Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson said Tuesday she will remain a candidate for the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, although it’s been vastly redrawn from when she announced her run last year.
The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
During a special session in December, it was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in a special session in December to include South Cobb, parts of Atlanta and the south metro area.
Most of East Cobb will be in the 11th District, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
The 6th District currently includes parts of East Cobb, North Fulton and Forsyth and Dawson counties, a strongly conservative area designed for a Republican, although Richardson had been making appearances in some of those places.
That’s represented by Republican Rich McCormick, and most of that area is now included in the redrawn 7th District.
When a federal judge ordered new maps due to violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, Richardson said she would not run against an incumbent Democrat.
But the new maps were approved, and former 6th District Congresswoman Lucy McBath, who switched to the Gwinnett-based 7th District in 2022, announced she would be switching back to the 6th.
That’s because much of Gwinnett was carved up by the GOP-dominated legislature into four Congressional districts,, most of them designed for Republicans.
Richardson didn’t mention that in her message (video below), but said her candidacy represents an “opportunity for sustainable and transformational change that will move the entire state forward.
Richardson, who lives in East Cobb, called the new 6th District “my community.” For a larger view click here.
“It’s because this race has always been about us. About our community, and the hopes and dreams that we bring to the table.”
Richardson was drawn out of her District 2 seat during reapportionment, and she and her fellow Democratic commissioners tried to invoke home rule to draw commission district boundaries.
But in a ruling on Monday, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris ruled that action violated the Georgia Constitution. She has not ruled on a lawsuit asking that the legislative-approved boundaries—which would place East Cobb in District 3—be reinstated.
The county has filed a notice to appeal that ruling.
The area of the new 6th District includes much of the 13th District, which has been represented by Democrat David Scott since 2003.
Congressional candidates do not have to live in the districts they’re running in. Richardson moved to her East Cobb home in 2022 after living in the Delk Road area.
“From Mableton to Austell to Powder Springs to Smyrna and Vinings and Sandy Springs and the Perimeter area and South Fulton and College Park and Douglasville and Fayetteville, I love my community,” Richardson said.
“And the Sixth District is my community. I’m deciding and running for you, and I hope you will run with me.”
According to her latest campaign disclosure reports—from April 1 through Sept. 30 of last year—Richardson reported more than $52,000 in contributions and reporting spending roughly half that amount.
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Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).
A Cobb Superior Court judge has ruled that Cobb County Government’s invocation of home rule over Board of Commissioners reapportionment violates the Georgia Constitution.
Judge Ann Harris issued a motion for summary judgment on Monday on behalf of plaintiffs David and Catherine Floam, North Cobb residents who along with Commissioner Keli Gambrill filed suit in 2023.
They were contesting a 3-2 vote by the commission in October 2022 along party lines—the board has three Democrats and two Republicans—to challenge electoral maps drawn by the Georgia legislature earlier in 2022.
Those maps, approved as HB 1154 (see map at right), drew Democratic District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her East Cobb home and placed most of East Cobb in District 3.
The Georgia Constitution stipulates that redistricting of county commission and school board maps is a function of the legislature.
The Republican-led legislature bypassed maps drawn by the Democratic-led Cobb delegation that would have kept District 2 lines largely unchanged (see map at left).
The county’s legal challenge focused on a number of home rule exemptions, passed in 1965 legislation designed to give local governments more control.
But in her ruling (you can read it here), Harris said that law, the Municipal Home Rule Act, and a Constitutional Amendment passed by Georgia voters the next year, does not allow counties to invoke home rule to affect elective county office, including procedures for electing and appointing a county governing authority.
“Cobb County argues that the map is not a procedure,” Harris wrote in her ruling. “Read in the most natural and reasonable way, and giving words their ordinary meaning within the text and context, the Court finds that redistricting is part and parcel of the procedures for an election.”
Maps approved by the Cobb commission’s Democrats would keep Jerica Richardson of East Cobb in the District 2 (in pink) that she currently represents.
At the end of her ruling, Harris concluded that “the Court concludes that Cobb County’s Amendment to Act 562 [the home rule law] was an unconstitutional exercise of authority under its Constitutional Home Rule powers, inasmuch as this Court has found it was an action affecting an elective county office and affecting the procedure for election of the county governing authority.”
A separate lawsuit asking that the state-approved maps be implemented is still pending.
Through a county spokesman, Cobb County Attorney Bill Rowling said Monday that his office will be appealing Monday’s ruling.
“We respect the ruling by Judge Harris issued this morning,” Rowling said. “The county has already filed its notice of appeal and looks forward to making our case during the process ahead.”
That filing states that the appeal should be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in the first week of March; in addition to District 2, the District 4 seat and Cobb Commission Chair—all held by Democrats—will be on the ballot.
The county statement didn’t include a reference to Richardson’s current tenure on the board.
Her term expires at the end of 2024, but it’s uncertain whether she would have to vacate her office immediately.
For Which It Stance, a non-profit advocacy group created by Richardson, issued a statement Monday afternoon denouncing the ruling.
“This ruling casts a spotlight on the Dist 2 Seat, triggering the possibility of an immediate vacancy due to the reinstatement of the state’s HB1154 map,” For Which It Stance Executive Director Mindy Seger said in the statement.
“The unprecedented mid-term vacancy arising from redistricting history in Georgia raises legitimate questions about the potential violation of O.C.G.A 1.3.11, a critical statute addressing the alteration of terms of office.”
Cobb Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs hailed the ruling, saying Harris is “an astute jurist for standing up for the Georgia Constitution. We are happy this case is resolved not only for Cobb County but for every sovereign county in the State of Georgia. Most importantly this is a big win for the voters of Cobb County who were being disenfranchised by this gross overreach and who were left in limbo until this case was resolved.”
Harris held two hearings last year on the lawsuit. Initially filed by East Cobb resident and former Cobb Commission Chairman Larry Savage, the lawsuit later was joined by Gambrill.
But she was later dismissed as a plaintiff after Harris ruled she didn’t have standing.
Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell, the board’s two Republican commissioners, have argued publicly that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment of county elected bodies.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr also issued a statement last year saying the same thing, but his office did not get involved in the lawsuit.
The Floams are residents whose home previously had been in Gambrill’s District 1, then was placed in Birrell’s District 3.
Gambrill and Birrell were re-elected in 2022 with the legislative-approved maps, and voiced their objections each public meeting of 2023 as the commission operated with the Cobb delegation maps.
The commission’s first meeting of 2024 is Tuesday morning, at which a discussion about the case and the ruling may take place.
East Cobb News also asked the county spokesman how commission business will proceed in the wake of the ruling, but he did not respond.
Kevin Redmon, a Democrat from East Cobb who has announced for the District 2 seat but lives in the legislative-approved District 3, issued a statement Monday.
“Redrawing district lines in the middle of a term opens the path to renegade politics where districts can be pulled into question at any point and for any reason,” he said. “We eagerly anticipate an appeal that will further this discussion, which is critical to Cobb County’s political future.”
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Dec. 18
2781 Burtz Drive, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): $520,000
889 Fawn Way, 30068 (Fawn Ridge at Indian Hills, Walton): $545,500
2892 Octavia Circle, 30062 (Vestavia Estates, Walton): $1.495 million
2412 Crooked Tree Court, 30062 (Post Oak, Pope): $630,000
2820 Foothill Trail, 30066 (Caribou Hills, Sprayberry): $452,000
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After saying for several months he had not decided on whether to seek a fifth term to the Cobb Board of Education, Post 5 member David Banks made his retirement from that position official Sunday.
Banks sent via his newsletter a letter he wrote to Cobb Republican Party chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs that he won’t be candidate for the East Cobb post he has served since 2009.
He didn’t give a reason in the letter, although he has cited in previous interviews with East Cobb News (here and here) and other media outlets his age.
Two candidates in the Walton High School cluster—Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge—announced last year they will be seeking the Post 5 office.
A former technology executive, Banks, who is in his early 80s, said in the letter to Grubbs that “my goal has always been to provide the best and complete education opportunities for our students that is expected by the Cobb County community. That I have supported the teachers and staff faithfully during my years as a School Board member and encouraged every school to adopt and implement S.T.E.M. programs in all schools.”
Banks, who narrowly won re-election in 2020, has been a controversial figure for much of his previous 15 years on the board.
A strong Republican conservative partisan, he has clashed with former Democratic board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard on racial and cultural matters, and has used his newsletter to decry COVID-19 vaccines and to referr to the illness as the “China virus.”
He said in the letter announcing his retirement that his time in office “has been rewarding for me by giving me the opportunity to meet and know many Cobb County families and Cobb School District employees (who are the best). To support a stable school environment, for an excellent education program, and to encourage the Robotics programs in our schools.
“Hopefully my efforts has made Cobb County a better place to live and grow.”
He closed the letter to Grubbs by saying that as he ends his time in public office, “I will continue to support Republican conservative values and support the Cobb County Republican Party.”
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If you’re a Sprayberry High School graduate, you’re invited back to your alma mater next week for a final “walk-through” of the main classroom building that will soon be giving way to a new facility.
School officials have scheduled what they’re calling an “Alumni Walk” next Friday from 4-6 p.m., before the Yellow Jackets’ varsity basketball games.
In addition to the final “SWARM” there will be refreshments for the attendees.
The Sprayberry campus at Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road opened in 1973, just as suburban growth in East Cobb was on the rise.
That was a year before Walton High School opened, and in recent years Walton and Wheeler have had replacement classroom buildings constructed.
That new six-year extension of the one-percent sales tax began collections on Jan. 1, and the Cobb County School District will soon take out a $100 million loan against that tax for 2024 to begin major construction projects.
Sprayberry has been a top priority on that list, and the estimated project cost is $67 million, and will follow ongoing construction of a new Career, Technology and Agricultural Education building and a new gymnasium.
The new classroom building will have 99 classrooms, administrative and guidance offices and a learning commons.
In a recent note to the Sprayberry community, principal Sarah Fetterman aid that 39 classrooms will be moved to modular units in the school’s main parking lot, and that entrance will be closed starting in the spring semester.
Other details of rebuild logistics and a contract for the construction project are still being formalized.
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East Cobb resident Kevin Redmon, who announced in October his candidacy for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, has filed his first financial disclosure report.
Redmon’s report with the Cobb Board of Elections shows more than $30,000 in fundraising (including in-kind contributions) for the period ending Dec. 31.
Roughly half of that is via a loan he made to his campaign. In addition, Redmon reported $11,540 in monetary contributions from others and $3,833 in in-kind contributions.
Monday is the deadline for local candidates in Cobb to file 2023 financial reports with Cobb Elections.
Redmon, a Democrat and an IT sales and account manager, is seeking the District 2 seat being vacated by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is running for Congress.
Redmon’s report (you can read it here) indicates he’s spent $11,000, mostly for campaign staff and consulting, and has $15,539 cash on hand.
Redmon’s individual contributions range from $20 to $3,300 from East Cobb resident Justin Smith, whose employer is listed in the report as Goldman Sachs.
The expenses include $6,375 for campaign staff services to Christopher-Robin Millican, a member of the Cobb state committee to the Democratic Party of Georgia; $1,200 to Blake Judkins, a political consultant based in Gwinnett; and $870 to Mindy Seger, the head of Richardson’s non-profit For Which It Stance and a leader of the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance.
Redmon has been a member of Richardson’s “community cabinet” but resigned that volunteer post when he announced his candidacy.
“This is an incredible vote of confidence in the message we are communicating to the community as we continue to build the Kevin for Cobb campaign,” Redmon said in a statement issued Friday by his campaign. “We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to assemble a strong team to educate the community on the importance of the right kind of leadership at this time in Cobb’s history.”
No other candidates have announced for the District 2 seat, whose boundaries for the 2024 elections are unclear.
A partisan dispute between current Cobb commissioners about the commission’s electoral map that began at the end of 2022 continues into 2024.
District 2 was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in 2022 to put Richardson out of her seat and to place most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected that year with those new lines.
In the current map, Redmon also lives in District 3, but Cobb Democrats are trying to invoke home rule over redistricting, a claim Republicans say violates the state constitution.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris held hearings last year on a lawsuit filed by GOP commissioner Keli Gambrill (since dismissed as a plaintiff) challenging the home rule action, but has yet to make a ruling.
The District 2 seat is one of three on the 2024 ballot, including District 4 in South Cobb, held by first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield, and Cobb Commission Chair.
Incumbent Democrat Lisa Cupid and Republican challenger Kay Morgan, a real estate agent from West Cobb, have announced for the latter, but have not filed financial disclosures.
Also on the 2024 ballot is Post 5 on the Cobb Board of Education. Incumbent Republican David Banks has not announced if he is seeking a fifth term but has filed a 2023 disclosure form indicating no contributions or expenses.
Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, who announced their Post 5 candidacies last year, have not filed financial reports.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in early March.
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!
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!
Body20, a national fitness franchise specializing in electrical muscular therapy workouts, will have a grand opening celebration for its new studio in East Cobb on Jan. 11.
The studio is located at 1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 270 (Woodlawn Point Shopping Center) and the grand opening party will be from 5-8 p.m.
The event will include free workout demos, food and on open bar, music, fun raffles, and presentations from other health and wellness businesses in the community, and will be followed by a final weekend of special membership pricing and other promotions.
The East Cobb studio (website link here) is the first of several planned in metro Atlanta by franchisee Gene Chayevsky, a veteran entrepreneur and business investor.
Body20 specializes in 20-minute one-on-one personalized workouts with certified coaches. The EMS technique was first developed by sports coaches in the former Soviet Union to assist athlete recovery, and in recent years has been developed for fitness studio businesses in Europe.
Body20 has nearly 70 locations in the U.S., including Brookhaven, Buckhead, Decatur and Roswell in metro Atlanta.
“I saw BODY20 as a future dominant brand in the nascent US market of technology-enhanced personalized fitness. Using the amazing power and efficiency of Electro-Muscle Stimulation-based workouts to achieve impressive strength and cardio results for anyone in only 20-40 minutes per week, regardless of age or fitness level, I immediately realized that BODY20 has the potential to disrupt the legacy personal training market with its more impactful and time and cost-effective workouts,” Chayevsky said in a release announcing the East Cobb studio grand opening.
“By making personalized training and much higher levels of fitness accessible and affordable to a much wider audience who often struggles with fitting in a consistent exercise routine with family and career obligations, BODY20 provides a uniquely valuable service to all communities in which it operates.”
Another EMT specialty studio, Strongvibe Fitness, recently opened in East Cobb at Paper Mill Village as an independent business.
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Teachers and staff in the Cobb County School District will be getting a one-time bonus in their next paychecks in January.
That’s due to a $1,000 bonus for teachers and non-temporary workers that was pledged in December by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and funded through state coffers.
In addition, non-temporary part-time Cobb school district personnel will get a one-time bonus of $500 funded through local reserves.
Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale asked for the Cobb Board of Education to approve the bonuses during a special-called organizational meeting on Wednesday.
The board approved the measure with a unanimous 7-0 vote.
Ragsdale explained that the bonuses will be included in employees’ paychecks by Jan. 19 or Jan. 24, and that they couldn’t have been done in December because of the holiday break.
Each teacher and non-temporary employee working more than half-time hours will get the $1,000 bonuses, while those working half-time or less will get the $500 bonuses.
The specific dollar-figure amounts for the locally-paid bonuses—from the Cobb school district’s general fund reserve—weren’t specified at the Wednesday meeting.
East Cobb News has left a message with the district seeking more information.
Kemp announced the statewide teacher and staff bonuses before the holidays as a means of aiding local school district’s retention efforts.
It’s part of a larger $300 million bonus program for all state employees. In includes $104 million in safety improvements at schools, with an estimated $45,000 going to each district for such things as security guards and technology upgrades.
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David Banks has not announced whether he’ll seek re-election to a fifth term on the Cobb Board of Education in 2024.
For the fourth consecutive year, Cobb Board of Education member David Banks has been voted vice chairman.
The four-term Republican from Post 5 in East Cobb was one of four votes during the board’s annual organizational meeting Wednesday.
Randy Scamihorn, a Republican from Post 1 in North Cobb, was voted chairman, getting his vote and those of the other three GOP members who make up the board’s majority.
Banks and Scamihorn are among the three Republicans whose current terms expire in 2024, along with outgoing GOP chairman Brad Wheeler.
Banks was nominated by Democratic member Tre’ Hutchins, but he cast the only vote in favor and his motion failed.
Banks, who is in the final year of his fourth term, has said he has not decided on whether he will seek re-election, due to age and other issues.
Two parents from the Walton High School cluster—Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge—announced their candidacies for the Post 5 seat last year.
Qualifying for local and state races is in early March, and the Cobb school board elections figure to garner serious attention.
The board has had a 4-3 Republican majority for the last three election cycles. But Banks and Wheeler had close races in 2020.
And the Georgia legislature will be called when it convenes next week to redraw Cobb school board electoral maps that a federal judge threw out in December.
That followed a federal voting rights lawsuit, alleging dilution of minority voting strength.
In 2021, the legislature reapportioned the Cobb school board maps to push Post 6 out of East Cobb and into the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area.
Post 5 was redrawn to include the Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters, while Post 4 includes Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry.
The legislature has until Jan. 10 to draw new maps for the 2024 elections.
The Cobb school board also approved its 2024 meeting calendar, with its first regular meetings on Jan. 18.
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!
Amy Hurewitz, mother of Wheeler High School junior Ian Hurewitz, sends along new that her son has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
He’s a member of Troop 1818, of the Georgia Scouts BSA, and consists of Jewish members from the North Atlanta, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, East Cobb, Sandy Springs, Decatur and Dunwoody areas.
His Eagle Scout project, she reports, consisted of building a shed in the back of his synagogue, Bongregation B’nai Torah of Sandy Springs, creating a rubber mulch path and planting gardenia bushes to beautify the area.
In his scouting career, Ian has earned 55 merit badges (only 21 are required), and enjoys helping other Scouts reach their rank requiremens.
In his non-scouting time, he leads youth religious services at his synagogue, plays the bassoon in a wind ensemble and creates 3D animations on his computer.
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Dec. 11
805 Exposition Pointe, 30067 (The Townes at Marietta, Wheeler): $447,310
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!
As we close out our news coverage this year, we’ve surpassed 1.7 million pageviews and 900,000 unique monthly visitors for the past 12 months.
Our previous best was in 2020, dominated by coverage of the local response to COVID-19 and a competitive election year.
We didn’t have those things in 2023, but East Cobb News readers visited our site for a variety of timely news stories, features, calendar listings and other information that’s reflected in our yearly roundup of top stories.
We’re doing this in two posts. In this one, we’ll share some of our and reader favorites—feature stories, people, the always-changing restaurant and business scene, lifestyle news and more.
Mark Aston has been the public-address voice of Walton High School sports for several years, and this spring a friend encouraged him to take a shot at the opening with the Atlanta Braves.
A former football walk-on at Auburn, Aston does some sports voice-over work for his alma mater and for other sports.
The man Walton athletes call VOMA—the “Voice of Mark Aston”—made the final group of Braves hopefuls. The organization chose someone else, but Aston said he enjoyed the experience and was taken back by the recognition he got in the community.
He continues his PA work with Walton, and was the emcee at the 2023 Taste of East Cobb, staged by the Walton Parent Booster Association.
Restaurant openings and closings
Cafe Rivkah opened in March, serving up baked goods and Mediterranean-style breakfast and lunch items.
2023 was a busy year on the East Cobb restaurant scene.
Several East Cobb favorites reopened in new locations: Tasty China and Rose and Crown on Powers Ferry Road; and LongHorn, now at Merchants Exchange.
At Avenue East Cobb, the New York Butcher Shoppe opened, the first of a wave of new eateries coming with the redevelopment of the retail center. In early 2024 Avenue will welcome Round Trip Brewing Co., Press Waffle Co., Peach State Pizza and a gaming-friendly expansion at Tin Lizzy’s.
Also coming in early 2024 is a new location of Sidelines Grill, at Stonewood Village, in the former Egg Harbor Cafe and Ritters space.
Plans for the former Red Sky site have also been delayed into 2024. What was to have been called 1255 Social and featuring a wood-fire grill and oven and locally- and regionally-sourced dinner fare has been renamed Reunion Kitchen. It’s keeping the same concept and ownership group, but an estimated opening date hasn’t been announced.
The grocery chain’s first “superstore” in metro Atlanta opened its doors in August, the crown jewel of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill redevelopment.
The 90,000-square-foot store features a specially-designed mural of local landmarks at the entrance, leading into a cornucopia of fresh-cut flowers, an abundance of produce offerings and fully stocked sushi, delicatessen, bakery and meat and seafood counters. There’s also a location of Murray’s Cheese Shop.
Dance Stop Studio turns 50
One of East Cobb’s longest-lasting businesses hit the half-century mark. In August, Dance Stop Studio held an open house at its location at Merchants Exchange—its third facility under owner Lynette Strickland, whose staff includes former students.
“They started with us when they were young and came back because they love the children,” she said.
The Dance Stop Company that Strickland started to conduct auditions and hold performances for the public at larger venues recently held a holiday special event at the Lassiter Concert Hall.
EAST COBBER parade and festival returns
For the first time since COVID-19, bands, schools and other organizations marched down Johnson Ferry Road on the first Saturday in September.
It was the return of the EAST COBBER parade and festival, and included many familiar participants. The event was the first for publisher Laren Brown, who purchased the magazine in 2022 from founder Cynthia Rozzo.
Old buildings complicate zoning cases
A couple of zoning cases in East Cobb were abandoned in 2023 after historic preservationists asked for time to save some of the county’s oldest known existing buildings.
They included the Power-Jackson Cabin on Post Oak Tritt Road and the McAfee House on Bells Ferry Road.
Both rezoning requests—for a subdivision on the former and a car wash on the latter—were eventually dropped.
In November, Cobb Landmarks, an historic preservation non-profit, announced a fundraising drive to pay to relocate the 1840s-era Power-Jackson Cabin to Hyde Farm, a working farm from the same time period operated by Cobb PARKS off Lower Roswell Road.
The goal is to have it added to the grounds, with the possibility of using 2016 Cobb SPLOST funds to restore the cabin.
SPLOST funds have been used to preserve other structures at Hyde Farm, which was turned over to the county in 1999 by the Trust for Public Land. Cobb Landmarks maintains the cabin and conducts tours of the property.
Gritters/Shaw Park redevelopment
Gritters Library was demolished in 2023 to make room for a new facility combining library services with the nearby Northeast Cobb Community Center.
That’s just one part of a proposed revitalization of Shaw Park, an aging Cobb PARKS facility that features ball fields, playgrounds and picnic pavilions.
In March, county officials held a community town hall to explain the situation, and to hear suggestions.
Sand Plains Softball players pleaded to save their fields. Pickleball players expressed the need for more courts in a fast-growing recreational sport.
They and others cited safety and crime issues that have been a growing concern, as have outdated bathrooms.
County officials went “back to the drawing board” but haven’t yet presented a proposal that would require further public meetings and a master plan.
A 20th work anniversary surprise
When Jerri Heacock showed up for work at the East Cobb Barber Shop on Sept. 19, she wasn’t aware of a big surprise that was in store for her.
The longtime stylist was marking her 20th anniversary, and before long customers and co-w0rkers were showering her with gifts, a cake and praise.
“She just always has a smile, really knows how to build a rapport with customers,” owner Dee Reitz said. “That’s why she’s the first chair.”
Heacock said that working at the four-employee shop feels like family, and her boss said it’s not easy to find a stylist who can build up a loyal clientele.
“I don’t like turnover,” Reitz added. Having a reliable, friendly and familiar face “makes people feel comfortable.”
Taste of East Cobb
Point of personal privilege as I wrap up this year-end review. The year 2023 was so good for us at East Cobb News, including our participation in the Taste of East Cobb festival.
It was our first time as a sponsor, and was such a great example of the community connection that we take pride in with our coverage and everything we do.
It was great working with the Walton Band Parent Associaiton, which put on a top-notch event, and we look forward to being at the 2024 festival.
It was also so gratifying to meet readers, the community at-large and others who told us how much they value our truly local news and information.
As I wrote then, I was tickled to hear some of you say things like “I love how local you are.”
We’re aiming to do even more in 2024, and I wanted to say thanks to my readers, advertisers and citizens of this community for getting in touch and being part of what we do for all of you.
Happy New Year East Cobb!
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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!
As we close out our news coverage this year, we’ve surpassed 1.7 million pageviews and 900,000 unique monthly visitors for the past 12 months.
Our previous best was in 2020, dominated by coverage of the local response to COVID-19 and a competitive election year.
We didn’t have those things in 2023, but East Cobb News readers visited our site for a variety of timely news stories, features, calendar listings and other information that’s reflected in our yearly roundup of top stories.
We’re doing this in two posts. In this one, we’ll link to those stories and individuals who were among the notable newsmakers and headliners in events taking place in East Cobb.
In a separate post, we’ll share some of our and reader favorites—feature stories, people, the always-changing restaurant and business scene, lifestyle news and more.
These items are in no particular order—this isn’t in a countdown format—and admittedly some of the stories had a countywide impact. But East Cobb residents made their views known, and often took part in some contentious and momentous events.
Anti-Semitic protests/Cobb Israel resolution
Anti-Semitic protestors waved a Nazi swastika flag in front of the Chabad of Cobb synagogue in June, prompting an Ecumenical service at an East Cobb Methodist church that included more calls for stronger state hate speech laws.
After the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out in October, Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell proposed a resolution in defense of the Israelis. But Cobb Muslim and Palestinian citizens heatedly objected, and ultimately commissioners decided not to take up the matter.
Books removed from Cobb school libraries
Not long after a new school year began in August, the Cobb County School District removed three titles from more than 20 school libraries, including some in East Cobb, because they had sexually explicit contents.
Some parents and social advocates complained of censorship and hostility to LGBTQ students, and after a Due West Elementary School teacher was fired for reading a book to her 5th-grade students that the district said violated a new state divisive-concepts law.
Katie Rinderle asked for a public hearing, but the Cobb Board of Education ultimately voted along partisan lines to uphold the termination.
Redistricting lawsuits continue
Squabbles over Cobb commission and school board electoral maps took up most of 2023, and will continue in 2024.
Cobb’s controversial home rule claim for redrawing commission districts is still awaiting court action. In January, Birrell and Keli Gambrill, the other Republican commissioner, were ordered from the dais at the body’s first meeting for refusing to vote.
They claimed that their Democratic colleagues were illegally ignoring lines approved by the legislature but that also drew out East Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson.
Gambrill filed a lawsuit in Cobb Superior Court but was later dismissed for not having standing; Judge Ann Harris has held two hearings but has not issued a ruling. Richardson, whose term ends in 2024, has announced a Congressional run.
The plaintiffs are alleging that 2021 reapportionment diluted minority voting strength under the U.S. Civil Rights Act. Post 6, which had been in East Cobb, is now confined to the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.
Cobb school board candidates announce
Two political newcomers have been campaigning for much of 2023 for a seat that’s up next year on the Cobb Board of Education.
It’s the Post 5 seat held by four-term incumbent David Banks, and includes the Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters.
Republican John Crisatodoro has the backing of prominent business and political leaders in the county, while Democrat Laura Judge is a member of the education advocacy group Watching the Funds-Cobb.
Both are parents in the Walton cluster; Banks, who is 82, said he is undecided on running again.
New Eastvalley ES campus opens
After a few months of delays, the new campus of Eastvalley Elementary School opened to students during the fall break in October.
Cobb school district leaders and the Eastvalley community took part in a ribbon-cutting and tours on the former site of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road.
The nearly 150,000-square-foot building cost $37 million and features a learning commons with “a top of the line recording studio” as well as a courtyard with two playscapes and a pedestrian track.
The two Republicans wanted a rollback on the general fund millage rate after a sharp spike in property tax assessments that prompted plenty of complaints from homeowners.
Birrell faced the heat from constituents at a town hall meeting at which she pledged to try to get a millage rate reduction. “I need two other votes,” she said.
That would include restoring bus service along Roswell Road in East Cobb and from Johnson Ferry Road to the Dunwoody MARTA Station; those routes were discontinued in budget cuts during the recession.
Citizens at a September town hall in East Cobb in September expressed concerns, but a member of Richardson’s “community cabinet” said “the opportunity is now to envision the transit system of the future.”
Acclaimed Georgia author Mary Kay Andrews had the ribbon-cutting honors, and shoppers toured through the shelves and enjoyed treats from the store’s cafe.
It’s the first of a new concept store from B & N with a smaller footprint than its usual stores and with specially-curated selections from store managers responding to local reader preferences.
In September, the retail center’s new plaza—at the heart of its redevelopment—made its debut in a garden-party format, with ticket proceeds benefitting MUST Ministries.
The open-air plaza includes a stage for live music and television screenings, and for shoppers to
A number of new restaurants also announced early 2024 openings, including Press Waffle Co., Peach State Pizza and Round Trip Brewing Co., all located in the newly refurbished area.
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On New Year’s Day, fireworks can be discharged until midnight, and there are other restrictions regarding the use of fireworks under that provision.
They include a prohibition against setting off fireworks within 100 feet of an electrical plant, water or waste-water treatment plants; electric substations; gas stations; jails or prisons; hospitals; nursing homes; and other health-care facilities.
In addition, Cobb County Government prohibits use of fireworks in any county park.
Fireworks can be set off only by adults ages 18 and older.
The Cobb Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises those discharging fireworks to refrain from placing any part of your body over a device when lighting the fuse. More safety tips:
Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.
Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishaps.
Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly.
Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.
After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.
Unfortunately, fireworks cause serious noise issues that disturb pets. Cobb Fire advises owners to keep their pets indoors and away from windows, playing music and closing curtains if need be to drown out the noise.
Domestic animals should be collared, tagged and microchipped in case it becomes frightened, escapes and gets lost or injured.
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Legislative and Congressional electoral maps redrawn by the Georgia legislature during a special session this month have been approved by a federal judge who ordered them.
Atlanta-based U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Thursday upheld a “remedial plan” for the 2024 elections to redistrict seats in the Georgia General Assembly and for Georgia’s representatives in the U.S. House.
That was prompted by a lawsuit alleging violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act by plaintiffs including some Cobb African-American citizens.
They include redrawing East Cobb’s U.S. House boundaries dramatically.
Georgia’s 2024 primaries for Congress, the legislature and local offices are in May, with qualifying in March.
Maps approved in 2021 split East Cobb into the 6th and 11th districts. But the new maps (click here) put most of East Cobb in the 11th District, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
For the 2024 election, his strongly-conservative district also will include his home base of Bartow County, all of Pickens and Gordon counties and some of Cherokee County.
The redrawn 11th Congressional District. For a larger view click here.
The East Cobb area had been largely represented in the Senate with one seat, District 32. But after the 2021 Census, legislators redrew the East Cobb area to include District 32, District 56 and District 6.
For the 2023 session, those incumbents were Republicans Kay Kirkpatrick and John Albers and Democrat Jason Esteves, respectively.
The new lines remove District 6 and place some of East Cobb in District 33, which stretches from Powder Springs and through the city of Marietta.
That’s represented by Democrat Michael “Doc” Rhett, who represented a smaller part of the East Cobb area until reapportionment.
Republicans will still likely have nine of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House seats after the 2024 election.
The Georgia legislature has had Republican majorities since 2005. Currently the GOP has a 102-78 advantage in the House, and a 33-23 majority in the Senate.
Former 6th District U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who moved to the Gwinnett-based 7th District in 2022, announced after the judge’s decision this week that she will run in the new 6th, which includes most of South Cobb and covers an area represented by longtime Democratic incumbent David Scott.
The new 7th District is designed to maintain a Republican representative and covers north Fulton, Forsyth and Dawson counties, all in the current 6th. That’s held by first-term GOP U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick.
Cobb’s new boundaries in the Georgia State Senate.
Before the special legislative session, Cobb Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson announced her intent to run fort the 6th District.
She said after the interim maps were approved that they “didn’t pass the smell test” and that she hasn’t decided which district to run in.
Richardson, who hasn’t commented on Jones’ decision this week to approve the maps, said she would not run in a district with a Democratic incumbent.
McBath, a Marietta Democrat and an ardent gun-control advocate, defeated GOP incumbent Karen Handel in the 6th District in 2018.
While members of Congress don’t have to live in their districts, the Gwinnett area currently in the 7th District was carved up into four districts designed for Republican representation.
“I refuse to allow an extremist few Republicans decide when my work in Congress is finished,” McBath said Thursday in a statement issued by her campaign.
She’s switching to the 6th, she said, “because too much is at stake to stand down.”
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!
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The brother partnership of David and Michael Cohen has announced they will be opening Peach State Pizza at Avenue East Cobb on Jan. 9.
The new concept, as we noted in February, focuses on “Southern-style pizza with an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients.”
The menu will include appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and desserts, as well as locally brewed beer, domestics and specialty cocktails.
The space will include 3,650 square feet formerly occupied by Stockyard Burgers and Bones with décor “reflect[ing] the warmth of a Southern farmhouse and the relaxation of a front porch swing, punctuated by vintage photos, signs and artwork of classic Georgia landmarks.
It’s one of the key new restaurant additions to Avenue as it continues its overhaul. Press Waffle Co. is delaying its opening in one of the retail center’s new “jewel boxes” until after the first of the year, but a new opening date hasn’t been announced.
Peach State Pizza also will have two outdoor patios that will have events such as cornhole competitions and live music.
The menu items include plenty of Southern-inspired fare across the board, from a pimiento cheese grit fritters starter (and that we sampled at Avenue’s Plaza celebration in September); green tomato, brisket and pulled pork pizza offerings; and a variety of greens, sides, sandwiches and desserts.
Customers can also “build their own pie” with traditional pizza ingredients.
Peach State Pizza’s opening comes as Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar is winding down operations at Avenue after nearly eight years. The last day of service is Saturday, following an announcement last month by owner Doug Turbush that he would not be renewing his lease.
Elsewhere at Avenue, Tin Lizzy’s is expanding its space for a family-friendly gaming bar and will be opening that early in 2024; a specific timeline hasn’t been announced.
Also coming early next year is the second location of Round Trip Brewing Co., a German-style restaurant and taproom whose concept debut has been successful in the trendy Atlanta Westside foodie scene.
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Dec. 4
2491 Pauls Way, 30062 (Barbara Estates, Pope): $425,000
2588 Club Valley Drive, 30068 (Beverly Hills Estates, Wheeler): $625,000
1510 Garden Lane Circle, 30062 (Sewell Mill Heights, Walton): $531,000
3771 Manor House Drive, 30062 (Bradford, Pope): $535,000
3331 Emory Drive, 30062 (Hembree Hills, Pope): $425,000
3768 Rivaridge Drive, 30062 (Village North Highlands, Lassiter): $485,000
881 Richmond Hill Drive, 30068 (Yorkshire Hills, Walton): $550,000
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Residents in the Loch Highland neighborhood in East Cobb are helping out one of their own for the Christmas holiday after his home was destroyed in a fire Saturday.
Neighbors have set up a fundraising drive for Bobby Bell, who lives on Loch Highland Pass, and according to a resident escaped the blaze with his two dogs, wallet and phone.
Everything else was lost in the fire, which broke out Saturday evening, according to the Cobb Fire & Emergency Services Department.
Cobb Fire spokesman Troy Lange said a call was made at 6:54 p.m. Saturday but by the time crews arrived the home was fully engulfed in flames.
He said the preliminary cause is from a fire in the fireplace.
The Loch Highland resident sent us the above photo and said that a fundraising goal of $20,000 has been set for Bell, with more nearly $7,000 having been raised (there’s also a QR code below that’s accepting donations).
She said Bell has been staying in a hotel paid for by the Red Cross and that an empty home in Loch Highland has been offered as a temporary shelter “until he can get his own place and someone else has offered their basement apartment.”
“Please consider giving a little or a lot to help him re-establish his home to cover his basic needs,” the fundraising appeal on GiveSendGo states. “If you can’t give, you can send Bobby your prayers.”
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The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
That’s due to a $1,000 bonus for teachers and non-temporary workers that was pledged in December by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and funded through state coffers.
Gritters Library 
