Many of the familiar talking points about East Cobb cityhood were made Monday night at a town hall meeting at Wheeler High School.
So were many of the objections to a City of East Cobb that also have been heard for many months.
What was new at the meeting organized by the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb was the proposed map for a City of East Cobb that would be larger than the original, and would include the Pope and Lassiter high school attendance zones.
Cityhood committee members said they just got the map earlier Monday from the state legislative office that draws up such boundaries.
The revision comes several months after a lobbying effort that also included citizens from the Sprayberry High School community, which for now is being left out.
“It could be added now or through annexation,” cityhood leader David Birdwell said.
The original map included most of unincorporated Cobb in Cobb commission District 2 east of I-75. That covered the Walton and most of the Wheeler attendance zones, but only a sliver of the Pope and Lassiter areas and had a population of nearly 90,000 people.
The new population figure wasn’t immediately available, but it could boost a potential City of East Cobb to the second-largest city in metro Atlanta.
‘Wait and see’
The map is part of legislation sponsored at the end of the 2019 session by State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb), and that must pass in 2020 for a referendum to be called next fall.
Among the more than 100 people in attendance at the Wheeler auditorium was State. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican of East Cobb who is a critical player in the process.
State law requires cityhood bills to have local sponsors in each chamber of the legislature. Kirkpatrick and State Rep. Sharon Cooper, who also was in attendance Monday, have said they have not formed an opinion on East Cobb cityhood.
Kirkpatrick told East Cobb News she’s been getting plenty of anti-cityhood sentiment from constituents, and that she wants to give the pro-cityhood forces a chance to “make their case.”
Her perspective, she said for now, remains “wait and see.” During the town hall, she said she would do some polling near the end of the year and said she continues to welcome feedback from citizens, no matter how they feel about the issue.
The cityhood committee also has retained two high-profile lobbyists for the 2020 legislative session.
When a citizen asked Kirkpatrick about Dollar’s whereabouts, she said he had been out of the country and would be returning Tuesday.
The crowd occasionally grew boisterous during a question-and-answer period. Questions were to have been written on note cards, but some shouted out questions or made statements, often in opposition to cityhood.
Others were concerned about how East Cobb cityhood would affect public schools. When Birdwell repeatedly said there would be no effect on schools—including the Cobb senior tax exemption—some citizens still interrupted.
By Georgia law, new cities cannot create school districts. School districts remain in such cities like Marietta, which have had them for many years.
We’ll have more from Monday’s meeting and other cityhood news after a forum on Tuesday between Birdwell and Bill Simon of the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood.
That forum will take place at a luncheon of the East Cobb Business Association.
And as soon as we get a better map of the revised City of East Cobb proposed boundaries, we’ll post that here too. Birdwell said it may take time for the state legislative office to make that available to the public.
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If this proposal for a city of east Cobb is good for the residents of Cobb County, more information and meetings need to be held to explore all possible ramifications.
This is a big step which once enacted, cannot be rescinded.
What’s the rush???
Bob Dussich
I agree, lets see what it is all about, then weight the pro’s and con’s.
The City of Buford has great schools, a lot of businesses and a safe community. All without a police department and all the extra fat that comes with most City’s.
Let not fear of the unknown hinder your judgement. Be productive, laws can be created to protect any fears.
I know the powers to be want to legalize marijuana and apply 50% of the sales tax to help offset the City property tax. They say we should get a reduction of 30-45% in property taxes. I would like to see the study that was done on this.
The new map leaves a 3/4 mile gap between the new city and the city of Marietta west of Piedmont. Some call it a no mans land since neither city’s police or fire will service the gap. Cobb police will be miles away. This needs to be included in the new city.
It appears they presented an expanded territory with absolutely no proposal relative to a budget or tax implications. Is it possible the financial implications can get any more misleading?
To bad Commissioner Bob Ott or Mister 148 (for 148 million in missing stadium build receipts) is on the side of the developers. The majority could be saying, let’s say no to cityhood and vote for Ott, but no. We understand that Cobb County government would be only slightly less corrupt than cityhood.
The biggest land grab since the gold rush.
The meeting was supposed to be an hour an a half they said at the outset. However when the audience began asking questions that poked holes in the presenters arguments for cityhood, they shut the meeting down 15 minutes early. One important takeaway was that the feasibility study was not correct in many of its assumptions. A new city could not possibly afford a police department without “double taxation” and franchise fees, so for now, a new city won’t even have a police department. Wasn’t having our own police force one of their selling points? Another major takeaway is that East Cobb residents would have to wait two years before having any say in who leads the new city. Imagine the zoning laws the appointed leaders can unravel during that time frame, making way for high density development. Lastly, the member of the IFG who resigned did so because he believes this is not financially feasible and is being pushed by people with big money who stand to profit from cityhood. I hope this publication will dig deep into who is funding this venture, as someone has laid out at least $60K so far.
The City of Buford has done quite well without a police department. How can anyone oppose this without knowing facts.
I want to know more and quite frankly do not want a police dept. There are plenty other options that will keep people safe. Stop thinking the worse and here these people out.
Until they provide positive reasons for city hood, continue to oppose it. We need less bureaucracy, and smaller Gov’t, not more.
And while I live in the excluded Pope district, so may not have a vote, note the glib comment by David Birdwell: “It could be added now or through annexation,” cityhood leader David Birdwell said.
At which point we would be sucked into the city without much say.
People, this is a play for power by politicians so there are more places for them to “serve” us, and for developers who will start high density development that has damaged other areas in the metro.
A hammer looking for a nail.
High density? There is no land left to worry. We have been left behind years ago. At this level of thinking, we will be left behind within 10 yrs.
Hear these people out and give your opinion only then. East Cobb is out dated, once traffic gets worse we will need to build this community up and support it! Think big picture and not today.