East Cobb Cityhood bill gets approval of Ga. Senate committee

by
State Rep. Ed Setzler
State Rep. Ed Setzler also is a co-sponsor of the Lost Mountain Cityhood bill.

The East Cobb Cityhood bill was approved by a Georgia Senate committee on Thursday, clearing the way for possible final passage next week.

By a vote of 4-3, the Senate Local Government Operations Committee favorably reported the bill, despite concerns from some panel members and a member of a citizens group against East Cobb cityhood.

One of those concerns—a district residency requirement for city council candidates—was addressed when State Rep. Ed Setzler, a West Cobb Republican and a bill co-sponsor—added clarifying language.

The other issue—pushing back a referendum to November instead of May, as was adopted in a substitute bill in the House—Setzler was not willing to entertain.

You can watch a replay of the meeting by clicking here; you can read through the bill by clicking here.

The bill now goes to the Senate Rules Committee, which could schedule the bill for a floor debate and full passage next week (the legislature doesn’t meet on Friday).

The East Cobb Cityhood legislation is the first of four such bills in Cobb to reach the Senate during the current session.

Bills calling for referendums in Lost Mountain and Vinings were favorably reported out of a House committee on Wednesday. A Mableton cityhood bill also is pending.

Also on Wednesday, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said the county will be pushing an “awareness campaign” about cityhood as it relates not only to county government finances, but also explaining its current delivery of services.

Setzler and State Sen. John Albers, a North Fulton Republican who is sponsoring the East Cobb bill in the upper chamber, appeared before the Senate committee Thursday.

So did several members of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood.

Mindy Seger of the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood, pointed out that the bill passed by the House does not include language about city council residency requirements.

Under the bill, all six city council members would be elected at-large. However, there are three council districts, with each of them having two members who must reside in those districts.

The bill passed by the House requires anyone running for the city council to have been a resident of the city for at least a year (line 201 of the bill linked to above).

It doesn’t mention the district requirement, so Setzler asked for an amendment—noted in bold type—saying that “no person shall be eligible to serve as councilmember unless that person shall have been a resident of the city and the district from which he/she is elected for 12 months prior to the date of the election of members of the city council.”

Seger also said the May referendum date should be pushed back, a suggestion that some committee members also made.

Setzler said it would be ideal for a referendum in May, and if passed, with mayor and city council elections in November as preparations begin to start up a city in early 2023.

After the amendment passed, State Sen. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek, asked if that’s “a real deadline.”

If it’s on the November ballot, Au asked, couldn’t a startup date be decided in the future.

Setzler said that a “consensus” of community feedback during virtual town halls conducted over the last year was “to get moving” early in the next year.

Another Democratic committee member, Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur, moved to table the bill because no demographic or district boundaries were provided, among other information he said was incomplete.

That motion failed before the committee voted to favorably report the bill.

This story will be updated.

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