As a business owner and young father raising a family in East Cobb, Chris Wasserman said he has become alarmed in recent years about the leadership of county government, and in particular how it taxes its citizens and spends their money.
The founder of Wasserman Talent Solutions, the Osborne High School graduate now lives in a Northeast Cobb neighborhood where his children attend school, and where he has become invested in community affairs.
He said that as he has watched a fractured Cobb Board of Commissioners spar over budgets, spending priorities and other issues in recent years, “I became very concerned about the decisions and directions” made by that five-member elected body.
Calling himself a “home-grown candidate,” Wasserman announced earlier this year that he would challenge the elder member of the board in his first campaign for public office.
“It’s time for fresh blood and new ideas,” said Wasserman, a Republican facing four-term incumbent commissioner JoAnn Birrell in the May 19 general election, with the winner to face Democrat Kevin Redmon in November.
(Early voting began Monday and continues through May 15; consult our early voting guide for more information. Here is our candidate profile of Birrell.)
Wasserman’s campaign website can be found by clicking here. He’s also having a public campaign event next Thursday, May 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at East Cobb Park.
Wassserman and his wife are the parents of a daughter, 10, who attends Keheley Elementary School, and a son, age 4.
District 3 includes most of East Cobb (see the map). In 2022, Birrell was easily re-elected with similar boundaries. There has been some speculation since then that she would not seek another term, especially as tempers flared on the board over redistricting, a conflict she called “two years of hell.”
Wasserman said he met with Birrell several months ago when those rumors were abounding not just in East Cobb, but around the county.
When Birrell announced she would be running again, Wasserman said he wasn’t deterred from launching his bid “to be an advocate for our taxpayers and their champion.”
In an interview with East Cobb News, Wasserman said that the board requires some new leadership.
“Sixteen years is a long time,” Wasserman said, referring to Birrell. “It’s time that we expect more from our county government.”
Since 2021, the commission has had a 3-2 Democratic majority, led by Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who previously had served as the only Democrat on a board when Republicans dominated with a 4-1 majority.
Birrell has bridged that transition, and Wasserman said she bears some responsibility for a county government that he said taxes too much and doesn’t spend that money as wisely as it should.
“The county is basically nickel- and diming us,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
He said the commission needs greater fiscal discipline, and it hasn’t been separating “needs and wants.” If he’s elected, Wasserman said, “I will be looking out for the taxpayer.”
The current Cobb fiscal year 2026 budget of $1.325 billion has held the line in general fund property tax rates, but includes increased revenues due to rising assessments that have drawn citizen protests.
But the board hasn’t reduced the millage rate to reflect that, and in starting in June, Cobb property owners will pay a stormwater fee for services that previously had been included in their water and sewer bills.
Wasserman said his priorities would be to “focus on the core services and take a hard look” at everything else.
As an entrepreneur, he continued, “I have a superpower for looking at a budget and cutting the waste. The lack of a small business owner on the BOC is a detriment.”
Among those priorities are better pay and benefits for public safety personnel, which has been one of Birrell’s signature issues during her term on the board.
“We need to do a better job of looking after the people protecting our community,” Wasserman said.
More specifically, he pointed to projects in the East Cobb area where he thinks Birrell has come up short.
He doesn’t like the proposed relocation of the East Cobb Library, and thinks the $20 million price tag could be even higher, perhaps more than double that amount.
The original cost for the new library that was cited in the proposed 2028 Cobb SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) was $25 million, but Birrell recently proposed shifting $5 million to address flooding issues along Columns Drive and for park upgrades in District 3.
“That’s just a number on paper today,” Wasserman said, adding that this typifies what he’s seeing from a county government that is “trying to remodel the basement when you’ve got a leaky roof.”
He pointed to the $60 million cost to rebuild the Cobb Animal Services shelter. While acknowledging that “costs are rising, we need to be taking care of our core services.”
As his campaign got underway, Birrell came under fire for the proposed redevelopment of Shaw Park to include more pickleball courts. Softball parents objected, saying a softball field would be taken away, a charge that Birrell and Cobb PARKS say isn’t true.
Wasserman quickly sprung into action, meeting with Sandy Plains Softball parents and taping a campaign video at Shaw Park. The county quickly announced that it was putting an indefinite hold on the redevelopment.
He accused Birrell of waffling on the issue, saying that the pause on park plans is only because “she’s seeking re-election.”
Wasserman said he’s also running to help small businesses deal with red tape and other frustrations he says he hears a lot about, including the slow pace of permitting (“there’s no sense of urgency”) and the need for better technology in county government and a “customer service mentality.”
But the larger issues concerning Cobb government are larger and deeper than that, Wasserman said, pointing to a lot of “bad blood” on the commission that he claims is preventing collaborations and healthy conversations to take place about the future of the county.
He said Birrell “should be doing that. That’s her job. We should expect more.
“People are telling me that while they appreciate what she’s done, they are ready for change. My value proposition is resonating.”
Related:
- Seven East Cobb precinct locations to change for 2026 elections
- East Cobb Early Voting Guide for the 2026 primary election
- East Cobb News explainer: How we cover politics and elections
- Ga. bill making most Cobb elections non-partisan passes
- Primaries loom in East Cobb commission school board races
- MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page
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