A woman who was walking on Lower Roswell Road Thursday night died after being struck by a car.
Cobb Police said Elizabeth Hightower, 55, of Marietta, was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a release, Sgt. Wayne Delk said she was walking westbound on Lower Roswell at 6:52 p.m. when she was hit by a blue 2017 Nissan Altima, also heading westbound on Lower Roswell.
Police said the crash occurred near the intersection of Sunset Trail, east of Davidson Road.
Delk said Hightower was not walking within the crosswalk when she was struck. The 22-year-old driver of the Altima had minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene, Delk said.
Police said Hightower’s next of kin have been notified and that the crash is still being investigated. Anyone with information is asked to call 770-499-3987.
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Gov. Brian Kemp signs the East Cobb cityhood bill with sponsor former Rep. Matt Dollar to his left and Committee for East Cobb Cityhood members (L-R) Scott Sweeney, Cindy Cooperman, Sarah Haas and Craig Chapin.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed legislation calling for a May 24 referendum on East Cobb Cityhood.
Final passage of HB 841 took place on Tuesday in the Georgia House, and the bill was sent to the governor’s office to be signed into law.
Eligible voters inside the proposed East Cobb city limits will decide on incorporation on the same day as the Georgia general primary.
The ballot language included in the bill will ask voters the following question:
“Shall the Act incorporating the City of East Cobb in Cobb County according to the charter contained in the Act be approved?”
If the referendum is approved by a majority of the voters, elections for a mayor and six city council members will take place on the Nov. 8 general election, with the beginning of city operations and a two-year transition to start in January 2023.
The East Cobb legislation is the first of four cityhood bills in Cobb County to be considered in the current legislative session.
The proposed City of East Cobb would have roughly 60,000 people in a 25-square-mile area centered along Johnson Ferry Road, from Shallowford Road south to the Chattahoochee River and from the Fulton County line west to a line roughly along Murdock Road and Old Canton Road. Click here for a larger version of the map.
On Thursday, the Georgia Senate passed similar legislation for Lost Mountain in west Cobb, and is set to vote on a bill for a referendum for Vinings.
A Mableton cityhood bill is still in the House.
All four Cobb cityhood bills call for May referendums, instead of November.
That sparked protests by Cobb government officials, who said they haven’t had time to assess the financial and service impacts.
On Tuesday, they addressed Cobb commissioners as part of a county “cityhood awareness campaign.” The major claim is that more than $45 million would be lost in county revenues if all four cities are created.
More than 200,000 people—nearly a quarter of Cobb’s population—live inside the proposed new cities.
Cobb has had its current existing cities—Marietta, Smyrna, Acworth, Kennesaw, Austell and Powder Springs—for more than a century, after Mableton briefly became a city and then went unincorporated.
Lost Mountain, Mableton and Vinings are proposing “city light” services that are focused on planning and zoning.
East Cobb is proposing planning and zoning, code enforcement and public safety services, and possibly parks and recreation.
At Tuesday’s commission work session, the heads of Cobb’s public safety agencies questioned the East Cobb financial feasibility study conclusions and expressed concerns about staffing, equipment, response time and training for the proposed East Cobb police, fire and 911 services.
The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood said it is planning an in-person town hall meeting for the general public soon, but has not set a date.
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Cobb Fire officials said areas in red would be in the new City of East Cobb (otherwise in blue) but are serviced by county stations. The area in yellow would remain in Cobb but is serviced by what would be a city station.
The leaders of Cobb County government’s public safety agencies said Tuesday that police and fire services for the proposed City of East Cobb are lacking many financial and service details.
During a special called work session of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, the heads of the county’s police, fire and 911 services showed slides highlighting what they’re providing, but said a financial feasibility study for East Cobb raises more questions than answers about what a new city may be able to deliver.
“We’re not here to advocate, but to educate,” Cobb public safety director Randy Crider said during the virtual work session, which included no discussion among commissioners. “But I’ve been asked a lot of questions I don’t have answers for.”
Legislation calling for a May 24 referendum to determine East Cobb Cityhood is awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature into law. Three other cityhood bills—for Lost Mountain, Mableton and Vinings—also are expected to receive passage, with referendums also in May.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid told legislators in January that cityhood votes in all four proposed areas were being rushed, and that the county hadn’t had time to examine the financial and service impacts.
Those presentations were made Tuesday at the work session by Cobb public safety, parks and community development officials.
The county has created a cityhood page that claims an estimated $45 million will be lost annually of all four new Cobb cities are created.
Nearly half of that—around $23 million—would come out of East Cobb, and most of the work session was devoted to East Cobb services, specifically police and fire. The other three cities are proposing “city light” services centered on controlling growth and development.
That was also the centerpiece of the original East Cobb legislation filed in March 2021 by former State Rep. Matt Dollar. Public safety was added last fall, as researchers from Georgia State University were conducting a financial feasibility study.
That study, released in November, concluded a City of East Cobb of around 60,000 people was financially feasible, even with public safety services estimated at costing $14 million a year.
The East Cobb bill also calls for planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation services.
More than half of the proposed city’s estimated $27 million in annual revenues would come from the 2.86 mills transferred from the Cobb Fire Fund.
At Tuesday’s work session, Crider repeated concerns he expressed to legislators that the East Cobb study is “just general” about public safety issues, including staffing, equipment, response time and training.
“We need to know what’s expected of us,” he said, referring to what may be included in intergovernmental and mutual aid agreements, similar to what the county provides in backup roles with Cobb’s six existing cities.
Crider said there aren’t enough details in the East Cobb study about exactly what specialty units a new city’s police department may have, such as SWAT units.
The East Cobb study also calls for a city fire department to consist of two stations—21 on Lower Roswell Road, at the East Cobb Government Service Center, and 15 on Oak Lane.
In showing commissioners a map of the proposed city, Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said he has concerns about response time.
That’s because some parts of the proposed city (in red on the map) are served by stations that would remain in unincorporated Cobb. An area that would be located just outside of the city (in yellow) is now serviced by Station 15, which would be in the new city.
He also said he didn’t know how the East Cobb fire department would be staffed. The City of Roswell, for example, has many firefighters who work part-time shifts when off-duty from full-time jobs in other fire departments.
Stuart VanHoozer, the interim Cobb Fire Chief, and Cobb 911 Director Melissa Altiero also said they were unclear how their departments may be asked to provide support to a proposed City of East Cobb.
But Cindy Cooperman, a spokeswoman for the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, called the county’s response “disappointing,” saying the county “has not properly briefed their staff on the well-established process in Georgia to form a city.”
Should a City of East Cobb referendum be approved, elections for a mayor and six city council members would take place in November, with a two-year transition period starting in January 2023.
She said the newly elected officials would work with a transition committee appointed by the governor to formalize processes and details for transferring services to be provided by the new city.
“This is not something new,” she said, referring to similar processes that have taken place in recent years in Milton, Johns Creek and Peachtree Corners. “These cities are thriving and have happy residents as a result.”
Cooperman also said that the “internal analysis of county staff is not credible when it suggests that the cost offset to $45M in revenue will only be approximately $450K.
“The county’s rushed attempt at an analysis was not thorough enough because many vital details on actual costs still need to be disclosed by the county.
“They had a year to analyze this properly and failed to do so,” Cooperman said.
The only direct meeting between East Cobb Cityhood forces and the county was in April of 2021 between Dollar and Cupid.
Cooperman said the cityhood group reached out to Cupid for a meeting in November with the addition of police and fire services, but has not yet heard back.
He provided a statement from Cupid referencing the Dollar meeting and saying that “I met other proponents about the effort approximately 2-3 weeks ago during a legislative meeting. They said they wanted to meet again and we will work on making that happen.”
Cooperman said the cityhood group is planning an in-person town hall after the Cobb County School District winter break next week, but a specific date has not been set.
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Mitchell Kaye, who held a Georgia House seat in East Cobb for a decade, announced Wednesday he is running in the special election for District 45.
Kaye served from 1993-2003, and was the first Jewish Republican elected to the Georgia legislature.
In a press release announcing his campaign, Kaye said he’s running because “it is important that this seat remain Republican.”
The special election was called for April 5 after longtime GOP Rep. Matt Dollar resigned to take a job with the state technical college system.
His successor will serve the rest of Dollar’s term, through the end of the year.
A primary for the new District 45 will be held in May. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, an East Cobb Republican who has held the nearby District 43 since 1997, has been drawn into the new 45.
Qualifying began Wednesday and continues until 1 p.m. Friday for the special election, which will be held in a “jungle” format, meaning candidates of all parties will be running together.
If the leading candidate does not get a majority of the vote, a runoff will take place on May 3.
Kaye has lived in East Cobb for more than 30 years and is a financial and valuation analyst. He and his wife Amy have three children and two grandchildren and are members of the Chabad at Cobb synagogue.
During his time in the legislature, Kaye was a deputy minority whip when Republicans were in the minority.
He received a legislator of the year award from the Eagle Forum for supporting parental rights in education. Kaye also worked to repeal a state tax on used cars.
The Republican-dominated Georgia General Assembly reapportioned Congressional and legislative seats in November in an attempt to solidify their majorities.
Democrats have filed lawsuits claiming the redrawn lines are diminishing black voting power, especially in former conservative areas like Cobb that are electing more Democrats.
In his campaign release, Kaye said that “unless a judge throws out the reapportionment maps, the winner of this election will not serve a single day when the legislature is in session, and it is critically important that constituent services go uninterrupted.”
If the lines must be redrawn in a special session, Kaye said, “I have been through these reapportionment battles before. Now is not the time for on the job training as experience is more important than ever.”
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Rainey Sharrow, a Walton student, and her mother, Susan Sharrow, a Pope media specialist, volunteering at the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl at Mt. Bethel Elementary School. Photo: Cobb County School District
After being cancelled in 2021 due to COVID-19, students from the Cobb County School District gathered in hybrid fashion in January to compete in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.
It’s a multi-stage, quiz-style competition started in 1986 by a former DeKalb County educator to encourage students to master reading skills.
After an initial competition that drew 37 teams in virtual format, Cobb students came to Mt. Bethel Elementary School in East Cobb in January in a face-to-face stage.
Among the volunteers was Pope High School media specialist Susan Sharrow, and her daughter Rainey, a senior at Walton High School.
“The talent our students have is remarkable, and I love witnessing their nerves turn to calm as they confidently buzz in and answer questions about the books,” Susan Sherrow said in a release issued by the Cobb County School District.
Six Cobb teams advanced to the West Regional competition, and Cobb teams swept first place titles in all grade levels.
Representing the Cobb school district at the virtual state competition in March are students from Kemp Elementary School, Campbell Middle School and South Cobb High School.
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A disbarred attorney from East Cobb has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison after being convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft involving some of his clients.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, Chalmer “Chuck” Detling II, who was disbarred in 2016, was given a sentence of five years and 10 months, plus three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $254,837 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May.
Detling, 45, who was the owner of the Detling Law Group on Roswell Road, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2018, after prosecutors alleged he used the identities of his clients without their knowledge to obtain litigation advances totaling nearly $400,000.
During his trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said evidence was presented showing Detling received the high-interest loans between October 2014 and April 2016.
The office said that Detling “knew when he submitted the agreement paperwork that the clients had not actually executed the agreements. He did so even after several clients expressly told him they did not need or want such financing.”
A release by the office said that “Detling was able to secure these fraudulent litigation advances without his clients’ knowledge in part because the financing companies did not require the clients to be present when applying for the litigation advances or receiving the disbursements.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it was told the litigation fraud scheme after an anonymous tip was given to the Georgia Bar Association.
“This tough but fair sentence should remind those considering similar behavior about the consequences of those decisions, especially licensed professionals who are considering exploiting their clients in a time of need,” said U.S. Attorney Karl Erskine in a statement.
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For a larger view of the current District 45, click here.
Qualifying for an April 5 special election to fill the Georgia House seat 45 in East Cobb will take place Wednesday through Friday of this week.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a release that qualifying will take place at the Georgia State Capitol (2 MLK Jr. Drive, Suite 802, Floyd West Tower, Atlanta) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday.
The qualifying fee is $400.
The special election was called last week by Gov. Brian Kemp after the resignation of longtime Republican State Rep. Matt Dollar, who has taken a job with the state’s technical college system.
The successor will fill out the remainder of Dollar’s term, which expires Dec. 31. Candidates and voters must live within the current boundaries of District 45 (map here), which also includes some of North Fulton.
That seat will be redrawn for the May primary and November general election. Dollar said last fall he was not seeking re-election after he and GOP State Rep. Sharon Cooper of the nearby 43rd district were drawn together.
The last day to vote in the special election is March 7, and advance voting will begin on March 14. A runoff, if needed, would take place May 3.
Thus far Democrat Dustin McCormick is the only candidate who has announced his candidacy for the special election. He also said he will be running in the new District 45.
The Cobb Elections office said there are 12 precincts in the county with voters who are eligible to vote in the special election:
Chestnut Ridge
Dickerson
Dodgen
Hightower
Murdock
Mt. Bethel 1
Mt. Bethel 3
Pope
Roswell 1
Roswell 2
Sewell Mill 1
Timber Ridge
Voters can check their eligibility for the special election by visiting the Secretary of State’s office My Voter Page.
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The Kennesaw State University Center for the Study of the Civil War Era will host its 19th Annual Symposium History & Memory: A Tribute to James I. “Bud” Robertson & Wiley Sword on Saturday, March 19th at the KSU Center at 3333 George Busbee Parkway, Suite 400 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm.
Dr. Robertson taught thousands of college students about the Civil War and Reconstruction during his tenure at Virginia Tech, served as President Kennedy’s Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission during the Civil Rights movement and served as a consultant on documentaries and films related to the Civil War.
Mr. Sword amassed one of the nation’s most extensive private collections of Civil War memorabilia. He was nominated for the Pulitzer, Parkman, Bancroft, and Western Heritage Prizes. His collection of over one thousand soldiers’ letters & other artifacts was acquired by the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Petersburg, VA.
The Symposium will feature:
Mr. William C. “Jack” Davis who has authored over 40 books on the American Civil War and southern U.S. history. He is a retired Virginia Tech professor & Programs Director for the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.
Dr. Brian Wills who is an author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War, the Director of the Center for the study of the Civil War Era and a professor of history at Kennesaw State University.
Bobby Horton who has combined his passion for music and Civil War history to record 14 volumes of authentic Civil War tunes. He is a seasoned performer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music historian. He has toured throughout the US and Canada for over 40 years and produced and performed music scores for 16 PBS films, two A&E network films, and 21 films for the National Park Service.
There is no charge to attend the event. Donations are appreciated.
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For a larger view of the proposed East Cobb city council districts, click here.
The Georgia House on Monday adopted Senate substitute legislation to call for a referendum for a proposed City of East Cobb.
HB 841 (you can read it here) was approved by a 96-62 vote in the lower chamber without debate, and will be sent to Gov. Brian Kemp to be signed into law.
It would establish a May 24 referendum for voters in the proposed city to decide whether or not to incorporate.
The county is spending more than $40,000 for lobbyists to oppose the cityhood bills.
Cobb officials estimate the impact to the county budget would be more than $45 million a year if all four proposed cities—East Cobb, Vinings, Lost Mountain and Mableton—would come into being.
The financial estimates contend that nearly half of those revenues would come from a City of East Cobb of around 60,000 residents along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.
The county also has protested moving up the referendums in each of the four Cobb cities from November to May, saying it would put an additional burden on Cobb Elections for the general primary.
But the East Cobb Cityhood group questions the county’s financials and objected to taxpayer money being spent to fight the bills.
The Vinings and Lost Mountain bills have passed the House and are headed for the Senate; the Mableton bill is being heard by a House committee.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners is holding a special work session Tuesday at 6 p.m. to cover cityhood issues, including potential impact on county finances and services.
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The proposed Cobb Board of Education map passed by the House would remove Post 6 from East Cobb. For a larger version click here.
Mostly along party lines, the Georgia House on Monday approved Republican-sponsored bills redistricting seats on the Cobb Board of Education and the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
They now will be considered by the Senate.
The bills drew opposition from members of the Democratic majority in the Cobb legislative delegation, who accused their GOP colleagues of skirting local courtesies during reapportionment.
The House also voted 95-64 to approve a commission map drawn by GOP State Rep. John Carson of Northeast Cobb that he said would likely still maintain the current 3-2 Democratic majority.
But Democratic lawmakers objected to redrawing current Democratic District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson and District 3 Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell into the same East Cobb-based district.
Birrell and Keli Gambrill, the other GOP commissioner from District 1 in North Cobb, are both up for re-election this year.
If the commission map is approved, Richardson would have to move inside the boundaries of the new District 2 if she runs for a second term in 2024.
Although redistricting bills must be passed by the entire legislature, local delegations typically move maps forward for full House and Senate votes.
Most of East Cobb would be drawn into District 3 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in a map approved by the Georgia House.
But in the last election cycle, Democrats became the majority on the Cobb commission, which previously had a 4-1 Republican majority.
Republicans hold a 4-3 edge on an increasingly fractious Cobb school board, with a mostly partisan split on a number of issues.
The GOP map would move Post 6—the Walton and Wheeler clusters currently represented by Democrat Charisse Davis—into the Smyrna-Vinings area.
The Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters would be included in a new Post 5, where four-term Republican David Banks is the incumbent.
The Sprayberry, Lassiter and Kell clusters would be reformed into Post 4, whose current member is Republican David Chastain.
Chastain has indicated he will be seeking a fourth term this year. Davis, in her first term, has not said whether she’s running again in 2022.
(PLEASE NOTE: The process of redistricting elected school board posts has nothing to do with the boundaries of school attendance zones, which are drawn by school district administrative staff.)
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The Atlanta Braves will be taking the team’s 2021 World Series championship trophy around the South starting next week and continuing through the end of May.
Among the first stops is the Kennesaw State University baseball field, starting at 3 p.m. next Friday, Feb. 18.
Not only can fans have their photos taken with the trophy, but there will be entertainment-related programming put on by Braves’ staffers.
The KSU event is before a KSU baseball game, and a game ticket for that game is required for entry to the champions trophy. The Owls will be playing Morehead State at 4 p.m.
KSU’s Fred Stillwell Baseball Stadium is located at 220 Kennesaw State University Road, Kennesaw.
More than 150 stops have been scheduled for the Braves trophy tour (more details here), including Colony Square on Feb. 15, Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion on Feb. 17 and the Georgia Aquarium on Feb. 19.
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Submitted by the Cobb County Public Library System:
Cobb Library Foundation presents its 11th Annual Booked for the Evening Gala featuring acclaimed children’s book author/illustrator Brian Lies and honorary chair Cynthia Rozzo, founder/publisher of East Cobber, on Thursday, March 17, 6:30 pm to 9:30 p.m., at Atlanta Country Club, Marietta.
Brian Lies has illustrated several bestselling children’s books. His books include Caldecott Honor-winning The Rough Patch, Got to Get to Bear’s! and his New York Times bestselling bat series (Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame and Bats in the Band). Lies was born in Princeton, NJ, and graduated from Brown University with a degree in British and American Literature. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Lies is an advocate for early literacy, and lifelong reading and learning. The Massachusetts resident has traveled across the United States to work with students and encourage them in their goals as he talks about writing and illustration – including his engaging presentations at schools and libraries in Cobb County.
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The “Month of Love” is what the Cobb Magistrate Court is calling February, and is offering special wedding appointments on selected dates.
Some of them will be taking place on Valentine’s Day on Monday, but there are other appointments on Feb. 22 as well.
Judges will be conducting group ceremonies throughout the day, and the court will be holding weddings at noon and 6 p.m. daily through February.
Newlyweds also can enjoy a photo area to capture the initial memories of their marriages.
A fun photo area for Cobb’s newlyweds to capture memories of their big day will also be available during the entire month of February.
Chief Magistrate Court Judge Brendan Murphy said in a county release that “we’re glad to welcome those wanting to tie the knot during this Month of Love while keeping the newlyweds and their guests safe and healthy!”
But because of social-distancing protocols, all ceremonies are by appointment only.
Using the Court’s new online reservation system, couples can make an appointment online at www.cobbcounty.org/magistrate or by calling the Warrant Division at 770-528-8900.
Couples must show a valid license issued by a Probate Court in Georgia, and they may invite up to four guests.
Masks are required inside the courthouse, but couples may temporarily remove them during their wedding ceremonies.
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The East Cobb cityhood group has released a map of proposed city council districts. To see a larger view, click here.
With one cityhood bill—in East Cobb—nearing passage in the Georgia legislature and three others likely to follow, Cobb County government has accelerated efforts to counter what’s been a rapid effort to put referendums before voters in those four localities in May.
The county government has published a special page it calls its Cityhood Resource Center to provide information to citizens about the potential impacts of cityhood.
Like the East Cobb legislation, bills are being considered to allow voters in proposed cities of Lost Mountain (West Cobb), Vinings and Mableton to vote in referendums on May 24, the date of the 2022 primary election.
The East Cobb bill passed the Senate Thursday but must go back to the House since a slightly different version was adopted.
But that bill could be finalized and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp into law by early next week.
County officials have protested that moving up the referendums from November to May won’t give them enough time to assess the financial and service impact, should any or all those proposed cities be formed.
A “summary impact” page prepared by the county claims an annual figure of $45.4 million would be lost in revenues if all four cities are created, with the lion’s share of that sum—$23.5 million—coming out of the area of the proposed city of East Cobb.
That’s nearly 25 square miles centered along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor, with nearly 60,000 people.
The populations of the proposed cities of Lost Mountain and Mableton would be larger than East Cobb.
But East Cobb is the only one of the four cityhood bills that would include police and fire services.
The East Cobb legislation calls for transferring the 2.86 mills in the current fire fund as the main source of city revenues.
On its cityhood page, the county said that while there will be some reduction in expenses if new cities are created, “any savings are not expected to be more than the loss of revenue to the county. This will in all likelihood not reduce the county’s general fund millage.”
In a message sent out Thursday in her official e-mail newsletter, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said that “I am not here to thwart efforts towards determining the future of one’s community. As chairwoman of the county, I am here to ensure some sense of transparency and to better educate Cobb Citizens, more broadly, about how cityhood can impact all here.”
The county also is spending money for lobbyists, including former Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens. He’s a partner with Dentons, a large law firm, and he and another lawyer there, Daniel Baskerville, are being paid in excess of $10,000 each, according to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
Other Cobb lobbyists are deputy county manager Jimmy Gisi and former State Rep. Ed Lindsey, who also is being paid more than $10,000 to oppose the cityhood bills.
But those efforts may be too late.
The Lost Mountain and Vinings bills passed the House and are being considered in the Senate. The Mableton bill is being heard by a House committee.
On Wednesday, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood blasted the county’s lobbying efforts, saying that “we condemn the use of county taxpayer funds to mobilize paid lobbyists at the Georgia Capitol to work against passage of the cityhood bills.”
The group claimed that the lobbying decisions were made “without the consent of the Commission as a whole, and can only be interpreted as an attempt to deny citizens the right to vote for or against cityhood through a referendum.”
During a virtual information session Thursday night (you can watch a replay here), the East Cobb cityhood group reiterated its main thrust during the last year, that the citizens of the proposed city should have the right to self-determination.
During the call, cityhood leaders took issue with the county’s financial conclusions, and pointed out that the wrong map of the proposed East Cobb city was being used.
They emphasized the main reason for a revival of East Cobb cityhood—first introduced in 2019—was to preserve its suburban nature and stave off high-density development.
In addition to public safety, the other proposed services in the bill are planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation.
“Redevelopment is coming to East Cobb, one way or another,” committee member Sarah Haas said, adding that “we believe that local government is the best course to chart the future of the community.”
While Cupid said that “there is marginal voter turnout in May primaries,” Craig Chapin, the East Cobb group chairman, said this year’s primaries should be high given interest in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, among others.
The county also included a memo from Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler to Gisi saying that including as many as four cityhood referendums on an already-crowded primary ballot reflecting newly reapportioned seats would create “additional complications to our workload” and increases “the risk level for error and failure to meet deadlines. If you have any influence with legislators, I would respectfully ask that the cityhood referendums be held until the November election, rather than conducting them in May.”
The East Cobb bill has been sponsored by Matt Dollar, who resigned his seat in the legislature on Feb. 1. On Thursday’s virtual meeting, he said that he was told by the Cobb Elections office that Feb. 15—this coming Tuesday—would be the deadline that would be needed to run a required local notice in order for the referendum to be on the May ballot.
He didn’t address Eveler’s concerns about staffing and time compression. Her office also has to oversee a special election to fill Dollar’s term for the rest of the year and that has been called for April 5.
The desire to have a referendum in May, Dollar said, would be that if it passes, mayoral and city council elections could be held in November, and a city could be better prepared to be operational at the start of 2023.
“We get to have the city leadership onboarded when the city takes effect,” he said, adding that the transition to full cityhood is expected to take two years.
The East Cobb Cityhood group said it would be holding another virtual session and an in-person town hall, but didn’t give any dates.
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The private school, associated with Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, was to have come back in February with revisions for its plans to upgrade athletic facilities.
But Kevin Moore, Mt. Bethel’s attorney, has requested a continuance to March. In a letter sent Tuesday to the Cobb Zoning Office, Moore said his clients need an additional month to continue working on site plan changes “in response to comments from the community.”
Nearby residents and the East Cobb Civic Association have expressed opposition to the proposed changes that would relocate a field house and add add 39 parking spaces for a total of 121.
They complained that the process is rushed, and that the athletic facilities would be placed too close to their property.
Mt. Bethel’s high school campus is located on 33.4 acres on Post Oak Tritt, near the intersection of Holly Springs Road, while the K-8 students attend classes on the main Mt. Bethel campus on Lower Roswell Road.
The full agenda for Tuesday’s hearing can be found here; it will take place at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
The meeting is taking place in-person but there is an option to participate virtually. More details can be found here; and you can sign up to speak by clicking here.
The hearing also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.
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Gov. Brian Kemp has set April 5 as the date for a special election to fill a Georgia House seat in East Cobb.
That’s the day after the final day of the Georgia General Assembly’s 2022 session.
The vacancy in House District 45 was created when longtime State Rep. Matt Dollar, a Republican first elected in 2002, resigned his seat on Feb. 1.
He has been the chief sponsor of the East Cobb Cityhood legislation that is nearing passage in the legislature.
The special election will be held in jungle format—meaning candidates of all parties will be running together.
The successor will fill out the rest of Dollar’s term, which is through the end of the year.
During reapportionment in November, District 45 was redrawn to include both Dollar and Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper, who has represented adjoining District 43 since 1997.
Last fall, Dollar announced he would not be seeking re-election. He stepped down shortly after the East Cobb Cityhood bill was transmitted to the Senate, saying he was taking an economic development job with the state technical college system.
The only candidate who has announced an interest in the special election thus far is Democrat Dustin McCormick.
He also said he will be running in the May 24 primary for the new District 45 seat.
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In a partisan vote, the Cobb Board of Education on Thursday approved an extension of Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s contract another year to February 2025.
Without any discussion, the board’s four Republicans voted in favor of the extension, while the three Democrats voted against.
Ragsdale, whose contract was amended by the GOP majority in November, is receiving a base salary of $350,000 in a current contract that was to run through Feb. 10, 2024.
Any changes in the financial terms or other portions of Ragsdale’s contract were not announced at the Thursday night board business meeting.
The meeting was not available on the district’s live-streaming link or on its Comcast cable channel due to what a district spokeswoman said were technical difficulties.
She said the meeting was being recorded and would be posted on the district’s website. Board member Jaha Howard, who was participating in the meeting remotely, recorded the meeting and streamed it on his Facebook page.
The extension vote took place as the board was acting on items discussed during an executive session on Thursday afternoon.
In making his monthly remarks after the vote, Ragsdale said that “I appreciate the vote of confidence” and “look forward to serving this board and district.”
In recent years the board has typically extended the superintendent’s contract during February, and for the most part it has been uneventful.
But in 2021 the Democratic minority voted against an extension for Ragsdale, who has been superintendent since 2015.
In November, the four Republicans voted for an amended contract that gave him increased flexibility in setting the terms for any eventual departure.
He could leave his position with full pay if a special panel determines he’s been “harassed” or “embarrassed” by school board members and he would receive 90 days advance notice from the board if he is to be terminated without cause.
The contract revisions were also made as the Cobb school district received the report of a special review by its accrediting agency that outlined a plan for improvement focusing largely on fractured board relations and governance issues.
That review was sparked in part by the three board Democrats and members of the public.
Under other financial terms of his existing contract, Ragsdale gets 25 days of paid vacation per year and an automobile allowance of $1,200 a month. The board makes contributions to his retirement, Social Security, Medicare and a tax-sheltered annuity plan, and provides health insurance for him and his family.
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The Georgia Senate on Thursday adopted a bill that would establish a cityhood referendum for East Cobb, but the legislation needs further action by the House.
By a 31-18 vote, the Senate approved HB 841, which would call for a May 24 referendum.
The bill that passed the Senate was a substitute from a Senate committee that included clarifying language on residency requirements for city council candidates.
That’s why the bill has to go back to the House, since a different version was passed there.
A motion by Sen. John Albers, the Senate sponsor of the East Cobb bill, to transfer the bill to the full House passed 30-16, but it didn’t get the required two-thirds of a majority vote.
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan referred the bill back to the lower chamber in “normal order,” meaning it has to go through the committee process.
Albers, a Republican from North Fulton whose district will include the proposed East Cobb city boundaries next year, said that voters in East Cobb deserve the right to self-determination through a referendum.
He noted that in the last 17 years, 11 cityhood bills in Georgia have been voted in, and 10 of them have passed.
“We do not create cities,” he said from the Senate well. “We only create opportunities for citizens in those areas to create them.”
Two Democratic senators spoke against the bill, mainly for the timing of the referendum.
The original East Cobb bill was to have been in November, but was moved up to May in a change made during the House committee process by former State Rep. Matt Dollar.
He was the bill’s chief sponsor before resigning after it was sent to the Senate.
Sen. Michelle Au of Johns Creek, a member of the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee, said that while “I don’t have an objection to cityhood movements,” the May referendum is an “arbitrary deadline.
“There’s no reason that I can see that we need to rush.”
Three other Cobb cityhood bills—Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton—also have May referendums.
Au said more time is needed for the financial impact of those new cities, if they come to pass, on Cobb County government.
State Sen. Michael “Doc” Rhett, a Democrat from South Cobb, made the same point, and also said the May referendums would be hard for Cobb Elections to include on an already full primary ballot.
“I understand the need for autonomy,” Rhett said. “Let’s slow down.”
Voting for the East Cobb bill was Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican from East Cobb. She did not speak from the Senate floor on behalf of the bill.
Her district currently includes the proposed East Cobb area but is not under new boundaries redrawn in reapportionment.
She was opposed to the East Cobb cityhood bill when it first came up in three years ago but said recently she was supportive of letting voters decide on whether to have a city.
The East Cobb Cityhood group is having a virtual information session Thursday at 6 p.m.; you can register by clicking here.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Feb. 7have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
For more COVID data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, click here.
COVID case rates in Cobb County have fallen by roughly a half from what they were in late December and early January at the start of the Omicron surge.
As of Wednesday, Cobb and Douglas Public Health said Tuesday that the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 people was 1,075, after peaking at nearly 2,000 around the first of the year.
“That’s definitely some good news, and we are we are heading in the right direction,” CDPH director Dr. Janet Memark told the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.
But that number, she added, “is still very high.”
The “high” community spread threshold is 100/100K.
The death rate in Cobb also is starting to fall, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily COVID status report.
According to date of death figures, the peak was nine deaths on Jan. 14, when the 7-day moving average was nearly five a day. Eight more deaths were reported on Jan. 19. As of Jan. 24, the 7-day moving average is 2.1 deaths per day.
There have been 1,470 confirmed COVID deaths in Cobb since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
The positivity rate in Cobb for PCR tests also remains high at 17.3 percent (5 percent is considered the high threshold for that metric), but that figure has gone down substantially, from around 30 percent at the Omicron peak.
While Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is off its overall peak, Memark said “we still have a lot of patients in the hospital with COVID-19” and the majority of them are not unvaccinated.
She didn’t provide specifics in her briefing to the commissioners.
As she has done during the pandemic, Memark urged members of the public to wear masks (“the best fitting that you can find”) when going out in the public, and to be vaccinated and boosted.
In Cobb County, the rate for fully vaccinated people is 60 percent, with 65 percent having had one dose. Those fully vaccinated and boosted are 43 percent.
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