During a town hall address last week, Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson laid out her priorities for the rest of 2021 and provided constituents with a review of her first three months in office.
Richardson is a Democrat elected in November to succeed Bob Ott in representing District 2, which includes some of East Cobb, as well as parts of Smyrna and the Cumberland-Vinings area.
She conducted a “priorities tour” since taking office, and came up with nine priorities. The details can be found here, and they include the following:
- Continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Improving salary, benefits and other conditions for public safety personnel;
- fiscal responsibility in the upcoming budget process;
- an environmental agenda with an “environmental justice agreement” and expansion of Keep Cobb Beautiful programs;
- expanding mobility options, including sidewalk improvements and repaving projects;
- planning and housing affordability, especially workforce housing;
- a youth, diversity and inclusion program that includes the creation of a youth board of commissioners and the establishment of a “Little Brazil” community initiative;
- revitalizing libraries to position them as economic development centers.
She also said that a number of community chats will be scheduled this year to focus on other issues mentioned by constituents, including major zoning decisions, short-term rentals, an increase in violent crime, stormwater management, gun safety and code enforcement.
The topic of East Cobb Cityhood did not come up during the town hall meeting. A renewed effort to incorporate a portion of East Cobb includes legislation that will be considered in 2022, after a previous effort fizzled in 2019.
During her campaign, Richardson said she was opposed to East Cobb Cityhood (as was Fitz Johnson, her Republican opponent).
She recently told East Cobb News that during her priorities tour, she has continued to hear a lot of opposition.
“There’s just not a lot of support for this,” she said.
You can watch a replay of Richardson’s town hall meeting by clicking here.
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