East Cobb Politics & Elections

Cobb school board candidate forums set in contested races

by

The League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb has invited candidates in three contested Cobb Board of Education general election races to a forum.Cobb school board candidate forums set in contested races

The forums for posts 1, 5 and 7 are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Switzer Library (266 Roswell Street, Marietta) and also will be livestreamed on YouTube.

The moderator is Chesley McNeil of 11Alive.

The three races are Post 1 in North Cobb, Post 5 in East Cobb and Post 7 in West Cobb. Republicans hold all three seats, and there are Democrats entered in each one.

The Post 5 seat, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is open. Four-term Republican David Banks is retiring, and his successor will be one of two newcomers.

GOP hopeful John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, parents in he Walton area, both announced their candidacies more than a year ago.

Post 1 Republican incumbent Randy Scamihorn is facing Democrat Vickie Benson in a rematch from the 2020 election, and in Post 7, two-term GOP member Brad Wheeler is being opposed by Democrat Andrew Cole, a first-time candidate.

The term in Post 3 in South Cobb also expires at the end of the year, but first-term Democrat Tre’ Hutchins did not draw any opposition in either party.

School board races this year have drawn increased attention. Republicans hold a 4-3 edge, and partisan squabbling has been a regular feature at meetings in recent years. Democrats hold the majority on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the county’s legislative delegation in what had been a GOP stronghold.

The Post 5 and 7 races were close four years ago, as Banks and Wheeler were narrowly re-elected.

But the Post 5 lines have been changed since then due to reapportionment, to include most areas south of Sandy Plains and Shallowford Road and north of Lower Roswell Road.

(The school board post boundaries, which are drawn by the Georgia legislature, are not the same has school attendance zones, which are drawn administratively by the Cobb County School District).

The forum, which is free and open to the public, includes partnerships with Cobb Collaborative Vote Your Voice, Cobb Democracy Center, Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mi Familia en Acción, and redefinED Atlanta.

To register for in-person or virtual attendance click here; you can find the Spanish-language version by clicking here.

Related:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Mountain View Regional Library to hold transit tax open house

by

The Cobb Department of Transportation has announced the first public information meetings for the Cobb Mobility SPLOST, the proposed 30-year transit tax that’s up for a referendum vote in November.Mountain View Regional Library to hold transit tax open house

What it’s calling “MSPLOST talks” will take place at four Cobb library branches on Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 5-7 p.m.

The locations include the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).

Cobb DOT said the meetings are open houses and will have no formal presentations. Other locations will be at the Smyrna, North Cobb and Stratton library branches at the same time.

“Drop in to learn about the proposed initiatives, ask questions, and share your thoughts on how MSPLOST funds will be utilized to benefit our community,” Cobb DOT said Thursday in a social media posting.

Under state law, government agencies cannot advocate a position on a referendum vote.

But Cobb commissioners have approved a $287,000 contract with Kimley-Horn, an Atlanta consulting firm, to provide what’s called “educational” information and resources about the proposed tax, including holding public meetings.

Last week, Cobb DOT unveiled its MSPLOST website and is expected to hold further public meetings to be announced.

The tax, if approved by voters in the Nov. 5 general election, would collect one percent of sales tax to fund expanded bus services, transfer stations and related services and facilities, for a total of $11 billion.

Currently Cobb consumers pay six cents’ worth of sales taxes, including SPLOSTs (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) for Cobb government and schools.

Among the projects that would be funded with the transit tax is the construction of a bus transfer station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry Road area and the restoration of two bus routes through East Cobb that were eliminated during recession budget cuts.

A group leading opposition to the tax, the Cobb Taxpayers Association, has scheduled its campaign kickoff event in East Cobb on Sept. 14.

Related:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb transit tax opponents to hold campaign kickoff event

by

A coalition opposed to the Cobb transit tax referendum in November will kick off its campaign next weekend in East Cobb.Cobb transit tax opponents to hold campaign kickoff event

The Cobb Taxpayers Association announced Tuesday that a number of elected officials and others will be in attendance at the event on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 12-2 p.m. at Grace Resurrection Methodist Church (1200 Indian Hills Parkway).

The group is leading efforts against a 30-year, one-percent sales tax that, if approved by voters, is expected to collect more than $11 billion to expand bus service in Cobb.

Among the projects that would be funded with the tax is the construction of a bus transfer station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry Road area and the restoration of two bus routes through East Cobb that were eliminated during recession budget cuts

Guest speakers at the kickoff event include:

  • Yashica Marshall, candidate for Board of Commissioners, District 4
  • Ed Setzler, State Senator
  • Bob Barr, former US Congressman, current president of the NRA
  • Alicia Adams, candidate for BOC, District 2
  • Jim Jess, chairman emeritus, Franklin Roundtable (formerly the Georgia Tea Party)
  • Salleigh Grubbs, chair of the Cobb County GOP
  • Pam Reardon, candidate for BOC, District 2
  • Denny Wilson, South Cobb local political activist

According to the CTA, the event is designed to “get YOU fired up and ready to roll up your sleeves to volunteer in our campaign to defeat this odious tax.”

There will be sign-up sheets for phone-banking, canvassing, distributing leaflets, waving signs at major intersections and putting up yard signs.

“It will give you the opportunity to experience the fact that you are not alone in this fight to save our county,” CTA said in its announcement Tuesday.

Last week, Cobb government unveiled an education page about the referendum that was produced by Kimley-Horn, an Atlanta consulting firm the county is paying $287,000 for outreach efforts, including town halls this fall.

Cobb commissioners voted 3-2 to put the proposed sales tax to a referendum, with three Democratic commissioners voting in favor, and two Republicans opposed.

Related:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

How Cobb commissioner district maps look post-‘home rule’

by
How Cobb commissioner district maps look post-'home rule'
Cobb Commission District 3 boundaries and voting precincts (in light green), just posted to the Cobb Elections website. For a larger view click here.

More than two years after they were approved by the Georgia legislature, Cobb Board of Commissioner districts are finally being reflected on county government websites and in other official documentation.

That’s because commissioners on Tuesday voted to adopt the maps after losing an appeal over the “home rule” maps commission Democrats adopted in 2022 but that were ruled unconstitutional by a Cobb judge last month.

For voters in East Cobb, however, a lengthy saga of chaos and confusion is only partially over.

While almost all of East Cobb is in District 3—represented by Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell—District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose “home rule” district included some of East Cobb where she lives—is declaring herself a “de facto” commissioner.

Her colleagues declined on Tuesday to give notice of a vacancy in the new District 2, where she is not a legal resident. The legislative maps drew her out, prompting her and her two Democratic commissioners to attempt to use home rule authority to assert reapportionment powers the Georgia Constitution has delegated only to the legislature.

If that vacancy is declared, she would have the right to challenge her removal in court. But during the discussion, Birrell said she thought Richardson should serve out the rest of her term.

Cobb approves $7M Lower Roswell Road construction contract
“We don’t have answers to a lot of questions” regarding her status on the Cobb commission, Jerica Richardson said, calling it “a deep, deep Constitutional crisis.”

The vote was tied at 2-2 (Richardson had to recuse herself), and commissioners didn’t indicate if they would take up the matter again.

Her term expires on Dec. 31. Richardson, who did not seek re-election amid the home rule controversy, said on a “community huddle” call with constituents Thursday that as far as she’s concerned, “the seat is vacant, but I don’t know that it is,” a reference to having no formal notice of a vacancy.

She said she’s not sure at the moment what powers, if any, she may still have, especially about sitting in official meetings and taking votes.

“I still want to know if there is some authority under which I’m operating,” Richardson said on the call, adding that it’s a “deep, deep Constitutional crisis.”

Cobb commissioners don’t have another official meeting until Sept. 10.

But the question of whether some of her appointees may not be able to continue to serve—also due to district residency requirements—is uncertain as well.

Among them is David Anderson, Richardson’s appointee to the Cobb Planning Commission, which meets next Tuesday.

He’s a resident of what is now being recognized by the county as District 3, living in the area around Murdock Elementary School.

Planning Commission members serve concurrent terms as the commissioners who appoint them, so Anderson’s term also expires at the end of the year.

East Cobb News has inquired with the county about whether Anderson and other Richardson appointees may be affected by the new maps but has not received a response.

As for East Cobb voters who had been in District 2 under the “home rule” maps: While they got to vote in that race in the May primaries, they won’t be eligible to cast votes in the special elections that were ordered for early next year by Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill.

She vacated the primary results in Districts 2 and 4 because the Cobb elections board also used the “home rule” maps.

The official District 2 runs along I-75 and includes most of the Smyrna/Cumberland area, pushing as east as the western side of Powers Ferry Road.

Here are the precincts in East Cobb that went from District 2 under the “home rule” maps to District 3 under the state maps commissioners adopted this week:

  • Chestnut Ridge 01
  • Dickerson 01
  • Dodgen 01
  • Eastside 01
  • Eastside 02
  • Fullers Park 01
  • Hightower 01
  • Murdock 01
  • Mt. Bethel 01
  • Mt. Bethel 03
  • Mt. Bethel 04
  • Powers Ferry 01
  • Roswell 01
  • Roswell 02
  • Sewell Mill 01
  • Sewell Mill 03
  • Sope Creek 01
  • Sope Creek 02
  • Sope Creek 03
  • Terrell Mill 01
  • Timber Ridge 01

Birrell and Keli Gambrill, the other Republican commissioner from District 1 in North and West Cobb, were re-elected in 2022 using the state maps.

Their current terms expire in 2026.

Cobb government has provided a link for citizens to check their commission district, by typing in your street address.

How all four commission districts look with the state maps. For a larger view click here.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

 

Six presidential candidates to appear on 2024 Georgia ballot

by
Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office this week finalized the names appearing on the Georgia general election ballot for U.S. President.

That’s the first time that more than four candidates have qualified for the Georgia presidential ballot since 1948.

Georgia figures to be a swing state again as the race between the two leading party candidates is polling closely, following their recent political conventions.

In addition to Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump, two third-party candidates qualified, as did two independent candidates.

Chase Oliver of Atlanta is the Libertarian Party candidate, while Jill Stein qualified for the third time to head the Green Party ticket.

The independent candidates are Cornel West, a longtime professor, author and political activist, and Claudia de la Cruz, a political organizer and pastor from New York.

The latter is officially with the Party for Socialism and Liberation but qualified as an independent. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger overruled a state administrative court ruling that denied her, Stein and West Georgia ballot access, according to the AP.

The administrative law judge had ruled that third-party and independent candidates should be left off the Georgia ballot, following challenges from Democratic interests. All but Oliver are on the political left, and in 2020 Georgia’s presidential race was one of the closest in the country.

Chase Oliver, Libertarian; and Jill Stein, Green Party.

Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner by fewer than 12,000 votes, but Trump—who edged out Hillary Clinton in Georgia in 2016—and his supporters have been claiming election fraud ever since.

Trump and 18 others were indicted in Fulton County earlier this year for allegedly trying to overturn the Georgia results. While some have pleaded guilty or negotiated other pleas, Trump has been able to delay that prosecution by trying to get Fulton County District Attorney disqualified.

Those proceedings have been put on hold, until likely after the election, by the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Another candidate who had been attempting to qualify was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was running as an independent after leaving the Democratic primary races.

But he dropped out of the race last week and endorsed Trump.

Under Georgia law, Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians automatically qualify for the presidential ballot.

Cornel West and Claudia de la Cruz, independents

In 2020, Cobb voters gave Biden a majority of the vote, while Trump won a slim majority of the precincts in East Cobb.

Harris, the sitting vice president who was nominated by the Democrats when Biden declined to seek re-election, appeared in Savannah this week with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, also have appeared in Georgia since the Republican convention in July.

Current polls have Harris and Trump in a tight race in Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes.

Georgia will send out military and overseas ballots starting Sept. 17; advance voting begins Oct. 15 for the Nov. 5 elections.

Campaign websites:

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb adopts state electoral maps; Richardson in limbo

by

Cobb adopts state electoral maps; Richardson in limbo

Cobb commissioners voted Tuesday to adopt commission electoral maps approved by the Georgia legislature more than two years ago, after using different maps that were recently ruled unconstitutional.

But commissioners couldn’t pass a resolution that would have begun a process to vacate the seat held by Jerica Richardson because her East Cobb residence is no longer in District 2.

On Tuesday night, a lengthy meeting created more heated rhetoric—along partisan and racial lines—and included a citizen launching a blistering tirade at another commissioner.

It also created more confusion about how long Richardson may be in office. County code requires that commissioners vacate their offices if they don’t live in their districts.

The board voted 3-2 to adopt the legislative maps, but with Richardson recusing herself, commissioners were knotted 2-2 on approving a motion to declare a vacancy.

Cobb commissioners redistricting resolution
Since October 22, Cobb has recognized electoral maps (left) that kept Richardson in District 2 (in pink) that were ruled unconstitutional last month. On Tuesday commissioners approved state maps that put most of East Cobb in District 3 (yellow).

If that resolution had passed, the county would have had 10 days to declare a vacancy in a process that allowed for Richardson to contest her removal in court.

On Wednesday, Cobb government issued a statement saying that Richardson is still a commissioner, but didn’t indicate for how long.

The statement said that the failure to pass a resolution declaring the District 2 seat vacant allows Richardson “to continue serving as the district’s representative.”

During Tuesday’s lengthy discussion, Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose District 3 includes most of East Cobb in the state maps, said she didn’t want Richardson to have to leave immediately.

“I do struggle with this,” Birrell said, “but I don’t support this, giving notice kicking her out. I think she should finish her term.”

‘Two years of hell’

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell called the map dispute “two years of hell.”

Richardson is part of the three-Democrat majority that voted in Oct. 2022 to adopt maps drawn by former State Rep. Erick Allen, then the Cobb legislative delegation chairman, that would have kept Richardson in her seat.

They claimed “home rule” authority to adopt those maps after the legislature approved maps that placed Richardson, who moved to a home off Post Oak Tritt Road in 2021, into District 3.

But Birrell and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill were among those saying that the Georgia Constitution allows only the legislature to conduct county reapportionment.

They read statements into the record before casting votes in meetings starting in January 2023 objecting to the “home rule” maps.

Birrell didn’t like the Allen maps because her district would be majority Democratic. She said that “she looked at all scenarios to keep Jerica in District 2, but the numbers didn’t warrant that. . . .

“It has been two years of hell going through this.”

Sheffield had previously noted that legislators told them that “when we draw maps we don’t consider political parties. It’s for the citizens of Cobb County.”

Gambrill was an initial plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging those maps and later eventually dismissed by the Georgia Supreme Court due to a lack of standing.

Another legal complaint was filed by Republican Alicia Adams in April, after she was disqualified from running in District 2 under the home rule maps that were being followed by the Cobb Board of Elections.

On July 25, Cobb Superior C0urt Judge Kellie Hill ruled in favor of Adams, declaring the “home rule” maps unconstitutional.

Hill also ordered special elections for early 2025 in District 2 and District 4, since those maps were used for May primaries.

Richardson is a first-term Democrat who decided not to seek re-election earlier this year, opting instead for an unsuccessful Congressional bid, as the map dispute lingered.

Her term expires on Dec. 31. The same goes for District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield of South Cobb, who won a May Democratic primary based on the county-adopted maps.

They voted against the resolution to adopt the legislative maps on Tuesday.

Sheffield, who on Monday described the partisan squabbling on the board as “political Crips and Bloods,” wanted to pull the item for further discussion. She also was “all for” seeing Richardson complete her term.

But Birrell, who has been insisting her colleagues “follow the law,” said the matter has dragged on too far.

“This has to end tonight,” she said. “It has gone on too long.”

While what happened to Richardson “isn’t fair,” Birrell continued, “the bottom line is we don’t have the authority to draw a map.”

She, Gambrill and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid voted in favor of adopting the state maps.

Cupid continued to claim that “a great harm” was done to Cobb by the legislature in bypassing local delegation courtesies during reapportionment.

On the motion to declare a vacancy, Gambrill and Cupid voted in favor, while Birrell and Sheffield voted against.

‘You are a joke’

After Richardson returned to the dais, several public commenters had their say.

One of them, East Marietta resident Don Barth, tore into Cupid and Sheffield.

Barth is a Democrat who was disqualified in District 2 by the Cobb County Democratic Committee in the primaries for not living in that district according to the home rule maps.

A frequent public commenter, Barth greeted commissioners by saying, “you are a joke,” and ramped up the rhetoric from there, attacking Cupid, Sheffield and Cobb County Attorney Bill Rowling in particular.

“You wonder why there’s no trust? You earn trust. You haven’t earned anything lady,” he said to Cupid. “You have been the worst thing for Cobb County.”

But Cupid cut off his comments after he yelled at Sheffield, with him shrieking that “I don’t work for you, you work for me!”

Sheffield said his comments, and their tone, made her feel “threatened.”

Barth replied that “you are a drama queen!”

After repeating that line twice, he was removed from the podium and escorted out of the room by law enforcement.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Cobb commissioners feud over resolving electoral map dispute

by
Cobb commissioners feud over resolving electoral map dispute
Cobb commissioner Monique Sheffield—second from right—said that “we have become nothing more than political Bloods and Crips. . . . No offense to the Crips and Bloods.”

Instead of hammering out the beginning steps toward resolving a long, bitter dispute over electoral maps, Cobb commissioners on Monday launched into some of their harshest rhetoric yet on the matter.

During a work session to go over Tuesday’s meeting agenda, the partisan—and even racial—divides that have marked the saga boiled over more than they ever have.

The county opted last week to accept a Cobb Superior Court judge’s ruling that “home rule” maps adopted in late 2022 by the commission’s Democratic majority violated the Georgia Constitution.

As a result, the Cobb County Attorney’s Office proposed a resolution to adopt legislative-approved commission maps and give legal notice to vacate the District 2 seat—which had included some of East Cobb—due to residency issues.

That resolution is supposed to be on Tuesday night’s meeting agenda, but the work session Monday left that in doubt.

(You can watch the full discussion of the home rule issue in the video below.)

A notice to vacate, if approved, could mean that Democratic incumbent Jerica Richardson—who did not seek re-election—may have to leave office before her term expires at the end of December.

But Comissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb—one of two Republicans on the board—wanted her colleagues to repeal the “home rule” maps before doing anything else.

They were approved by the Democrats, claiming “home rule” exceptions under state law, after Richardson was drawn out of her East Cobb home. The Republican-led legislature did not consider maps approved by the county’s Democratic-majority legislative delegation that kept Richardson in District 2.

But in late July, Judge Kellie Hill said the Cobb’s action was unconstitutional because only the legislature can conduct county reapportionment. She also ordered special elections for next year to redo the results of primaries in District 2 and District 4 that were conducted with the “home rule” maps.

Birrell’s request to repeal those maps was opposed by Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who said that action was not on the agenda and hadn’t previously been discussed in work sessions.

“Until [the home rule maps are] repealed, we can’t move forward with any notice” regarding the vacancy, insisted Birrell, who reiterated a desire for outside counsel.

She and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill questioned the advice commissioners were getting from their in-house legal counsel.

Gambrill said she noticed that during an executive session on the issue, the county attorney’s staff kept separate sets of notes, with two in red (indicating the two Republican commissioners) and three others in blue (noting the Democrats).

“This is strictly political at this point,” Gambrill said. “Is our counsel going by the law or going by the majority?”

She and Cupid began raising their voices over one another, then Gambrill took aim at Richardson, who said she would recuse herself from a vote, saying “this item is being sent directly to me . . . I’m leaving my future up the four of you.”

Richardson said a vote to repeal the maps would be a home rule act that has been ruled unconstitutional and that “you can’t have it both ways.”

Monique Sheffield, a first-term Democrat from District 4 in South Cobb, blamed Republican lawmakers for bypassing local delegation courtesies during reapportionment in 2022.

“This is very political and it started at the statehouse when Commissioner Richardson was drawn out of her district,” Sheffield said.

“What’s happening in Cobb County is what’s happening nationally. People are dug in on their side, regardless of what is right.

“We have become nothing more than political Bloods and Crips,” she added, making a reference to criminal gang rivals. “No offense to the Crips and Bloods.”

That remark drew some chuckles, but the nearly 40-minute discussion was far from a laughing matter.

Sheffield took a bleaker turn, saying Richardson had received “nasty and disgusting” text messages that “takes me back to a time where people were not welcome in this country. People are still not welcome.

“When you have a young commissioner who decides to move in an area still within her district and she’s drawn out, but when she’s told she should move to an urban area, and that someone wants to ‘protect’ their community, that may not resonate to some of you but that resonates to me.”

When a spectator objected to that comment, Cupid said “you can get up and leave.”

Sheffield said that if Richardson were a Republican, “would we see all of this here? I don’t think we would.”

Richardson didn’t say anything in response to Sheffield’s comments.

The last two years, commissioners have heard “we want her out of her seat. We want blood, we want blood,” Sheffield continued, pounding her fists on the table.

At that point, Birrell interjected: “I didn’t say that.”

Sitting just a couple of feet away, Sheffield turned to her and said: “I didn’t say that you did. . . . This is an indictment on whoever feels that way.”

Later, Birrell said that her request to repeal the “home rule” maps isn’t about any of that.

“This is following the law and upholding the Constitution of the United States, the state of Georgia and Cobb County,” she said.

“The only way to settle this once and for all” is to publish public notices like were done with the “home rule” map approval process with two public meetings before voting to repeal them.

“We need to repeal it once and for all.”

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

11th District, Cobb Democrats take in party convention

by
11th District, Cobb Democrats take in party convention
From left, Cobb County Democratic Committee Treasurer Sharon Marshall and 11th District delegates Tim Bailey, CCDC Second Vice Chair Erika Bailey, Jim Evangelista and Katherine Underwood at a Sunday welcome party in Chicago. Photos courtesy CCDC.

Members of the Cobb County Democratic Committee, including representatives of the 11th Congressional District that covers East Cobb, are in attendance this week in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.

They include second vice-chair Erika Bailey, who said in a CDCC release that “the energy is unbelievable” and that “I will never forget this experience.”

Marshall, who along with Vice President Kamala Harris is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, has made it a point to meet as many other delegates as possible.

Treasurer Sharon Marshall met with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock at a Georgia delegation breakfast. “He told us, ‘Infrastructure is spiritual. We are the country that built the interstate highway. We have to work together.’ ”

On Tuesday, the Georgia delegation cast its votes for the ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, following a memorable introduction by Atlanta rapper Lil Jon.

Marshall is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the same sorority that Harris belonged to during her college days. On Thursday night, Harris will accept the Democratic nomination for president, following President Joe Biden’s decision last month not to seek re-electdion.

“Nominating Kamala Harris as the first black woman and first Asian American nominee for president is an honor I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” Marshall said. “Our state is showing up and showing out at the DNC. I have never been prouder to be from Georgia!”

Cobb Democrats and the Young Democrats of Cobb will be hosting a watch party Thursday from 7-11 p.m. Details and required pre-registration can be found at this link.

11th District, Cobb Democrats take in party convention
Sharon Marshall (right), CCDC treasurer, stands with media personality Star Jones (left) at the 2024 DNC. Both are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the same sorority as Vice President Kamala Harris.
11th District, Cobb Democrats take in party convention
From left to right, CCDC Second Vice Chair Erika Bailey stands with Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and husband Tim Bailey at the Georgia Delegation breakfast.

Related:

Cobb judge upholds decision to call for special elections

by

In what appears to be the end of the road in a long, drawn-out dispute over Cobb Commission electoral maps, a Superior Court judge Tuesday denied the county government’s last-ditch attempt to intervene in a case that’s resulted in special elections for two of the four district commission seats.

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said Wednesday that Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid “will propose an agenda item for commissioners at Tuesday’s BOC [meeting] to accept the ruling and move forward in good faith.”

Cobb judge upholds decision to call for special elections
Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill

Judge Kellie Hill affirmed her ruling from July that the “home rule” maps the county has been using since October 2022 are unconstitutional and that the May primary elections using them must be vacated.

That was after a Republican candidate for Cobb Commission District 2 was disqualified for not living within the map boundaries the county was observing.

In her order, Hill called for special elections using maps approved by the Georgia legislature in 2022, saying Adams lives within the District 2 boundaries in those maps.

The special elections would be scheduled for early next year, according to actions taken last week by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.

During a hearing Tuesday, the county argued that special elections would cost Cobb taxpayers—perhaps hundreds of thousand of dollars—and that the five-member commission could be reduced to three by January 2025.

That’s when the terms of current District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson and present District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield expire.

But in upholding her ruling—and a point the Cobb elections board also made in its brief—Hill said the commissioners—specifically, the three Democrats in the majority who voted for the home rule maps—acted to disenfranchise voters with an improper, unconstitutional map.

She said that nothing in her order calling for special elections implied that there would be a three-person board, clarifying that Richardson and Sheffield could continue serving until the special elections are held.

The Georgia Constitution mandates that the legislature conduct county reapportionment. The “home rule” challenge was a bid to keep Richardson in her seat, after the General Assembly drew her out of her East Cobb home.

Adams filed her complaint against the Cobb elections board, which was observing the “home rule” maps. The county was not a party to that complaint, and its emergency motion to intervene—four months after the fact—was denounced by the elections board and Adams’ attorney.

It’s also not clear when the legislative maps would start to be used by the county. The “home rule” maps included areas of East Cobb in District 2.

In the legislative maps, most of East Cobb is included in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected with those maps in 2022.

Richardson, a Democrat who barely won the District 2 race in 2020 to succeed retiring Republican Commissioner Bob Ott, is not seeking a second term.

She ran for 6th District Congress and was routed in the primary by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath.

The District 2 Democratic primary was won by former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard in a runoff.

Sheffield easily won the Democratic primary in District 4 and was facing no Republican opposition in the general election.

The Cobb elections board last week set two sets of dates to re-do the primaries: from Feb. 11 to April 29 if there are general election runoffs in November; or from March 18-June 17 if there are not runoffs.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Absentee ballot request period for Cobb/Ga. voters underway

by

Absentee ballot request period for Cobb/Ga. voters underway

Registered voters in Cobb County and Georgia who wish to vote absentee by mail for the Nov. 5 general election have until Oct. 25 to request their ballots.

According to Georgia law, you don’t have to have a reason for requesting an absentee ballot but can do so only between 78 and 11 calendar days before an election.

(You can download an application by clicking here.)

Applicants must sign a signature physically—not electronically—and provide their date of birth and other voter identification information on the ballot.

Friends, family members or other individuals assisting an individual with an absentee ballot request may do so, and are required to provide a signature on the application. The ballot will be mailed to the voter.

Applications can be sent via the following methods:

  • E-mail: Absentee@cobbcounty.org
  • Fax:  770-528-2458
  • Mail: Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration
    P.O. Box 649
    Marietta, GA 30061-0649
  • In-Person: Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Office
    995 Roswell St. NE
    Marietta, GA 30060

All absentee ballot applications will be reviewed by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration. Once you receive an absentee ballot, you must fill it out and return it before the polls close on election day.

Cobb Elections has more details on options around absentee voting.

Here’s more general information about absentee voting from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb Elections Board opposes county’s redistricting appeal

by

Days after the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration set calendar dates for special commission elections, its attorneys filed a motion opposed to the county’s continuing efforts to litigate a redistricting saga that has dragged on for nearly two years.

Cobb Elections Board opposes county's redistricting appeal
Cobb elections board attorney Daniel White.

Elections board attorney Daniel White wrote in a filing in Cobb Superior Court on Friday that its opposition to continued legal action over county “home rule” maps is rooted in “the need for final resolution” in the dispute.

White said that the elections board didn’t have “a preferred outcome” in two legal cases over the county’s decisions to use commission electoral maps that differed from those the Georgia legislature approved in 2022.

“The only preference that Cobb BOER had regarding the Home Rule Map dispute was to see it resolved one way or the other,” the filing states (you can read it here).

“To the extent that Cobb County now seeks to undo that resolution or to drag this case into a prolonged appeal, Cobb BOER is opposed to that effort.”

The motion was filed in the court of Judge Kellie Hill, who ruled last month that the commission’s Democratic majority didn’t have authority under the Georgia Constitution to adopt their own maps.

She sided with another Cobb judge who ruled in January in another case that only the legislature can conduct county reapportionment.

Hill has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. to hear the county’s request for intervention, following an emergency motion filed last week.

The controversy began in October 2022, after legislative maps drew Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson out her District 2 residence in East Cobb.

Richardson, Cupid and District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield claimed the county had home rule authority to draw electoral maps and approved the use of maps drawn by the Cobb delegation.

Those maps were never voted upon by the legislature, which adopted maps proposed by Cobb Republican lawmakers.

The Cobb elections board followed the home rule maps in the May primary and disqualified a Republican candidate, Alicia Adams, who lived in District 2 in the legislative maps but not in the home rule maps.

Hill ruled in favor of Adams, throwing out the primary results, and ordered new elections in District 2 and District 4. Richardson did not seek re-election; Sheffield won the Democratic primary in District 4.

On Monday, the elections board set two sets of dates to re-do the primaries: from Feb. 11 to April 29 if there are general election runoffs in November; or from March 18-June 17 if there are not runoffs.

But on Tuesday, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid was adamant that the county intervene in the Adams case, to which it had not been a party.

In addition to extra funding needed for for special elections, she said “a great harm” was done to the county when the legislature ignored the delegation maps (the county’s filing is here).

In filing a motion to intervene, Assistant Cobb County Attorney Elizabeth Monyak said that Hill’s injunction “could potentially deprive half of Cobb County from having any representation on the BOC until June of 2025 at the earliest.”

In his motion, however, White said the county’s enabling legislation allows commissioners [in this case districts 2 and 4] to serve their terms until their successors are elected.

JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill, the two Republican commissioners, have objected to the home rule maps since they were first put in use in January 2023, and reiterated their opposition on Tuesday.

“Follow the law,” said Birrell, whose District 3 includes most of East Cobb under the legislative maps.

The elections board, which received an additional $2.4 million from commissioners this week to conduct the November elections, is ready to move on as well.

“It is past time for the voters of Cobb County to have a final resolution regarding the Home Rule Map issue,” White wrote.

“The County chose not to intervene in this case for over four months . . . and has now moved to intervene only after it is not satisfied with the outcome.”

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

“The case law is clear that

 

Dungeons and Democrats event set for East Cobb candidates

by

Dungeons & Democrats: The Campaign Campaign is coming to East Cobb on Aug. 25 featuring local candidates in a unique way. Submitted info from the organizers:

At this event, four local candidates running in competitive Republican-held districts will take the stage for a lively dinner theater-style performance playing a custom tabletop roleplaying game.

The event began as a way for JD Jordan (Senate District 56) to combine a hobby with his desire to connect with voters in novel ways outside of a typical political setting. Jordan recruited Eric Castater (House District 45), Micheal Garza (House District 46), and Laura Judge (Cobb Board of Education Post 5) to join his adventuring party.

This event will take place from 4 – 7 pm on August 25th at Round Trip Brewing Company in East Cobb (4475 Roswell Rd Suite 1600, Marietta, GA 30062).This date was chosen as a nod to DragonCon, the massive fan convention that takes place annually in Atlanta during Labor Day weekend.

The host and designer of the game is Alex White, a local sci-fi and fiction author. White has written several novels, including entries to the Alien and Star Trek franchises. They are currently working on the newest Alien video game, Alien: Rogue Incursion.

The ticketed fundraising event will feature a three hour show, a costume contest, and giveaways.

The candidates featured are as follows:Dungeons and Democrats event set for East Cobb candidates

  • JD Jordan, who is running for Georgia Senate District 56. Senate District 56 includes western Roswell, East Cobb, as well as portions of Woodstock and Holly Springs. President Biden won 43% of the vote in this district in 2020.
  • Eric Castater, who is running for Georgia House District 45. House District 45 includes East Cobb. President Biden won 47.2% of the vote in HD45.
  • Micheal Garza, who is running for Georgia House District 46. House District 46 contains portions of East Cobb and Southeastern Cherokee County. Biden earned 44.1% of the vote in 2020.
  • Laura Judge, who is running for Cobb County Board of Education Post 5. Post 5 covers East Cobb running from Marietta to the Fulton County border. Biden earned 48.6% of the vote in this district.

Tickets are available for purchase at: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dungeonsanddems

Despite this being a ticketed event, we invite all members of the public to watch the event via a livestream broadcasted on Twitch. The broadcast will begin at 3:45 at https://www.twitch.tv/ftrstrategies

“When JD approached me with this concept, I leapt at the chance to put it together because I think that it accomplishes three very important things,” said Mo Pippin, co-owner of FTR Strategies, “Firstly, it lives up to our mission of finding creative and innovative ways to meet our community members wherever they are. Secondly we are creating an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together over an interest that has persisted since the 80s as a beloved activity for generations of people. Thirdly and most importantly, this gives community members a space to see these candidates as who they truly are – fellow nerds, hobbyists, musicians, and storytellers.

“The campaign trail often shows one dimension of what it takes to be a candidate for office; we want to break the traditional perception that people have built regarding who can be a candidate and what a candidate is supposed to be like. These are our neighbors running grassroots campaigns while maintaining full-time jobs and personal lives. We hope this event serves as an opportunity for people to engage with us in a lighthearted and interactive environment.”

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Advance voting schedule for Cobb general elections approved

by
East Cobb election results
Campaign signs from the 2020 general elections at a precinct on Indian Hills Parkway. ECN file photo.

The Cobb Board of Elections on Monday approved an advance voting schedule for the general elections that includes two Saturday voting days and one on the Sunday before the Nov. 5 election day.

Advance voting will take place from Oct. 15-Nov. 1 at a number of locations, including the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).

The East Cobb Government Service Center also will have a drop box for absentee ballots that are available only during advance voting hours.

Voters can go to any of the advance voting locations, or drop off absentee ballots at any of the designated drop boxes during the advance voting period.

Here are the specific schedules for the two advance voting locations in East Cobb:

East Cobb Government Service Center

  • Tuesday-Saturday, Oct. 15-19: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.
  • Sunday, Oct. 20: 12-5 p.m.
  • Monday-Saturday, Oct. 21-26: 7 a.m.—7 p.m.
  • Sunday, Oct. 27: 12-5 p.m.
  • Monday-Friday, Oct. 28-Nov. 1: 7 a.m.—7 p.m.
  • Dropbox open during above dates and hours

  Tim D. Lee Senior Center

  • Tuesday-Saturday, Oct. 15-19: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.
  • Monday-Saturday, Oct. 21-26: 7 a.m.—7 p.m.
  • Monday-Friday, Oct. 28-Nov. 1: 7 a.m.—7 p.m.
  • No Sunday voting
  • No dropbox availability

There will be no voting from Nov. 2-4.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, voters will go to their assigned precincts to cast their ballots in person.

For more information, visit the Cobb Elections Advance Voting page.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb special elections scheduled as map dispute lingers

by
Cobb commission special elections scheduled as dispute lingers
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said Tuesday “a great harm was done to Cobb County” with legislative-approved electoral maps.

The Cobb Board of Elections is moving ahead with special elections for commission races as a long-standing legal saga over redistricting continues elsewhere in county government.

The elections board on Monday approved two sets of special-election schedules for Cobb Commission races in Districts 2 and 4 for early 2025 after Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill vacated May primaries for those seats.

If there are December runoffs from the November general elections, those special commission elections would start on Jan. 20 and end on April 7.

If there are not runoffs, the two commission seats would be determined in voting from Feb. 12 through June 17.

The special-election dates coincide with previously scheduled municipal elections in Cobb County, but would come after the commission seats of current commissioners Jerica Richardson (District 2) and Monique Sheffield (District 4) expire on Dec. 31.

It’s not clear what might happen with two vacancies on the commission, which would go from a 3-2 Democratic majority to a 2-1 edge for Republicans.

On July 25, Hill ruled that May primaries using “home rule” maps approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners’ Democratic majority for the two district commission elections were unconstitutional, because they weren’t adopted by the Georgia legislature.

Cobb commissioners redistricting resolution
Cobb commission District 2 boundaries (in pink) and District 3 (in yellow), as adopted by the county on the left, and the legislature on the right.

Hill was ruling on a petition by Alicia Adams, a Republican who was disqualified in District 2 because she lives in the boundaries set by the legislature.

She filed her complaint against the Cobb elections board, which was honoring the “home rule” maps. The board Democrats in October 2022 claimed the county had home rule powers under the Georgia Constitution to conduct redistricting, after the legislature ignored maps drawn up by the Cobb legislative delegation.

But Hill affirmed a January ruling by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris that the county had no authority to redraw its own political maps, saying it was solely the responsibility of the legislature.

Late last week, the Cobb County Attorney’s Office filed an emergency motion to intervene in the Adams case, even though the county was not named as a defendant (you can read the motion here).

On Tuesday morning, Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid defended the county’s decision to seek intervention, saying “a great harm was done to our county” when the Georgia legislature ignored the Cobb delegation maps.

Home rule powers were claimed by the three Democrats—Cupid, Richardson and Sheffield—in a bid to keep Richardson in office.

The first-term Democrat was drawn out of her East Cobb home in the legislative maps, which placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell.

“There has been no effort to circumvent the Constitution,” Cupid said in remarks at the commission’s regular meeting. “However, there has been an effort to circumvent the votes of many voters who voted for each one of us who are sitting here today.

“There has been an effort to circumvent on trusting what the local delegation in putting forward a map for the Board of Commissioners. That has been a process over the 12 years that I have been here. There has been very little objection or question about why that was circumvented.”

Her remarks followed continuing statements by Birrell and Gambrill, the board’s two Republicans, who were opposed to the decision to try to intervene in the Adams case.

The home rule challenge, Birrell said, has gone on nearly two years “at taxpayers’ expense and should never have been done to begin with. We all took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, of the State of Georgia, and of Cobb County. Follow the law.”

Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs

Gambrill—an original plaintiff in a related Cobb home rule case that reached the Georgia Supreme Court but was not decided on the merits—called Cobb’s action “the path of anarchy.”

In its emergency motion, the Cobb County Attorney’s Office noted that in addition to the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in expenses that would be needed for special elections, Hill’s injunction “could potentially deprive half of Cobb County from having any representation on the BOC until June of 2025 at the earliest.”

Cobb Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs said during a public comment period earlier in Tuesday’s meeting that the county has only itself to blame for that.

“With the chaos you people have created, you’re going to make the taxpayers pay for that,” Grubbs said, “when it’s your responsibility and it’s your quest for power over Cobb County that has caused this situation.

“You refuse to acknowledge the fact that you violated your oath and Ms. Richardson should not be sitting on the dais. You have protected her at all costs in that seat so that you can have the majority.”

Richardson, who declined to seek a second term and instead launched an unsuccessful bid for Congress has not publicly commented on the matter.

Former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard won the Democratic primary in District 2 and Sheffield cruised in the Democratic primary in District 4.

Later in the meeting Tuesday, commissioners voted 4-1 to approve $2.4 million in additional spending for the 2024 elections due to costs associated with the presidential election, as well as one-time costs for technology and equipment, security at polling stations and seasonal personnel (poll workers).

Cobb elections director Tate Fall said that funding includes more than $624,000 that is being earmarked for the commission special elections.

Gambrill voted against the measure.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Cobb to appeal court order for new commission elections

by

Cobb County is appealing a recent court ruling ordering new commission elections, continuing a dispute over electoral maps at that’s nearly two years old.

The county issued a statement Tuesday saying it’s filed motions in Cobb Superior Court to become a party to a complaint filed in March against the Cobb Board of Elections and reverse an order by Judge Kellie Hill last month that invalidated primary elections for commission districts 2 and 4.

In the statement the county said its action is an attempt to reverse the order “to ensure proper legal procedures were followed and to protect the interests of Cobb County taxpayers.” The new action is asking that the May primary results stand.

The filings come several days after commissioners conducted an executive session that didn’t specify a reason.

Hill said that those elections were conducted using maps approved by the commission’s three Democrats and violated the Georgia Constitution.

The county maps were approved under a claim of home rule. But in her ruling, issued July 26, Hill backed up a January ruling by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris that only the Georgia legislature can conduct county reapportionment.

Kennesaw-area resident Alicia Adams had filed a complaint against the elections board—not the county—after being disqualified as a Republican candidate in District 2 under the home rule maps, which include some of East Cobb. She lives within the District 2 boundaries in the legislative maps.

“The Court, having ruled the Home Rule Map unconstitutional in the companion appeal finds the Plaintiff has a clear legal right to seek qualification for the Cobb County Commission, Post 2, using the Legislative Map, if qualified, to run for a special primary in that post,” Hill states in the ruling.

That decision invalidate the District 2 and 4 primaries until most likely after the November general elections. The terms of Democratic commissioners Jerica Richardson and Monique Sheffield, respectively, expire in December.

In its filings Monday, the county referenced the rights of voters in the two affected districts, saying new elections would be “disruptive and contrary to the public interest” to change the maps with the general election so close.

New elections could deprive voters in those areas of elected representation possibly in June of next year, and hit taxpayers with the cost of special elections, the county is now arguing.

“I am hopeful the judge in this matter can provide clarity in responding to our county attorney’s inquiries on behalf of our Board,” said Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, a Democrat, in the county’s statement on Tuesday.

She’s on the November ballot seeking a second term. Sheffield won her District 4 Democratic primary easily, and would have been unopposed in November.

In District 2, former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard won the Democratic primary, and East Cobb resident Pamela Reardon qualified under the home rule maps. Hill’s order would disqualify Reardon.

Richardson, who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in District 2 under the legislative maps—triggering the long-drawn-out-dispute—decided not to seek re-election and ran unsuccessfully for 6th District Congress.

East Cobb News has left a message with Richardson seeking comment.

The two Republican commissioners, Keli Gambrill of North Cobb and JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb, oppose the county’s new legal filings (their terms expire at the end of 2026).

Birrell was re-elected in 2022 under legislative maps that placed most of her district in East Cobb.

Both GOP representatives have filed statements at each board business meeting since January 2023 stating their objections to the home rule maps.

Cupid, Richardson and Sheffield voted in October 2022 to approve the home rule maps to conduct county business. The Cobb elections board decided earlier this year to follow those same maps for the primaries.

The county is no longer arguing for the validity of its maps, but the process for determining how two of its district commissioners will be chosen by voters.

“While the county agreed it would return to the state legislative map in a lawful and orderly manner, the motions were filed to ensure proper legal procedures were followed and to protect the interests of Cobb County taxpayers,” the county’s statement Tuesday states.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

 

 

New Cobb commission elections ordered in redistricting ruling

by
New Cobb commission elections ordered in redistricting ruling
Alicia Adams speaking at a recent Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.

New elections to fill two seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners were ordered on Thursday by a Cobb Superior Court judge, who threw out recent primary results in deciding a long-standing electoral map dispute.

Judge Kellie Hill said in her ruling that the May 21 primaries as well as a June runoff for one of the seats were conducted using electoral maps that violate the Georgia Constitution.

She said the commission’s Democratic majority was not authorized to approve “home rule” maps in 2022 that were used by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration this year because reapportionment is a function of the Georgia legislature.

Hill said that special primaries and special elections for seats in District 2—which had included some of East Cobb—and District 4 in South Cobb will be necessary following the November elections, using maps approved by the General Assembly in 2022.

She waited until after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out a separate lawsuit on a technicality in May to hear a different complaint against the Cobb elections board.

In her decision Thursday, Hill ruled on an appeal by a Republican candidate, Alicia Adams, who had been disqualified for the District 2 race under the home rule maps.

(You can read Hill’s ruling by clicking here.)

Adams lives within those boundaries under the legislative maps, but East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, a Democratic activist and ally of current District 2 Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson, challenged her qualification under the home rule maps.

The elections board ruled Adams didn’t qualify under the home rule maps.

Hill referenced a ruling in January by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris in another case that the home rule maps were unconstitutional.

“The Court, having ruled the Home Rule Map unconstitutional in the companion appeal finds the Plaintiff has a clear legal right to seek qualification for the Cobb County Commission, Post 2, using the Legislative Map, if qualified, to run for a special primary in that post,” Hill states in the ruling.

“The Court finds that the Plantiff is entitled to a writ of mandamus requiring the Cobb BOER to cease using the Home Rule Map for future elections and qualification purposes” as well as requiring the special elections.

The Cobb elections board said in a statement Friday that it would schedule those elections “as soon as practicable afterwards” but didn’t indicate when that might be.

Proposed Cobb commission redistricting map
The Cobb “home rule” maps included some of East Cobb in District 2 (in pink) in an election that was on the May primary ballot.

Most voters in East Cobb who cast ballots in the District 2 primary and runoff will not be able to do so in the special elections because the legislative-approved maps are now in force.

Democrat Jaha Howard, a former member of the Cobb Board of Education, won a Democratic runoff in District 2. The only Republican on the primary ballot was Pamela Reardon of East Cobb.

But Reardon won’t be able to run in the special election because she lives in District 3 under the legislative maps.

The legislative maps have most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell. District 2 includes most of the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area, as well as the I-75 corridor north to Marietta and the Town Center area.

 

The commission Democrats decided to test the home rule provision after Cobb Republican legislators ignored maps drawn up by the Democrat-led county legislative delegation that would have kept Jerica Richardson, one of those Democrats, in her seat.

The legislative maps drew Richardson out of her home in East Cobb, and commissioners voted 3-2 along partisan lines in October 2022 to follow the delegation maps.

Cobb GOP BOC redistricting map
Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).

In a statement issued Friday, the Cobb elections board said that Hill’s order “confirmed the Board of Elections’ long stated position that it did not have authority to declare the Home Rule Map resolution unconstitutional of its own accord.”

With the legal issues pending, Richardson ran for Congress in May, but lost in the Democratic primary to U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in the 6th District.

Howard was one of five Democrats running in the primary to succeed Richardson, along with former State Rep. Erick Allen, who drew up what became known as the home rule maps.

In District 4, current first-term Democratic commissioner Monique Sheffield won the May primary, and was facing no Republican opposition in November.

But she’ll have to qualify and run again in the new special primary and election for that seat.

Those are the only two district seats up this year. The race for Cobb Commission Chair is unaffected, since it’s countywide. Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Cupid is seeking a second term against Republican Kay Morgan in November.

The terms of the commission’s two Republicans, Birrell and Keli Gambrill—an initial plaintiff in the lawsuit thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court—run through 2026.

Cupid said in a statement on Friday that “I respect the judge’s ruling and we are assessing how to move forward.”

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt told East Cobb News later Friday in response to a question if the county would appeal by saying that “there has been no discussion at this point about any further legal action.”

It remains unclear what would happen when the District 2 and District 4 terms expire at the end of the year, since elections are unlikely to be called before then.

And it’s also uncertain if Richardson will have to step down before her term expires at the end of the year, since district commissioners must reside within those boundaries.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb warns of text scam to apply for an absentee ballot

by

Cobb County government sent out this message on Wednesday afternoon:Cobb warns of text scam to apply for an absentee ballot

Several people have contacted Cobb’s Elections Department, saying they received text messages urging them to apply for an absentee ballot. The text messages appear to be coming from a Cobb Elections phone number and point recipients to the Secretary of State’s absentee ballot request page.

While the link is legitimate, the text messages are NOT from Cobb Elections, and the phone number is a spoof.  Cobb County Elections currently does not send out unsolicited voting information via text messages.

The incident has been reported to the state, and Cobb Information Technology Services (ITS) and others are investigating.

Important Safety Tips:

Do not click on links in emails or texts unless you know the sender’s identity.

Spoof websites can look identical to the real ones. Always verify by typing the URL directly into your browser.

Read more about spoofing, scams, and other cyber security here: https://www.cobbcounty.org/police/news/technology-scamsinformation

Stay vigilant and protect your personal information!

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Trump campaign volunteer group opens East Cobb office

by

A new voter initiative by the presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump, Trump Force 47, opened an office in East Cobb this week.Trump campaign volunteer group opening East Cobb office

An opening event took place Wednesday at the office, located at 2440 Sandy Plains Road, Building 10.

Trump Force 47 is a canvassing effort to mobilize volunteers to get out the vote for Trump in key battleground states. A similar field office is opening this week in Woodstock, and others are rolling out in other states where the presidential race is expected to be competitive.

The statewide Trump Force 47 effort is organized by the Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party.

The Trump Force 47 organization was created after Trump’s guilty verdict in a hush-money trial in New York last month. One estimate by the campaign claimed it raised $35 million after the conviction.

Trump has been lagging behind Biden’s campaign in fundraising, but a recent report says the Trump campaign now has more cash on hand.

The Cobb field office for Trump opens shortly after the Biden campaign opened a Cobb office near Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.

Georgia is expected to be a decisive factor in presidential voting, especially metro Atlanta suburbs that once were strongly Republican. The candidates held their first debate Wednesday in Atlanta in an event organized by CNN.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has been campaigning frequently in Georgia in recent weeks, and polls released last week had Trump leading Biden 45-41 percent in the state.

Cobb has been a focal point, after being strongly Republican since the 1980s. Hillary Clinton and Biden have won the county in 2016 and 2020, with parts of East Cobb and West Cobb favoring Trump.

Biden defeated Trump in Georgia in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes, according to certified results. But Trump and some Georgia Republicans have disputed those figures, claiming election fraud.

Trump and other defendants have been indicted in Fulton County on charges of racketeering activities to attempt to illegally overturn the Georgia results.

Trump is trying to get Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified, and his case has been put on hold temporarily.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Cobb Commissioner District 2 Democratic runoff results

by

Cobb Commissioner District 2 Democratic runoff results

Updated, 10:24 pm:

According to final, unofficial results, Howard received 73 percent of the vote with all 37 precincts reporting.

Howard tallied 1,738 votes to 641 for Whorton, and he won 35 of the 37 precincts.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has updated results at this link. They must be certified by the Cobb Board of Elections.

Howard advances to the November general election, but it is unclear what the District 2 boundaries will look like and who the Republican candidate may be.

For the primary and runoff, District 2 included a good portion of East Cobb, but the electoral maps are under a legal dispute that could change them.

There was a hearing Thursday in Cobb Superior Court before Judge Kellie Hill on that matter. Afterwards, the Cobb Board of Elections asked for a delay in the District 2 and District 4 commission general elections slated for November, until after the matter is resolved in the courts.

Democratic first-term Commissioner Jerica Richardson was drawn out of her seat during legislative reapportionment in 2022, and she and her Democratic colleagues are observing maps drawn by the Cobb delegation, citing “home rule” powers that apply to local governments.

Most of East Cobb was included in the legislative maps in District 3, which is represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected to a fourth term in 2022.

Richardson opted to run for the 6th Congressional District, but was routed in the May 21 primary by incumbent Democrat Lucy McBath.

In the District 2 maps being observed by the Cobb commissioners and Cobb Elections Board, the only Republican to qualify is Pamela Reardon, a local GOP activist.

In the legislative map, Reardon lives in District 3 and could be disqualified if those boundaries change.

But another Republican, Alicia Adams of the Kennesaw area, is challenging the county-observed maps after being disqualified. She filed to run according to the District 2 legislative maps.

But East Cobb Democratic activist Mindy Seger challenged her qualification based on residency requirements, and the Cobb Elections Board concurred.

Adams has appealed that decision in Cobb Superior Court. Hill asked for oral arguments following a recent decision by the Georgia Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Cobb residents against the county “home rule” maps.

Another Cobb judge, Ann Harris, ruled in January that the county maps were unconstitutional, saying only the legislature can conduct reapportionment, and that home rule powers do not include redistricting.

The county appealed the Harris ruling, and the state’s high court reversed it, concluding that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing.

Near the end of its ruling, the Supreme Court did acknowledge that there are “very serious Constitutional issues” with the county commission Democrats’ adoption of the “home rule” maps.

But Adams’ legal challenge could prompt a ruling on the legal merits of the county “home rule” maps, possibly before the general election.

It’s possible the District 2 primary and runoff results could be thrown out and new elections ordered before November.

Original post:

The polls have closed in Tuesday’s runoff elections that includes the Democratic Party race for District 2 on the Board of Commissioners.

Jaha Howard and Taniesha Whorton were vying for the right to earn a spot on the November ballot.

Democrats hold a 3-2 edge on the commission. Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and Commissioner Monique Sheffield, both Democrats, are up for re-election in November.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Ex-Cobb school board member eyes county commission seat

by
Ex-Cobb school board member eyes county commission seat
“People still say they appreciate me,” Jaha Howard said. “Conflict is connected to real solutions.”

After turning heads—and occasionally clashing with his colleagues and school district leaders—during his single term on the Cobb Board of Education, Jaha Howard is sounding a more low-key tone as he campaigns for an open seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

Howard finished first in a five-way Democratic primary with 33 percent of the vote on May 21, and will be facing first-time candidate Taniesha Whorton (previous story here) in Tuesday’s runoff election.

(Here’s Howard’s campaign website.)

Both live in the Smyrna area of District 2, whose boundaries are being disputed in the courts following a reapportionment battle that drew incumbent Jerica Richardson out of her seat.

And both are actively seeking votes in East Cobb in the early hot summer amid low turnout.

Howard sees it as an opportunity to do some serious ground-level retail campaigning.

“There’s a lot of direct connection with voters who tend to vote,” he said in an interview with East Cobb News earlier this week. “We’re having the most success calling voters in East Cobb.”

He said the personal conversations have been fruitful, and his campaign has been targeting seniors with direct mail.

“People in East Cobb were paying a lot of attention over the last few years,” Howard said, referring to his school board tenure, which lasted from 2019-2022.

A precinct map shows polling stations won by Howard in Green, Whorton in brown, Allen in blue and Kevin Redmon in turquoise. Click here to see precinct details. .

“They appreciated that we were asking questions that they wanted answers to.”

Howard—whose school board campaign for Post 2 in the Smyrna area was managed by Richardson—was a central figure in a number of controversies, including demands for greater equity and diversity initiatives in the Cobb County School District, the district’s COVID response and racial disparities.

In 2021, Howard and the board’s two other Democrats, include Charisse Davis—who represented the Walton and Wheeler clusters—requested a special review from the district’s accrediting agency (which ultimately reversed its findings).

That set off several more months of open sparring during 2022, during which Howard gave up his seat and ran unsuccessfully for Georgia School Superintendent.

In reflecting on his school board tenure, Howard said that the political change that’s come to Cobb in recent years has been difficult for some.

(Republican dominance in local government since the late 1980s is now down to a single seat on the school board.)

“For people who did not want to hear honest conversations, it was divisive,” Howard said. “It depends on how you see it.”

He said that on the other hand, he’s been told that he and his Democratic school board upstarts “were a breath of fresh air. People still say that they appreciate me. Conflict is connected to real solutions.”

Howard said his campaign priorities for commissioner are public safety and economic development.

“The people who take care of us,” he said in reference to first responders, “need to be taken care of” in terms of salaries, housing and health services and related resources.

As for local small business growth, Howard—whose pediatric dentistry practice in Vinings has grown from 3 to 20 employees—said “we need to make sure entrepreneurs have what they need.”

He didn’t outline specifics for those areas, or for other hot-button issues that have galvanized citizens recently.

After leaving the school board, Howard was appointed to the Cobb Transit Advisory Board by Chairwoman Lisa Cupid.

Howard said he supports expanding transit, but was initially concerned about the 30-year length of the transit tax referendum that’s being put on the November ballot. But that length was necessary to qualify for federal funding.

“I’m a big fan of investing in our infrastructure,” he said. “What we need to have are better and clearer communications about our vision—what the projects are, and how it benefits us.”

Howard said other issues he’s stressing as he campaigns are the effects of inflation as they pertain to county employees.

“We have to be able to keep up with that,” he said, referencing the county’s challenge of hiring and retaining personnel.

“That’s going to come at a cost.”

But as citizens continue to grapple with rising property tax assessments—those bills just went out a few weeks ago—Howard acknowledged  that it’s “one of the first things that comes up. It’s a shock, how rapidly” assessments have gone up over the last 2-3 years.

When asked if he favors rolling back the millage rate to offset those increases, Howard said that “we have to put all options on the table” with the objective “to put the least burden on homeowners.”

Commissioners delayed voting on a proposed stormwater tax until August after community opposition. Howard said he understands the pain taxpayers are feeling on a number of fronts, but “we’ve kicked the can down the road” for far too long to address a stormwater system that needs to be upgraded.

“At some p0int, we’re going to have to deal with it,” he said. “There’s no easy way out of a shared responsibility.”

While the partisan squabbles on the commission have taken on a different dynamic than the school board, Howard believes there’s nothing wrong with a healthy difference of opinion.

“Some people might see doom and gloom” when observing those open disputes, he said, but it’s good to “hear them out loud in a constructive way.”

But he asserts the priority should be for the board to determine “what’s right and what’s best for our county.”

Howard admitted that regardless of the issues, including housing affordability and zoning and development, that “people still want Cobb to thrive.”

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!