Cupid, public commenters spar over ‘State of Cobb’ comments

Continuing tensions between Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and some public commenters who have been speaking at public meetings boiled over again this week, following her remarks delivered at her annual State of Cobb address.

Near the end of that speech last Thursday (you can watch the video replay below; her speech begins around the one-hour mark), Cupid took aim at citizens who have been critical of her tenure, as well as media coverage.

“I’ve got more important things to do than to sit here and read a gossip column about what people think the BOC is doing,” she said. “Or to get my panties in a bunch when people come and criticize us during public comment. We have lives to help, we have a county to move forward, we have agencies to run.”

Those comments came after several references to what she said was political polarization in Cobb since she and a black female Democratic majority on the five-member commission was elected in 2020, claiming that “I have never seen boards of commissioners treated the way we are.”

Cupid said that “what happens if someone comes to Cobb and opens up the paper? Or goes to a BOC meeting? They might think we’re bass-ackwards. I’m serious! That’s not who we are.”

She encouraged citizens who agree with her “All in Cobb” theme to sign up to comment at meetings.

But some of the frequent commenters she’s sparred with had their own response at Tuesday’s commission meeting.

East Cobb realtor Pam Reardon said that “I wish that we could get away from calling people racists, which unfortunately the chair did.”

Reardon, who’s been active in Cobb Republican politics and supported East Cobb cityhood, argued that what Cupid is objecting to are political differences.

“When we come to this podium and talk, we are adamant about our values and the way we want our government to run,” said Reardon, who has been a critic of county budget, tax and spending priorities, as well as high-density zoning.

“We are not racists. We are just having a different point of view. . . . We cannot be ‘One Cobb’ if we have a commissioner who is dividing us.”

She also opposes a 30-year transit tax referendum next year that Cupid is floating, saying “we do not want MARTA in Cobb” because crime will increase.

Another regular to that podium, Leroy Emkin, read from a blistering column in Spotlight South Cobb News that called Cupid’s speech a ‘State of Contention Address.’

That publication was founded Shelia Edwards, a black Democrat who lost to current Post 4 commissioner Monique Sheffield in 2020 in the campaign to succeed Cupid.

Edwards, who has been highly critical of Cupid on a regular basis, said in the column about the State of Cobb address that “an evening with Cupid would not be complete unless she introduced race to defend or complain about whatever is going on with her. This time it was credited for the unfair criticism she gets on her leadership. The chairwoman said the attacks on her administration were unprecedented and implied they were racially motivated.”

After hearing Emkin read those remarks, Cupid said that “I’m trying to think when I mentioned race at all. I find it odd to be impugned as a racist by those who bring up race more than I do.”

The political insider column in the Marietta Daily Journal concluded Wednesday by saying that “We don’t know if Chairwoman Cupid’s reference to ‘gossip column’ was directed at Around Town, but we can admit that over the years we’ve been called much worse.”

Cupid is scheduled to appear in East Cobb later this month, as the featured speaker at the May 31 meeting of the East Cobb Civic Association.

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