East Cobb News

Cobb Cityhood town hall focuses on East Cobb public safety

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Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson
“The last thing we want to do is remove services for residents of unincorporated Cobb,” Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said.

Public safety services for the proposed City of East Cobb generated much of the discussion at a town hall meeting held Wednesday night by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid.

It’s the first of several town halls county officials will be holding in the coming weeks as voters in East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings will decide cityhood referendums on May 24. A Mableton cityhood bill is still being considered in the Georgia legislature.

County leaders said they cannot take official positions on cityhood, but said their sessions are meant to be informational.

Questions were submitted by citizens in advance and read on index cards by Cobb public information officer Ross Cavitt.

(You can watch a replay of Wednesday’s town hall, which lasted around an hour, by clicking here. Dates and locations for future town halls are to be determined.)

At a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session in February, county finance head Bill Volckmann said the impact to the county budget would be $41.4 million annually if all four cities are created. (The county has created a cityhood page that is being updated.)

Of that, they estimate $23 million would come out of East Cobb alone (East Cobb cityhood leaders have taken issue with those financials, saying they’re misleading).

Cobb Cityhood TH Financial Impact Chart

That’s because only East Cobb is proposing to have its own police and fire departments and an E911 service.

The leaders of those agencies for Cobb County government said at the town hall they’re still learning about the details of those services in East Cobb.

But they all said it’s likely that response time for those services will rise for citizens in a new City of East Cobb.

East Cobb would have two fire stations—current Cobb Station No. 21 on Lower Roswell Road and current Cobb Station No. 15 on Oak Lane.

Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said those two stations would have to expand their current footprints by 13 percent to serve a City of East Cobb with nearly 60,000 residents and covering 25 square miles.

The problem, he said, is that citizens on the western edge of the city are currently served by Station No. 20 on Sewell Mill Road, No. 3 on Terrell Mill Road, No. 19 on Powers Ferry Road and No. 3 next to the Mountain View Regional Library, all of which would remain in unincorporated Cobb.

“They absolutely will see an increase in their response time,” Johnson said.

Should a City of East Cobb be formed, mutual aid agreements would be negotiated with Cobb Police and Cobb Fire, which have similar agreements with the existing six cities in the county, to provide backup.

East Cobb fire map
Cobb Fire officials said citizens in the red shaded areas in the proposed East Cobb city and currently serviced by fire stations in unincorporated Cobb would have higher response times.

An East Cobb Police Department would be stationed at current Cobb Precinct 4 headquarters, with an estimated 71 officers, according to a financial feasibility study prepared for the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood.

Interim Cobb Police Chief Scott Hamilton echoed Johnson, and said that “if anybody needs help, we’ll come. At the end of the day, we’re a family and we all take care of each other. But response times are going to get longer.”

Cobb public safety leaders said they haven’t had any contact with East Cobb Cityhood proponents, but some meetings are slated to begin next week.

Cobb E911 director Melissa Altiero said she’s unclear if East Cobb would be handling its own emergency calls or have them answered by Cobb.

She said Cobb answers calls inside the City of Marietta, which has its own police and fire services, “and it’s a seamless response.”

Transferring calls from one call center to another, she said, takes an average of 40 seconds.

Altiero also said she would be concerned about misrouted calls further delaying response time in a City of East Cobb, and said there’s nothing in the East Cobb financial study about what kind of radio system it would have.

That study proposes transferring the 2.86 mills in the Cobb Fire Fund to provide the main revenue source for a city with an estimated $27.7 million annual budget (and that also provide planning and zoning, code enforcement and possibly parks and recreation services).

Johnson said that would amount to $14 million in lost revenue for the Cobb Fire Department, out of annual budget of $110 million.

What that would mean for the county fire department is uncertain, financially or in affecting its service levels.

“The last thing we want to do is remove services to unincorporated Cobb,” Johnson said. “The citizens have come to expect a high level of service and we want to continue to provide that service.”

Before those remarks, Cavitt read a citizen question to Cupid about whether the county would increase taxes to offset the loss of revenue due to new cities being formed, but she deflected it.

“It depends,” Cupid said. “But I am not aware of a new city that has been formed that has not raised taxes.

“If somebody can show me a new city that has not raised taxes, then no, your taxes won’t be raised. Will they be raised immediately, if this moves forward on the May ballot? The answer is no.

“In the short run, no would be a qualified answer. But in the long run, I have yet to be pointed to a new city that has not been formed where they have not had some increases in taxes.”

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Georgia Symphony Orchestra to hold sensory-friendly concert

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GSO sensory-friendly concert

The Marietta-based Georgia Symphony Orchestra will have a sensory-friendly concert on Saturday with soft lighting and moderated volumes.

The concert takes place at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Marietta High School (1171 Whitlock Ave.), with an instrument petting zoo preceding that at 1 p.m.

The works to be played include the “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Capriol Suite” by Peter Warlock; “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone and selections by Frederick Delius, Karl Jenkins and John-Baptiste Lully.

The GSO Chorus also will perform Johannes Brahms’ “How Lovely is My Dwelling Place” and Eric Whitacre’s “Sing Gently.”

The event also features a quiet zone, and the selections will be explained by GSO Music Director and Conductor Timothy Verville.

Masks are required (except for for sensory-sensitive patrons) and attendees 18 and over must show proof of full vaccination for COVID-19.

Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased by clicking here.

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Cobb approves projects for $31.8M with excess SPLOST funds

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The 2016 Cobb SPLOST (Special Local-Option Sales Tax) expired at the end of 2021.Cobb SPLOST 2016 projects approved

But county officials say the five-year revenue collection period generated nearly $114 million more than projected revenues.

So on Tuesday, they went before the Cobb Board of Commissioners to identity eligible projects on the 2016 list that needed additional funding.

Commissioners adopted a recommended list to fund projects in transportation, fire, parks, property management and the Cobb Sheriff’s Office to the tune of $31.8 million. 

(You can read a line-item list of the projects by clicking here.)

The biggest chunk ($15.1 million) will go to Cobb DOT, including $8.5 million in local matching funds for state and federal projects; $3 million for drainage system improvements; $2 million to repair a sinkhole on Leland Drive and $1 million for the Silver Comet Trail Connector.

Another $5.7 million will be used for a firing range facility and equipment to be shared by the Cobb Police Department and the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, as part of $6.8 million dedicated for property management projects.

Parks facilities will receive $4.1 million, and an additional $2 million for the Cobb Sheriff’s Office will go for replacing vehicles and maintaining jail facilities.

The Cobb Fire training facility will get $3.7 million for renovations.

Cobb voters approved a new six-year SPLOST for county government projects in November.

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Cobb library branches to hold teen/young adult job fairs

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Cobb libraries teen job fair

Submitted by the Cobb County Public Library System:

Two Job Fair 2022 events for teens and young adults are on the April calendar of Cobb County Public Library.

Job Fairs are scheduled for Switzer Library, 266 Roswell Street in downtown Marietta, on April 9 and North Cobb Regional Library, 3535 Old 41 Highway, located near North Cobb High School, on April 23. Both Saturday events will be from noon to 3 p.m.

Jobseekers, ages 16-22, are asked to bring printed resumes to share with employers. The events are also for businesses seeking motivated full- and part-time employees. Employers may contact a library representative at the Cobb library location nearest their job locations for more information on participating.

For information and resources on preparing for a job search and for updates on the springtime Cobb Library Teen/Young Adult Job Fairs, including lists of confirmed participating employers, visit cobbcat.org.

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East Cobb Cityhood leaders: ‘We are low density fans’

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East Cobb Cityhood leaders
East Cobb cityhood group member Sarah Haas explains how a mayor and city council members would be elected in November if the May 24 referendum passes.

In their first face-to-face meeting with the public, leaders of the East Cobb Cityhood effort on Monday addressed claims that development interests are driving their campaign.

It’s a charge that’s been made since the cityhood movement first began in 2019, and was renewed over the weekend by a group opposed to the May 24 East Cobb referendum.

At a town hall meeting Monday at Olde Towne Athletic Club, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood once again stressed that their main objective is fostering local control of basic services and preserving the suburban nature of the community.

On Saturday, a citizens group opposed to the new city pointed out that the pro-cityhood group’s behind-the-scenes leader is a longtime retail real estate executive and expressed concern that high-density development wouldn’t be far behind.

The tax base of the proposed City of East Cobb is 91 percent residential and nine percent commercial, according to a financial feasibility study prepared for the cityhood group.

“Is this really about local control or special interest control?” asked the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance.

But during a Q and A session at Monday’s town hall, East Cobb Cityhood group chairman Craig Chapin took strong exception.

“We are low density fans,” he said. “And for anybody to propose anything else is categorically false.”

You can watch a replay of the town hall meeting here. The group also has produced a voters guide that you can read by clicking here.

Chapin’s remark drew considerable applause, and followed emphatic remarks by former State Rep. Matt Dollar that having elected officials who live in the East Cobb area, and not other parts of the county, is vital to shaping the future of the community.

“They care. They give a damn about what goes here because they live here,” said Dollar, the bill’s main sponsor who resigned from the legislature last month. “It’s local control. It’s people you know making the decisions.”

That’s been the thrust of the cityhood group’s messaging since it was revived in 2021. Unlike the abandoned 2019 effort, this one has been centered around planning and zoning, especially in light of the East Cobb Church rezoning case last year that galvanized residents on either side in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor.

In noting the future of two major retail centers—Parkaire Landing and The Avenue, the latter of which is slated for a major overhaul—committee spokeswoman Cindy Cooperman said an East Cobb city government would be better-suited to work as a partner in redevelopment than a county government that’s serving nearly 800,000 with five commissioners.

“That brings more seats to the table, especially when it comes to zoning,” she said. “It really is a question of scale.” For a number of years, she said, the Cobb commission “worked fine.”

The East Cobb Cityhood group said citizens of a new city will pay the same taxes as they do now.

Fellow committee member Sarah Haas said that “it is our desire to tailor [certain services now provided by the county] to the community.”

The cityhood group also was pressed to back up its pledge that property taxes wouldn’t be raised beyond the millage rates that would be transferred from county government.

The proposed city would provide five of the 17 current services provided by the county—planning and zoning, code enforcement, police, fire and parks and recreation.

Residents of the city of East Cobb would still pay a tax bill of 30.35 mills (with 18.9 mills going to the Cobb County School District) as residents in unincorporated Cobb.

The city’s main funding source would be transferring the 2.86 mills of the current Cobb Fire Fund.

“Cities manage better—it’s a smaller footprint,” Chapin said, noting that state law does not permit duplication of services between cities and counties. “It’s not another layer of government.”

But the addition of police and fire services to the mix, and a financial feasibility study, has raised more questions.

While audience members on Monday did not directly ask questions—they were read from index cards by a moderator—cityhood group leaders were asked to explain how public safety facilities would be acquired.

The proposed city would house its police station at the current Cobb Precinct 4 headquarters along with current Cobb fire station 21 at the East Cobb Government Service Center, and also include current Cobb fire station 15 on Oak Lane.

Cooperman cited state law calling for a $5,000 transfer fee for those facilities and “their fixtures,” which she said included equipment (which the East Cobb Alliance disputes).

Tritt property, Cobb 2022 SPLOST list
How a City of East Cobb might purchase the county-owned former Tritt property next to East Cobb Park is “unknown,” according to the cityhood group.

Should a city be created, she said, mutual aid agreements would be crafted during a two-year transition period.

That transition, should it come to pass, also might include negotiations with the county over parks and recreation services.

Parks and recreation services were examined in the feasibility study, but questions remain on how a City of East Cobb would acquire land adjacent to East Cobb Park.

In 2018 Cobb purchased 22 acres of the Tritt property with SPLOST funds, and the 2022 SPLOST referendum, if passed, includes the purchase of the remaining 24 acres of that land.

The Tritt property has been envisioned as being an extension of East Cobb Park, featuring pedestrian trails.

Cityhood group member Scott Sweeney said the process for obtaining that land (at $100 an acre), should a City of East Cobb come to fruition, would be an “unknown,” and Dollar said “it will just get worked out.”

Citizens also asked about the impact of an East Cobb city on schools, which are operated separately by the Cobb County School District.

Sweeney, a former Cobb school board member, stressed that a new city wouldn’t change the current senior exemption from school taxes for homeowners 62 and older.

With cityhood referendums on the May 24 ballot in Lost Mountain and Vinings as well as East Cobb, Cobb County government is holding a cityhood town hall Wednesday at 6 p.m. (more information here).

At least two other East Cobb referendum forums have been scheduled for now: April 19 by the East Cobb Business Association, and on May 4 at Pope High School by the Rotary Club of East Cobb.

Those plans are not yet finalized.

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Cobb schools accreditor reverses findings of special review

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Mark Elgart, Cognia
Cobb is a school district “with a great track record,” Cognia CEO Mark Elgart told school board members. “But you have challenges in how you govern.”

The accrediting agency for the Cobb County School District is overturning most of its findings in a report it issued last fall following a special review of the district.

The Cobb school district was facing a December deadline to make four required improvements or possibly have its accreditation status reconsidered, but that’s no longer the case.

The head of Cognia, an Alpharetta-based education accreditor, told Cobb Board of Education members Monday at a special-called meeting that it was no longer requiring two of those areas to be addressed.

They include polices for procurement and communications with board members.

The two other areas, relating to board governance, will be evaluated when the Cobb school district will undergo a previously scheduled accreditation review in 2024.

(You can read through the initial Cognia report and accompanying documents here, here and here.)

Dr. Mark Elgart, the Cognia chief executive officer, said Monday that Cobb’s accreditation was never in doubt, and said a letter he sent to Superintendent Chris Ragsdale March 3 was replacing the report of the special review.

(You can read the letter by clicking here.)

The Cognia letter comes as the Cobb school district has been considering switching accrediting agencies, and as legislation is being considered that would remove school board relations from the purview of accreditors.

In his letter, Elgart reassured Cobb school officials that the issues cited in the Cognia special review did not affect what’s happening in district classrooms.

“At no time during the recent process did the teaching, learning, or professional leadership within the system place its accreditation at risk,” he wrote. “The focus of recent engagements with the system has and continues to be on helping the school district improve, and specifically within the area of board governance.”

Cognia conducted the review after the board’s three Democratic members and nearly 50 community members made complaints on a variety of issues.

“This is an engagement about improvement,” Elgart said during the Monday meeting, during which he presented and explained his letter.

Monday was the first time that Ragsdale and the board’s Republican majority have addressed the Cognia report in public.

But board members didn’t discuss the letter or ask questions, and Ragsdale gave only brief explanatory remarks during the 20-minute meeting (you can watch a replay here).

After the meeting was adjourned, the district immediately issued a press release and a copy of the letter.

School districts can ask for a review of Cognia findings if they can determine that they are based on information that is not factually accurate or is misinterpreted.

Ragsdale said the district chose to challenge findings that he said were “inconsistent with evidence” the Cobb school district brought to Cognia’s attention.

In the letter, Elgart acknowledged Cognia’s special review team “did not adequately contextualize or incorporate factual evidence provided by the School District, drawing erroneous conclusions.”

Those teams, he added are “expected to place a higher weight on physical evidence than assertions of opinion or allegations.”

He didn’t explain what that evidence was, but in his remarks to the school board Elgart said that “there was no real issue” with the procurement policies of the Cobb school district.

Some board members and members of the public have complained about how Cobb schools have spent COVID-related federal CARES funding, including purchases of special UV lights and sanitizing machines.

“People may disagree” with how the money is spent,” Elgart said, “but that’s not evidence that the policies weren’t followed.”

He also said that the Cognia special review team erroneously concluded that school board members weren’t being properly provided information by district officials before being asked to vote.

“Additionally, the evidence indicates that the superintendent authorizes and encourages board members to contact members of the executive cabinet directly if they have questions regarding policies, procedures, or operations within those administrators’ areas of responsibility,” Elgart wrote in his letter.

“It is not common practice for superintendents to provide board members this level of direct access and information. This level of access is to be commended. This practice is factually inconsistent with any suggestion that information is withheld from board members.”

But he said the Cognia special review findings of board relations and governance remain valid.

“The evidence remains that this is a divided school board,” Elgar told the board members. “That is something that is contained within the walls of this room, and that is good.”

While he said those problems haven’t spilled over into the academic environment, he said that board members often vote in “blocks”—mostly along party lines—and that’s “a concerning pattern.”

Cognia is requiring that the Cobb school board adhere to policies to “develop a culture of trust” as well as create a plan of accountability for its code of ethics.

“We’re not telling you how to do this,” Elgart said. “We’re telling you that if you do this you will be a better board.”

He concluded by saying that while Cobb is a school district with “a great track record . . . the challenge is how you govern.”

The Cobb school district’s release included a statement from board chairman David Chastain saying that “based on Dr. Elgart’s presentation, the Board is happy to hear Cognia’s review of the Special Review contained inaccuracies which have now been corrected in the letter provided to the District and the Board. Our Superintendent, staff, and families can now fully return their focus on students and schools.”

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East Cobb real estate sales for the week of Feb. 21, 2022

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Willeo Creek Point, East Cobb real estate sales
Willeo Creek Point in the River Forest subdivision

The following deeds for residential East Cobb real estate sales were filed the week of Feb. 21 with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office Real Estate Department.

The addresses are in Marietta ZIP Codes, unless otherwise indicated, and the subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:

Feb. 21

506 Parkaire Crossing, 30068 (Parkaire Crossing; Walton): Matthew Dollar to Matthew Ward and Lillian Vargas; $227,000

Feb. 22

615 Tonawanda Drive, 30066 (Breezecrest, Sprayberry): Eric and Clara Sheppard to Roger Hughes; $402,000

477 Hearthstone Lane, 30068 (Country Place, Wheeler): Wayne Allen to Adrianne and Woodfrin Hayes; $374,000

2045 Abode Way, 30066 (Courtyards at Ebenezer, Sprayberry): Traton LLC to Charles and Eileen Brinn; $634,889

5081 Spring Rock Terrace, 30062 (East Spring Lake, Pope): Marcelo Herszenhaut to Andrew Messick and Taylor Owens; $580,000

2790 Burtz Drive, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): Scharlet Rhodes to Eduardo and Infante De Nova; $500,000

2750 Hawk Trace, 30066 (Falcon Crest, Lassiter): James and Mandie Connell to Michelle Anne Maltes Morales; $375,000

107 Pheasant Drive, 30068 (Fox Hills, Wheeler): John and Vickie Lister to Erin Duncan and Andrew Whelan; $499,000

2213 Rockwood Drive, 30067 (Freywood Estates, Wheeler): Samuel Franklin to Susan and Jason Snape; $315,000

2279 Glenridge Drive, 30066 (Glenwood Ridge, Sprayberry): David Holton to Samuel and Jessica Franklin; $490,000

4143 Barberry Drive, 30066 (Hedgerow, Lassiter): Geraldine Schitea to Daniel and Katie Wallace; $590,000

2585 Gelding Court, 30066 (Sprayberry): Christopher Duffy to Timothy Dorr; $2,500,000

4766 Catoosa Trail, 30066 (Indian Creek, Lassiter): Dominique Brittain and Michael Bielenber to Cody Timms; $375,000

1502 Pine Mountain Drive, 30066 (Oak Creek Estates, Sprayberry): Brett McQuilken to Karlla and Lukas Dreser; $480,000

2736 Tritt Springs Road, 30062 (Post Oak Springs, Pope): Anthony Clark to Xuan and Luon Le; $485,000

1959 Willeo Creek Point, 30068 (River Forest, Walton): Ronald Matlock to Ashley, Gregory, Steven and Beth Mintz, $750,000

1197 Seven Springs Circle, 30068 (Seven Springs, Walton): Mutiara Family Trust to Xixin and Li Wu; $240,000

1432 Twin Branches Circle, 30067 (Twin Branches, Wheeler): Yusuf Sheikh to Marli Da Silva; $279,000

Feb. 23

2061 Abode Way, 30066 (Courtyards at Ebenezer, Sprayberry): Traton LLC to Andrew and Hannah Soon Sim; $526,333

4736 Outlook Way, 30066 (Highland Ridge, Lassiter): Ronald Roland Living Trust to Tracy and Ryan McClatchey; $690,000

550 Clubwood Court, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Alexander Pollack to Capital Design Homes, LLC; $550,000

4458 Trickum Road, 30066 (North Landing, Lassiter): Jeffrey Holbrook to Hazel and Mason Gaddis; $360,000

2371 Monterey Drive, 30068 (Spring Creek, Wheeler): David and Heather Webb to Cody and Olivia Kemp; $450,000

Feb. 24

2172 Lower Roswell Road, 30068 (Sedalia Park, Wheeler): Ju Seon Park to Benjamin and Mari Githinji; $280,000

3070 Gant Quarters Circle, 30068 (Gant Quarters, Wheeler): Darren and Lisa Ross to Morgan Harrison; $625,000

4130 Summit Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Jimmy and Teresa Bumgarner to Jenna and William Yoder; $699,500

1438 Grovehurst Drive, 30062 (Grovehurst, Walton): Open House Atlanta Realty and Investments to Kaoru Chigira; $615,000 

3237 Sweet Buckeye Drive, 30066 (North Chestnut Grove, Sprayberry): Jacob Portune to Adam Delson and Martha Fleming; $490,000

4536 Forest Peak Court, 30066 (Highland Pointe, Lassiter): Raymond and Kathryn Prock to David and Lauren Leifels; $649,000

2550 Rockside Lane, 30066 (Tanglewood Park, Lassiter): George Molloy to Alexander Pollack; $1,000,000

1170 Colony Circle, 30068 (Lake Colony, Walton): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Nihon Sokuchi Consultant Co., Ltd.; $566,000

2293 Chimney Springs Drive, 30062 (Chimney Springs, Pope): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Iioka Corp.; $607,000

Feb. 25

352 Lamplighter Lane, 30067 (Fox Hills, Wheeler): Erik Peddle to Scott Kline; $675,000

1029 Willow Field Lane, Unit 10, 30067 (The Oaks at Powers Ferry, Wheeler): Alexander Mull to Ronak and Monica Shah; $458,000

1040 Dogwood Place, 30066 (Eastwood Forest, Sprayberry): Peachtree City Financial, LLC to VM Pronto, LLC; $290,000

1663 East Lake Drive, 30066 (Benson Heights, Sprayberry): 33H Real Estate Income Fund to Matthew and Brielle Lane; $415,000

2110 Spalding Drive, 30062 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Charles Dabbs Sr. to Brittany Dabbs; $222,000

111 Flatwood Trail, Unit 23, 30066 (Barrett Creek Townhomes, Sprayberry): Silvana and Vitor Azevedo to Christopher Roger and Vanessa Bazile; $340,000

2707 Windwatch Place, 30066 (Autumn Lake, Sprayberry): Wallace Bledsoe to OP SPE TPA1 LLC; $390,000

2865 Forest Highlands Drive, 30062 (Forest Highlands, Pope): Neil Stratmeyer to William Derzis and Mary Dreger; $455,000

2880 Forest Highlands Drive, 30062 (Forest Highlands, Pope): Patsy Harrelson to Zhe Cao and Xiaoxiang Yu; $420,000

4199 Arbor Club Drive, 30066 (Arbor Bridge, Lassiter): Judy Shaw to Stacey and Christopher LaValle; $531,000

1936 Kemp Road, 30066 (Country Meadows, Kell): Charles Wilson to Joshua Hout and Olga Kudanova; $460,000

4566 Ashmore Circle, 30066 (Hampton Ridge, Lassiter): Michael Whitten, Jr. to Krysten Frye and Ian Woolworth; $625,000

914 Saints Court, 30068 (St. Andrews Park, Walton): Arie Goldshlager and Tamara Salz to Jonathan Hunter and Lauren Solodar; $950,000

519 Park Ridge Circle, 30068 (Park Ridge Condos, Walton): Jeanette and Robert Key to Robert Stutrud; $120,000

 

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East Cobb Cityhood foes ramp up efforts to defeat referendum

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East Cobb Cityhood opponents
“Is this really about local control or special interest control?” said Mindy Seger, president of the East Cobb Alliance, questioning the claims of cityhood forces.

In a little less than three months, voters in the proposed City of East Cobb will be asked whether they want to form a new city.

A grassroots citizens group that formed in 2019 to fight an initial cityhood campaign is accelerating its efforts to defeat a May 24 referendum that could create a city of around 60,000 people.

But just as in the first cityhood quest, the East Cobb Alliance said a new city would also create needless levels of government, increase taxes, cause confusion among citizens about service provision and delay public safety response time.

East Cobb cityhood opponents
The East Cobb Alliance has printed flyers detailing its arguments against cityhood.

“You don’t need another layer of government to change what doesn’t need changing,” said Mindy Seger, the group’s president, during an information session Saturday at the Chimney Springs subdivision clubhouse.

The East Cobb Alliance—which has more than 1,300 followers on its Facebook page—also has sharpened its talking points as public meetings are being scheduled on both sides of the issue.

On Monday, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood will hold its first in-person town hall since cityhood was revived last year.

The pro-cityhood forces have said the area isn’t getting effective representation on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, whose four district members represent nearly 200,000 people each.

As the cityhood bill worked its way through the Georgia legislature, they testified that local control—East Cobb would have a mayor and six city council members—would be more responsive.

But Seger, who debated pro-cityhood leaders in 2019 before that effort was abandoned—took issue with that claim.

In a talking point called “Follow the Money,” she noted that while the current cityhood group has new members who are making public rounds, some individuals behind the scenes remain from the original effort.

They include Owen Brown, the founder of the Retail Planning Corp., which manages Paper Mill Village, Woodlawn Square, Woodlawn Commons and other shopping centers in the area.

He’s a voter in Florida, Seger said, and therefore can’t vote in the referendum. Neither can Matt Dollar, the former legislator who sponsored the East Cobb bill, then resigned the day after it passed the House.

He’s moved to a new home in what would remain unincorporated East Cobb. Lawmakers who carried the legislation after that are in Acworth and North Fulton.

The only other East Cobb co-sponsor of the bill—State Rep. Sharon Cooper—didn’t speak on its behalf in the legislative sessions.

East Cobb Cityhood opponents
A number of homes in Chimney Springs, which has more than 700 homes, are sporting anti-cityhood yard signs.

“If this was such a good idea, why didn’t he buy a house inside the city borders?” Seger said, referring to Dollar. “Is this really about local control or special interest control?

“What are they looking to get out of this?”

Seger also delved into the proposed police and fire services for the City of East Cobb, which were not in the initial bill and were added in November (the other services would be planning and zoning and code enforcement).

The East Cobb financial feasibility study estimated that fire services would cost $5.7 million a year. But Cobb fire officials, in a recent commissioners work session, placed that figure at more than $12 million a year.

There would be two fire stations in East Cobb, No. 21 at the East Cobb Government Service Center and No. 15 on Oak Drive.

“That’s a big difference, and I think the county’s estimate is more accurate,” she said, adding that such expenses as the cost of fire engines and training firefighters (as well as police officers) have not been factored into the financial study.

The pro-cityhood group has said that such details are typically worked out during a two-year transition period, including mutual aid agreements.

As for police, the study estimated a staff of 71 officers (79 staffers are currently working out of Cobb Police Precinct 4).

“The challenge and cost of recruiting and training officers is difficult everywhere,” Seger said. “How is a new city going to compete with that?”

That point was echoed by former Cobb Chamber of Commerce CEO David Connell, who attended one of the East Cobb Alliance sessions.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said during the presentation, saying that Cobb’s public safety services are highly rated. “Taxes will go up and don’t let anyone tell you different.”

Also in the audience was engineering consultant Geoff Seguin, who lives in a nearby neighborhood. He said he was initially open to the subject of cityhood, but said after getting information from both sides, he’s “strongly opposed to it.

East Cobb Cityhood opponents
“I’ve not met anybody who said they’re for” cityhood, said East Cobb resident Geoff Seguin, at right.

“There are too many unknowns,” said Seguin, who’s lived in East Cobb resident since 1989 and whose children graduated from local schools.

Life in the community, he said, “is pretty darn good” and said he doesn’t see any reason to change the form of local government.

What especially persuaded him was serving on a citizens group that worked with the attorney for Northpoint Ministries for a mixed-use development that includes the East Cobb Church.

After months of discussions and numerous delays, Cobb commissioners approved a rezoning request at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford Road in October.

While the community was split on the issue, Seguin said he was impressed by the effort by Northpoint and county officials, especially regarding stormwater and legal concessions his group asked for.

He also found Commissioner Jerica Richardson (who attended an earlier East Cobb Alliance session Saturday) and former planning commissioner Tony Waybright responsive during the process.

“It made me a believer in local government,” Seguin said, referring to county government. He said when citizens get involved at that level, “it works.”

Monday’s town hall organized by the cityhood group is sold out, but is being livestreamed  on its Facebook page starting at 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, Cobb County government will hold an information session, and with similar referendums in Lost Mountain, Vinings and possibly Mableton, it has launched a cityhood information page.

The East Cobb Business Association will hold an East Cobb Cityhood forum on April 19, and the Rotary Club of East Cobb will be holding a similar session for Pope High School in early May.

Those plans are still being finalized.

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Mt. Bethel UMC lawyers seek documents sent to former pastor

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Steven Usry, appointed Mt. Bethel pastor
Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, appointed Mt. Bethel senior pastor

Former Mt. Bethel UMC senior pastor Randy Mickler is among the church and denominational leaders named in a request for documents in the congregation’s legal battle with the North Georgia Conference.

So is Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, whom the Conference appointed to serve as Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor nearly a year ago, touching off a dispute that has landed in Cobb Superior Court.

A filing there on Wednesday by Mt. Bethel is requesting that the North Georgia Conference provide unspecified documents sent to them and other individuals as the discovery process continues.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation.

Mt. Bethel is seeking an expedited vote to disaffiliate from the UMC in its countersuit, as well as recovering church assets and properties claimed by the Conference.

As East Cobb News reported last week, Judge Mary Staley Clark has scheduled a hearing on March 15 to consider motions in both suits. Both sides are seeking injunctions to be considered the week of April 25, according to court filings.

Mt. Bethel claims that the Conference engaged in a “fraudulent conspiracy” to strip the church of its properties, valued at nearly $35 million.

The documents request also seeks Conference documents sent to Mt. Bethel member Donna LaChance.

She’s part of the Friends of Mt. Bethel, a group of church members opposed to the actions by the congregation’s leadership.

LaChance has been outspoken on the topic, telling East Cobb News in an interview last June that the rift has “torn apart” a church community of nearly 10,000 members.

All of those named in the documents request are non-party individuals, meaning that they’re not part of either lawsuit. So is another church member who has retained an attorney after being issued a subpoena by Mt. Bethel lawyers to appear at a deposition.

That deposition, which seeks communications between the member and Conference officials as well as Usry, has been delayed to March 16.

Mickler was Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor for 28 years, and was succeeded in 2016 by Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Last April, Ray refused a reassignment from the Conference and turned in his UMC ministerial credentials. Mt. Bethel hired him as a CEO and lead pastor, moves the Conference says violate the UMC’s Book of Discipline governance procedures.

As East Cobb News has previously reported, Mt. Bethel is declining to provide office space and a fall salary to Usry. He’s also had the support of Mickler and has met with Mt. Bethel members off campus.

Usry also is considered a theological conservative, which is among the sticking points in the dispute.

Mt. Bethel is a conservative congregation and a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association. Its leader, Keith Boyette, is a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team.

The WCA was formed in 2016 as theological differences in the UMC began to widen.

They center in particular on ordaining gay and lesbian clergy and performing same-sex marriages, both currently forbidden by the UMC.

But conservatives anticipate that changing, and also formed a more conservative denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

On Thursday, the Global Methodist Church announced it was formally launching on May 1. That follows the decision by the UMC to postpone its General Conference to 2024 due to continuing travel issues related to COVID-19.

That conference was to have been held in 2020, with a vote likely on allowing conservative churches to leave.

(You can read the Mt. Bethel documents by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

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East Cobb parrot owner offers $2K reward for missing ‘Woody’

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East Cobb resident Mary Jo Foster’s Amazon parrot went missing around Thanksgiving, and she was briefly encouraged earlier this week when there was a sighting.Woody the parrot

Foster is asking for the public’s help in finding Woody, whom she says is 44 years old and has been living with the Foster family for 25 years.

“Signs are everywhere, flyers have been passed out, and calls have been made, as well as so many encounters with the wonderful people of East Cobb by the Foster family, but so far, Woody is still not home,” she said in reaching out to East Cobb News.

She also sent us the accompanying photo of Woody, who has a Kelly green body and orange wings and who’s between 13-15 inches in height.

“He is smart, loves to talk and has a wide range of words he uses. He whistles, says Hello, How are you, Pretty boy, Sweet Boy, I love you Bobby Bobby boy, and many other words. He copies peoples laughs, and mimics animal sounds.”

Foster told us Woody was seen on Wednesday on Benthill Drive near Sewell Mill Road and Johnson Ferry Road.

There have been a number of sightings, and she had been offering a reward of $500.

Foster has upped that reward to $2,000 for anyone who finds Woody, or whose discovery immediately and directly leads to him being returned home.

She said Woody is drawn to certain foods, including peanuts and tortilla chips, as well as bird feeders.

Woody flies into Leyland Cypress trees (where he finds safety from hawks), as well as in, and between, dark green trees, and he’s typically out and about in the afternoons.

Anyone who sees him may be able to retain him with a towel, enclosing him in a box or a small laundry basket with holes.

Foster said if you’ve spotted Woody, you can call the following phone numbers: 770-334-7225 (first) or 678-522-6700.

She also said the family is asking for prayers.

“If God could bring the animals into Noah’s ark two by two, He can bring Woody back home,” she said.

 

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Cobb school board calls special meeting on accreditation

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Cobb school board COVID-19

The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special-called meeting Monday to hear from Superintendent Chris Ragsdale about a recent “communication” from its accrediting agency “regarding accreditation status.”

That’s according to a special notice issued Friday by the Cobb County School District. The meeting will take place at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the board meeting room at the CCSD central office (514 Glover St., Marietta).

The district indicated the meeting also will be live-streamed at this link, as well as shown on Comcast Cable Channel 24 and Charter Cable Channel 182).

There’s no other information about the specifics of district’s communication with Cognia, an Alpharetta-based education accreditor that conducted a special review of the Cobb school district in 2021.

In releasing its report in November, Cognia detailed what it called a “Progress Monitoring Review” that includes improvements the district must make in four areas: effective policy-making from the school board, board members adhering to a code of ethics, educational equity and financial accountability.

(You can read through the Cognia report and accompanying documents here, here and here.)

The district has until the end of the year to make those improvements before Cognia would consider whether to retain full accreditation status for Cobb schools.

In 2019, Cognia reaccredited the Cobb County School District—the second-largest in Georgia, with more than 107,000 students—through 2024.

But last March, Democratic board members Charisse Davis, Jaha Howard and Tre’ Hutchins went to Cognia after saying they were being ignored by the board’s Republican majority and Ragsdale to discuss early literacy, educator and employee support and board governance training topics.

Since the Cognia report was released, neither the school board nor Ragsdale have discussed the findings in public.

The Democratic members have tried to get the report put on school board meeting agendas, but have not gotten a majority vote.

Some citizens speaking out at public comment periods of school board members have demanded that the district discuss the Cognia report.

The Cobb school district is considering switching accrediting agencies. The Georgia Accrediting Commission, which accredits individual schools and not school districts, has visited high schools in the Cobb school district in recent weeks.

Cobb school district officials chafed at Cognia’s special review process, saying the agency refused to specify the allegations that prompted the review.

Randy Scamihorn, the Cobb school board chairman in 2021, said when the Cognia report was released that “while I am pleased this review is unlikely to have an immediately negative effect on the District’s students, it did serve as a significant distraction for the staff.”

Public complaints to Cognia cited financial concerns, the district’s handling of COVID-19 matters and even the board’s refusal to consider requests to rename Wheeler High School.

Cobb district officials have cited a loss of accreditation in Clayton and DeKalb public schools in 2008 and 2011 respectively for their concerns about Cognia’s special review.

State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, a West Cobb Republican and former Cobb school board member, has proposed legislation that would restrict the scope of accrediting agencies.

His bill, SB 498, would remove school board relations from the purview of accreditors and would give accreditation authority for elementary and middle schools solely to the Georgia Department of Education.

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Sprayberry HS grad, educator running for Cobb school board

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Catherine Pozniak, a Sprayberry High School graduate who’s been a teacher and state education administrator, has announced her campaign for Post 4 on the Cobb Board of Education.Catherine Pozniak, Cobb school board candidate

Post 4 includes the Sprayberry and Kell and part of the Lassiter High School clusters in a seat that’s been redrawn for the 2022 elections.

The seat is held by third-term Republican David Chastain, currently the Cobb school board chairman.

Earlier this week Pozniak declared her intent to run in the May 24 primary as a Democrat.

Her campaign website can be found by clicking here.

Pozniak, who graduated from Sprayberry in 1997, also attended Kincaid Elementary School and Daniell Middle School.

She said she’s running because the current Cobb school board hasn’t done much planning to help students recover from disruptions caused by COVID-19 closures, including use of more than $250 million in federal relief aid to help students.

She said “it’s been disappointing to see partisanship from our Board’s leaders when our schools need their support the most.

“The Board hasn’t even laid out goals since 2018, before the pandemic,” Pozniak said. “So of course there isn’t a plan for any of this.”

Republicans currently hold a 4-3 edge on the Cobb school board. Chastain, who has indicated he will be seeking a fourth term, is the only GOP member up for re-election this year.

Pozniak earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sydney in Australia, a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Harvard University.

She taught in a school on a Lakota reservation in South Dakota and was an assistant state superintendent of education for fiscal operations in Louisiana and the head of an educational non-profit in Baton Rouge, La.

Pozniak currently is principal at Watershed Advisors, an educational and workforce consultancy started by the former Louisiana school superintendent.

Tammy Andress, a former Lassiter PTSA co-president who ran for Post 5 on the Cobb school board in 2020, said Thursday on her former campaign page that she was considering a run for Post 4 this year following redistricting.

But Andress, a Democrat, said she’s supporting Pozniak, whom she said has a “wealth of experience, knowledge, passion, empathy and determination she would bring to our School Board. She’s the real deal!!!”

Austin Heller, a Kennesaw State University student, previously announced his campaign as a Democrat for Post 4, but was drawn out in reapportionment.

Primary qualifying takes place next week.

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Cobb redistricting maps OK’d as primary qualifying approaches

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Redrawn lines for the Cobb Board of Education, at left, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners. For larger views, click here.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed bills redrawing the district lines for elected members of Cobb Board of Commissioners and Cobb Board of Commissioners.

As we noted last week, the bills were sponsored by Republican members of the county’s legislative delegation over the objections of their Democratic colleagues.

Those maps have drawn Cobb school board Post 6 member Charisse Davis and District 2 Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson out of areas in East Cobb that they represent now.

Candidates who intend to run in Cobb County and and across Georgia in the May 24 primary will be qualifying all of next week, from 9 a.m. March 7 to 12 p.m. on March 11 (more details here).

The Cobb Elections office has posted general information about qualifying here; the deadline to register to vote in the primaries, if you’re not already registered or if you have moved, is April 25. More details can be found by clicking here.

Davis, a Democrat, is one of three Cobb school board members up for re-election in 2022, and has not indicated whether she’ll be seeking re-election.

Post 6 currently includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters but will be confined to the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area where she lives.

The Post 4 seat currently held by Republican chairman David Chastain also is up, and he has said he will be seeking a fourth term representing the Kell, Sprayberry and some of the Lassiter clusters.

A Democrat, Catherine Pozniak, has declared her intent to run for Post 4, as has Austin Heller, a Kennesaw State University student.

The rest of East Cobb will be included in Post 5, currently held by Republican David Banks, whose term expires in 2024. That post will include the Walton and Wheeler and some of the Pope and Lassiter clusters.

The East Cobb area also has been reduced to one county commissioner in the new maps. Current District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a Republican, is nearing the end of her third full term and has said she will be seeking re-election.

Judy Sarden, an attorney and homeschooling advocate in Northeast Cobb, has announced plans to run in the GOP primary in District 3.

Richardson, a Democrat who is in her first term, is up for re-election in 2024, but she would have to move to the new District 2 by the end of this year.

All legislative seats in Georgia are up for re-election, including four state Senate seats (Districts 6, 32, 33, 56) and five in the state House (Districts 37, 43, 44, 45, 46) that include East Cobb.

All members of Congress will be up for re-election, including the newly drawn 6th District and 11th District that include East Cobb.

Statewide offices include the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock; governor; lieutenant; governor; attorney general; secretary of state; state school superintendent; and commissioners of public service, agriculture, labor and insurance.

Cobb voters also will be deciding several non-partisan judicial races, as four State Court judge posts and three seats on the Cobb Superior Court will be on the ballot.

Non-partisan judicial races across Georgia include three seats on the Georgia Supreme Court and two seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Also on the May 24 primary day, voters in the proposed city of East Cobb will be voting on a referendum on whether to create a new city (visit our resource page here).

Voters within the current Georgia House District 45 boundaries will be casting ballots next month in a special election to succeed former State Rep. Matt Dollar for the rest of 2022.

That special election is April 5, and the voter registration deadline is Monday.

Four candidates have qualified in a jungle election; and a May 5 runoff would take place if the top vote-getter does not get a majority.

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Cobb schools say 98 percent of employees returning for 2022-23

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The Cobb County School District said Thursday that 98 percent of current employees in “full-time contracted, certificated” job categories have returned job offers for the 2022-23 academic year.Cobb County School District, Cobb schools dual enrollment summit

In a release, the district said that more than 8,000 contracts were sent out to those employees, including teachers, counselors, psychologists, administrators and district-level employees requiring certification.

The district did not break down those numbers by job categories.

The next academic and fiscal year in Cobb schools goes from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

“Our District has some of the smallest turnover of any big district in the country, which, after the last couple years we have been through, is really impressive to see,” Cobb Board of Education chairman David Chastain said in the release.

The district has struggled to fill some positions in other job classifications, especially in staff support positions, such as bus drivers and substitute teachers.

In the current school year, Cobb has twice distributed bonus money to some of what it calls classified employees, including bus drivers and monitors, to improve retention rates.

The district said it is continuing to hire certified, administrative and classified positions for the coming school year, and lists vacancies here.

There also will be a virtual  K-12 teacher job fair March 29-31, 2022. More information can be found by clicking here; participants must fill out a formal job application beforehand.

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Scouts, Sope Creek Garden Club plant trees at McFarlane Park

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McFarlane Park tree planting

Thanks to Joan Cotter of the Sope Creek Garden Club for the following information and photos:

On a beautiful February Sunday at McFarlane Nature Park (280 Farm Road SE) members of Girl Scout Troop 18328 from the Magnolia Service Unit, along with their leader Karen Dechert, joined along with members of Sope Creek Garden Club, led by President Linda Baker, for a fun lesson on the importance of trees and a memorable planting event.

After a short discussion about the emotional, economic and ecological benefits of trees
along with visual aids explaining how to best plant trees for a healthy future, Scouts (accompanied by their parents) along with SCGC Members teamed up into small groups to plant, mulch, label and water Chinquapin Oaks, a Mockernut Hickory, and a taller American Crabapple. Scouts worked hard, doing the digging, planting and labeling and yes, hauling water to get those trees happy in their new home.

By introducing these special tree species McFarlane Park now has a complete representation of all of the native trees in the Piedmont Region of Georgia.

McFarlane Park tree planting

McFarlane Park tree planting

McFarlane Park tree planting

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East Cobb Alliance to hold public meetings opposing cityhood

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East Cobb Alliance
The East Cobb Alliance is sporting a new logo for the upcoming cityhood referendum.

The East Cobb Alliance, which is opposed to the May 24 East Cobb Cityhood referendum, is holding what it’s calling “show and tell” sessions Saturday for the public.

That’s two days before the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, which is behind the referendum and cityhood campaign, will be having its first in-person town hall meeting.

But unlike the cityhood meeting Monday at Olde Towne Athletic Club, the East Cobb Alliance meetings will be open to citizens living outside the proposed city limits.

(The cityhood group’s event is sold out and plans are being made to show it on a livestream, according to spokeswoman Cindy Cooperman.)

The East Cobb Alliance sessions on Saturday are from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Chimney Springs neighborhood. Pre-registration is required and can be done by clicking this link.

The sign-up page says that each session will have a 20-30 minute presentation followed by a a question and an answer period.

“Learn the facts about the efforts to convert a portion of East Cobb into an incorporated new city…that will add another complicated Government Layer to your life, and one that can tax you and your home beyond your means to pay,” the East Cobb Alliance pre-registration link says.

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid will be having cityhood-related meetings with community groups, starting Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting room (100 Cherokee Street, Marietta).

The county also has created what it calls a cityhood resource page that breaks down the four cityhood proposals.

East Cobb, Vinings and Lost Mountain referendums will be voted on in the May 24 primary; a Mableton referendum, if approved by the Georgia legislature, would take place in November.

The East Cobb Alliance has more than 1,300 followers on its Facebook page.

The East Cobb Alliance was formed in 2019 during the first cityhood campaign making many of the same claims as now: That there’s not a public groundswell for cityhood, that a city would create another layer of government, and that citizens living in the new city would pay more in taxes and other fees.

During 2019, the pro-cityhood group held town hall meetings that generated opposition. In November 2019, East Cobb Alliance member Mindy Seger debated then-cityhood leader David Birdwell.

Not long after that, cityhood proponents dropped plans to push for legislation in the 2020 session.

The cityhood effort was revived with a new bill in 2021, and before the legislature in January, Seger testified against it, especially after several revisions were made, including moving the referendum up from November to May and changing how the mayor is elected.

The East Cobb Alliance has created a 2022 information tab with its analysis of the East Cobb cityhood’s feasibility study and background information on cityhood leaders.

A page entitled “Cityhood Swindle” was written while the East Cobb bill was in the legislature, and takes issue with the cityhood group’s claims that incorporating will make for better local representation.

That was before the bill was amended in the Senate to include clarifying language about how the six city council members are elected. While they are elected citywide, two members must reside in each of three council districts (map here).

In a Feb. 17 Facebook post, the Alliance explained that all voters in the proposed city, regardless of which primary ballot they choose, will be asked on whether they support creating a city and repeated familiar claims:

“A new city will have the power to TAX you more, assess new fees, cite you for traffic violations, jail you for up to 180 days…AND figure out a myriad of ways to extract MORE money from you…on TOP of the taxes you already pay to the County (and will continue to pay).

“The only pot of gold at the end of the ‘East Cobb, Georgia’ rainbow is MORE government costing You MORE MONEY!”

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East Cobb Food Scores: The Freakin’ Incan; gusto!; more

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Freakin Incan, East Cobb food scores

The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Feb. 28 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Capozzi’s
2960 Shallowford Road, Suite 101
March 2, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

China Great Wall
1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 302
March 2, 2022 Score: 91, Grade: A

Derek’s Cafe
1779 Canton Road
March 2, 2022 Score: 93, Grade: A

The Freakin’ Incan
4651 Woodstock Road, Suite 305, Roswell
March 1, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Fugu Express
2900 Delk Road, Suite 2000
March 1, 2022 Score: 96, Grade: A

gusto!
688 Johnson Ferry Road
March 3, 2022 Score: 92, Grade: A

Hoyle’s Kitchen & Bar
1440 Roswell Road, Suite A
March 3, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

La Madeleine
4101 Roswell Road, Suite 812
March 3, 2022 Score: 88, Grade: B

Pelican’s Snoballs
3600 Canton Road
March 3, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Wellstar East Cobb Health Park Parkside Bistro
3747 Roswell Road
March 2, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Wendy’s
2238 Roswell Road
March 2, 2022 Score: 89, Grade: B

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East Cobb Cityhood supporters defend police and fire plans

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East Cobber parade
Station 21 at the East Cobb Government Service Center would be one of two fire stations in the proposed City of East Cobb. ECN file photo

Ever since police and fire services were included in a financial feasibility study for the proposed City of East Cobb in November, supporters of the initiative have been posed a continuing question:

Why?

When the cityhood effort was revived in 2021, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood said it had considered public feedback in proposing what’s called a “city light” set of services—planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation.

New concerns had been raised since the initial cityhood effort began three years before, especially high-density zoning cases. An adult retail store opened on Johnson Ferry Road in June 2020, after skirting code issues to get a business license.

For most of last year, as they conducted virtual information sessions with the public and commissioned the feasibility study, cityhood proponents didn’t mention public safety.

Eligible voters in the proposed City of East Cobb will decide on May 24 on whether to form a new city, made up of around 60,000 people and centered along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.

Three other proposed new cities in Cobb—Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton—are sticking with “city light” services designed to preserve those communities or enhance desired redevelopment.

Police and fire services were included in the initial East Cobb cityhood campaign that was abandoned at the end of 2019.

But as the East Cobb cityhood group met with community members last year, public safety “continued to come up in various ways,” said spokeswoman Cindy Cooperman.

East Cobb fire map
A Cobb fire department map of the proposed city of East Cobb area (in blue) served by two fire stations.

They’ve also held information meetings with neighborhood, civic and business groups over the past year, and she said that public safety “continues to be a consistent theme.”

During a special Feb. 16 Cobb Board of Commissioners work session, county public safety officials said the information provided thus far about proposed police and fire services in East Cobb isn’t sufficient.

They said they’re concerned about increased response times and are uncertain about what they may be asked to do in support (see map at right).

When asked about concerns over the expenses involved in having public safety, Cooperman said “I get that. But the [feasibility] study looks at comparable cities . . . that have done it over the long haul.”

Specifically, those include Milton and Johns Creek in North Fulton, which both have police and fire services.

“It’s not that risky,” Cooperman said, and referred to a recent interview with the East Cobb cityhood study researcher about how the feasibility process works.

While a feasibility study isn’t a budget, the East Cobb study doesn’t detail public safety salary and benefit costs, nor continuing training and equipment expenses.

The East Cobb cityhood group has worked up a page with fire and emergency services information in part to counter a cityhood page created by Cobb government that cityhood leaders includes misleading information. 

The East Cobb group explains how mutual aid agreements would be worked out over the two-year transition period, and that the new city would contract with the county for police and fire services in the interim.

But that page doesn’t indicate how an East Cobb fire department would be structured. There’s been speculation that East Cobb may follow the City of Roswell, which has many rank-and-file firefighters serving in moonlighting roles from other departments.

East Cobb city forum
Mindy Seger of the anti-city East Cobb Alliance, who debated cityhood leaders in 2019, said too many changes were made to legislation this year for the May 24 referendum.

Cooperman said while she’s heard those rumors, the transition period would provide the time for “experts in the field” to work through those details.

It’s a process, she said, “that isn’t something new.”

The late changes to the proposed city services and governing structure have prompted complaints by an opposition group, the East Cobb Alliance.

The East Cobb cityhood bill sponsored by former State Rep. Matt Dollar was changed three times in the legislature, including moving the referendum from November to May, and having the mayor elected citywide after the initial bill called for council members to choose a mayor among themselves.

East Cobb Alliance leader Mindy Seger also testified before the Georgia legislature that having the vote six months earlier than originally planned won’t give voters time to “thoroughly vet the proposal and the impact it will have on our community.

“Why the rush?” she said when contacted by East Cobb News after the bill had been approved, and after Dollar stepped down from his seat.

“It’s been 4 years, 3 maps, 2 feasibility studies, 2 House bills and one untimely resignation of the legislative sponsor,” said Seger.

“The simple referendum language doesn’t begin to encompass the full weight and responsibility of incorporation and the lasting impact to our community..”

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Cobb Master Gardeners plant sale and expo returns in April

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The Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County will be holding their annual plant sale and expo April 15-16 at Jim Miller Park.Cobb Master Gardener Expo

More than 80 vendors will be on hand at one of the organization’s major fundraisers.

The Cobb Master Gardeners support 13 project gardens and five community gardens, as well as providing education to the community.

Among its projects are a Speakers Bureau, an online Grow Virtually educational series and a YouTube channel.

The Master Gardeners also will be having their annual spring home tour on May 14.

Additional information on projects and activities can be seen on our website: www.cobbmastergardeners.com. 

 

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Cobb lifts mask mandate at county indoor facilities

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With COVID-19 case rates continuing to fall and new CDC guidance easing risk levels and other recommended restrictions, Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris has lifted the mask mandate for indoor county facilities.

In addition to government office buildings, that means that masks are also optional again at libraries, senior centers and indoor recreation buildings.

The mandate has been in place since the Omicron variant surge began in December.

Masks are still required inside Cobb courthouses, which are operating under a separate order from the Georgia Supreme Court.

An emergency declaration continues in Cobb, but the county issued a release Monday saying that too “is expected to be terminated this week based on the continuing trend of lower transmission rates in the county.”

Cobb and Douglas Public Health data shows that the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 in Cobb County is 186, heading downward from more than 200 at the end of last week.

An average of 100/100K is considered high community transmission.

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