Four Democrats seeking public office in the U.S. Congress and Georgia legislature in the north metro Atlanta area will appear at a political “festival-style concert” in Woodstock on Sunday.
Michael Garza
They’re clients of a new Democratic-aligned campaign consulting firm, FTR Strategies of Roswell, and three are seeking offices that include the East Cobb area.
What’s being called “Votestock” takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Woodstock Arts Event Green (111 Elm St., Woodstock), ahead of the May 21 Georgia primaries.
The event includes family-friendly activities; live music from local rock band Rodeo Drive; locally sourced food; and booths offering information about local businesses, campaigns, and other involvement opportunities.
The candidates include Antonio Daza, a candidate for District 11 in the U.S. House; Micheal Garza, who is running for State House District 46; J.D. Jordan, who’s on the ballot for State Senate District 46; and Tracy Verhoeven, a candidate for State Senate District 21.
Daza, who lives in Atlanta, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk of the 11th District for the second time.
That district was redrawn in January by the legislature to include most of East Cobb, portions of Atlanta and Cherokee County and Bartow County.
Garza, who’s a frequent critic of the Cobb County School District, also is challenging GOP incumbent John Carson of Northeast Cobb and south Cherokee for the second time in three years.
Jordan, of Roswell, is running against Republican Sen. John Albers of District 56, which includes some of East Cobb.
Senate District 21, where Verhoeven is running, is represented by GOP Sen. Brandon Beach and includes parts of Cherokee and north Fulton.
“Woodstock is rapidly growing, vibrant, and a great area to hold a festive event,” Mo Pippin, co-owner of FTR Strategies, said in a release.
“Our hope is to highlight this area as a whole, spread awareness about the election next month, and make Democratic voters feel more united in an area that has traditionally supported conservative candidates.”
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A Republican candidate who qualified to run for the District 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners has been disqualified.
The Cobb Board of Elections voted 4-1 on Friday, along partisan lines, to have Alicia Adams removed from the May 21 ballot.
During a special-called meeting of the board, East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, an ally of outgoing District 2 Democratic commissioner Jerica Richardson, said in her formal challenge that Adams didn’t live in District 2.
The Cobb Elections Board is honoring “home rule” maps approved by commission Democrats instead of maps approved by the Georgia legislature as a legal dispute over those lines continues.
The former maps include some of East Cobb in District 2, while the latter placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris ruled last month that the home rule maps violate the Georgia Constitution, but the county is appealing, and the Georgia Court of Appeals scheduled to hear oral arguments April 17.
In the meantime, the Elections Board announced it would be following the home rule maps.
In her challenge, Seger said that under those maps, Adams—a member of the Cobb Republican Women’s Club—actually lives in District 3, at a residence with a Kennesaw address.
“There is no factual dispute,” Seger said. “She’s either in the district or she isn’t.”
Chuck Boring, an attorney for Adams, said she qualified according to a map that was deemed by Harris and an opinion of the Georgia Attorney General’s office to be the “lawful Constitutional map.
“The Board of Commissioners has substituted their opinion . . . . and because of that I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Cobb GOP chair Salleigh Grubbs called the issue “a hot mess express” and said she’s been asking for clarification on which maps were to be used, adding that the election board’s decision to use the home rule maps came “at the 11th hour.”
After an executive session, the elections board cast its vote, with the four Democratic appointees voting in favor of disqualifying Adams.
Debbie Fisher of East Cobb, the only Republican appointee, voted against the motion to disqualify.
The decision leaves Pam Reardon of East Cobb, also a Republican activist, as the only GOP candidate to qualify.
Five Democrats qualified. They include Kevin Redmon of East Cobb, a former Richardson community advisor; former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard; and former State Rep. Erick Allen, who as Cobb legislative delegation chairman drew the home rule maps.
During qualifying, former Marietta City Council member Reggie Copeland and Don Barth, a resident of East Marietta, attempted to qualify as Democrats in District 2 but were told they did not live within the home rule map boundaries and were turned away.
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The polls have closed and the votes are being counted in Tuesday’s Georgia presidential primaries.
All of the major challengers to Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump have suspended or ended their campaigns, but some of those candidates’ names were on the ballot.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office is compiling the results, and you can find the statewide results by clicking here; if you’re looking for Cobb County results, you can click here.
Later in the week, we’ll break down how East Cobb precincts voted.
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There’s not much suspense attached to Tuesday’s Georgia presidential primaries, but the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for those casting election-day votes.
All of the major challengers to Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump have suspended or ended their campaigns, but some of those candidates’ names will still be on the ballot.
Cobb Elections said that advance voting for the primary has been very light, with fewer than 30,000 votes cast.
But the results figure to be heavily watched as a harbinger for the general election to come in November, especially since Georgia is among the key swing states in the nation, and given the results from 2020.
Biden won by less than 12,000 votes after multiple recounts, but Trump and his supporters have claimed those results were rigged.
That ultimately led to indictments of Trump and 18 others by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and other charges.
How Tuesday’s voting plays out will be especially watched in metro Atlanta, and in suburbs like Cobb which once were Republican strongholds but have been trending Democratic in recent election cycles.
The Cobb Board of Elections announced several precinct changes that will be in effect for the presidential primaries, and three of them are in East Cobb:
Addison: From Legacy Church (1040 Blackwell Road), to Kulture Event Center (2933 Canton Road, Suite 290)
East Piedmont 01: From Elizabeth Baptist Church (315 Kurtz Road), to Shady Grove Baptist Church (1654 Bells Ferry Road)
Roswell 01: East Cobb Church of Christ (5240 Roswell Road), to Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road)
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Qualifying for the 2024 primaries in Georgia ended Friday, and several incumbents in Cobb will be facing challengers in those May elections.
They include members of the U.S. House and Georgia legislature and countywide officials.
In East Cobb, there will be contested primaries for the Republican nomination for the 11th Congressional District as well as two state Senate seats.
In the 11th, GOP incumbent Barry Loudermilk is being opposed by Michael Pons of Woodstock and Lori Pesta, head of the Republican Women of Cherokee County.
The Democrats to qualify are Antonio Daza of Atlanta, whom Loudermilk easily defeated in the 2022 general election, and Woodstock attorney Katy Stamper.
Loudermilk, of Bartow County, has been in office since 2015. The 11th was redrawn by the Georgia legislature earlier this year under a court order, and includes most of East Cobb.
Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson on Friday qualified for the 6th Congressional District, which includes some of South Cobb, in a field of Democrats that 7th District incumbent Lucy McBath.
Although she lives in East Cobb, Richardson opted to run for Congress after sbe was redrawn out of her commission seat, and as a legal dispute over that action continues.
Ga. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb has Republican opposition in District 32. Her challenger is Ben Fremer, a first-time candidate from Cherokee County.
In District 33, which includes some of the East Cobb area, longtime Democratic Sen. “Doc” Rhett will face Euriel Hemmerly of south Cobb, a member of the Cobb school board’s facilities and technology oversight committee, in the Democratic primary.
Rhett defeated her in the Democratic primary two years ago with 68 percent of the vote.
Five Cobb countywide office holders, all Democrats, also have primary opponents.
They include Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, a Democrat who is seeking a second term in that office.
On Friday, Shelia Edwards of South Cobb, who unsuccessfully tried to succeed Cupid as District 4 commissioner in 2022, qualified in the Democratic primary.
The sole Republican qualifier for chairwoman is realtor Kay Morgan of West Cobb.
Edwards, who lost to current District 4 incumbent Monique Sheffield in a Democratic runoff, is the publisher of a news site covering the South Cobb area, and has been highly critical of Cupid in that publication.
Sheffield is facing a challenge from Yashica Marshall, a former candidate for Mableton City Council.
Democratic District Attorney Flynn Broady is being challenged by Sonya Allen, an assistant prosecutor in Fulton County who lives in Cobb.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid
Greg Gilstrap, who has run unsuccessfully for Cobb Sheriff five previous times, qualified for the Democratic primary along with incumbent Craig Owens.
The Republican qualifiers are David Cavender, a Cobb police officer; Ricci Mason, a candidate for Cobb Commission Chair in 2020; and Antaney Hogan.
Cobb Tax Commissioner Carla Jackson, elected twice previously as a Republican, switched to the Democratic Party, and is facing opposition from Jan Becker, a former director in the tax commissioner’s office who retired in 2021.
Democratic incumbent Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor, who has come under fire for fire for personally pocketing passport fees far exceeding her salary, has drawn three primary opponents: Brunessa Drayton, a former aide to Cupid; Nick Simpson, a candidate for the clerk’s office in 2020; and Carole Melton, an assistant to Cobb Superior Court judges.
Deborah Dance, a former Cobb County Attorney currently serving as a member of the Cobb Planning Commission, qualified for Cobb Superior Court Clerk as a Republican.
No Republicans qualified for District Attorney or Tax Commissioner.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners qualifying was marked by controversy when two Democrats who attempted to qualify in District 2 were ruled ineligible due to residency issues.
Former Marietta City Council member Reggie Copeland and Don Barth, a resident of East Marietta, were told they did not live within the District 2 boundaries that are being observed by the Cobb Board of Elections.
Pam Reardon, GOP Candidate for Cobb Commission District 2
The “home rule” maps approved by Commission Democrats are being challenged in court, with some of District 2 in the East Cobb area.
Five Democrats qualified. They include Kevin Redmon of East Cobb, a former Richardson community advisor; former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard; and former State Rep. Erick Allen, who as Cobb legislative delegation chairman drew the home rule maps.
A Cobb judge ruled the use of the home rule maps violates the Georgia Constitution since they were not approved by the legislature. But the county is appealing that to the Georgia Supreme Court, which will hold oral arguments on April 17.
Two Republicans have qualified in District 2: Pam Reardon, an East Cobb realtor and GOP activist, and Alicia Adams of the Cobb Republican Women’s Club.
There will be no contested primaries in four Cobb Board of Education races on the ballot this year, but three of them will be highly watched in the general election in November.
Those three offices are held by Republicans, who hold a 4-3 majority.
In Post 5 in East Cobb, the qualifiers are Democrat Laura Judge and Republican John Cristadoro, both Walton zone parents. The winner of that general election campaign will succeed retiring four-term GOP member David Banks.
In Post 7 in West Cobb, Republican Brad Wheeler has qualified to seek a third term, as has Democrat Andrew Cole, who has been a critic of GOP leadership on the school board.
Deborah Dance, candidate for Cobb Superior Court Clerk
In Post 1 in North Cobb, Republican chairman Randy Scamihorn also is seeking a third term, and his Democratic opponent once again is Vickie Benson, whom he defeated in 2020. She has been a teacher and is a technology entrepreneur.
Democratic incumbent Tre’ Hutchins of South Cobb was the only candidate to qualify in Post 3 and is seeking a second term.
In State House races, all incumbents with East Cobb districts qualified, but none will have primary opponents.
Democratic Rep. Mary Frances Williams (District 36), and GOP House members Don Parsons (44), Sharon Cooper (45) and John Carson (46) will have November general-election opponents.
Democratic Rep. Solomon Adesayna of District 43 was the only candidate of any party to qualify for that race.
In District 56, which includes some of East Cobb, Republican Sen. John Albers will face Democrat J.D. Jordan, a designer from Roswell, in the general election.
A separate post will detail the candidates who have qualified for non-partisan judicial races in Cobb County.
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Two candidates who announced their campaigns for the Cobb Board of Education from East Cobb nearly a year ago qualified for the 2024 primary elections on Monday.
Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge filed qualifying paperwork and fees at their local party offices on Monday.
They’re both parents in the Walton attendance zones, and are seeking the Post 5 seat on the school board being vacated by David Banks, a four-term Republican who is not seeking re-election.
The primary election is on May 21.
Post 5, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is one of four school board posts on the ballot this year.
Three of those seats are held by Republicans, who have a 4-3 majority on a Cobb school board that has been strongly divided along partisan lines in recent years.
In a statement released by his campaign, Cristadoro said that “I am honored to have the opportunity to represent Walton, Wheeler, and Pope High Schools. I believe that maintaining common sense leadership for Cobb schools is paramount to the continued success of all Cobb students.”
After qualifying, Judge announced that she will be holding a fundraiser Thursday hosted by Dr. Dahlia Levine of Dentistry at East Piedmont.
Here are the respective campaign websites for Cristadoro and Judge; and you can find our at-length interviews with both candidates from last spring here and here.
They are the only announced candidates to have qualified thus far. Qualifying continues through noon Friday for Congressional, legislative and local offices across Georgia.
In Cobb, there are three seats on the Board of Commissioners on the ballot—all three currently held by Democrats.
That includes District 2, where first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson has announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District.
The Cobb Board of Elections announced Friday it would be honoring “home rule” maps that include some of East Cobb in District 2 while a legal dispute is played out before the Georgia Supreme Court.
The legislature included most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by GOP member JoAnn Birrell. But the county is appealing a ruling by a Cobb judge that said the “home rule” maps preferred by Democrats violates the Georgia Constitution.
Oral arguments before the court are scheduled for April 17, but on Monday Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blasted the Cobb Elections map decision.
“The Cobb County Commission’s irresponsible decision to proceed with commission-drawn maps jeopardizes candidate qualifying and puts Cobb County voters at risk for disenfranchisement,” Raffensperger said in a release. “The court has already ruled that the commission must use the maps enacted by the General Assembly. Their unilateral decision will add confusion, likely errors, and unnecessary burdens on election officials at the 11th hour. This decision does not serve the people of Georgia.”
On Monday, two previously announced Democratic candidates for District 2 qualified. They are former State Rep. Erick Allen, who drew up the home rule maps that the county is using, and former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard.
William Costa of the Kennesaw area also qualified as a Democrat for District 2.
The other seats up this year include District 4 in South Cobb and the countywide-elected chair.
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When qualifying for May primary elections takes place next week, the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration will honor county-approved county commission redistricting maps at the heart of a continuing legal dispute.
District 2 lines (in pink) that Cobb commission Democrats approved will be used for primary qualifying next week.
The five-member appointed elections board announced Friday that the maps to be used for qualifying for commission races will be those that were approved by the three Democrats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in October 2022.
They did that in claiming a “home rule” exemption that a Cobb judge last month ruled was unconstitutional, and that the county is appealing.
The Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on April 17, but primary ballots have to be printed well before that.
In its announcement Friday, the Cobb elections board said that while candidates in partisan races qualify via their respective local political party offices, “parties and citizens have requested guidance from the Board as to which maps are to be used for qualifying at this time when multiple redistricting lawsuits are still pending in various stages of appeal.”
The board said the “home rule map” for commission districts “remains in place because the [Cobb Superior] Court’s ruling was stayed . . . ”
The board concluded after conferring with its legal counsel that, “out of an abundance of caution, the Home Rule Map should be used and that it ‘remains ready to implement any further direction from the courts on this matter.’ ”
That decision will affect potential candidates in East Cobb.
Three seats on the county commission—the countywide-elected chair, District 4 in South Cobb and District 2 in Smyrna and parts of East Cobb—are on the 2024 ballot.
Current commissioner Jerica Richardson, a first-term Democrat, was drawn out of her East Cobb home in District 2 in maps approved in 2022 by the Republican-led Georgia legislature, which placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by GOP member JoAnn Birrell.
Richardson has since announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District, which includes some of south Cobb.
Five Democrats, including former Cobb legislative delegation chairman State Rep. Erick Allen and former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard, have declared their intent to run in District 2 as Democrats.
Also among the Democratic hopefuls is Kevin Redmon, a former Richardson community advisor who lives in District 3 according to the legislative-approved maps. He has declared his intent to run in districts 2 and 3.
No Republicans have announced for District 2 thus far.
New Cobb school board maps shifted the lines for Post 5 (in purple) to include Pope and Walton attendance zones and exclude some of the Wheeler zone.
The Cobb elections board statement Friday said that for Cobb Board of Education qualifying, it will honor recently redrawn maps by the legislature that were ordered by a federal court, and since there is no pending challenge to it.
Those maps redrew part of East Cobb. Post 5, which is on the ballot this year, was redrawn to include most of the Walton and Pope attendance zones, while much of the Wheeler zone was placed in Post 6. Post 4, which includes most of the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry zones, was not affected.
Thus far, Democrat Laura Judge and Republican John Cristadoro, both parents in the Walton zone, have announced for Post 5, where four-term Republican incumbent David Banks is not seeking re-election.
Four of the seven school board posts are up for election this year, including two of the other three posts held by Republicans. The GOP has held a 4-3 majority since 2019, while Democrats control close majorities on the commission and the county legislative delegation.
The Cobb elections board also said Friday it will honor Congressional and legislative maps passed in January and that were ordered by a federal court.
The board appointments are 4-1 Democrats, with Debbie Fisher of East Cobb the appointee of the Cobb Republican Party.
Primary qualifying takes place Monday, March 4-Thursday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Partisan candidates will qualify at their local party office, and non-partisan candidates will qualify at the Cobb Elections office (955 Roswell St., Marietta).
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Cobb Elections and Registration workers are notifying 73 absentee-by-mail (ABM) voters they received the wrong ballot in a batch mailed out on Friday. The problem came to light when a couple came to vote during advance voting on Monday and told poll workers they had received the wrong ballot in the mail.
Election workers immediately investigated and found that a processing error resulted in only republican ballots being sent out Friday, February 23. Of the 194 ballots issued that day, 75 of them should have been democratic ballots.
The 75 ABM ballots incorrectly sent out have been canceled, and elections workers will notify the remaining 73 voters of the issue and mail them the correct ballots on Tuesday.
“We are happy this situation was found quickly,” said Elections Director Tate Fall. “Our staff was able to pinpoint the issue, identify those who received the wrong ballot, and determine how to correct it. We believe this processing error only impacted ballots issued on Friday, February 23rd.”
Anyone with questions concerning this or any other issue should contact the Cobb County Elections and Registration office at 770-528-2581 or ElectionsInfo@cobbcounty.org.
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Kay Morgan, a Republican who has announced her candidacy for Cobb Commission Chair, will be speaking in East Cobb next week.
She’s the featured guest at a Feb. 20 meeting of the Association of Mature American Citizens at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) starting at 6:45 p.m.
Morgan, a realtor from West Cobb, is the only Republican thus far to announce her campaign, with qualifying taking place the first week in March (her campaign website).
She is vying for the seat held by Democrat Lisa Cupid, who last year announced she would be seeking a second term.
Morgan is a first-time candidate who has the backing of influential figures in Cobb business and Republican political circles. They include former Cobb Chamber of Commerce president John Loud, who’s also taking a major role in the Cobb Board of Education campaign of GOP candidate John Cristadoro in Post 5 in East Cobb.
Morgan, who has been involved with Cobb Executive Women and Leadership Cobb, has reported raising more than $102,000 in 2023, including a $22,000 personal loan, and has more than $82,000 in cash on hand.
An amended disclosure report filed by the Cupid campaign on Feb. 7 noted more than $54,000 in fundraising, but it’s unclear how much cash on hand she has, according to an addendum statement that her campaign said would be updated.
The 2024 election includes most countywide elected offices, in which all but one are held by Democrats (Tax Commissioner Carla Jackson, who has been elected as a member of the GOP the last two elections, has switched to the Democratic Party for this year’s ballot).
According to its website, the Association of Mature American Citizens is a conservative advocacy organization founded in 2007 and that “is here to protect and defend the sanctity of our Constitution and fidelity to our Nation’s Founders. We are unabashed in our fight to protect freedom of the individual, free speech and exercise of religion, equality of opportunity, sanctity of life, rule of law, and love of family.”
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While the presidential primaries have yielded little drama thus far, voters will have options when they go to the polls in Georgia.
Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump were the winners of the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire Jan. 23.
Both will be on Georgia’s March 12 primary ballot, and are heavily favored to win their parties’ nominations.
Trump is among 11 names listed on the Republican ballot that includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and technology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, all of whom have dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Former South Carolina Nikki Haley, who is actively campaigning, is also on the Georgia GOP ballot.
She finished second in New Hampshire, collecting 43 percent of the vote to 54 percent for Trump, who also won the Iowa Caucuses.
Biden, who didn’t formally enter the New Hampshire primary due to Democratic National Committee schedule changes, still won 63 percent of the vote thanks to a write-in campaign.
The South Carolina Republican primary is Feb. 24, setting off a wave of primary contests in short order. That includes “Super Tuesday” on March 5, the week before Georgia, with voting taking place in 17 states and territories.
Voters choosing either primary ballot in Georgia also will be able to cast a write-in vote.
The Cobb Board of Elections has approved early voting for the presidential primary, starting Feb. 19 and continuing through March 8.
Among the early voting locations will be the East Cobb Government Services Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
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Reggie Copeland, who served a term on the Marietta City Council from 2018-2021, announced Tuesday he will be running for the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
In a brief e-mail message, Copeland said he will be running as a Democrat in the May 21 primary for District 2, which includes the City of Marietta.
He is the second candidate to express interest in the seat being vacated by Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is running for 6th District Congress.
Previously, former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard filed a declaration of intent form with Cobb Elections, also for the Democratic primary.
Copeland, who is a counselor, said he will be providing more details about his priorities and platform soon.
In his e-mail announcement, he said that “I don’t see myself literally as just running against another candidate but I am running for ‘All’ people in Cobb County.
“The reason I am running is to improve the quality of life for ‘ALL’ individuals through a process call legislation via best practices, policies, and procedures,” he said.
Copeland represented Ward 5 on the Marietta City Council and was a controversial figure during his time in office.
A judge dismissed his request in 2018 for a restraining order against fellow council member Andy Morris following an argument in a meeting.
A city employee filed an ethics complaint against Copeland for verbally attacking her during a meeting, but that complaint was dismissed.
In 2019, he was charged with obstructing police after a traffic accident. Months later he said he feared for his life as a black man in dealing with law enforcement.
Copeland, who was chairman of the city council’s public safety committee at the time, was sentenced as a first offender and ordered to have an anger management evaluation.
In November 2021, he was defeated for re-election in a runoff with Carlyle Kent, who got 71 percent of the vote.
UPDATED:
After this story was posted, Copeland sent what he called a “complaints file” to East Cobb News (you can read it here) and said that “these FACTS will be shared with the community at large, as I host round tables while on my exciting campaign trail. Also, I will make this information available to ALL that have questions regarding your story.
“As a matter of fact we have already shared the FACTS with numerous citizens and they were elated to find out the real FACTS! Please know that I appreciate FACTS not fake news or alternative facts.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
A native of Marietta, Copeland was a standout athlete at Marietta High School. He earned an undergraduate at Piedmont College, a master’s in education and counseling from the University of Georgia and a master of divinity from Emory University.
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Following up last week’s story about a GOP Cobb school board map that passed the Senate; the same bill was approved by the House Monday by a party-line vote and was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Brian Kemp.
State Sen. Ed Setzler’s Cobb school board electoral map would split the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones. For a larger view click here.
The Georgia legislature was ordered to draw new maps last month by a federal judge as part of a continuing lawsuit alleging that the 2022 maps diluted minority voting strength under the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
The judge, Eleanor Ross, will review the newly approved map.
The 2022 maps pushed most of the East Cobb area (Walton and Wheeler attendance zones) out of Post 6 and into the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area.
That’s one of three posts held by Democrats on the seven-member Cobb Board of Education. Republicans hold a 4-3 majority and three of the GOP-occupied seats expire at the end of this year.
That includes Post 5 in East Cobb, where four-term Republican David Banks is retiring. The new map, sponsored by GOP Sen. Ed Setzler of Acworth would include most of the Wheeler zone in Post 6.
The 2022 maps had Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters in Post 5, with Kell, and most of the Lassiter and Sprayberry clusters in Post 4, which is represented by Republican David Chastain.
The new maps were introduced despite the objections of the Democratic-majority Cobb legislative delegation. Rep. Teri Anulewics of Smyrna, the delegation chairwoman, has introduced her own maps, and legislation has passed the House.
Democrats contend the Setzler map continues to pack minority voters into limited areas and reduce their political influence.
Qualifying for school board races is in early March, with primaries in May. Thus far Democrat Laura Judge and Republican John Cristadoro, parents in the Walton zone, have announced their candidacies for the Post 5 seat.
(Note: While school board posts are drawn by the legislature, school attendance zones are determined administratively by the Cobb County School District.)
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Jaha Howard, who served on the Cobb Board of Education from 2019-2022, has filed a declaration of intent form to run for the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
A Democrat from Smyrna, Howard is considering a campaign for the District 2 seat being vacated by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is running for Congress.
She was a top campaign aide for Howard when he won election to the school board in 2018, helping reduce a 6-1 Republican majority to 4-3.
A declaration of intent is not a formal campaign launch; candidates interested in seeking public office in Cobb have until March to qualify for the May primaries.
Howard was a controversial figure during partisan disputes on the school board, notably over racial and equity issues as well as the Cobb County School District’s COVID-19 response.
He and the school board’s two other Democrats at the time filed approached Cognia, the district’s accrediting agency, complaining that they were being silenced by the four Republican members who make up the majority.
That prompted a special review by Cognia that was reversed in early 2022.
In 2022, Howard opted to run for Georgia School Superintendent, but lost in the Democratic primary. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Georgia State Senate in 2016.
Last year, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid appointed Howard to the county’s transit advisory board.
A graduate of Atlanta Public Schools and Howard University, he is a pediatric dentist who is married with three children.
East Cobb News has left a message with Howard seeking comment.
The District 2 commission boundaries that were approved by the Georgia legislature during reapportionment in 2021 drew Richardson out of her East Cobb home.
Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature would include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold), with District 2 shown in pink.
She and her Democratic colleagues on the commission tried to invoke home rule to keep her in her seat. Last week a Cobb judge ruled that maneuver violated the Georgia Constitution and the county filed an intent to appeal.
Richardson then reiterated her intent to run for the 6th District Congressional seat, which includes South Cobb.
The redrawn 2nd Commission district includes the Smyrna area as well as much of the city of Marietta and the I-75 corridor. It took out most of East Cobb, which is represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell.
Democrats hold a 3-2 majority on the commission and the 2nd District is likely to be held a Democrat.
Cupid and District 4 commissioner Monique Sheffield are the other Democrats, and their terms also end this year.
Before the Cobb court ruling on redistricting, East Cobb resident Kevin Redmon had declared an intent to run for the District 2 seat as a Democrat.
A former member of Richardson’s community cabinet, he reported raising more than $30,000, but he lives in District 3 according to the boundaries approved by the legislature.
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A member of Congress who represents part of East Cobb has changed his endorsement in the Republican presidential primary.
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, who initially pledged support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said Tuesday that he will be backing former President Donald Trump, who easily won the New Hampshire primary.
DeSantis dropped out last week after finishing a distant second to Trump in the Iowa Caucuses.
Trump defeated former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the first primary of the 2024 election calendar in New Hampshire by a 54-43 percent margin.
The South Carolina primary is Feb. 24, and Haley has vowed to continue. Georgia’s presidential primaries are on March 12 but both Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are expected to face off in a rematch of the 2020 election.
“After another overwhelming victory, it’s abundantly clear that the American people want Donald J. Trump to serve as President of the United States once again,” said McCormick, who is in his first term, in an e-mail distributed by his campaign Tuesday.
“As President, Donald Trump can reverse the failed policies of the Biden Administration that have compromised national security, undermined public safety, stifled our economy, and threatened our nation’s future.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we can spur economic growth, stop the border invasion, restore our country’s standing abroad, safeguard our rights and liberties, and protect the American Dream for generations to come.”
On Wednesday, members of Georgia’s delegation to the Republican National Committee urged Haley to end her campaign.
“We are united in our call to move to the general election phase of this campaign so that the finite time, money, and other campaign resources can be focused on firing Joe Biden,” said the statement, which was signed by state party chairman Josh McKoon and RNC members Jason Thompson and Ginger Howard.
Cody Hall, a top advisor to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, denounced the message on X (formerly Twitter), saying that “the GAGOP’s role is to support our party’s nominee, not to try to decide them. One would think they would have learned that lesson in 2022.”
That was a reference to Kemp’s easy re-election in 2022 that included a primary victory over former U.S. Sen David Perdue, whom Trump endorsed after Kemp declined demands by Trump to challenge Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results giving Biden a narrow victory for the state’s 16 electoral votes.
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Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson said Tuesday she will remain a candidate for the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, although it’s been vastly redrawn from when she announced her run last year.
The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
During a special session in December, it was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in a special session in December to include South Cobb, parts of Atlanta and the south metro area.
Most of East Cobb will be in the 11th District, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
The 6th District currently includes parts of East Cobb, North Fulton and Forsyth and Dawson counties, a strongly conservative area designed for a Republican, although Richardson had been making appearances in some of those places.
That’s represented by Republican Rich McCormick, and most of that area is now included in the redrawn 7th District.
When a federal judge ordered new maps due to violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, Richardson said she would not run against an incumbent Democrat.
But the new maps were approved, and former 6th District Congresswoman Lucy McBath, who switched to the Gwinnett-based 7th District in 2022, announced she would be switching back to the 6th.
That’s because much of Gwinnett was carved up by the GOP-dominated legislature into four Congressional districts,, most of them designed for Republicans.
Richardson didn’t mention that in her message (video below), but said her candidacy represents an “opportunity for sustainable and transformational change that will move the entire state forward.
Richardson, who lives in East Cobb, called the new 6th District “my community.” For a larger view click here.
“It’s because this race has always been about us. About our community, and the hopes and dreams that we bring to the table.”
Richardson was drawn out of her District 2 seat during reapportionment, and she and her fellow Democratic commissioners tried to invoke home rule to draw commission district boundaries.
But in a ruling on Monday, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris ruled that action violated the Georgia Constitution. She has not ruled on a lawsuit asking that the legislative-approved boundaries—which would place East Cobb in District 3—be reinstated.
The county has filed a notice to appeal that ruling.
The area of the new 6th District includes much of the 13th District, which has been represented by Democrat David Scott since 2003.
Congressional candidates do not have to live in the districts they’re running in. Richardson moved to her East Cobb home in 2022 after living in the Delk Road area.
“From Mableton to Austell to Powder Springs to Smyrna and Vinings and Sandy Springs and the Perimeter area and South Fulton and College Park and Douglasville and Fayetteville, I love my community,” Richardson said.
“And the Sixth District is my community. I’m deciding and running for you, and I hope you will run with me.”
According to her latest campaign disclosure reports—from April 1 through Sept. 30 of last year—Richardson reported more than $52,000 in contributions and reporting spending roughly half that amount.
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Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).
A Cobb Superior Court judge has ruled that Cobb County Government’s invocation of home rule over Board of Commissioners reapportionment violates the Georgia Constitution.
Judge Ann Harris issued a motion for summary judgment on Monday on behalf of plaintiffs David and Catherine Floam, North Cobb residents who along with Commissioner Keli Gambrill filed suit in 2023.
They were contesting a 3-2 vote by the commission in October 2022 along party lines—the board has three Democrats and two Republicans—to challenge electoral maps drawn by the Georgia legislature earlier in 2022.
Those maps, approved as HB 1154 (see map at right), drew Democratic District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her East Cobb home and placed most of East Cobb in District 3.
The Georgia Constitution stipulates that redistricting of county commission and school board maps is a function of the legislature.
The Republican-led legislature bypassed maps drawn by the Democratic-led Cobb delegation that would have kept District 2 lines largely unchanged (see map at left).
The county’s legal challenge focused on a number of home rule exemptions, passed in 1965 legislation designed to give local governments more control.
But in her ruling (you can read it here), Harris said that law, the Municipal Home Rule Act, and a Constitutional Amendment passed by Georgia voters the next year, does not allow counties to invoke home rule to affect elective county office, including procedures for electing and appointing a county governing authority.
“Cobb County argues that the map is not a procedure,” Harris wrote in her ruling. “Read in the most natural and reasonable way, and giving words their ordinary meaning within the text and context, the Court finds that redistricting is part and parcel of the procedures for an election.”
Maps approved by the Cobb commission’s Democrats would keep Jerica Richardson of East Cobb in the District 2 (in pink) that she currently represents.
At the end of her ruling, Harris concluded that “the Court concludes that Cobb County’s Amendment to Act 562 [the home rule law] was an unconstitutional exercise of authority under its Constitutional Home Rule powers, inasmuch as this Court has found it was an action affecting an elective county office and affecting the procedure for election of the county governing authority.”
A separate lawsuit asking that the state-approved maps be implemented is still pending.
Through a county spokesman, Cobb County Attorney Bill Rowling said Monday that his office will be appealing Monday’s ruling.
“We respect the ruling by Judge Harris issued this morning,” Rowling said. “The county has already filed its notice of appeal and looks forward to making our case during the process ahead.”
That filing states that the appeal should be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in the first week of March; in addition to District 2, the District 4 seat and Cobb Commission Chair—all held by Democrats—will be on the ballot.
The county statement didn’t include a reference to Richardson’s current tenure on the board.
Her term expires at the end of 2024, but it’s uncertain whether she would have to vacate her office immediately.
For Which It Stance, a non-profit advocacy group created by Richardson, issued a statement Monday afternoon denouncing the ruling.
“This ruling casts a spotlight on the Dist 2 Seat, triggering the possibility of an immediate vacancy due to the reinstatement of the state’s HB1154 map,” For Which It Stance Executive Director Mindy Seger said in the statement.
“The unprecedented mid-term vacancy arising from redistricting history in Georgia raises legitimate questions about the potential violation of O.C.G.A 1.3.11, a critical statute addressing the alteration of terms of office.”
Cobb Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs hailed the ruling, saying Harris is “an astute jurist for standing up for the Georgia Constitution. We are happy this case is resolved not only for Cobb County but for every sovereign county in the State of Georgia. Most importantly this is a big win for the voters of Cobb County who were being disenfranchised by this gross overreach and who were left in limbo until this case was resolved.”
Harris held two hearings last year on the lawsuit. Initially filed by East Cobb resident and former Cobb Commission Chairman Larry Savage, the lawsuit later was joined by Gambrill.
But she was later dismissed as a plaintiff after Harris ruled she didn’t have standing.
Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell, the board’s two Republican commissioners, have argued publicly that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment of county elected bodies.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr also issued a statement last year saying the same thing, but his office did not get involved in the lawsuit.
The Floams are residents whose home previously had been in Gambrill’s District 1, then was placed in Birrell’s District 3.
Gambrill and Birrell were re-elected in 2022 with the legislative-approved maps, and voiced their objections each public meeting of 2023 as the commission operated with the Cobb delegation maps.
The commission’s first meeting of 2024 is Tuesday morning, at which a discussion about the case and the ruling may take place.
East Cobb News also asked the county spokesman how commission business will proceed in the wake of the ruling, but he did not respond.
Kevin Redmon, a Democrat from East Cobb who has announced for the District 2 seat but lives in the legislative-approved District 3, issued a statement Monday.
“Redrawing district lines in the middle of a term opens the path to renegade politics where districts can be pulled into question at any point and for any reason,” he said. “We eagerly anticipate an appeal that will further this discussion, which is critical to Cobb County’s political future.”
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East Cobb resident Kevin Redmon, who announced in October his candidacy for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, has filed his first financial disclosure report.
Redmon’s report with the Cobb Board of Elections shows more than $30,000 in fundraising (including in-kind contributions) for the period ending Dec. 31.
Roughly half of that is via a loan he made to his campaign. In addition, Redmon reported $11,540 in monetary contributions from others and $3,833 in in-kind contributions.
Monday is the deadline for local candidates in Cobb to file 2023 financial reports with Cobb Elections.
Redmon, a Democrat and an IT sales and account manager, is seeking the District 2 seat being vacated by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is running for Congress.
Redmon’s report (you can read it here) indicates he’s spent $11,000, mostly for campaign staff and consulting, and has $15,539 cash on hand.
Redmon’s individual contributions range from $20 to $3,300 from East Cobb resident Justin Smith, whose employer is listed in the report as Goldman Sachs.
The expenses include $6,375 for campaign staff services to Christopher-Robin Millican, a member of the Cobb state committee to the Democratic Party of Georgia; $1,200 to Blake Judkins, a political consultant based in Gwinnett; and $870 to Mindy Seger, the head of Richardson’s non-profit For Which It Stance and a leader of the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance.
Redmon has been a member of Richardson’s “community cabinet” but resigned that volunteer post when he announced his candidacy.
“This is an incredible vote of confidence in the message we are communicating to the community as we continue to build the Kevin for Cobb campaign,” Redmon said in a statement issued Friday by his campaign. “We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to assemble a strong team to educate the community on the importance of the right kind of leadership at this time in Cobb’s history.”
No other candidates have announced for the District 2 seat, whose boundaries for the 2024 elections are unclear.
A partisan dispute between current Cobb commissioners about the commission’s electoral map that began at the end of 2022 continues into 2024.
District 2 was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in 2022 to put Richardson out of her seat and to place most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected that year with those new lines.
In the current map, Redmon also lives in District 3, but Cobb Democrats are trying to invoke home rule over redistricting, a claim Republicans say violates the state constitution.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris held hearings last year on a lawsuit filed by GOP commissioner Keli Gambrill (since dismissed as a plaintiff) challenging the home rule action, but has yet to make a ruling.
The District 2 seat is one of three on the 2024 ballot, including District 4 in South Cobb, held by first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield, and Cobb Commission Chair.
Incumbent Democrat Lisa Cupid and Republican challenger Kay Morgan, a real estate agent from West Cobb, have announced for the latter, but have not filed financial disclosures.
Also on the 2024 ballot is Post 5 on the Cobb Board of Education. Incumbent Republican David Banks has not announced if he is seeking a fifth term but has filed a 2023 disclosure form indicating no contributions or expenses.
Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, who announced their Post 5 candidacies last year, have not filed financial reports.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in early March.
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Legislative and Congressional electoral maps redrawn by the Georgia legislature during a special session this month have been approved by a federal judge who ordered them.
Atlanta-based U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Thursday upheld a “remedial plan” for the 2024 elections to redistrict seats in the Georgia General Assembly and for Georgia’s representatives in the U.S. House.
That was prompted by a lawsuit alleging violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act by plaintiffs including some Cobb African-American citizens.
They include redrawing East Cobb’s U.S. House boundaries dramatically.
Georgia’s 2024 primaries for Congress, the legislature and local offices are in May, with qualifying in March.
Maps approved in 2021 split East Cobb into the 6th and 11th districts. But the new maps (click here) put most of East Cobb in the 11th District, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
For the 2024 election, his strongly-conservative district also will include his home base of Bartow County, all of Pickens and Gordon counties and some of Cherokee County.
The redrawn 11th Congressional District. For a larger view click here.
The East Cobb area had been largely represented in the Senate with one seat, District 32. But after the 2021 Census, legislators redrew the East Cobb area to include District 32, District 56 and District 6.
For the 2023 session, those incumbents were Republicans Kay Kirkpatrick and John Albers and Democrat Jason Esteves, respectively.
The new lines remove District 6 and place some of East Cobb in District 33, which stretches from Powder Springs and through the city of Marietta.
That’s represented by Democrat Michael “Doc” Rhett, who represented a smaller part of the East Cobb area until reapportionment.
Republicans will still likely have nine of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House seats after the 2024 election.
The Georgia legislature has had Republican majorities since 2005. Currently the GOP has a 102-78 advantage in the House, and a 33-23 majority in the Senate.
Former 6th District U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who moved to the Gwinnett-based 7th District in 2022, announced after the judge’s decision this week that she will run in the new 6th, which includes most of South Cobb and covers an area represented by longtime Democratic incumbent David Scott.
The new 7th District is designed to maintain a Republican representative and covers north Fulton, Forsyth and Dawson counties, all in the current 6th. That’s held by first-term GOP U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick.
Cobb’s new boundaries in the Georgia State Senate.
Before the special legislative session, Cobb Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson announced her intent to run fort the 6th District.
She said after the interim maps were approved that they “didn’t pass the smell test” and that she hasn’t decided which district to run in.
Richardson, who hasn’t commented on Jones’ decision this week to approve the maps, said she would not run in a district with a Democratic incumbent.
McBath, a Marietta Democrat and an ardent gun-control advocate, defeated GOP incumbent Karen Handel in the 6th District in 2018.
While members of Congress don’t have to live in their districts, the Gwinnett area currently in the 7th District was carved up into four districts designed for Republican representation.
“I refuse to allow an extremist few Republicans decide when my work in Congress is finished,” McBath said Thursday in a statement issued by her campaign.
She’s switching to the 6th, she said, “because too much is at stake to stand down.”
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Cobb Board of Education electoral maps before 2021 reapportionment (left) and after (right), with the latter maps having been thrown out in federal court.
The Georgia legislature was ordered on Thursday to draw up new electoral maps for the Cobb Board of Education by mid-January.
A federal judge in Atlanta threw out maps lawmakers approved in 2021 that were submitted by Cobb Republican lawmakers and drawn by a law firm hired by the Cobb County School District.
Those maps pushed Post 6, which had included the Walton and Wheeler high school clusters, out of East Cobb and into the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.
A group of parents and progressive advocacy groups filed a lawsuit, claiming that the new maps were racially gerrymandered and violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
In her ruling granting an injunction to the plaintiffs (you can read the ruling here), U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross concluded that it was “substantially likely” that the 2021 maps would be declared unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, spearheaded by the Southern Poverty Law Center, claims that the redrawn posts 2, 3 and 6—all held by the current Democrats on the school board—diluted minority voting strength.
Posts, 1, 4, 5 and 7—occupied by the Republican majority—had their minority voting percentages reduced curing reapportionment, with all four posts having at least 58 percent white constituencies.
The two posts in East Cobb have the highest percentage of white populations. While Post 5 didn’t change much (going from 66.97 percent to 67.24 percent), the Post 4 difference also was noticeable, rising from 57.24 percent white to 65.56.
David Chastain, one of the four GOP members of the school board, was re-elected to a third term in Post 4 last year.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that the 2021 map “bleaches the population of the northern districts,” a charge the Cobb school district has heatedly denied.
Ross gave the legislature until Jan. 10—two days after the 2024 General Assembly session begins—to draw new maps, which are considered temporary for use in the 2024 elections. The Cobb school district intends to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking a stay of the judge’s order.
The Cobb school district was denied by Ross to join the lawsuit as a defendant, a decision that also is being appealed.
Ross also gave the plaintiffs and the defendant—the Cobb Board of Elections, which is not defending the current maps—until Jan. 12 to object to the redrawn maps, and Jan. 17 for the parties to respond to the other.
The 2024 Georgia primaries are May 21, with qualifying set for March.
Four of the seven Cobb school board posts are on the ballot in 2024, and three of them currently occupied by Republicans, including David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb.
He hasn’t said whether he will seek a fifth term next year, but two first-time candidates announced earlier this year: Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge. Both are parents in the Walton cluster.
Post 5 was redrawn in 2021 to include the Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters, while Post 4 includes the Kell, Sprayberry and Lassiter clusters.
In October, Ben Mathis, the lead attorney for the Cobb school district, accused the elections board of “a total surrender” to what he called “leftist political activists” who wanted to usurp the power of the legislature to redraw the Cobb school board maps.
That and another related message were posted on the Cobb school district website, including a charge from Mathis that the SPLC was trying “to impose their will over the Legislature, the Governor, and the voters of Cobb County.”
In a statement issued Friday through the SPLC, Sofia Fernandez Gold, associate counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under the law, said the order by Ross to redraw the maps “affirms the fundamental right of Black and Latinx voters of Cobb County to fully and fairly participate in the democratic process by having an equal opportunity to elect members of their choice to the Cobb County School Board.”
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“I can’t support a 30-year tax, but it will be up to voters to decide,” commissioner JoAnn Birrell said.
In a partisan vote, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved adding a referendum to the November 2024 general election ballot on whether to collect a 30-year sales tax for a major development of the county’s transit system.
Commissioners also approved a project list for the referendum that in East Cobb would include the reinstatements of bus routes running along Roswell Road and connecting to the Dunwoody MARTA station, and a new transit station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry area.
The Cobb Mobility Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax, if approved by voters, would collect a one-percent tax for an estimated $10.8 billion, financing the creation of several high-occupancy bus routes, the construction of transit centers and expanding microtransit, paratransit and other transit options around the county.
Cobb collects a SPLOST for overall county projects, and the Cobb County School District also has its own SPLOST for school construction, maintenance and technology projects.
But Cobb DOT officials have been planning for a possible transit referendum for several years, with Atlanta Regional Commission projections that the county’s population will near a million people by 2050.
The board’s three Democrats voted in favor of having the referendum, while Republican commissioners were opposed.
The items on the project list would add 106 miles of bus and transit routes to the existing CobbLinc service, which has only one route in the East Cobb area, along Powers Ferry Road.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb said the length of the proposed tax is far too long, and consists only of transit projects.
“In the past I’ve always supported our county SPLOST going to a referendum, but the maximum they were was six years,” she said. “But they had not only transportation, but libraries, parks, public safety and other departments.
“I can’t support a 30-year tax but it will be up to voters to decide and that’s the bottom line.”
Commissioner Monique Sheffield of South Cobb, who grew up in Brooklyn, said she might not have had the educational opportunities she had without being able to ride the subway in New York City, and that many young Cobb citizens are facing similar obstacles.
“The generations are getting younger, things are changing,” she said. “I look forward to see how this plays out in the community.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said that “we have moment of transformation before us today.”
She compared the chance to vastly expand transit options to the 2013 vote by commissioners to enter into a 30-year memorandum of understanding with the Atlanta Braves to build a baseball stadium, and the county’s buildout of sewer systems in the 1980s.
“I’m sure there were reasonable voices of concern about those times, but there are reasonable considerations of why now,” said Cupid, who was the only commissioner to vote against the Braves stadium deal.
“This is a board of action, this is a board that wants to get this done,” she said. “I’ve seen moments of opportunity come and go.”
Cobb voters rejected a referendum in 1971 to join the then-now Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. In 1989 the county created Cobb Community Transit (now called CobbLinc) to provide a limited amount of transit services, including express buses serving commuters in downtown Atlanta.
She said Cobb has had “consideration of a robust investment in transit for almost 50 years now. . . . and we’re at a key time to offer commensurate options for our community.”
Commissioners voted along the same 3-2 split to approve spending $187,000 for an education campaign to take place in 2024 ahead of the referendum.
That effort, which includes a combined donation of $100,000 from the Town Center and Cumberland Community Improvement Districts, will include town hall meetings and other information presented to citizens.
After the vote, citizens spoke on the issue in public comment sessions.
Kevin Cutliff of East Cobb, a 21-year-old who supports the transit tax, said many in his generation are struggling to afford cars to get around.
He uses a combination of an electric bike and CobbLinc, but said he doesn’t feel safe with the former and feels “disconnected” with the latter, saying the current system has very limited access to the rest of metro Atlanta.
“This transit referendum hopefully will change that going forward,” Cutcliff said. “When voters use transit, this affects all of us, when all of it is connected.”
But Cobb resident Tracy Stevenson said the overall cost of the Mobility SPLOST—nearly $11 billion—”is a buttload of money.
“Do we need to overhaul the system? Probably? Do we need to have compassion for people? Absolutely. Are there are better ways to do it that use a 30-year technology to move forward. We put rosy new names on things, but it’s still a bus system.
“If we can manage the system better than we have now then why don’t we?”
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The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
