A motorist whose car hit another in a fatal East Cobb crash Sunday night has been charged with first-degree vehicular homicide.
Tracy Jean Latronica, 37, of Shadowlawn Road in East Cobb, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center late Sunday night, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office information.
She remained there on Monday afternoon on a $5,720 bond.
Cobb Police said Latronica was turning left onto Robinson Road West after traveling westbound on Roswell Road shortly before 9:30 p.m., when the 2012 gray Ford Explorer she was driving struck a silver 2012 Toyota Camry in the intersection that also includes East Lake Parkway.
The driver of the Camry was a 15-year-old male from Marietta. All five passengers in that vehicle were taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, according to police, who said one of them, Begum Fazilatunnesa, 74, of Marietta, was pronounced dead after suffering critical injuries.
Police said the other occupants were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and Latronica did not require medical attention.
Latronica also has been charged with DUI, failure to yield on a left turn and serious injury by vehicle.
Police said an investigation into the crash is continuing and anyone with information should contact the Cobb Police STEP Unit at 770-499-3987.
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Beth Farokhi, a founding member of the East Cobb Democratic Association and a former Cobb school board candidate from East Cobb, has died of ovarian cancer.
Over the weekend the Cobb County Democratic Party made the announcement. Farokhi, 70, had been living in Kennesaw and was involved in party activities on several levels.
In 2006, Farokhi received 43 percent of the vote in the Post 6 Cobb school board election in her campaign against Republican incumbent John Crooks. That seat is now held by Scott Sweeney.
Farokhi was a school teacher in Cobb and also ran for state superintendent of schools in 2010. She was a retired administator at the College of Education at Georgia State University. Her son, Amir Farokhi, is a member of the Atlanta City Council.
Here’s the message the county party was sharing Sunday:
Beth was one of the founding members of East Cobb Democratic Association, among her many, many activities in our community. She ran for the Cobb County School Board in 2006, achieving a record for door knocking, even though she did not win. In 2010, she ran for State Superintendent of Schools, traveling the length and corners of our state to spread her message and making many friends. Beth was a constant champion for schools and education and children, as well as for women’s equality. Beth was wife and mother, a professor of education, and officer in numerous organizations, but most of all we will remember Beth Farokhi as our friend, who always had a warm smile and kind word for everyone she met.
Per the AJC’sfull obituary, following a private graveside service in her hometown of Augusta, a public memorial service is scheduled for July 7 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
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Some East Cobb citizens this week spoke in favor of a property tax increase to preserve parks, libraries and other services. (East Cobb News file photo)
This week’s top stories includes a budget town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center to discuss a proposed property tax increase; the purchase of Tritt property next to East Cobb Park to be preserved as green space; new East Cobb school principals; and a Precinct 4 Cobb Police officer jailed for assault and solicitation.
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On Saturday the public was invited by the Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs for an Ebenezer Road park preview to show off the newest parcels of green space purchased by the county.
Also at the event were District 3 Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell and Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce.
The 18.3 acres at 4055 and 4057 Ebenezer Road were acquired earlier this year for a total of $1.7 million as part of the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, which was finally funded by county commissioners last year.
The land was held in the estate of John Strother, who died in 2015 at the age of 101.
The land, which will ultimately be developed into a passive park, was owned by the Strother family in side-by-side parcels and residences on Ebenezer Road near the intersection of Canton Road and Noonday Baptist Church.
The jewel of the property is a lake, and some visitors brought their dogs to make the trek around and enjoy a sunny weekend morning.
The funding approved by commissioners last year was for a total of $27.4 million. Voters approved $40 million in the 2008 referendum, but no bonds were issued due to the recession.
In 2016, an organization called the Cobb Parks Coalition pressed for the bonds to be issued, and now says the 2017 vote to provide partial funding is “a positive game-changer.”
Birrell said that all of the park bond funding has to be spent within three years to acquire green space.
A year since approval, Cobb commissioners have spent nearly $17 million of that money. On Tuesday they’re poised to spend another $8.3 million to purchase 22 acres of the Tritt property next to East Cobb Park, and preserve it as green space.
Another 7.7 acres will be donated, and the Friends for the East Cobb Park is donating $102,000 as part of the deal.
The Ebenezer Road properties are the first to be acquired with the bond money in Birrell’s district, which includes Northeast Cobb and part of the Kennesaw area.
The Tritt property, the subject of a denied rezoning request for a senior living city and related lawsuit, would be the first land acquisition in commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2, which includes most of East Cobb.
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Via Heads Up Georgia, details about what you will and will not be able to do with an electronic device in your car, starting July 1. The law was sponsored by Northeast Cobb Republican John Carson, who recently clarified that there won’t be a grace period to begin enforcement.
From the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (which has a countdown to the enactment of the new law), here are the penalties for violations and where you can read the entire law.
More below from Cobb Police:
Distracted driving was found to be the leading cause of accidents. Recently House Bill 673 (Hands Free/Distracted Driver Law) was passed and will take effect July 1st to help with this issue.
The new law states that you cannot support any wireless device with any part of your body. This means that you:
CANNOT hold it in your hand
CANNOT lay it in your lap
CANNOT hold it against your ear with your shoulder
Additionally, the law addresses further uses of the phone while driving:
You CANNOT watch or record a video
You CANNOT type, send, or read any text based communication
You MAY use your phone if legally parked. This does not include stopped at a light or stop sign, only legally parked in areas such as parking lots or driveways.
You MAY use your phone as GPS but you MUST set it up before you begin driving and are legally parked. If you need to change your route, you must be legally parked.
Important things to remember:
Citizens may handle an electronic device while driving if they are: Reporting a traffic accident, medical emergency, fire, crime, delinquent act, or hazardous road condition.
Law enforcement officers are exempt from the law as long as they are performing their official duties.
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From L-R: Marietta schools superintendent Grant Rivera; Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce; and Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale.
Thanks to Nan Kiel of the Cobb County School District for the submitted photo and information about the extension of the Cobb Library PASS system, which took place earlier this week.
It’s a partnership between the CCSD, Marietta City Schools, and the Cobb County Public Library System that enables public school students to use county library system resources with their school IDs. After a pilot period that began in January, the agreement will continue into 2020.
Cobb students no longer need an extra card to access the digital and print resources in the county’s libraries. The new Library PASS initiative, or Public Library Access for Student Success, links K-12 student identification numbers to the new Cobb County PASS accounts.
The Library PASS program, which launched in January 2018, allows students to access library resources from home, the classroom, or in person at a Cobb library. Currently, there are more than 116,000 CCSD students registered with PASS accounts.
During a ceremony at the Switzer Library in Marietta on June 20, CCSD Superintendent Chris Ragsdale; Chairman Mike Boyce, Cobb County Board of Commissioners; and Superintendent Grant Rivera, Marietta City Schools, signed a memorandum of agreement to extend the Library PASS partnership for two years.
Chairman Boyce applauded the commitment and dedication of the three organizations in coming together to change lives by making more educational resources available to students in Cobb County.
“When we have partnerships like this, it shows that the focus in Cobb County is very high onprioritizing education,” said Superintendent Ragsdale. “It is very important to us to make sure thatresources are available to not only students but also parents. To have partnerships like this with the library system is very important. All the resources that we can tap into, that our students and staff cantap into, benefit the goal of student success.”
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U.S. Rep. Karen Handel on Friday shut down a colleague on the House floor as he played an audio recording of immigrant children being held at a detention camp near the Mexican border.
(You can view the full video from the House floor at the bottom of this post).
At the end of a long week of national debate over President Donald Trump’s detention policies, California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu began to play the recording, made by the news organization Pro Publica.
Lieu was denouncing a “zero tolerance” policy that separated children from their parents after illegal border crossings. Trump later signed an executive order allowing families to remain together in detention camps.
“If the Statue of Liberty could cry, she’d be crying today,” Lieu said in beginning his remarks, which frequently referenced the more than 2,300 children who’ve “been ripped away” from their parents in recent weeks.
Handel, the Roswell Republican whose Georgia 6th District includes East Cobb, was serving as Speaker Pro Tem. Shortly after the recording began, she ruled that Lieu had committed a “breach of quorum” for using an electronic device in the House chambers.
She said that violated Rule 17 of the House, but he continued.
“There is not a rule that says I cannot play sounds from the detention facility,” Lieu said, as the recording continued, and crying children could be heard.
Handel ordered him to stop several times, demanding that “the gentleman will suspend!” and pounding a gavel.
The recording continued for a few more moments, then Handel said that “the sergeant at arms will enforce the rules of decorum.”
Before that happened, Lieu yielded back his time, using a little more than five minutes of the 60 minutes allotted to him.
The House was to have voted on immigration legislation Friday but that has been delayed to next week. Trump has urged Congress to wait until after the November elections.
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With the topic of ever-shrinking green space in the news (here’s yesterday’s post about the Tritt property to be sold to the county near East Cobb Park), another recently-purchased parcel of recreational space will get a public preview in highlighting East Cobb weekend events.
The public preview for the future Ebenezer Road Park is Saturday from 10-12, and to be specific the address is 4055 Ebenezer, close to the intersection of Canton Road. The county recently purchased the 18.3 acres with parks bond referendum money for a passive park that once belonged to the Strother family. You can bring fishing gear and your canines, although swimming won’t be allowed, and parking onsite is very limited;
The students of Summer Cabaret Camp have been working hard for the Friday and Saturday presentations of “Little Shop of Horrors” at The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road). The Mountain View Arts Alliance’s Summer Concert Series events take place both nights at 7:30, with doors opening at 7. Seating is free on the lawn (or $40 for a table), and donations are accepted for concessions;
If cool underwater immersion theatre is your thing, The Little Mermaid Jr. is taking place this weekend and next at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road). Shows are 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission proceeds from the church’s adaptation of the Disney Classic will benefit Simple Needs Georgia;
This event is for grown-ups: From 2-4 Saturday come by the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) for its Adult Beach Reads Party that includes a book talk, books to check out and take with you to the beach and some surf dancing to get you in the mood for a vacation;
On Sunday, a low-cost pet vaccination clinic takes place from 12-2 at the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team office (2249 Roswell Road), with all tax-deductible fees to benefit the Homeless Pets Foundation.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share? Let us know, and we’ll post it here! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com with all pertinent information, and photos/graphics if you like. (This does not include business promotional events. E-mail: advertising@eastcobbnews.com for information on display and newsletter ads and sponsored posts).
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one!
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Three more East Cobb principals were appointed by the Cobb Board of Education Thursday night.
Adam Hill is returning to East Cobb after two years as principal at Nickajack Elementary School. The former principal of Timber Ridge Elementary School has been named the new principal at Dickerson Middle School, succeeding retiring principal Dr. Carole Brink.
In remarks near the end of the board’s short meeting, Post 6 school board member Scott Sweeney, who represents the Dickerson area, said Hill “has big shoes to fill.”
East Side Elementary School will be getting a new principal after longtime principal Elizabeth Mavity was appointed an assistant superintendent for the Cobb County School District.
Elizabeth Mavity
Her replacement is Maria Clark, who had been an assistant principal at Mt. Bethel Elementary School.
The new principal at Shallowford Falls Elementary School is Donna Long, currently an assistant principal at Murdock Elementary School. She succeeds Felicia Angelle, now the CCSD’s academic division director of instruction, innovation, teaching and learning.
Their appointments are effective July 1. Walton, Sprayberry, Daniell and Tritt also will have new principals.
The school board also made several other assistant principal appointments at East Cobb schools:
Shannon Hooker, who has been an assistant principal at Bells Ferry Elementary School, was named to the same position at Sedalia Park Elementary School;
A new assistant principal at Mt. Bethel Elementary is Kevin Johnson, who had been an academic coach at Brumby Elementary School;
Elizabeth Marsili, an instructional specialist at Kennesaw Elementary, is a new assistant principal at Bells Ferry;
Maria Clark
Leander Brooks, an assistant principal at Hillgrove High School, is a new assistant principal at Sprayberry High School;
Another new assistant principal at Sprayberry is Philip Henderson, a CCSD school leadership intern;
Former North Cobb High School principal Joseph Horton was appointed assistant principal at Lassiter High School;
Jeff Milton, as assistant principal at Kell High School, was appointed to the same position at Walton High School;
A new assistant principal at Kell is Richard Norman, who had been a teacher at Kell.
Those appointments are effective July 11.
Announcing his resignation, effective June 12, was David Chiprany, an assistant superintendent who oversaw a middle school cluster. A former principal at East Cobb Middle School and Wheeler High School, Chiprany is now the chief academic officer for the Bartow County School System.
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Cobb Police said Thursday that Officer Robert New has been charged with criminal solicitation and computer pornography involving the use of wireless internet. Police said they’re investigating with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.
Both of the new charges are felonies. Warrant information indicates that New attempted to solicit a 12-year-old girl and another female related to her via text.
New, 46, who has been a patrol officer at the East Cobb-based Precinct 4, remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond.
He was arrested at his home on Hawkins Store Road and charged with assault and battery involving a woman in an off-duty incident. New is accused of slapping and choking a 44-year-old woman in a sexual encounter in March.
At a press conference Tuesday, Cobb Police Chief Mike Register said investigators believe New met the woman online. After a forensic interview with the woman, he said, they determined she had the mental capacity of a child between 10 and 14 years of age.
Register also said the department is responding to a non-criminal administrative complaint against New by another woman.
New had his first hearing with a Cobb Magistrate Court judge Tuesday and was told his bond hearing would be July 10. He has been placed on administrative leave without pay by Cobb Police.
New began his Cobb Police career at Precinct 4 and served on the department’s DUI task force before returning to Precinct 4.
East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.
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Wylene Tritt has lived on former family farmland along Roswell Road since 1950. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
More than half of the 53-acre Tritt property that adjoins East Cobb Park on Roswell Road is set to be purchased by Cobb County and preserved as green space.
Cobb commissioners are scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a proposal to acquire 29.7 acres of land owned by Wylene Tritt for a cost of $8.3 million. The funding would come from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, inlcuding last year’s $24.7 million in supplemental bond funds.
The proposed contract states that the purchase is for 22 of the acres; Tritt is donating the rest to the county as part of the deal. The Friends for the East Cobb Park, a non-profit citizens group, is donating $102,000 for the land acquisition, according to documents included in Tuesday’s meeting agenda.
The land that would be acquired by the county (noted in green in map provided below by Cobb County) would be adjacent to East Cobb Park and at the back of the Tritt property line.
According to information released late Thursday afternoon by Cobb government, the Friends for the East Cobb Park will begin a fundraising drive to purchase the rest of the Tritt property (noted in white, including the Tritt residence) and for future enhancements to the park.
“The chance to purchase some of the Tritt Property is an exciting opportunity and it would preserve a pristine part of Cobb County that could be enjoyed for generations to come,” District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said in a statement.
“I want to thank Mrs. Tritt for her willingness to work with the county. District 2 has the least amount of available land for parks and this is a significant contribution to the neighbors who have been asking us to look at this property for years.”
Tritt, who’s in her 80s, tried to sell her entire property several years ago for a reported $20 million for the development of a senior living complex. Isakson Living’s purchase of the land was contingent on rezoning, but Cobb commissioners denied the request in 2015 after strong community opposition to a project some considered too dense for the area.
Isakson Living, which is led by the son and brother of U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, sued the county, but legal action was dropped in 2016. The developer cancelled its contract with Tritt, whose family once held vast farmland in the East Cobb area.
While the Isakson Living case was proceeding, a citizens group was formed called Concerned Citizens of East Cobb, which advocated keeping the Tritt property park land. That effort extended into the formation of Friends of Tritt Park, which sought to gauge public interest in raising money to buy the land.
Doug Rohan, a resident of the Sadlers Walk neighborhood adjacent to the Tritt property, has been involved with both groups and opposed the Isakson living proposal.
He told East Cobb News that “we are thrilled at the prospect and we feel this plan is a very responsible approach to the fiscal interests of the county, the financial needs of the Tritt family, and the public interest that this project has generated.
“It seems like a win/win/win and we are hopeful it proceeds according to plan. We will continue to monitor the progress and we plan to attend the meeting next week to make sure this goes through.”
Cobb’s proposed purchase of the Tritt property comes as commissioners are set to tackle an anticipated $30 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 and that could include the possible closing of parks and recreational facilities included on draft lists.
Cobb also is building new parks, including Mabry Park under construction on Wesley Chapel Road. On Saturday, the county is holding a public viewing for recently purchased land on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb that will be developed into a passive park.
Tritt, the aunt of country music star Travis Tritt, moved with her late husband Norris to the property in 1950. He inherited what had been 80 acres of farmland from his aunt, Odessa Tritt Lassiter, and gradually sold off portions to nearby families.
Some of the land was sold to the Bowles family, which in turn sold that land. The property included 13 acres that formed the original boundaries of East Cobb Park, which opened in 1998.
In her will, Lassiter insisted that the trees on her property be preserved, and that “no timber is to be cut off either place except for building and repairs on those farms.”
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Duncan Land Investements’ 3-home rezoning case on Wesley Chapel Road got Cobb commissioners’ approval by a 3-2 vote.
On paper, considering a 3-home subdivision proposal might seem fairly routine. On Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners did do that, but the Wesley Chapel Road rezoning case they approved came after a good bit of wrangling.
By a 3-2 vote, the commissioners approved a substitute motion to rezone less than two acres on Wesley Chapel next to Garrison Mill Elementary School and across from Loch Highland Parkway to R-20 for a three-home development.
The substitute motion by commissioner Bob Weatherford stripped out a stipulation that would have reverted the property to an R-30 category (with a limit of only two homes) if the developer didn’t obtain a building permit within six months.
The tract was rezoned to R-20 in 2013 (here’s the zoning agenda item packet information). The land reverted back to R-30 because there was a clause that kicked in since the property had not been developed after five years.
Duncan Land Investments, which has an additional contract on the property, sought in its renewed application R-15, which would have allowed four homes. Although it was revised it to R-20, the Cobb Planning Commission made no recommendation.
District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the area, wanted a six-month reversionary clause for the new application because that is “ample time for him to close on the property and pull the permit.”
But Weatherford said he was “having trouble finding any logic” in rezoning the same piece of property the same category twice.
“If you want it R-30, leave it R-30. If you want it R-20, zone it R-20,” he said. “This will be the second time it’s R-20. Why go back to R-30? It just makes no sense to me unless I’m missing something somewhere.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said that a “reversion clause resets the map,” and that “once the board has rezoned something, it sets a precedent” that can be used elsewhere.
Weatherford responded that “every zoning case stands on it own.” Commission chairman Mike Boyce and commissioner Lisa Cupid voted with him on the substitute motion.
Birrell was against the substitute motion as was Ott, who said he was opposed to the R-20 request altogether. His District 2, redrawn since the 2013 case, now includes the east side of Wesley Chapel Road across from the Duncan property.
He said in the five years since the first rezoning, the area has become more built-up and cited more traffic along Wesley Chapel and surrounding development that’s zoned R-30 for his opposition.
“I cannot support changing from R-30,” Ott said.
The commissioners also voted 5-0 to approve rezoning for a Kroger gas station in East Cobb. Kroger’s request at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center changed the zoning from Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Center with some conditions (see previous ECNpost here).
Kroger is planning to demolish a 10,000-square foot building on 14 acres of the shopping center for the gas station, which will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.
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At last week’s Georgia PTA convention in Augusta, Dr. Carole Brink, the retiring Dickerson Middle School principal, was named the organization’s middle school principal of the year.
Brink’s retirement was announced last month by the Cobb Board of Education and is effective Aug. 1. Her successor has not been named.
Here are some other East Cobb PTA organizations and schools that were recognized by Georgia PTA, as compiled by the East Cobb County Council of PTAs:
Outstanding Local Unit, Elementary School 750 students or below
1st Place – Shallowford Falls Elementary PTA
2nd Place – Timber Ridge Elementary PTA
3rd Place – Mountain View Elementary PTA
Outstanding Local Unit, Elementary School 751 students or above
2nd Place – East Side Elementary PTA
3rd Place – Mt. Bethel Elementary PTA
Outstanding Local Unit, Middle School
2nd Place – Dickerson Middle School PTSA
3rd Place – Dodgen Middle School PTSA
Outstanding Local Unit, High School
1st Place – Walton High School PTSA
2nd Place – Lassiter High School PTSA
2017-2019 National PTA School of Excellence Award
Rocky Mount Elementary School
Hightower Trail Middle School
Wheeler High School
Georgia PTA Outstanding Middle School Principal
Dr. Carole Brink – Dickerson Middle School
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A Cobb Police officer charged with aggravated assault stemming from an off-duty incident with a woman has been placed on unpaid administrative leave while an internal investigation against him continues.
At a brief news conference Tuesday afternoon, Cobb Police Chief Mike Register said Officer Robert L. New has been a patrol officer at Precinct 4 in East Cobb.
According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, New was booked late Monday night on a felony charge of aggravated assault-strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple battery. He remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to jail records.
Register said New was arrested around 10 p.m. at his home after police received a complaint on Saturday “concerning acts of violence with an adult female.”
Cobb Police began an investigation led by Capt. Everett Cebula, head of internal affairs and until recently the deputy commander at Precinct 4, and the department’s sexual victims unit.
Register didn’t specify the acts, although an arrest warrant indicates New is accused of slapping and choking the woman during a sexual encounter sometime in March at his home on Hawkins Store Road.
Register said it’s “fairly certain” New met the woman online.
The chief said a forensic interview with the woman determined that she had a mental capacity of between 10 and 14 years of age.
Register said in response to a media question about the incident that “both parties consented, but the actions that took place during the encounter brought us to take out warrants against Officer New.”
Register said search warrants have been taken out for “where the incident occurred” and that portion of the investigation is continuing.
He also said the department is acting “with the intent to reach a timely decision” about New’s employment status.
Register said New started with Cobb Police in February 2005 and was assigned to Precinct 4 in East Cobb. He later served on the department’s DUI Task Force before returning to Precinct 4.
“We will do the right thing for the victim and the process for the officer,” Register said.
East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.
UPDATED, Wednesday, June 20, 1:11 P.M.: On Tuesday night, New briefly appeared before a Cobb Magistrate Judge at the Cobb jail, and was told he would have a July 10 bond hearing.
New remains in custody without bond.
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An overflow crowd at the East Cobb Senior Center heard Mike Boyce defend his proposed fiscal year 2019 budget of $453 million that would result in a Cobb tax increase.
The Cobb commission chairman’s goal, as he asserted several times during a nearly 90-minute town hall meeting Monday night, is to return to a “level, sustainable millage rate” the county enjoyed before the recession.
He said his proposed increase of 1.7 mills as part of revised budget from an original proposed hike of 1.1 mills, would generate $50 million in additional revenue per year.
Not only would that solve the projected $30 million budget deficit for FY 2019, but it would also replenish reserve funding commissioners have used in recent years to avoid a tax hike.
Cobb government included this tax chart in its revised budget proposal last week.
Several weeks after possible closures of libraries, parks and other “desired” services were made public, Boyce denied threatening to close any of those facilities.
But he said if his fellow commissioners couldn’t agree at least to an extra 1.1 mills, “we will close things. But that’s up to the commissioners.”
After urging citizens to communicate with their commissioners about ensuring those services with a tax increase, there was vigorous applause in the room.
Many citizens were wearing stickers in support of Cobb libraries. Others came on behalf of parks, recreation centers and The Art Place, located next door to the senior center and included on a draft list of options for closure.
Others were opposed to any tax increase, including Lance Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, who brought a sign saying “Cut Waste.”
Monday’s meeting was the first of several Boyce is holding through early July, before commissioners are to adopt the budget by the end of next month.
He prefaced his remarks with charts predicting Cobb’s budget shortfall in 2014, with significant rising costs anticipated for the county pension fund, a pay increase for roughly half of county employees and public safety needs.
In public statements, Boyce has noted for several weeks how Cobb’s millage rate has decreased steadily since 1990, even though the county population has risen dramatically, from 450,000 then to more than 750,000 today.
After a 1.51 mills increase in 2011 during the recession, the general fund millage rate went down, again, including a decrease in 2016, right before Boyce defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in a runoff.
Currently, it’s 6.76 mills.
Last year, commissioners spent nearly $20 million in reserves to balance a $405 million general fund budget, leaving only $2.6 million on hand now.
“We simply need to buy things we haven’t bought,” Boyce said.
His revised budget would fund an additional 23 police officers, and provide body cameras for all officers as part of a public safety budget increase of $15 million.
Citizens peppered Boyce with questions about their tax bills, county funding for the Braves stadium and more. While some wondered if what he was proposing was enough, especially about public safety, others didn’t like hearing Boyce adamantly defend raising taxes.
When Ellen Smith (pictured above), an attorney who occasionally argues zoning cases in front of the commissioners, suggested an increase of 3 mills, in part to fully fund the county’s animal services, some citizens loudly grumbled and yelled out, “ask a question!”
When another citizen asked Boyce if he would “be back here next year” should his budget and tax demands not be sufficient, he said that “I don’t know what the future brings.
“But I don’t want to be back here next year.”
Boyce’s final town hall is back in East Cobb on July 9, at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center at 7 p.m.
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Thanks to East Cobb resident Phillip Truong for passing along the photo of his daughter, Amanda, who recently attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. He also shared this information below provided by the center:
The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving. This program, which is specifically designed for trainees who have a particular interest in space exploration. Truong spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Once aboard the ISS, the crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk. Truong and crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors. Space Camp operates year-round in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA. More than 750,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp since its inception in Huntsville, Alabama in 1982, including European Space Agency astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Dr. Kate Rubins and Dr. Serena Auñón, who recently launched to the International Space Station. Children and teachers from all 50 states and 69 international locations have attended a Space Camp® program.
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Udpating our previous posts (here and here) about the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan survey, which has been revised following an outcry from citizens about the options in the original version: You’re running out of time to have your say about what you think future development in the community should be like.
The deadline to fill out the image preference survey is July 6, and you’ll need some time to do so. It’s 89 questions long and asks citizens and business owners to state their preferences about the look, density and feel of residential and commercial development, as well as landscaping, streetscapes, greenspaces, stormwater management and more.
A community meeting in August will summarize the findings. More on the JOSH project can be found here. Like other small-area plans, the JOSH master plan will be added to the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan
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!
This week’s top stories includes a revised Cobb budget proposal to keep parks and libraries open (and raise your property taxes), details about Georgia’s upcoming hands-free law and the 30th anniversary of the Good Mews cat shelter.
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“Why Non-Profits Are Good for Small Business” is the title of the panel discussion at the ECBA’s monthly luncheon on Tuesday. It takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway).
The speakers are Dawn Reed of Aloha to Aging, Inc., Natalie Rutledge of the Cobb Schools Foundation, Tom Gonter of MUST Ministries and Mary Kay Boler of TAG-Ed Education Collaborative.
The cost for the luncheon is $20 in advance for ECBA members, $25 in advance for guests, and $30 at the door. Online registration can be done here.
A couple of stories related to these groups that we’ve posted recently: Aloha to Aging, the East Cobb-based non-profit that works with seniors and their caregivers, is holding a gala celebration at Kennesaw State in August as a fundraiser as it expands its services.
In January the Cobb Schools Foundation held a Casino Night fundraiser at SunTrust Park to benefit its programs that assist the Cobb County School District.
The Marietta-based MUST Ministries operates a homeless shelter and services for families and individuals in need.
Also next week, the Northeast Cobb Business Association will hold its monthly luncheon. It’s Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road), and the guest speaker is Dana Johnson, director of the Cobb Community Development Department.
The cost is $15 for members and $25 for members and online registration can be done here.
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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!
