East Cobb News

Cobb school board to hold public hearings on tax millage rate

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Cobb school district

Although the Cobb Board of Education earlier this month adopted a fiscal year 2023 budget of $1.4 billion without a millage rate increase, they haven’t formally adopted the property tax rate.

That’s because the Cobb tax digest was officially approved earlier this week by the Cobb Board of Tax Assessors.

The Cobb school district fiscal year begins on Friday, and next week, the school board will have the first of three required public hearings on the millage rate.

The 2022 Cobb tax digest has grown by 12.3 percent, to a record nearing $50 billion.

Much of that is due to increased property tax assessments in Cobb County, and the school district is taking in $65 million more in local property tax revenues than it did in 2021.

But because the district is proposing to keep the millage rate of 18.9 mills, that constitutes a tax increase according to state law, and public hearings must be held before the school board sets the tax rate.

Two hearings will take place next Wednesday, July 7 at 11:30 a.m. and 6:05 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta.

The hearings also will be live-streamed on the district’s BoxCast channel and on CobbEdTV, Comcast Channel 24.

The final hearing is July 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the same venue, before the Cobb school board’s monthly business meeting where the millage rate will be set.

The Cobb school district has had a property tax millage rate of 18.9 mills since 2007. State law requires local governments and school districts to advertise a tax increase if they take in more revenue from the previous year and do not roll back the millage rate to reflect the previous year’s revenue amount.

The “roll back” rate would be 16.719 mills.

Cobb County government, which unveiled its proposed fiscal year 2023 budget on Tuesday, also is keeping the general fund property tax rate the same as last year, but revenues are going up.

Three public hearings have been scheduled for July before the Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to adopt the budget on July 26.

You can view more budget and financial information at the Cobb County School District by clicking here.

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Proposed Cobb FY 2023 budget would create 147 new positions

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Cobb proposed FY 2023 budget

The Cobb fiscal year 2023 operating budget proposed Tuesday would create 147 new positions in county government as part of a concerted effort to address what have been labeled serious staffing and employment issues.

The proposed budget of $865 million from all millage rates is up from the current fiscal year 2022 adopted budget of $768 million.

The overall proposed budget from all revenue sources is $1.15 billion, up from $1.04 billion. The majority of those additional revenues comes from water bills.

General fund revenues—which are paid for in property taxes—would rise from $496.7 million to $564.2 million for FY 2023.

There is not a proposed property tax increase for the general fund millage rate, which is 8.46 mills. Due to the Cobb tax digest increasing by 12 percent this year, that still constitutes a tax increase, since the millage rate will not be rolled back.

County officials said budget documents will be made available on its website at this link; you can watch Tuesday’s budget presentation, which lasts around two hours, by clicking here.

At a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session Tuesday, Cobb finance director Bill Volckmann said the budget figures don’t include costs for a class-and-pay compensation system that will be implemented in September.

Many of the priorities are aimed at employee recruitment and retention, and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said the new positions are in response to feedback from constituents.

“We want to make sure our employees are valued because that’s how we provide value to our citizens,” said Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who’s complained for years that previous commissions haven’t adequately staffed, paid and retained employees in critical positions.

“I feel like we can stand tall knowing we’ve been responsive to the years of concerns and the culmination of that over the last year.”

Among her priorities is an increase in the minimum wage for county employees to $17 an hour, which is up from around $9-$10 an hour.

There is a performance-based merit raise (budgeted at 3.5 percent), continuing a step-and-grade compensation system for public safety employees, increased funding for capital maintenance projects and more funding for Cobb and Douglas Public Health and the Department of Family and Children’s Services.

The proposal also would reduce the number of years for employees to be vested in the county pension system from 10 years to five years.

Cobb FY proposed 2023 budget

Cobb FY proposed 2023 budget

Cupid summarized some of the new positions, saying some would be added for Cobb DOT for road projects and maintenance and code enforcement and some public safety positions.

The proposal includes new positions in the Cobb Police Department, seven new positions the Fire and Emergency Services Department and six new jobs in the Emergency 911 Department.

Volckmann said another 32 jobs would be created in the court system.

She said an unspecified number of new jobs would be created in the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Public Affairs Department organize special events and programming.

Cupid said that was to address “sense of place” issues that came up during three failed cityhood referendum efforts, including one in East Cobb.

She also said the budget would include funding to conduct a “disparity study” relating to businesses owned by women, minorities and disabled veterans.

Commissioners Keli Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell, the board’s two Republican members, said they couldn’t support the disparity study.

Gambrill also expressed concern about how the employee pay raise costs may be funded over the long term.

“While we do have a [tax] digest growth that will cover this change, and this increase this year, we might not have this digest growth in two years,” she said. She said that would especially affect renters who’ve received federal COVID-related assistance the last two years.

“The last time we had a tax increase [2018] it hit them the hardest, because commercial property owners are not exempt with the homestead exemption,” Gambrill said. “This will have a future impact to the most critical needs right now in our county.”

County department heads had requested more than 650 new positions across the board, coming to $178 million in new spending.

Earlier this month commissioners approved a request to spend federal COVID-related American Rescue Plan Act funds for outsourced salaries and staff retention bonuses in “critical” positions in transportation, water, and parks and recreation.

Most of the new proposed jobs would be in what Volckmann said were departments that didn’t have many vacancies, with the exception of Cobb DOT.

Cupid said filling current vacancies would be emphasized before the new positions. Cobb government has been producing content in recent weeks about staff shortages, claiming a reported 1,000 vacancies across all government agencies.

Birrell expressed concern about requesting additional jobs with so many existing vacancies.

Volckmann said as an example that in the police department, most of the vacancies are for officers. The new requests, he said, would be for specialty positions.

“We made it very clear that these are critical positions,” County Manager Jackie McMorris said, addressing Birrell. “If you asked them to go back and cut more, ‘is to do your job, continuously, without the resources you need to do it,’ that’s not fair to them.”

Among the new proposed jobs is an events coordinator for Cobb parks, recreation and cultural affairs.

McMorris said existing staff are constantly overextended handling groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings and special events for the many activities that take place at those facilities.

When Birrell asked what an events coordinator would do during slower periods, McMorris interjected: “There is no off-season in Cobb. It’s not just the mowing and the Little League.

“There are events year-round. There are events you ask them to prepare for. There is plenty of work for that events coordinator to do.”

County department heads, McMorris continued, showing some emotion, are so conservative that “they don’t want to ask you for the basic things that they need.”

Three public hearings on the budget and millage rate have been scheduled for July, with adoption scheduled for July 26:

  • Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m.
  • Tuesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, July 26 at 7 p.m.

Fiscal year 2023 begins Oct. 1 and continues through Sept. 30, 2023.

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Groundbreaking to take place for Cobb Veterans Memorial July 7

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Cobb Veterans Memorial groundbreaking

Submitted by Cobb County government:

The community is invited to attend the groundbreaking for Memorial Park, hosted by the Cobb Veterans Memorial Foundation at 10 a.m. Friday, July 7, at 502 Fairground Street SE, Marietta. The park plans feature a 142-foot “Star Tower” monument and honor walls listing names of veterans from each of the country’s military branches. It will also have a plaza for events, two reflection pools, and a service hub providing information to veterans and their families. Construction is expected to be completed in 2024.
View the invitation here.

RSVP to kmichonet@cobbvmf.com
If you plan to attend, please park in the Cobb Civic Center parking lot.

Find out how you can help at: https://cobbveteransmemorial.com/

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East Cobb Biz Notes: Peachtree Computers opens at Woodlawn Square

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Peachtree Computers East Cobb

Aaron Tullar, the owner of Peachtree Computers—which operates two stores in metro Atlanta— sends in the above photo and information about his third store, that’s just opened in East Cobb at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center.

He started the business 14 years ago in Roswell, then expanded to the Cumberland area. The store offers free diagnostics on devices brought in, and has remote and onsite support services, both for PCs and Macs.

Peachtree Computers is located at 1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 128. Hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Contact: 678-528-0087 or support@peachtreecomputers.net.

Vanderlande, a Dutch international logistics automation company, recently opened 152,612 square-foot facility, located at 3054 Chastain Meadows Parkway with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

It’s part of a 27-acre campus that keeps the company’s U.S. headquarters in Cobb County, employing more than 1,000 people (previous post here).

NuSpine Chiropractic, which recently expanded into the Atlanta area, has opened a clinic in East Cobb at 2960 Shallowford Road, Suite 302, in the Sandy Plains Centre.

It’s a franchise company that launched in 2019 and has more than 200 locations across the country.

Hours at the Sandy Plains Centre clinic are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Contact: 404-492-8199.

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Construction costs ‘elevated’ for new Cobb Police Precinct 6

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Cobb Police Precinct 6

Cobb County officials will be asking commissioners Tuesday to set what they’re calling a “Guaranteed Maximum Price” to complete the building of the new Cobb Police Precinct 6 in Northeast Cobb.

According to an agenda item, the new station to be located next to the Mountain View Aquatic Center was earmarked with $5 million in funding from the 2016 Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax.

But the estimated price tag for the facility has grown to more than $5.5 million, according to the agenda item, which is recommending a build-out in stages.

“Due to currently elevated construction costs, budgeted funding is insufficient to complete build-out of the entire facility as designed,” states the agenda item.

The initial phase would include the construction of the exterior, front office spaces and a community room area, and provide space for on-site equipment access.

“When additional funding is identified, continuation of the project will be revisited at that time,” according to the budget item.

County officials are requesting $536,973 from county reserve funding to complete the project.

The new precinct initially will not have a patrol zone and instead will house police specialty units. Groundbreaking was held last November, after commissioners approved a two-phase contract with the Batson-Cook Company.

The first phase costs are $723,980 for design and other work. In the agenda item for Tuesday, the proposed Maximum Guaranteed Price for construction is $4,736,378, bringing the overall costs to $5,460,358.

Most of the East Cobb area is currently covered by Cobb Police Precinct 4, located on Lower Roswell Road.

That precinct runs from the Powers Ferry Road area to the east side of Canton Road.

Commissioners also will be asked on Tuesday to formally accept $73,824,239, the second of two lump sums from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Those funds are designated for state, local and other governments as part of the continuing response to COVID-19 and can be used for infrastructure upgrades, rental and small business assistance and support for essential workers.

There also will be a public hearing at the start of the meeting for the initial draft of Cobb County’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan 5-Year Update.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

The full agenda can be found here; there are two public comment sessions at the start and near the end of the meeting.

The meeting also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

 

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Public comments sought for Noonday Creek Trail extension

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Noonday Creek Trail Head
The Noonday Creek Trail Head at Bells Ferry Road (ECN file photo).

The Cobb Department of Transportation is seeking public feedback on the possibility of extending the Noonday Creek Trail as part of its 2018 Greenways and Trails Master Plan.

The Noonday Creek Trail Scoping Study began this spring, and Cobb DOT is proposing the extension run from the Bells Ferry Trailhead northward to Noonday Creek Park.

“This study aims to evaluate various options for closing this critical gap in the regional trail network between Bells Ferry Road and Shallowford Road,” according to Cobb DOT, which is accepting comments through July 8.

The aim is to assist Cobb DOT in understanding “how people use the existing trail and nearby public spaces” and “get ideas for a potential future extension of the trail.”

More information and a link to the survey can be found by clicking here. To enlarge the map below, click here.

Noonday Creek Trail map

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Cobb, Georgia elected officials react to Roe v. Wade ruling

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Elected officials in Cobb County and Georgia reacted along predictable partisan lines Friday to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

Cobb officials react to Roe v. Wade ruling
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath

By a 6-3 vote, the Court reversed Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 gave women a constitutional right to privacy under the 14th Amendment.

Friday’s ruling (you can read it here) upheld a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. The Supreme Court also struck down a 1992 ruling, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, that reaffirmed federal abortion rights.

“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” concluded the court majority, all appointed by Republican presidents.

The three dissenting votes were from justices appointed by Democratic presidents. The ruling had been anticipated after a draft majority ruling written by Justice Joseph Alito was leaked to the Politico publication in May.

In Georgia, abortions are illegal after 20 weeks from fertilization (or 22 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual cycle), with exceptions for a threat to the mother’s life or if a baby’s health is severely compromised.

In recent years, the GOP-dominated legislature has been trying to impose more severe restrictions.

Kemp lifting shelter-in-place order
Gov. Brian Kemp

In 2019, HB 481, the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, or the so-called “heartbeat bill” was passed that made abortion illegal in Georgia once a doctor could detect cardiac activity in a fetus (typically around six weeks).

That bill, sponsored by State Rep. Ed Setzler, an Acworth Republican, and Ginny Erhart, a Republican from West Cobb, is considered one of the harshest in the nation.

It contains exceptions for rape and incest, if the life of the mother is endangered or if a doctor determines a fetus is not viable for medical reasons.

But women also must file a police report in the case of rape or incest.

The law was struck down by a federal judge in 2020 on constitutional grounds. The state appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said last year it could not issue a ruling until the Supreme Court decided the Mississippi case.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is up for re-election this year, hailed the Supreme Court ruling as “a historic victory for life.”

By mid Friday afternoon, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr had filed notice with the 11th Circuit in Atlanta to lift the stay on the law. Unlike some other states, there is not an automatic trigger provision for the Georgia law.

“There is, simply put, nothing left of the Plaintiff-Appellees’ argument that Georgia law imposes an unconstitutional burden on the practice of abortion,” said the notice.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper
State Rep. Sharon Cooper

Stacey Abrams, Kemp’s Democratic opponent in the November general election, said that “if you’re a woman in Georgia, you should be terrified right now.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who is up for re-election in November, said that “I’m outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision. As a pro-choice pastor, I’ll never back down from this fight. Women must be able to make their own health care decisions, not politicians.”

His Republican opponent, former UGA football star Herschel Walker, who supports a total ban on abortions, said the court ruling “sends the issue of abortion back to the states, where it belongs. I stand for life and Raphael Warnock stands for abortion . . . I won’t apologize erring on the side of life.”

Two pro-life Republican lawmakers from East Cobb opposed the heartbeat bill. State Rep. Sharon Cooper and Sen. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, retired medical professionals, said at the time that the bill would be ruled unconstitutional.

Kirkpatrick was out of town attending a funeral and was formally excused from voting when the bill came up for final Senate action. Cooper, the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, voted no on final passage.

East Cobb News left messages with Kirkpatrick and Cooper on Friday seeking comment.

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Marietta Democrat who represents East Cobb in the 6th Congressional District, denounced the Supreme Court ruling.

“Today, every woman in America has been made less free,” she said in a statement issued by her Congressional office. “Today, extremists on the Supreme Court have stripped away a woman’s right to make choices about her own reproductive health care. Today, our nation’s highest court has rolled back the clock and stripped women of their liberty.

 “Today, SCOTUS overturned a half century of precedent, and Dobbs will now join Plessy as one of the most regressive decisions in our nation’s history.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock

The latter is a reference to Plessy v. Ferguson, an 1896 Supreme Court “separate but equal” ruling that upheld segregation laws, saying they didn’t violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

That ruling lasted for several decades, longer than Roe v. Wade, which prompted widespread activism from Christian conservatives and evangelicals.

The Cobb Republican Party posted a message on its Facebook page with a group photo of the Supreme Court saying “Prayers answered!!!” On Twitter, the message was “Life Wins!”

In 2018 Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to speak to the national March for Life rally in in Washington. His three Supreme Court justice nominees made up half of the majority that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Bryant Wright, the retired pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in East Cobb, tweeted “PTL! 50 years, at last a long awaited answer to prayer that every life is created in the image of God.”

The Catholic Church of St. Ann posted on its Facebook page a response from Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Atlanta hailing the ruling, saying that “No matter how the court ruled today, we will never stop working to protect women and their babies. Whether or not abortion is legal, we want women to know that we are here to support you, to accompany you and to love you and your babies.”

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EAST COBBER mazagine sales representative named publisher

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Laren Brown, EAST COBBER magazine
Laren Brown

Laren Brown, the sales representative for the EAST COBBER magazine the last eight years, has been named the new owner and publisher.

Founder and current publisher Cynthia Rozzo made the announcement Friday, a month after she said she was stepping down after a 29-year tenure.

Rozzo said that “after some weeks of getting the legalities worked out, the purchase was made official this week.”

In a message posted to the EAST COBBER website, Brown said that “I want to bring (the magazine) to the next level. I want to enhance what is already here. The EAST COBBER will continue to promote the exceptional people and events that make East Cobb such a great place to live and uphold the value the magazine has built over the years.”

Brown, 46, is a native of Oklahoma who has lived in East Cobb for 22 years.

She said in the message that she plans to revive the EAST COBBER parade and festival, which has not been held since 2019.

Cynthia Rozzo, EAST COBBER magazine publisher retiring
Cynthia Rozzo

Brown said she was drawn to taking over as publisher and owner because of “the brand itself and also the magazine is wanted and needed here . . . There’s nothing else like it in this area.”

Rozzo founded the EAST COBBER in 1993, publishing 11 times a year and peaking with a print circulation of more than 40,000.

The parade and festival began in 1995 but was halted in 2019 due to the COVID pandemic.

Since last year, publication of the EAST COBBER has been reduced to six times a year.

Rozzo, whose retirement is effective next Thursday, said Friday that there will be three more issues this year, and in 2023 the magazine will return to its 11-issue publishing schedule.

“I am thrilled EAST COBBER will continue to embody the vibrant, thriving East Cobb community under Laren’s very capable care,” she said.

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Former Cobb District Attorney appointed Superior Court judge

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Vic Reynolds, Cobb District Attorney
Vic Reynolds

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday he has filled two open seats on the Cobb Superior Court.

They are former Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Georgia Deputy Attorney General Julie Adams Jacobs.

Reynolds, whom Kemp appointed to head the GBI in 2019, will succeed Judge Tain Kell, who resigned in April to return to private law practice.

Jacobs, who has been in the Georgia Attorney General’s office since 2003, replaces Judge Mary Staley Clark, who retired effective May 1.

Reynolds and Jacobs will fill the remainder of the terms of Kell and Staley-Clark, through the end of 2024.

Reynolds was twice elected as Cobb District Attorney and also is a former Cobb Chief Magistrate judge, a lawyer in private practice and a former police officer.

Julie Adams Jacobs, Cobb Superior Court Judge
Julie Adams Jacobs

He earned his law degree from the Georgia State University College of Law and received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Georgia Southern University.

As deputy attorney general, Jacobs has been head of the commercial transactions and litigation division. She also has been a hearing officer in hospital acquisitions.

Jacobs is a graduate of Emory University Law School and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia State University.

Cobb Superior Court has 11 judges who are elected on a non-partisan basis and eight appointed senior judges, who are retired but hear special and occasional cases.

The Court hears major felony and criminal cases and complex civil litigation, as well as divorces and land property disputes and conducts jury trials.

In a release, Kemp’s office said the governor will appoint a successor to Reynolds at the GBI at a later date.

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East Cobb real estate sales, May 30-June 3, 2022

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Chimney Lakes, East Cobb real estate sales
Chimney Lakes

The following deeds for residential East Cobb real estate sales were filed May 30-June 3 with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office Real Estate Department.

The addresses include ZIP Codes and the subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:

May 31

1664 Pinefield Road, 30066 (Willow Creek, Kell): Michelle and George Jones to Kevin McBrayer; $495,500

1849 Blackwater Drive, 30066 (Country Meadows, Kell): Seth Leonard to Resicap Georgia Owner II LLC; $430,000

4264 Reef Road, 30066 (Lamplighter Cove, Kell): VM Master Issuer LLC to BTR Scattered Site Owner LLC; $390,514

541 Buckingham Circle, 30066 (Canterbury North, Sprayberry): Monty Schauer to Gregory Taylor and Mary Gray; $367,500

1810 Tilliewood Trail, 30066 (Stocktons Chase, Kell): Brent Moore to Eric and Vanessa Dastmalchi; $530,000

3840 Clarington Drive, 30066 (Overlook at Chastain, Sprayberry): SDH Atlanta LLC to Eugene and Christy Choi; $383,650

3834 Clarington Drive, 30066 (Overlook at Chastain, Sprayberry): SDH Atlanta LLC to Delores Akano and Edward Chinonso Jr.; $376,450

726 Blackwell Circle, 30066 (Sprayberry): Opendoor Property Trust to Marcelo Locks; $348,000

4061 Signing Post Lane, 30075 (Hedgerow, Pope): Alec Pagliarulo to Zaida Marina Fakih and Antonio Gutierrez Aguirre; $660,000

3405 Johnson Ferry Road, 30075 (Chimney Lakes, Lassiter): Richard Cargile to Marc and Toi Chaderjian; $527,000

3122 Hudson Pond Lane, 30062 (Hudson Pond, Pope): Mourad and Ilhem Bouhafs to Michael Waldrop; $1.1 million

615 Chapman Drive, 30066 (Woodgate, Sprayberry): Kenneth Maggard to Kristy Maggard; $340,000

2032 Abode Way, 30066 (The Courtyards at Ebenezer, Sprayberry): Traton LLC to Mertis Johnson and Bruce Elton; $573,034

2268 Rosemoore Walk, 30066 (Rosemoore at Harper Woods, Sprayberry): Steven Yim to Eun Oh Lee and Jungim Song; $480,000

2493 Oakrill Road, 30062 (Cedar Forks, Pope): Ying Zhuo to McLean SVR Investment LLC; $405,000

2412 Edgemere Court, 30062 (Edgemere Estates, Pope): Bradley Peters to James and Traci Sembrot; $1.14 million

1968 Starlight Drive, 30062 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Lavassani Properties LLC to Erich Avles and Anna DeJesus; $760,000

1960 Starlight Drive, 30062 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Lavassani Properties LLC to Warren and Fayth Williams; $780,000

1952 Starlight Drive, 30062 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Lavassani Properties LLC to Khalil and Tamika Sharif; $820,000

2080 East Piedmont Road, 30062 (Sprayberry): Patrick Kroner to Katherine and William Seychew; $650,000

501 Guilford Drive, 30068 (Hanover Woods, Wheeler): Todd Lyon to Brandon Kiefer and Virginia Ingram; $560,000

2377 Emory Lane, 30068 (Spring Creek, Wheeler): Michelle McCarthy to My Wonder Homes, LLC; $407,000

June 1

4491 Windsor Oaks Drive, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): Katherine Pearson to Harold and Jenny Itkin; $585,000

4210 Summit Way, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): Rajiv Jani to Michael Frisby and Abdhi Sarkar; $604,000

3414 Brandon Hall Way, 30066 (Woodbine Station, Lassiter): Opendoor Property Trust to Michael and Laura Earman; $395,000

2698 South Arbor Drive, 30066 (Arbor Bridge, Lassiter): Theofanis Pantazis to Matthew Davis and Marie Gow; $625,000

3974 Fairington Drive, 30066 (Lookout Point, Sprayberry): Divvy Homes Warehouse LLC to Alesssander Martins and Ines Pampolini; $283,285

216 Kathryn Lane, 30066 (Brookhaven, Sprayberry): Amanda Bishop to Hudson SFR Property Holdings II LLC; $355,000

June 2

4156 Barberry Drive, 30075 (Hedegrow, Lassiter): Glenn Brown to Svetoslav Totev; $370,000

47 Lathhouse Lane, 30066 (The Gardens at Laura Creek, Sprayberry): Ralph and Cheryl Ann Kothe to Samuel and Leanna Iddings; $480,000

3370 Old Wagon Road, 30062 (Olde Mill Forest, Walton): Jane Taylor to Glenn Johnson and Jennifer Velasco; $740,000

3362 Clubland Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Joann Chaddock to New Ace Properties LLC; $566,000

June 3

3410 Johnson Ferry Road, 30075 (Chimney Lakes, Lassiter): Gary Fields to Jordan Tafoya and Lauren Anderson; $590,000

3387 Ambleside Place, 30075 (Chimney Lakes, Lassiter): Robert Hoyer to Corbin and Alyssa Anslie; $670,000

3878 Windrose Lane, 30062 (Windrush, Pope): Gursharan Sandhu and Namita Khanna to Hannah and Elizabeth Polk; $655,000

3300 Paige Heights Court, 30062 (Hembree Heights, Pope): Richard Adcock to Gursharan Sandhu and Namita Khanna; $980,000

3153 Bunker Hill Road, 30062 (Bunker Hills, Pope): Next Step Associates LLC to Stephen and Adrienne Williams; $560,000

3067 Wicks Lake Drive, 30062 (Wicks Lake, Pope): Eric Wehrly to Mehmet Kaya and Hillez Gulay; $475,000

482 Springs End Lane, 30068 (Spring Creek, Wheeler): Adam and Erin Stewart to Katie Patricia Pagan; $525,000

104 Worthington Drive, 30068 (Sewell Manor, Wheeler): David and Linda Householder to Markeshia Parris and Malcolm Boyd; $300,000

576 Lyle Drive, 30068 (Meadow Brook, Wheeler): Dan Yamato to Kazi Hossain and Nahida Nargis; $338,000

2498 Cedar Brook East, 30067 (Cedar Canyon, Wheeler): Perla Avila to Samantha Samuels and Sharon Simpson; $300,000

2721 Burtz Drive, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): Samuel Paul Harwart to Angela Decker Frutoz; $550,000

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Conviction overturned for Cobb man in ‘hot car’ death of son

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Justin Ross Harris conviction overturned
Ga. Department of Corrections

Justin Ross Harris, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2016 after his toddler son died in a hot SUV while he worked in a Cobb office, has had his conviction overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court.

In a ruling released Wednesday, the court decided in a 6-3 vote that evidence presented by prosecutors at Harris’ trial about his extramarital activities and sexually lewd activities and communications with girls and women was prejudicial and should have been separated from the murder indictment.

Harris was arrested in June 2014 after his 22-month-old son, Cooper Harris, died after being left alone in his father’s Hyundai Tucson in a parking lot at Home Depot headquarters in Vinings for several hours.

Harris, then 33, was a web developer at Home Depot. The boy was left in the vehicle with the windows rolled up, and as temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees inside.

Harris said he accidentally left the boy in the Tucson, but prosecutors alleged at the trial that his motive was to kill his son to get out of his marriage.

In a case that gained national attention, Harris was convicted of murder by a Glynn County jury—the trial was moved to the Georgia coast but prosecuted by the Cobb District Attorney’s Office—and sentenced to life without parole.

Harris also received a 12-year sentence for exchanging sexually explicit messages with minor girls.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court majority, led by Chief Justice David Nahmias, concluded that the sexual offenses should have been tried separately from the murder charge.

While referring to what it called Harris’ “repugnant character,” the court majority concluded in overturning the murder conviction that “because the properly admitted evidence that Appellant maliciously and intentionally left Cooper to die was far from overwhelming, we cannot say that it is highly probable that the erroneously admitted sexual evidence did not contribute to the jury’s guilty verdicts.”

You can read the full ruling by clicking here; there are many instances of sexually graphic behavior, language and online communications, so reader discretion is advised.

Harris could receive a new murder trial, but the Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday afternoon that it will file a motion for reconsideration of the Supreme Court ruling.

Harris has been incarcerated at the Macon State Prison, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

On the morning of June 18, 2014, he was to have dropped Cooper off at Home Depot’s day care center before going to his office. Father and son had eaten breakfast at Chick-fil-A, but the boy was left in the Tucson after his father was running late for work.

According to trial evidence, while his son remained inside a hot vehicle, at his office Harris continued to send lewd messages to women.

The evidence showed that Harris returned to his car after 4 p.m., and found Cooper in a car seat in the back of the SUV with the windows rolled up and unconscious.

According to trial records, Harris removed the boy from the SUV and placed him on the pavement, and, according to witnesses, yelled “What have I done?”

The Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that hypothermia was the cause of death.

The Supreme Court ruling noted that Harris’ attorneys objected during his trial to the admission of the sexually-related evidence, but the objections were overruled by Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley.

She also did not give the jury “limiting” instructions related to that evidence before it began deliberations. Staley, who retired in May, denied a motion by Harris’ attorney for a new murder trial last year.

“Merely piling on more evidence to show the supposedly limitless extent of Appellant’s sexual ‘depravity’ did nothing to strengthen the link between his sexual obsession and the key question at trial—did this obsession motivate Appellant to kill Cooper?” the Supreme Court ruling concluded.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Charles Bethel wrote that he saw “no abuse of the court trial’s discretion” in deciding that severing the cases was unnecessary, and that introducing evidence about Harris’ sexual desires was not improper.

“Evidence that some of that conduct . . . was criminal fit neatly with the State’s overall theory of its case against Harris and was, in fact, part of the State’s narrative regarding Harris’s motive to murder his son,” Bethel wrote.

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East Cobb Food Scores: Mellow Mushroom; McCray’s; Ted’s; more

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Mellow Mushroom Johnson Ferry

The following East Cobb food scores for the week of June 20 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

American Deli
1230 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 8
June 22, 2022 Score: 96, Grade: A

Brazil Pizza
279 Powers Ferry Road, Suite B
June 23, 2022 Score: 87, Grade: B

Coldstone Creamery
640 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 110
June 24, 2022 Score: 96, Grade: A

Frankie’s Italian Restaurant
3100 Roswell Road
June 21, 2022 Score: 90, Grade: A

Great Wall Chinese & Sushi Bar
1275 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 180
June 22, 2022 Score: 88, Grade: B

Jersey Mike’s
2014 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 300
June 21, 2022 Score: 81, Grade: B

Los Bravos
2125 Roswell Road, Suite B-40
June 22, 2022 Score: 91, Grade: A

Mambo Italiano
2022 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 240
June 21, 2022 Score: 82, Grade: B

McCray’s Tavern
4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 850
June 24, 2022 Score: 90, Grade: A

Mellow Mushroom
1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 101
June 22, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Peri Peri Kitchen
1482 Roswell Road
June 23, 2022 Score: 80, Grade: B

Ted’s Montana Grill
640 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 150
June 24, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Winston’s Food and Spirits
1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 101
June 21, 2022 Score: 82, Grade: B

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6th Congressional Republican runoff: McCormick defeats Evans

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Gwinnett emergency physician Rich McCormick easily defeated East Cobb attorney Jake Evans Tuesday in the Republican Party runoff for the 6th Congressional District.Rich McCormick, 6th Congressional District candidate

According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, McCormick received 27,418 votes, or 66.54 percent, to 13,788 votes, or 33.46 percent, for Evans.

McCormick, an emergency physician at the Gwinnett Medical Center and a former Marine pilot and Navy veteran, will face Democrat Bob Christian, an Army veteran and restaurant manager from Dawsonville, in the November general election.

“The voters of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District have spoken, and I am honored to be their Republican nominee,” McCormick said in a social media message. “We must unite the Party to secure victory in November for Georgia Republicans up and down the ballot. Together, we will Revive Freedom and Save America!”

The newly redrawn 6th District includes parts of East Cobb, as well as parts of Cherokee, North Fulton, Forsyth and Gwinnett counties and all of Dawson County.

McCormick got 43 percent of the Republican vote in May and enjoyed a huge fundraising lead in a large GOP primary field.

Evans was backed by former President Donald Trump and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, but McCormick won 46 of the 47 precincts in East Cobb in the runoff.

During redistricting last fall, Republican majority in the Georgia legislature redrew the 6th District to one heavily favoring the GOP after the seat fell into Democratic hands in 2018.

Second-term U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta switched to the 7th Congressional District, which covers most of Gwinnett County, and defeated another Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux, in the Democratic primary last month.

McCormick, who lives in Suwanee, narrowly lost to Bourdeaux in the 2020 general election in the 7th District.

Another part of East Cobb was redrawn into the 11th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk of Cassville.

He was unopposed in the GOP primary in May, and in November will face Antonio Daza-Fernandez, a Democrat who owns a dance studio in Buckhead, and independent candidate Angela Davis.

In another runoff election Tuesday, Sonja Brown defeated James Luttrell to win a non-partisan seat on Cobb Superior Court. Brown, who got more than 63 percent of the vote, will succeed retiring Judge Robert Flournoy in January.

There were several other Congressional runoffs on Tuesday and a few statewide party nominees decided.

They included a Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, won by Charlie Bailey, who had 63 percent of the vote against former Atlanta City Council president Kwanzaa Hall.

In the Democratic runoff for Secretary of State, Atlanta State Rep. Bee Nguyen received 77 percent of the vote. In November she will challenge Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger.

More results can be found by clicking here.

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Cobb commissioners to hear fiscal year 2023 budget proposal

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Cobb commissioners public comments

The Cobb government fiscal year 2023 budget proposal will be presented to members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners next week.

Cobb government said in a notice Tuesday that county finance officials will make the presentation at a work session on Tuesday, June 28 at 1:30 p.m., following adoption of the 2022 Cobb tax digest by the Cobb Board of Tax Assessors.

Three public hearings on the budget and millage rate have been scheduled for July, with adoption scheduled for July 26:

  • Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m.
  • Tuesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, July 26 at 7 p.m.

The current fiscal year 2022 general fund budget of $496.6 billion was adopted a year ago by holding the property tax rate at 8.46 mills and included a pay raise and progress on implementing a step-and-grade salary plan for public safety personnel.

The overall budget from all funding sources topped $1 billion, the first time it’s crossed that threshold in Cobb.

But as a new budget season begins, the fiscal picture in Cobb is being painted as grim, even with tax digest growth projected in excess of 10 percent.

It would be the first double-digit increase in Cobb in more than a decade, with a projected record of $48.4 billion. Property tax assessments were sent out earlier this month, with some rising more than 20 percent from last year.

Cobb tax assessor Stephen White said that home values increased by an average of $66,000 from last year.

But Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has not indicated whether she will be proposing a reduction in the millage rate.

In recent months county officials said they are seriously struggling to fill numerous staff positions. Last week commissioners approved a request to spend federal COVID-related American Rescue Plan Act funds for outsourced salaries and staff retention bonuses in “critical” positions in transportation, water, and parks and recreation.

County department heads have been submitting budget requests that would add nearly 700 employees to address those shortages.

Those requests—which come to a budget of $1.2 billion, an increase of nearly $180 million from last year—are unlikely to all be filled.

Only five new full-time positions were filled in the current budget, and commissioners said it was a no-frills package. Employees got a 3-percent pay raise and some capital management funding was replenished.

Cupid said at the time that the county cannot continue “to fall behind on the basic things.”

But staff vacancies have continued to grow, and service provision has fallen off. Among the tasks to be performed by outsourced Cobb DOT staffing, for example, include mowing right-of-ways and conducting other basic road maintenance work.

Cobb government has been producing content in recent weeks about those issues, claiming a reported 1,000 vacancies across all government agencies.

Cupid is holding town halls in each of the four commission districts starting next week through mid-July.

The budget presentation work session on Tuesday will take place in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

The work session and budget and millage rate hearings also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

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Wheeler HS graduate receives environmental scholarship

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Wheeler HS graduate receives environmental scholarship

Samyukta Iyer, a recent graduate of Wheeler High School, has received a grand prize scholarship of $2,000 from a non-profit component of an East Cobb realty company for her ideas about preserving the environment.

The scholarship was announced by JO GIVES, INC., part of the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team.

Iyer will be attending Georgia Tech starting this fall and is intending on majoring in biomedical engineering.

According to a release from JO GIVES, Iyer has been “exploring the removal of methane emissions in the atmosphere and replacing them with methanotrophs—bacteria that metabolize methane as their source of carbon and chemical energy.  These microbial biocatalysts are advantageous over chemical processes as they require mild operating conditions and do not release any toxic by-products. Providing affordable and efficient renewable energy can make a substantial impact in the fight against climate change.”

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Commissioners OK overhaul plans for The Avenue East Cobb

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The Avenue East Cobb renderings
Optional valet parking at The Avenue East Cobb will be available between the “jewel box” restaurant and retail buildings and near a concierge and public plaza.

The overhaul of The Avenue East Cobb was approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday with only a slight change added.

During a zoning hearing, the site plan change request by North American Properties was passed on the commission’s consent agenda, meaning there was no opposition.

The back portion of the retail center on Roswell Road, just east of Johnson Ferry Road, will be redeveloped to include two “jewel box” buildings with restaurant and retail space, a live music and special event stage, a concierge building, a public plaza and optional valet parking.

The only change from the formal request came from District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson, who was adding language about traffic queuing in that area to accommodate what she called “multimodal” forms of transportation.

There was no other discussion of the request. Last week, a spokeswoman for NAP told East Cobb News that new tenants for the jewel box buildings could be revealed soon.

The area for redevelopment is what’s being called The Avenue’s “Central Avenue” area, where live music and other events have been taking place since last fall.

Last summer, NAP—which developed the Avalon complex in Alpharetta and overhauled Colony Square and Atlantic Station in Midtown—entered into a joint partnership with present owners PGIM to manage the 23,000-square foot The Avenue, which opened in 1999.

The objective is to create a more dynamic lifestyle destination space, prompting a dramatic conceptual revision.

In an interview with East Cobb News in April, NAP officials said that construction could get underway in August with possible completion in the first quarter of 2023.

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Disaffected Mt. Bethel members ask: ‘How do we go ahead?’

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Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference UMC
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference

More than 100 present and former members of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church met this week with the Bishop of the North Georgia Conference, who responded to claims that the denominational body “caved” in its legal dispute with the East Cobb congregation.

Earlier this month, the Conference entered into a settlement agreement with Mt. Bethel to allow it to leave the UMC with its property and assets in exchange for a $13.1 million payment and other terms.

Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson said at a meeting of the Friends of Mt. Bethel this week that legal costs and voluminous deposition requests were mounting.

The Conference and Mt. Bethel have been in litigation since last September, but agreed to a consent decree that has been signed and is expected to be finalized by later this summer.

Mt. Bethel has 120 days to make the payment, and would then become an independent church. According to the AJC, Mt. Bethel is more than halfway toward reaching that goal.

“Our legal counsel was that if we wanted to settle the matter, which we thought was in the best interest of everyone, it would be better to do so before the deposition process began,” Haupert-Johnson said at the Friends meeting, which was held at Mt. Zion UMC in East Cobb.

“That would be a contentious phase. . . So much of our time was spent in the process of litigation and the constant discovery. It wasn’t caving. It was a missional decision above all else to free them to be about the overall mission of the Church.”

The Friends of Mt. Bethel was formed last fall by church members who opposed the congregation leadership’s decision to fight Haupert-Johnson’s reassignment of senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Mt. Bethel also declined to accept her appointment of Rev. Dr. Steven Usry to succeed him, saying the church was not properly consulted.

After Ray refused his new post and turned in his UMC ministerial credentials, the Conference eventually moved to claim Mt. Bethel property and assets, followed by a failed mediation effort and litigation.

The Friends group numbers several hundred individuals on its mailing list, and has been meeting informally with Usry in recent months. They recently had a picnic and have had other fellowship events in the Sibley Forest neighborhood in East Cobb.

For Easter, Usry preached a sermon for them at another UMC in Atlanta, and the group is planning worship events at Roswell UMC the last Sunday of each month, with him presiding and with a choir.

“These events will give us a chance slow down, pause and deal with our anger and confusion together,” said Suzanne Tucker, Mt. Bethel’s former director of traditional music and creative arts.

She said she was terminated in April because she didn’t go along with Mt. Bethel leadership in the dispute with the North Georgia Conference.

“I am deeply saddened by what is going on,” she told East Cobb News in a message in May. “I am appalled at the power grab being attempted under the banner of Christ by Jody and his supporters.”

Those sentiments were echoed Tuesday at the meeting with Haupert-Johnson, who was joined by Usry.

Someone asked why “didn’t we just go ahead and evict Jody? He was trespassing. He was told he couldn’t be the minister of this Methodist Church and then he sat and squatted.”

Haupert-Johnson responded that “Have you ever tried to evict a tenant from a dwelling that you owned?”

Friends of Mt. Bethel picnic
The Friends of Mt. Bethel have been holding worship and fellowship events in recent months, including a May picnic.

Others asked her why Mt. Bethel won’t have a disaffiliation vote, as is called for in the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents.

Haupert-Johnson said that was the intention, and while “we knew Mt. Bethel might not go ‘woo-hoo a new pastor’ . . . we didn’t expect all that went on.”

She said the plan was to have Usry represent Mt. Bethel through such a proceeding. “But the leadership of the church took a different direction,” she said.

“When they refused the appointment, when they created their executive committee, when there was so much of that, we realized there was nobody in Mt. Bethel that represented the Methodist Church.”

Haupert-Johnson told the Friends of Mt. Bethel group that she pushed for Mt. Bethel to have a church conference for members to elect leadership this fall and then have a disaffiliation vote next spring.

“They soundly rejected that, every step of the way. So I would have loved for you to have a vote, she said. “I advocated for that to happen. But that wasn’t going to happen.”

Robert Ingram, the lead attorney for Mt. Bethel, previously told East Cobb News that his clients sought a vote because it would have cost “millions and million of dollars less” than what’s been settled.

“We wanted the court to allow a vote just on disaffiliation,” he said, explaining that only the North Georgia Conference superintendent could call for a such a vote.

“Despite our pleas, they never did that,” Ingram said.

Another attendee at the Friends meeting said “that I feel abandoned and unwanted and unnecessary in my own church of 38 years. My question is how do we go ahead? I’m missing spiritual guidance. I don’t have a church right now that I feel like I can go to and worship in.”

Usry said he will be providing pastoral care and shepherding to those Mt. Bethel members who aren’t inclined to go back, and “to provide environments that will help you discern a way forward.”

Tucker said there will be prayer events in July and August at Mt. Zion. She’s also organizing choir rehearsals that take place at East Cobb UMC.

In a video message this week, Ray said “we have a new task of rebuilding toward a new horizon.” He mentioned the fundraising campaign is off “to an amazing start” in asking for donations.

“God has moved in a mighty way on behalf of Mt. Bethel Church,” he said. “He has brought us through a time and place when had to turn our eyes to him and place our total reliance upon him.

“I believe that if we will continue in that same surrender and obedience, Mt. Bethel’s greatest days are out in front of us.”

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East Cobb traffic alert: Paper Mill Road closed near Sope Creek

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Paper Mill Road closed

Cobb Police said Saturday morning that a portion of Paper Mill Road will be closed “for several hours” due to downed power lines.

Police said in a social media posting around 10 a.m. that the closure is along Paper Mill between Thunderbird Drive and River Ridge Chase, near Sope Creek.

Police said a vehicle crashed into a utility pole, and crews are on the scene to make repairs.

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Sterling Estates East Cobb proposing additional cottages

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Sterling Estates East Cobb cottage

The Sterling Estates senior residential facility on Lower Roswell Road is a mix of the main assisted living building and separate cottage buildings at the front of the property.

On Tuesday Sterling Estates will go before the Cobb Board of Commissioners to request a site plan change to construct two new cottage buildings.

The agenda item (you can read it and see the site plan here) states that the two proposed buildings, with three independent living units each, would be built in the back of the property.

“The applicant’s facility has a waiting list and the applicant would like to build two more single family cottages in the rear that would each have three units per cottage,” said the agenda item.

A summary of the items on Tuesday’s zoning hearing agenda can be found here; the full agenda can be found by clicking here.

Like the proposed site plan changes at The Avenue East Cobb we reported on earlier this week, the Sterling Estates request is on the commission’s consent agenda, meaning there’s no known opposition.

A stipulation letter from Sterling Estates attorney Garvis Sams said his client “been a good neighbor to the Kings Cove neighborhood and have complied with all the buffering and lake protection requirements.”

There are currently six rental cottage buildings at Sterling Estates, which opened with two in 2010. Four more cottage buildings were approved in 2014

The zoning hearing starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

The hearing also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

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10 East Cobb students appointed to military service academies

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Brianna Dempsey, Pope, U.S. Air Force Academy
Brianna Dempsey, Pope

Ten students from East Cobb high schools have received appointments to military service academies for the 2022-2023 academic year.

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath announced the appointments of the Class of 2026 from the 6th District, which includes East Cobb, North Fulton and some of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.

Students interested in attending the academies are nominated by their member of Congress.

“These talented and driven young people are the future of the United States of America,” McBath said in a release issued by her office.

“I want each family of these service academy appointees to know that I am exceedingly proud of how their children will represent our community as they prepare to serve our nation.”

Many of the East Cobb students heading to service academies played varsity sports in high school.

They include Wheeler’s Zyan Hall, who won a state wrestling championship as a senior, and Bridgette O’Shaughnessy of Lassiter, who competed in swimming and softball.

Pope’s Brianna Dempsey played volleyball and was the president of the Service Club and Honor Society, and Hannah Ograbisz of Walton was a swimmer and graduated from the International Spanish Academy.

U.S. Air Force Academy
Brianna Dempsey, Pope
Greta Hans, Walton
Joseph Stellmach, Pope
Luke Sudul, Pope

Zyan Hall, Wheeler, U.S. Naval Preparatory Academy
Zyan Hall, Wheeler

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Caden Pierce, Lassiter

U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School
Zyan Hall Wheeler

U.S. Naval Academy
Hannah Ograbisz, Walton
Danilo Viciana, Lassiter

U.S. Military Academy
William Greenway, Johnson Ferry Christian Academy
Bridgette O’Shaughnessy Lassiter

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