as a co-sponsor for the current bill, but it also will need the sponsorship of State. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick.
She has not commented publicly on the bill; in 2019 she said she could not support it because of negative feedback from citizens.
In 2021 the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood held several virtual meetings and said it will be continuing to meet with individual civic groups as the legislative session continues.
The city would have a population of 55,000, centered by the Johnson Ferry Road corridor, and is proposing police and fire, planning and zoning and code enforcement services.
If the bill passes the full legislature, there will be a referendum in November for voters living in the proposed city limits to decide whether a City of East Cobb will be created.
The reapportionment wheels have already been cranked up for redrawing Cobb school board posts.
The board has a 4-3 Republican majority, and in December voted along party lines to recommend a map that would maintain that advantage.
Cobb school board member Charisse Davis
It would redraw the current Post 6, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters, into the Smyrna-Vinings-Cumberland area, and reduce East Cobb representation to Post 5 and part of Post 4.
Post 6 Democratic incumbent and current Post 2 Democratic incumbent Jaha Howard would be put together in the school board’s recommended map.
But the Cobb delegation has a two-member Democratic advantage, and a draft map that’s been circulating since then would keep Post 6 very similar to what it is now, and keep Davis and Howard in separate posts.
She vocally opposed the school board’s recommended map, as has Amy Henry, a parent of four students in the Wheeler cluster who has announced her candidacy as Republican for Post 6 later this year.
Davis has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election; Howard has declared an intent to run for Georgia school superintendent.
Cobb lawmakers also will be redrawing lines for the four county commission districts. Currently there are three Democrats (including chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who was elected countywide) and two Republicans.
Both of the GOP incumbents are up for re-election in 2022, including JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in Northeast Cobb.
In a November special session, the legislature redrew Congressional and legislative lines that will take effect after the 2022 elections (you can view the adopted maps here).
Links to East Cobb-area lawmakers are included below. You can see what legislation they’re sponsoring, how they vote, see maps of their districts and find contact and information.
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After running a bakery in their native Brazil for more than 20 years, Ubiracy and Raul Goncalves wanted to open something similar, but on a different scale, when they emigrated to the United States six years ago.
In São Paulo, they had a staff that extended beyond their immediate family. When they moved to the metro Atlanta area and settled on an East Cobb location last year, they went looking for a physical space ideal for the new concept:
A European-style coffee house with homemade baked goods, aimed at luring pedestrian traffic.
“We didn’t want to necessarily have a Brazilian bakery,” said their daughter, Clara Goncalves, who along with her sister Ester helps out at the Vanilla Café e Gelato, which opened last week at The Avenue East Cobb.
It’s located in Suite 1010 (in the original Olea Oliva space), near the East Cobb mural. Indoors are five tables—room for 10-12 people, and two more outdoor tables near the entrance.
As she did in Brazil, Ubiracy makes all the baked goods—cakes, brownies, pastries, cookies and more—some of them from traditional Brazilian recipes. Ester Goncalves, her other daughter, took a course in gelato-making in Brazil and oversees that part of the operation.
The coffee comes from Bellwood, an Atlanta-based roaster, and there’s also a premium on locally-sourced food ingredients.
The aim, Clara says, is to entice customers to linger after shopping or a meal nearby.
“This area calls for a different kind of a coffee shop,” she says.
There aren’t many indie coffee shops in the East Cobb area—Mzizi Coffee Roasters, on Johnson Ferry Road near Shallowford Road—is an exception.
Vanilla Café opens as The Avenue East Cobb will soon be overhauled with more restaurants and events.
It’s part of a reimagined “socially magnetic” and “modern gathering place” undertaken by North American Properties, which is managing the retail center after developing Avalon in Alpharetta and renovating Colony Square and Atlantic Station in Atlanta.
Vanilla Café is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 12-6 p.m. on Sunday.
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The Marietta History Center is offering free admission Saturday, Jan. 15, in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The center is conducting Diverse Cobb programming that includes the “Lemon Street Chroncles,” a new oral history DVD about the Lemon Street High School.
It was Cobb County’s only all-black high school until 1967, when segregation in public schools in Cobb and Marietta ended.
The DVD, created by alumnus Tim Penn, includes interviews with other graduates and will be screened several times on Saturday.
Also featured at the museum is “Marietta 1899: Color Captured in Black & White.” It’s a special exhibit of the work of New York photographer James Shaw, who visited Marietta in 1899. The exhibit includes images of the Marietta Square, the Marietta National Cemetery, Kennesaw Avenue, Kennesaw Mountain and rural Cobb County.
Shaw’s visit included the Federal Memorial Day celebration, with many of those in attendance being African-American.
“A truer version of life as it was, undiluted by the whitewashing of history,” the exhibit states. “While bias of a white perspective remains, Shaw chose to include the activities of both races, thus presenting multiple shades of color in black and white photography.”
That exhibit also will be featured at the museum. from May 19-28.
The Marietta Museum of History will have free admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday. Screenings of the “Lemon Street Chronicles,” which lasts an hour and a half, are at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The museum is located at 1 Depot Street, Marietta. For more information click here.
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The 2022 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival will feature in-person and virtual screenings and events.
Formal screenings of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival start in February, and will include in-person and virtual events.
But the festival is getting an early start by showing a series of free short films each Wednesday.
The Shorts Program began on Wednesday, Jan. 5, and a new short will be available for streaming every Wednesday through Jan. 26. More information can be found by clicking here.
Tickets go on sale for the festival on Feb. 9, and the screenings will take place Feb. 16-27 at select theaters in metro Atlanta. Georgia residents also will be able to watch via remote streaming during the festival dates.
This year’s festival includes 40 feature films and 15 shorts in narrative, documentary, human rights and other categories.
The venues include the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, the Midtown Art Cinema and the Plaza Theater in Atlanta. A preview show takes place on Feb. 2.
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State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, at left, meets with Tricia Pridemore, the chairwoman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, at the Rotary Club of East Cobb’s breakfast meeting on Wednesday.
Pridemore, a Republican of Marietta, was elected to the PSC in 2018 and was voted chairwoman in 2021.
She spoke to the Rotary Club about connectivity, clean energy and the future of energy initiatives in Georgia, among other topics.
Kirkpatrick, a Republican from East Cobb, represents District 32 in the Georgia State Senate and is a Rotary Club member.
The Rotary Club of East Cobb meets every Wednesday for breakfast at the Indian Hills Country Club, and is involved in numerous community projects.
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Next Monday, Jan. 17, would have been the 100th birthday for actress Betty White, who died on New Year’s Eve.
She was an ardent animal lover, and the Cobb Animal Services Department is holding a fundraiser on her birthday in her honor.
It’s called the Betty White Challenge, and those wishing to participate are asked to donate $5 in her name and/or sign up to volunteer at a local animal shelter.
“This gesture will make a world of difference to the shelter pets and the fellow employees and volunteers at the shelter,” said a Cobb Animal Services social media posting this week.
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