The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday approved the appointment of Richard Tischler, an assistant principal at Walton High School the last seven years, as its new principal.
He succeeds Dr. Catherine Mallanda, who was named the Cobb County School District’s Chief Academic Officer earlier this month. Tischler begins his new position on Friday, as the 2022-23 academic year begins on Monday.
The school board voted 6-0 to ratify the district’s recommendation to appoint Tischler in a special meeting following an executive session for personnel matters.
The school board also voted 6-0 to appoint Osborne High School principal Josh Morreale to the newly created position of assistant superintendent for school safety operations.
Absent from the meeting was Post 6 board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters in East Cobb.
In his role as assistant principal, Tischler was responsible for 12th grade students, ESOL, communications, substitute teachers, graduation and other activities at Walton.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in social science education from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in educational leadership from Kennesaw State University and a master’s degree in educational supervision from Berry College.
The Cobb school district prepared a principal profile to announce Tischler’s appointment, including a Q and A.
“I am looking forward to continuing the tradition developed by Walton school leaders before me to foster the excellence that Walton has in academics, arts, and athletics,” he said.
Other East Cobb schools with new principals in the coming year are Pope High School, Daniell Middle School, Brumby Elementary School, Eastvalley Elementary School, Powers Ferry Elementary School and Rocky Mount Elementary School.
Morreale will directly oversee a variety of school safety programs. The Cobb school district announced this summer it is changing its vendor for school crisis alert systems and each school will have a Code Red drill during the school year.
That measure drew protests from some parents and other community members, including the Democratic candidate for state school superintendent.
The Cobb school district has 67 police officers to cover 114 school campuses. The new armed guards would be “badged” employees of the school district, and select personnel on those campuses would be notified of those who are carrying arms in the schools on a “need to know” basis.
Under the policy approved by the school board, teachers and other personnel with classroom supervisory authority will not be allowed to carry weapons.
In a release, Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the creation of the new assistant superintendent position “will make sure our school buildings are as safe and prepared as they can be, so our principals and teachers can concentrate on teaching and learning.”
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Commissioner JoAnn Birrell supported raising the millage rate for fire services, saying “they’re hurting and they need to be revived.”
In a split vote along party lines, the Cobb Board of Commissioners adopted a $1.2 billion fiscal year 2023 budget Tuesday night that expands the size of county government and provides substantial employee pay raises.
Commissioners also voted to maintain the general fund millage rate and other millage rates except the fire fund, which is going up slightly.
The board’s three Democrats voted to adopt the budget, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid saying that while the spending package isn’t a “panacea . . . it helps us to move significantly further ahead” in addressing what she has long said are chronic staffing, salary and other issues that have affectEd service provision.
The budget includes the creation of 147 new jobs in what have been described as “critical” positions and a rise in the minimum wage for county employees from $11.50 to $17 an hour.
The two Republicans voted against the budget for varying reasons. Keli Gambrill cited “philosophical differences in budgeting” and the growing amount of reserve funding that totals nearly $52 million, saying that “to me, we are expanding government.”
JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb repeated publicly expressed doubts about the higher minimum wage. “I’m concerned if it’s sustainable year to year,” said Birrell, who also wants the county to prioritize filling existing vacancies before creating new jobs.
Commissioners also approved, by a 4-1 vote, to implement the recommendations of a new pay and classification study by a consultant that will cost $22 million in the new budget, and nearly $2 million in the current budget.
Among the recommendations is an average pay increase for full-time workers of nearly 11 percent. Gambrill was the lone vote in opposition.
The general fund millage rate—funded by property taxes and that provides for most of the budget—is staying at 8.46 mills.
But the fire fund is rising from 2.86 mills to 2.99 mills. The extra 0.13 mills is being transferred from a parks bond that is due to expire, and after fire officials said they have been deferring capital maintenance and other expenses.
Birrell supported that increase, saying in recent years, the fire fund rate has been reduced twice.
“They are hurting and they need to be revived,” said Birrell, who is seeking a fourth term in November and who has frequently said public safety needs should be at the top of budget priorities.
Cobb Tax Assessor Stephen White
The board’s vote came after a brief recess called by Cupid, who allowed public commenters to chime in, and they did so in occasionally intense fashion.
As she heard in a town hall in East Cobb last week, quite a few wanted the board to roll back the millage rate, saying inflation is taking a toll.
The Cobb tax digest has grown by 12.3 percent in 2022, netting an additional $60 million for the budget. But property tax assessments have gone up astronomically across the county.
Jim Jess of the Franklin Roundtable, a conservative group based in Cobb County, said rising gas prices alter “how people spend money in their households. People out here are hurting,” referring to senior citizens and workers who aren’t getting much of a pay raise.
Salleigh Grubbs, head of the Cobb Republican Party, told commissioners “you don’t acknowledge the looming recession.”
Debbie Fisher of East Cobb accused the county of not properly notifying the public of a tax increase in the millage rate for the fire fund.
Another East Cobb resident, Leroy Emkin, used his time not to comment on the county budget, but to rail against the World Economic Forum, the Green New Deal and wind turbines, speaking in fulminating fashion from prepared remarks.
Another East Cobb resident rose in support of the budget.
“I don’t know if Cobb is planning any wind farms,” said William Parker, “but the planet is on fire.
“Yes, some people are hurting. But it costs money to operate a county.”
Residential and commercial properties are assessed roughly every three years in Cobb County, tax assessor Stephen White said, and the state can penalize counties if they don’t perform updated fair market value assessments.
“We’re taking in a tremendous amount of [tax] money,” Gambrill said. “I agree that we need to be rolling back the millage rate.”
Birrell and Cupid are holdovers when commissioners rolled back the general fund millage rate in 2016, then faced a $32 million budget shortfall two years later.
Cupid voted for a tax increase pushed by her predecessor, Mike Boyce, while Birrell voted against it.
But with some county departments reporting staffing shortages of as much as 40 percent—including DOT, water and other frontline services, “now is the time for auction,” said commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose district includes part of East Cobb.
County department heads had requested a total of 658 new positions.
“Tonight will not be a panacea,” Cupid said. “But I believe that we are making the right decisions for today.”
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The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road) has announced that it will have a groundbreaking celebration to kick off redevelopment plans on Aug. 25.
The event takes place from 5-7 p.m. on that date in the Central Lot, in front of what had been the Bravura store, with live music, “lite bites” and beverages.
The groundbreaking is free and open to the public and RSVPs can be made by clicking here. Guests may still be able to walk up and receive complimentary entry the day of the event, but they’re encouraged to sign up in advance.
Cobb commissioners in June approved a site plan change at The Avenue, which is being managed by North American Properties, developer of Avalon and redeveloper of Atlantic Station and Colony Square.
The Central Lot area is the focal point of the “jewel box” plans that include a public plaza with a live music and performance stage, restaurant and retail space and concierge service.
Bravura is relocating to the Alpharetta area, and The Avenue has moved its on-site offices there.
As we also reported earlier, a couple of restaurant/food changes are taking place at The Avenue, with Stockyard Burgers & Bones closing, and New York Butcher Shoppe opening in the fall, next to the J. Jill store.
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After being out in some areas for more than two days, electrical power has been fully restored at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
Sgt. Jeremy Blake, the public information officer for the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, said in a release Tuesday morning that electricity was restored at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday.
On Saturday afternoon the Towers, an inmate housing area with around 600 detainees, experienced intermittent power disruptions and electricity was lost to certain areas of the facility.
Blake said maintenance crews said the outage was caused by a water leak that had damaged a power line, preventing emergency generators from providing power to the affected areas.
He said contractors and jail maintenance staff worked over the weekend and into early Tuesday to get the parts and make repairs.
During the outage, Blake said, additional law enforcement was called to the scene. Inmates “were provided with continuous ice and water and deputies increased the frequency of safety and security checks. Extra medical staff were on standby in the towers in case of a medical emergency,” Blake said.
A number of buildings at the jail complex, which opened in 1989, are currently or will be getting overhauled. The detention center is located at 1825 County Services Parkway in Marietta.
“I would like to publicly recognize the efforts by our staff over the last 36 hours,” Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens said in the release. “Our staff came in early and stayed late to make sure every detainee was safe and taken care of. Even simple tasks like delivering three meals a day required a team effort to complete. Our staff had to carry everything up and down multiple flights of stairs to make sure everyone’s needs were met.”
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The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area announced Monday that closures and restricted areas are in effect along portions of the Johnson Ferry North trails.
Specifically, trails are closed between the J8 and J9 markers, located at the Owl and Arrowhead branches respectively. (see map above) for the duration of the construction, which is expected to last two months.
The Chattahoochee River NRA said that access to the northern trails ending at Mulberry Creek is possible by hiking between markers JN3 and JN4.
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The sign’s been up on what had been Zoës Kitchen for several weeks now, as an East Cobb location of Cava Grill is getting closer to opening.
Last week the new Mediterranean fast casual restaurant received an occupational license from the Cobb Business License Division.
When we checked with Cava earlier this month, they said they didn’t have a specific opening date.
We followed up Monday with another request and here’s what we got back:
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact opening time set yet, but we’re aiming for soon. Be sure to follow us at @cava (https://twitter.com/cava) for all of our updates and announcements!”
Cava Group Inc., the parent company of Cava and Zoës, has been replacing the latter with the former concept in a number of locations, including metro Atlanta.
The East Cobb location at Merchants Exchange Shopping Center (4400 Roswell Road, Suite 157) totals nearly 3,000 square feet, according to a directory map of Columbia Properties, the center’s owner.
The Cava chain started in Maryland in 2011 and there are currently 133 locations across the country. There are 15 in metro Atlanta and Athens, including the Cumberland and Town Center mall areas, all of which were former Zoës locations that converted starting last year.
The menu (you can check it out here) includes a variety of “build your own” meal combinations, including salads, grains, dips and spreads, falafel, chicken, lamb, meatballs, roasted vegetables and Mediterranean-style toppings and dressings.
Cava also sells some of its product line at Whole Foods and other food retailers.
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“Southern Born…Southern Bred…And today because of you, Janis Holland…I am well and Southern fed! Yum! Thank you…. Holland Botanical!” wrote a customer.
For East Cobb resident Janis Holland, simply delivering fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables to her customers isn’t enough.
She likes to show what they do with the food they get from her mom-and-pop service, Holland Botanical, every week.
Holland also takes photos of meals she’s prepared for herself and her family, including most recently a bowl of peaches and cream oatmeal with grainless granola and honey.
“It really makes you feel good to know you’re doing a good job,” Holland says of the testimonials she’s received from customers.
For nearly nine years, she and her husband Jonathan have been serving the East Cobb, Roswell and Woodstock area, initially in a weekend pop-up format, and since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily home delivery.
A mixed vegetable and fruit basket arranged by Holland Botanical.
They’ve also put their sons, former and current football players at Pope High School, to work in what’s become something of a family business.
“It was a side hustle, but we wanted it to be something bigger,” said Holland, whose husband still runs a landscaping business. “We saw a need in the community for produce.”
Like any such entity, Holland Botanical has had to adapt quickly and in dramatic ways.
She said she switched from Saturday set-ups at the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center because “people here are busy on the weekends and they just couldn’t get here.”
She still does some pop-ups tied to community fundraisers and some seasonal mobile farmers markets at select locations in Atlanta.
But she reflects on the original format now as “a great idea at the wrong time.”
The overhead for a full-time farmers market is prohibitive, so going to an all-delivery format—with free delivery to ZIP Codes 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068, 30075 and part of 30188—has made the work she does more efficient.
“Everything stopped,” Holland said, referring to the onset of the pandemic, “and we rebooted it.”
Now it’s a full-time job for her, serving typically between 75-100 customers a week. They fill out their orders on her website by Monday afternoon, and she delivers Tuesday and Wednesday.
Holland travels once or twice a week to the State Farmers Market in Forest Park, filling out orders that include separate fruit and vegetable baskets and a combined fruit-veggie basket. She chooses some of the items based on availability and seasonality, and customers can make special requests.
Janis and Jonathan Holland with the Wit’s End Llama at The Bishop apartments in Sandy Springs, where Holland Botanical holds a seasonal mobile farmers market.
Holland Botanical charges $25 for a basket, which contains enough food for a typical family supply for a week. The emphasis is on Georgia-grown products, including items from other suppliers.
“We want to make it affordable to eat healthy,” Holland said.
While her delivery service is free, she does have a place on her order form for customers to add a gasoline tip, which she said is very helpful in times of soaring fuel prices.
While the margins are tight and the nature of a fresh produce delivery service remains fluid, she’s convinced this type of business is viable.
Despite the reality of the pivots she’s had to make, Holland’s passion for what she does hasn’t subsided.
“I don’t think we could sustain an à la carte menu,” she said. “But I believe in getting healthy food into peoples’ hands.”
While some remain careful accepting their food due to COVID concerns, “our customers are just so happy to see us.”
Holland also gives back to the community by donating leftover food to those who need it.
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The Parkaire Landing location of Earthwise Pet Supply store in East Cobb will be closing its doors for good on Saturday.
The store posted a social media notice earlier this month saying that “the odds were against us in this market. Inflation has risen so high, we are unable to keep up with current market rent rates.”
The store has been open for seven years, and in addition to providing wholistic and natural pet supplies and treats also has offered grooming and self-washing services.
Everything in the store is 30 percent off and grooming services also are being offered at a discount. The store is updating those sales on its Facebook page.
“We will be notifying everyone of where our groomers go so those of you who would like to keep your groomer can,” the message stated.
“Thank you so much for being loyal to us all these years. Unfortunately covid & inflation got the best of us. We wish you all the most abundant blessings. God Bless.”
Earthwise is located at 4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 10. The hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Phone: 678-909-6805.
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Sunday was the last day of worship services at the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation in East Cobb.
In addition to its scheduled Sunday morning service, the congregation that’s part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America also held a special Holy Closure service for members Sunday afternoon.
Holy Closure is the process in the ELCA by which congregations are turned over to their synods, or regional governing bodies.
The church opened in 1980 and two years later dedicated its building at 1200 Indian Hills Parkway, at the corner of Roswell Road. It is located adjacent to Congregation Etz Chaim, which opened in 1975 as the first synagogue in East Cobb.
Incarnation’s sanctuary featured a segmented glass-stained window in the back of the sanctuary, between the organ pipes (below) and another stained glass Rose Window depicts a vine, branches, grapes and shafts of wheat with readings from John and the words of Christ (“I am the true Vine and my father is the gardener.”)
Incarnation leaders announced the Holy Closure process last month, citing declining membership and financial difficulties, and after a congregational meeting in late May to detail those issues.
The church’s property and other assets will be managed by the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA in Atlanta.
Incarnation is the second church in the synod to close recently, along with the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Decatur.
In his final sermon, Incarnation Pastor Uijin Hwang preached about “The Living God” and cited the Book of Hosea:
“We have to live a life that does not fall into the ideology of abundance and fertility, but opens our heart to the depth of God’s creation and life that is much deeper and richer.
“In life itself, not prosperity, there is the satisfaction of our soul. They say this is the normal life, but the truth is that they have a lot of greed.
“The reason we do not feel any problem in our life is that we are already accustomed to the Baal faith and cannot get hold of another dimension of life.
“It’s just sad that even as Christians, we don’t know a newer dimension of life as Jesus ever proclaims, that is, the Kingdom of God.
“As Christians, we do believe the living God. And this God declares that we are the chosen ones to live as children of the living God.
“Please live like a Christian!”
Incarnation has held a yard sale and conducted other special activities to prepare for its closing.
There are two other ELCA churches in the East Cobb area: Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Paper Mill Road and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on Sandy Plains Road.
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The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special called meeting Thursday to discuss personnel matters.
The board will meet at 12 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
According to a notice on the district website, the board “may then reconvene in open session to take action on items from Executive Session, if necessary.”
Public elected bodies in Georgia may meet in executive session for personnel, land and legal reasons, and school boards also may meet behind closed doors for student disciplinary matters.
Thursday’s meeting will place just before the Cobb school district’s 2022-23 academic year begins on Monday, Aug. 1.
The board must approve staff appointments at the principal level or above, including certain central office positions.
Walton High School in East Cobb will be getting a new principal after former principal Catherine Mallanda was named the district’s chief academic officer earlier this month.
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Timber Ridge Elementary School students turned in some of the best reading scores in the 2022 Georgia Milestones tests.
After two uneven years of Georgia Milestones testing results due to COVID-19 disruptions, the 2021-22 scores released Friday by the state Department of Education painted a more complete picture of student achievement.
Elementary, middle and high schools in East Cobb turned out some of the best overall and grade- and subject-specific results in the Cobb County School District and the state.
According to information sent out by the Cobb school district, 73.7 percent of Cobb students taking the Milestones tests read at or above their grade level, slightly ahead of Fulton County and the highest in metro Atlanta.
Cobb students also outpaced their peers in other nearby districts with the highest average of “proficient” learners across multiple grade levels and subjects.
Students in grades 3-12 are categorized in one of four levels: Level 1 is Beginning Learner, Level 2 is a Developing Learner, Level 3 is a Proficient Learner and Level 4 is Distinguished Learner.
The evaluations are based on End of Grade (EOG) tests at the elementary and middle school levels, and End of Course (EOC) tests at the high school level.
An even 80 percent of Cobb students are “proficient” or above in English Language Arts, 80.7 percent in math, 75.4 percent in science, and 81.7 in social students.
That averages out to 79.6 across all subjects and grade levels, higher than Fulton, Marietta, DeKalb and Atlanta.
In grade-level scores, several elementary schools in East Cobb were at or near the top of the list in Georgia with the highest percentage of readers at or above third-grade reading levels.
Tritt third graders posted a third-grade reading score of 98.4 percent, and four of the top 10 elementary schools in the state in overall reading scores were Mt. Bethel (576), Timber Ridge (574), Mountain View (571), and Sope Creek (568).
“No one should make comparisons to previous year’s results in Cobb or across the state. The impacts of the pandemic over the last couple of years make it impossible to do so in a reliable way,” John Floresta, the Cobb Schools Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer, said in the district release.
“We know our students are doing well compared to their peers, and we are focused on what each student knows and what they need to learn.”
In 2021-22, middle school students in Cobb outpaced students in metro Atlanta school districts, including averaging 16 percentage points higher in eighth-grade physics and more than 15 percent in high school history.
More than half of all Walton High School students tested in biology (57.6 percent) achieved distinguished learner status. At Dickerson Middle School, 97.2 percent of students tested in alegbra earned the same designation.
On the other hand, some East Cobb schools face challenges in some areas. Only 52 percent of Brumby Elementary School third-graders were reading at or above grade level, and fewer than half of the students tested in algebra at Sprayberry, Wheeler and Kell high schools are considered at or above proficiency levels.
Here’s more of a breakdown on the Milestones assessments from the Georgia DOE, including state, school system and school level scores from both last winter semester and the past spring semester.
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Cobb County government sent out a message Friday afternoon that the county animal shelter is temporarily closed to the public after a confirmed case of strep zoo involving a dog being housed there.
Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a release that shelter staff suspected the case after the dog “suddenly became ill” and a portion of the shelter was quarantined as a result.
A test result confirmed the case, and Cavill said the quarantine has been expanded to the entire shelter, which currently houses 285 animals.
“The quarantine will remain in place until shelter staff can treat the entire animal population with antibiotics and conduct further testing,” he said.
Strep zoo is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the respiratory systems of animals.
Cavitt said shelter staff will contact individuals who have recently adopted animals at the shelter or who have made appointments.
“Treatment of the population will start when the shipment of antibiotics arrives,” Cavitt said. “A thorough cleaning will take place before the facility reopens. So far, no other animals have displayed symptoms.”
The Cobb Animal Shelter has been closed a few other times in recent years due to dog strep zoo cases, including February 2021 and October 2020.
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Back in April 2020, the earliest graduating classes from Wheeler High School were supposed to have a collective reunion picnic.
That would have been the 50th anniversary of Wheeler’s first senior class in 1967, and invitations were expanded to go through the Class of 1972.
The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to that gathering, and reunion organizer Nancy Collier got back in touch this week to say that the event has finally been rescheduled.
It’s now taking place on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the same location of the originally scheduled event (Riverside Day Use Area of Lake Allatoona on Lake Allatoona Dam Road) and the same cost ($25 person, $40 couple).
“It’s on, come hell or high water,” as noted in the attached flyer, which also helpfully points out takes place on the same day as the UGA-Auburn football game.
Two years ago they wanted to have it in the spring to avoid such a conflict, but it’s been a long wait.
The festivities began at 11 a.m. and include food catered by Williamson Bros. BBQ, live music and more.
Check the flyer for more details or visit http://wheeler69.com/. There are instructions in both places on how to pay in advance. If you show up unannounced, “you will go to the back of the food line.”
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Less than a week before a new fiscal year county budget is to be adopted, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid took her message about taxes, spending and other issues to an East Cobb audience that was largely skeptical of many of her priorities.
A town hall Wednesday at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center dubbed “All In Cobb” was the last of four such meetings she’s held in each of the Cobb commission districts.
With East Cobb-area commissioners Jerica Richardson and JoAnn Birrell in attendance, Cupid said during the nearly two-hour event that the concerns she heard have been similar around the county over the last month.
Some East Cobb residents didn’t like seeing a slide presented by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid about diversity issues.
Her proposed fiscal year budget of $1.4 billion holds the general fund property tax rate at 8.46 mills, but due to rising assessments many Cobb homeowners will be paying substantially higher taxes.
Cupid defended a proposal to add nearly 150 new county positions and raised the minimum wage for county employees to $17 an hour due to chronic staff shortages in many departments, including road maintenance, stormwater management and public safety.
She said while they don’t come close to addressing all those needs, with this budget “we’re going to try to fix” what she said have been long-standing concerns.
“What you’re getting from your government are beautiful buildings like this one,” she said. “I think Cobb County can do better” to provide services for a county of nearly 800,000.
“I keep hearing not to spend” on certain priorities, she said, “but you still want stellar services. It’s not working right now.”
Throughout the evening, she tried to tie affordable housing to budget and spending issues, because “people who work here should be able to afford to live here.”
She noted that the average price of newly built homes in Cobb averages around $300,000. A county employee making her proposed minimum wage of $17 an hour would earn only $33,000 in gross pay, not nearly enough to afford even that.
But a woman in the audience who owns rental housing said that some of her tenants have been forced to leave because they couldn’t afford to pay higher rents. She said she reluctantly raised them because of skyrocketing assessments.
East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot said a record Cobb tax digest is a “false digest” due to higher assessments.
“That’s too much taxes,” she said, pointing out that such renters “are the people who need” affordable housing options.
“It’s a challenge and I recognize it,” Cupid said.
Another resident said when she travels to West Cobb, she sees new sidewalks and pocket parks and “I feel like East Cobb has become the golden goose.”
Cupid said it’s a comment she hears wherever she goes in the county.
East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot said the Georgia legislature needs to look at how property taxes are reassessed.
“You’re pricing all the poor people out of their homes,” he said.
But Cupid rebuffed calls in the audience to “roll back” the millage rate in light of the proposed budget being nearly $100 million more than the current fiscal year.
“We’re trying to address things that we haven’t addressed for years,” she said. “I’m keeping the millage rate but we’re not funding” for the level of service she hears citizens demanding.
Making repeated references to Rumpelstiltskin—about turning straw into gold—Cupid said that “rolling it back won’t help that.
“There is this misperception about how robustly resourced the county is.”
Others were cool to government-driven ideas for resolving affordable housing issues.
East Cobb resident Leroy Emkin blasted the proposed creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Cobb County government.
When a resident challenged her about letting the market dictate housing costs, Cupid—who holds engineering and law degrees—said “there’s a place for government and there’s a place for the market. They co-exist.”
Some shouted “noooooo!” at those remarks.
Some audience members were rankled about a slide Cupid presented about diversity, saying it’s not just about race, but also geography and income levels, among other factors.
A woman said “I don’t treat anybody differently” to some cheering.
East Cobb resident Leroy Emkin, a frequent commenter at commissioners’ public address, was critical of a proposal in the budget for the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion officer position.
“What the hell do we need a director for that kind of office?” he said to considerable applause.
County manager Jackie McMorris corrected his assertion that it would cost $400,000, saying that the $150,000 to be earmarked for that post—suggested by Cupid’s predecessor, the late Mike Boyce—comes from federal COVID-19 stimulus funds and is just one job, with no staff.
McMorris acknowledged “a philosophical difference in what we value,” including the acceptance of American Rescue Plan Act funds altogether.
Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris said the proposed FY ’23 spending package “is just not a bloated budget.”
After the town hall, Birrell said she was hoping for more discussion on the budget.
“There are some things I like and some things I don’t like,” said Birrell, who is up for re-election in November in a newly redrawn district that includes most of East Cobb.
She didn’t offer any particulars, but Birrell and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill have expressed concerns about future budget impacts should the $17 an hour minimum wage be adopted.
“Some things are critical, that we need,” Birrell said. “But I am concerned about this budget being sustainable,” especially when many citizens are reeling from higher tax assessments and inflation.
Commissioners will hold a final public hearing on the proposed budget and millage rate next Tuesday night before voting on adoption then.
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Cobb Fire investigators say three 14-year-old boys have been charged with third-degree arson in connection with a fire that was set to the gazebo of the Chimney Lakes subdivision in East Cobb.
Chief investigator Brian Beaty said in a release Thursday that delinquency complaints were filed with the Juvenile Court of Cobb County on Wednesday.
He said that Cobb Fire and Emergency crews responded to an outdoor fire on July 7 around 5:38 p.m. at a residential address on Johnson Ferry Road near Chimney Lake Drive.
According to fire investigators, Cobb Fire staffers found the lakeside gazebo “involved by fire” and that preliminary findings indicated that the three males deliberately set the structure on fire.
Beaty said that anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Cobb Fire and Emergency Services at 770-499-3869.
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The following Cobb food scores for the week of July 18 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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The addresses include ZIP Codes and the subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:
June 27
4900 Green Pointe Way, 30067 (Powers Pointe, Walton): Saravanan Venkatesan to Pawar and Bhagyashri Shrikant; $658,000
4185 Mulberry Drive, 30067 (Wyngrove, Walton): Cheryl Price to Gerald Misel and Anita Best; $1.5 million
5055 Gardenia Circle, 30068 (The Gardens at Parkaire, Walton): Tony Perotti Italy (USA) Inc. to Sheila Middendorf; $410,000
3609 Sawmill Terrace, 30062 (Hickory Bluff, Pope): Great Place Real Estate LLC to Opendoor Property Trust; $404,300
3335 Ranch Road, 30066 (North Forty, Sprayberry): Jason Michael Barfield to Khamphiou, Soy and Cameron Rassavong; $430,000
2909 Pathview Lane, 30062 (Wendwood, Pope): Nikki Miller to Kevin and Luz Lacourt; $558,000
2681 Meadow Ridge Court, 30066 (Pine Meadow, Sprayberry): James Harris to Schuman LLC; $297,500
4322 Vienna Way, 30062 (Alpine Forest, Pope): Jeffrey Smith to Andrew and Suzanne Boos; $550,000
1774 Hasty Road, 30068 (Hasty Acres, Sprayberry): Debra Foster and Linda Dobbins, executors of the estate of Nancy Baker to Adam and Elizabeth Hill; $370,000
1056 Azalea Circle, 30062 (Eastwood Forrest, Sprayberry): Albert Hammond to Narrow Gate Homes LLC; $295,000
774 Mary Ann Drive, 30068 (Valley Brook Wheeler): Karim Farhat to Opendoor Property Trust; $572,600
4240 Summit Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Harry and Cristin Zegers to Wynn Sowersby; $550,000
510 Indian Hills Parkway, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): David Gamble to Jennifer Vehorn; $700,000
4270 Cove Way, 30068 (Kings Cove, Walton): Opendoor Property Trust to RS Rental III A LLC; $380,000
3569 Oak Knoll Drive, 30068 (Heritage Woods, Wheeler): Opendoor Property Trust to to RS Rental III A LLC; $315,000
31 Lott Avenue, 30067 (Cloverdale Heights, Wheeler): SSDNJ Investments Corp. to Glaucio Magno Campos de Souza and Agma Rodriques Silva; $380,000
533 Robin Lane, 30067 (Red Oak Park, Wheeler): Opendoor Property Trust to Boulton Properties LLC; $305,904
June 28
1589 Tennessee Walker Drive, (Plantation North, Pope): Open House Atlanta Realty and Investments to Komatsuya Co. Ltd.; $600,000
4125 Inola Trail, (Indian Creek, Lassiter): Open House Atlanta Realty and Investments to Norihide Shirasaki; $533,000
4191 Longview Cove, (Chatsworth, Lassiter): Timothy and Margaret Kearns to Timothy Cullinane; $732,000
4220 Burns Heritage Trail, (Loch Highland, Lassiter): Craig and Stephanie Smith to Charles LaFage; $650,000
3957 Fairington Drive, Open House Atlanta Realty and Investments to Misho Co. Ltd.; $400,000
2733 Bentwood Drive,30062 (Bentwood, Pope): C&N Transformed Properties Inc. to Qingyu Luo and Katherine Lin; $539,900
1927 Hazelwood Circle, 30067 (Hamby Acres, Wheeler): Scott Loska to Kaitlynn Mockett and Christian Perez; $375,000
702 Cheswick Overlook, 30067 (Belmont, Wheeler): Thomas Tobin to Alan and Andrea Lam; $863,000
July 1
2640 Forest Glen Drive, 30066 (Forest Chase, Lassiter): Amy Cole to Claire Brady and Leonard Rose, trustees, Michael Christopher Brady and Lynn Marie Brady Revocable Trust; $333,000
2948 Summitop Road, 30066 (Lassiter): Marian Crowell to Din Muktar, Roberto Escanio and Kai Cenat; $2.4 million
3320 Devaughn Drive, 30066 (Village North Crossing, Lassiter): Paul John Fontaine, executor, estate of Helga Fontaine to Sidika Seker Celik; $426,000
3558 Chestatee Drive, 30062 (Shallowford Heights, Lassiter): David Wold to Nicolas Betker; $465,000
3401 Camelot Drive, 30062 (Camelot, Pope): Nicholas Collins to Robin James; $489,000
1980 Kramer Way, 30062(Holly Springs Crossing, Pope): Laura Lacagnina to April Snekszer and Amari Roberts; $409,100
1775 Millview Drive, 30062 (Barnes Mill Lake, Wheeler): Ina Zharnitskaya to Roxanne Hill; $343,000
861 Chestnut Lake Drive, 30068 (Hampton Woods, Walton): Matthew and Meghan Cronin to Abbas Arslan; $922,000
2369 Ashton Woods Court, 30068 (Ashton Woods, Wheeler): Stuart Winston Wells Jr., executor, estate of Stuart Winston Wells Sr., to Alex and Elizabeth Freemon; $485,000
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The Cobb County School District has pulled a redesigned logo for East Side Elementary School in East Cobb following complaints from parents and others in the community that it looks like the eagle crest from Nazi Germany.
In a note sent out on a non-official school-related Facebook page late Monday, the district said that “the school is aware of concerns about these logos, and therefore, we have paused to consider that feedback. We will be immediately reviewing the logos to determine needed changes.”
Also on Monday night, East Side principal Marcia Clark sent a similar message to parents. Both messages concluded by saying that “stakeholder input has been, and continues to be, important to our school, and we appreciate those who took the time to share their thoughts.”
East Side, which is marking its 70th anniversary this year, is one of several schools in the Cobb district with the Eagles nickname.
East Side is also located at Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway, across the latter from Congregation Etz Chaim, the first synagogue in East Cobb.
The new logo was sent out to parents via the district’s Cobb Teaching and Learning Portal.
In rolling out the new logos, a message to the East Side community said that “the new logo and badges were chosen to represent the Eagle soaring into excellence and to honor the history of our great school!”
On her Twitter account Monday night, East Side parent Stacy Efrat said that “our Jewish family has always felt loved and welcome” at the school and that “let’s assume this was an honest mistake and a coincidence.”
After getting Clark’s e-mail, however, Efrat said that “we don’t need to ‘pause to consider’ or ‘review’ the logos. They are symbolic of Nazi images and should be deleted immediately, full stop. The district should apologize to all East Side families for the harm that this has caused.”
Similar comments were made late Monday and Tuesday on other social media channels.
In response to a message from East Cobb News, a district spokeswoman said late Tuesday afternoon that “we understand and strongly agree that similarities to Nazi symbolism are unacceptable. Although this design was based on the U.S. Army colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder input has been and continues to be important to our schools.”
She didn’t say who designed the logo or explain the process for coming up with a new one, except to state that “the District supports all re-branding requests and decisions by local schools, to ensure our schools are legally compliant.”
The “Reichsadler” or “Imperial Eagle” logo dates back in Germany before the Third Reich. But the Anti-Defamation League considers it a hate symbol, since it has continued to be adopted by neo-Nazi and related groups.
The German government continues to use what it refers to as a “Bundesadler” or “Federal Eagle” logo that’s designed differently from the Nazi-era coat of arms.
It’s been nearly a year since Pope and Lassiter high schools in East Cobb were vandalized with swastika graffiti in bathrooms that prompted a community outcry. Then-Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn was invited to attend a Yom Kippur service at East Cobb’s Temple Kol Emeth.
The “Reichsadler” Nazi Eagle logo that the Anti-Defamation League considers a symbol of hate.
Last October Scamihorn introduced a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism that passed by a party-line vote after some members and citizens complained that the matter was added to the agenda late, and saying that the district still needed to do more to address acts of hate in the school system.
In February, photos surfaced of students at East Cobb Middle School wearing swastika armbands and giving the Nazi salute on campus.
The Cobb school district last year dropped the use of teaching materials from the Southeast Regional office of ADL, “No Place for Hate,” that critics continue to insist needs to be reintroduced.
On the East Side ES website, there’s no mention of the now-retracted logo. It did note that July 28, the Friday before the start of the new school year on Aug. 1, is “Eagle Day,” when parents and students can meet teachers and learn about and sign up for other school activities.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to hold a proposed rezoning for a new convenience store, gas station and car wash on Shallowford Road at Trickum Road for a month after community opposition surfaced.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said in making her motion that the extra time was needed for the applicant to meet with residents over runoff, environmental and traffic concerns.
Southern Gas Partners, LLC is applying to change the current neighborhood shopping and general commercial zoning of two parcels totaling 3.1 acres at the southwest intersection of Shallowford and Trickum to neighborhood retail commercial.
That would allow for conversion of what had been a gas station to a fueling facility and convenience store similar to a Quick Trip or Race Trac and a car wash, according to the applicant.
The plans call for a 2,258 square foot convenience store/gas station that would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the Trickum Road parcel.
Another 2,287 square feet would be used for a car wash to be built on 2.3 undeveloped acres fronting Shallowford Road that would be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
The Cobb Planning Commission voted to recommend approval earlier this month, but Birrell said nearby residents may not have been properly informed of the case, and there has not been a community meeting.
Her Planning Commission appointee, Deborah Dance, also was absent from the vote.
The Southern Gas Partners application had been on the county commissioners’ consent agenda Tuesday when a resident adjacent to the property turned out to show opposition.
Mel Skelton, who lives at the back end of the abandoned gas station property on Sims Court, said he was speaking on behalf of himself and neighbors in the Heatherwood subdivision.
He said he’s endured decades of runoff from a malfunctioning retention pond, a polluted creek and noise from the various businesses that have been there, none of them, including an auto repair shop, he said, that have “passed muster.”
He said the retention pond is practically in his back yard, and that his property, which is separated from the gas station property by a creek, is in a Class a flood zone.
It’s taken a couple of decades since the gas station was first built and the property cleared for wildlife to return, he said.
While Southern Gas Partners said it would be keeping existing wooded buffers, he’s concerned about round-the-clock lights and noise, especially because “when people get their car washed, they like to listen to their music.”
“I’m not against development, as long as it’s done right,” Skelton said of what’s become a community eyesore in an area that he said has many other similar businesses.
There are two other gas stations at the same intersection that also have convenience stores.
“How many car washes do we need, especially behind a residential area?” Skelton said.
Jim Courson, representing Southern Gas Partners, said his client is hamstrung by changes in the county zoning code over the years that have rendered those properties non-conforming.
“It is truly a hardship based for the owner simply because the classifications changed,” Courson said, “and it was through no fault of his own that he is sitting there with two pieces of property he really can’t do anything with unless you grant the rezoning.”
Cobb tax records show Southern Gas Partners purchased the current gas station property in 2017 for $401,800 and the undeveloped land last year for $390,000.
“It would change from an old outdated gas station to a current updated convenience store,” Courson said. “The owner is handicapped by not being able to do anything with the property as it sits there today.”
Carl Carver of the Cobb Stormwater Management agency said the applicant would have to provide for runoff management for the car wash area.
He also said both properties would have to be treated as “hotspots” requiring treatment to improve water quality prior to runoff discharge.
The site plan calls for right-in, right-out access only in eastbound lanes of Shallowford Road, but allows a left turn onto westbound Shallowford.
Amy Diaz of Cobb DOT said that since the left turn intersection meets the county’s minimum of being at least 250 feet from an intersection, that meets “our standard for full-movement access.”
Birrell said she was worried, given DOT’s current grade of “F” on Shallowford, and that Trickum has a “C.”
“I think it’s a safety issue,” she said. “I’m on Shallowford and Trickum a lot and Lassiter [High School] is right down the street. It’s very congested there for them to be turning left out.”
Diaz responded said it’s an area “where I would recommend using caution during high peak periods, but off-peak periods, probably not.”
She said DOT could take restrictive measures in the future if it “showed to be a safety issue.”
In other cases in the East Cobb area, commissioners approved on the consent agenda a special-land use plan permit extension for Mt. Bethel Christian Academy to continue use of temporary space on its North Campus on Post Oak Tritt Road for a high school campus.
Since moving there in 2013, Mt. Bethel Christian has used existing facilities it purchased from the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta for grades 9-12 and for some worship events for Mt. Bethel Church.
The new permit allows the school, which had received previous extensions, to continue through the end of August 2024.
Pulled from Tuesday’s agenda was a rezoning request by Green Community Development to build 16-home environmentally-friendly homes on rocky terrain on Kinridge Court near Sprayberry High School.
The planning commission voted to recommend denial after community opposition surfaced, but the Cobb zoning staff is continuing the case until August.
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