East Cobb residential real estate sales, July 3-7, 2023

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Lost Forest, East Cobb real estate sales
Lost Forest

The following East Cobb residential real estate sales between July 3-7, were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:

July 3

2081 Pawnee Drive, 30067 (Cayuga Forest, Wheeler): $355,400

1380 Allgood Road, 30062 (Sprayberry): $345,000

July 5

1176 Highland Drive, 30062 (Highland Acres, Sprayberry): $145,000

3651 Brisbane Drive, 30062 (Lost Forest, Pope): $950,000

3177 Petite Forest Drive, 30062 (Petite Forest, Pope): $790,000

3841 Bluffview Drive, 30062 (Creekside Bluffs, Lassiter): $539,900

3932 Fairington Drive, 30066 (Lookout Point, Sprayberry): $225,000

4160 Bolingbrook Drive, 30062 (Woodbine, Lassiter): $380,000

4325 Keheley Lake Court, 30066 (Lakewood Colony, Kell): $422,500

2035 N Landing Way, 30066 (North Landing, Kell): $322,700

July 6

2870 Laureate Court, 30066 (The Laureate on Lassiter, Pope): $565,000

345 Niblewill Place, 30066 (Barrett Creek Townhomes, Sprayberry): $353,200

2299 Freydale Road, 30067 (Red Oak Park, Wheeler): $500,000

186 Lucky Drive, 30068 (Brooks J T, Wheeler): $580,000

2350 Ashton Woods Court, 30068 (Ashton Woods, Wheeler): $630,000

217 Weatherstone Parkway, 30068 (Weatherstone, Wheeler): $651,000

3724 Upland Drive, 30066 (Highland Park, Lassiter): $420,000

3988 Lookout Point Drive, 30066 (Lookout Point, Sprayberry): $419,000

1936 Kemp Road, 30066 (Country Meadows, Kell): $494,900

816 Serramonte Drive, 30068 (Villas at Parkaire, Walton): $365,000

July 7

3905 Chapel Heights Drive, 30062 (Chapel Heights, Lassiter): $1.05 million

2495 Castle Lane, 30062 (New Castle, Pope): $550,000

2875 Goldfinch Circle, 30066 (Woodrush Court, Sprayberry): $540,000

4356 Chapel Grove Court, 30062 (The Highlands at Wesley Chapel, Lassiter): $939,000

3750 Kensington Drive, 30066 (Canterbury Park, Sprayberry): $446,700

3211 Turtle Lake Court, 30067 (Somerset, Wheeler): $745,000

4292 Cove Island Drive, 30068 (Kings Cove, Walton): $950,000

170 Willow Glenn Drive, 30068 (Weatherstone, Wheeler): $495,000

313 Lakeshore Drive, 30067 (Kings Cove, Walton): $625,000

1782 Shelley Court, 30062 (Jacksons Square, Pope): $565,000

1170 Alan Lane, 30066 (Benson Heights, Sprayberry): $470,000

3271 Allegheny Drive, 30066 (North Chestnut Grove, Sprayberry): $540,000

3936 Bellair Drive, 30066 (Philmont Estates, Sprayberry): $290,000

1256 Meadow Trace, 30066 (Northwind Meadows, Kell): $370,000

4803 Nevilly Way, 30066 (Emerald Garden, Kell): $330,000

1339 Jamerson Road, 30066 (Gray Rock Estates, Kell): $430,000

1744 West Point Circle, 30068 (Jacksons Creek, Walton): $650,000

5001 Willeo Ridge Court, 30068 (Willeo Ridge, Walton): $600,000

4637 Kempton Place, 30067 (Whitehall, Walton): $712,000

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East Cobb man to get kidney transplant with son as his donor

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East Cobb man to get kidney transplant

From the time he was a young boy, Teddy Porter was raised by his father in a modest home in East Cobb where he participated in a variety of youth sports.

He played recreational basketball at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and baseball at Sandy Plains Baseball, and football in the Pope High School programs. His father was his youth coach for a couple of years.

With his years as a Pope student disrupted by COVID-19 closures and restrictions, Teddy wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduating in 2021.

A few months later, Charlie Porter, his father, was told he would need a kidney transplant.

Without hesitation, Teddy volunteered to donate a kidney.

“I thought that I probably had the best chance” to be a good match, he said.

But Charlie was hesitant, even though Teddy did turn out to be an ideal donor.

“I don’t know how much time I have left,” says Charlie, 69, from the living room of his home off North Hembree Road, in an interview this week with East Cobb News.

“But at first I said I don’t want to put my 21-year-old-son under the knife.”

A friend, Brenda Isaac of the One Love Learning Foundation, an Atlanta non-profit that helps children in disadvantaged situations through the establishment of schools and community gardens, reminded him that he wanted to raise his son in a stable community, and that he made sacrifices to do so.

“Here’s his chance to give back,” Charlie recollected Isaac telling him about Teddy’s offer to donate a kidney.

On Tuesday, Charlie, Teddy and Isaac will be in Nashville, where the transplant will take place at Vanderbilt Health.

After the surgery, Teddy will return home after a few days, while Charlie will have to stay for at least a month, and possibly up to eight weeks.

In the months since they made this father-son arrangement, Charlie said he’s been able to reflect upon the role of his children—he has two daughters, 40 and 38, who are Teddy’s half-sisters—who have rushed to their father’s side during his health crisis.

“It’s been a lesson in love for me,” said Charlie, who had to retire last year after a 30-year career in the trade show business. “They’ve shown up unconditionally for me.”

Teddy’s parents are divorced. He was home-schooled for a while until his father got sole custody. His mom is still close by—she’ll be looking after Teddy after he returns from the transplant operation—and he said he doesn’t see much of a downside to being a donor.

“My mom has been very helpful,” Teddy said.

He’ll lose a kidney, but said doctors told him the capacity of his remaining kidney “expands by 20-30 percent.”

There aren’t many side effects, although he can’t take ibuprofen. And he won’t be able to go back to heavy lifting at various trade show jobs he’s had right away.

As a male, he can’t pass on the gene for Alport Syndrome, a rare condition Charlie inherited from his mother.

And if Teddy should need a kidney transplant at some point in his life, he would be a priority since he’s been a donor.

“Most people with this don’t make it to my age,” Charlie says of Alport Syndrome, which affects mostly children and young adults.

He’s had a uralysis every five years, and it’s the one he had in 2021 that resulted in the Alport Syndrome diagnosis.

After about a year, Charlie wanted a second opinion, after enduring quite a bit of fatigue. In addition to his work, he couldn’t even mill around in his garden or volunteer at the One Love Learning gardens, including one at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta.

Neither has he been able to continue taking up yoga, which he says has been a revelation to him. After his mother died, he started taking classes at Peach Out Power Yoga in East Cobb, and befriended owner Karen Patton.

“I fell in love with it,” Charlie says. “It changed my life in many ways.”

He credits yoga in part for contributing to his his otherwise good health, which made him a strong candidate for a transplant.

He said that doctors conducted testing to project longevity, and he came in the middle of the KDPI calculator at 49.

So he’s hopeful about his prospects after the transplant.

“If all goes well, I should be able to get another eight to 10 years,” Charlie said.

“I thought it was 20,” Teddy responded.

On Tuesday, Teddy’s surgery will begin early in the morning, and last around two hours. Charlie’s surgery will take place immediately after that, and he is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days before staying in an Airbnb he has rented out in Nashville.

While he rehabs, there will be follow-up visits with doctors before he’s allowed to return home.

Charlie’s already turning the wheels in his own mind about becoming active in his life again. He served on the board of the East Cobb YMCA, in addition to his career and other community activities.

“I have been active since I was 16 years old,” he said. “That’s been the hardest thing for me. Now I’m starting to look at the other side of this.”

He wants to get back to yoga and gardening, and to see his son further into adulthood. Teddy said he’s pondering college but possibly joining the military more than that.

“This process has been a family affair,” Charlie said. “My three children have rallied around me, and it’s amazing to me that they said they were going to do this together.”

Charlie looked Teddy squarely in the eyes and said “my son gave me a purpose. A big part of my life was raising this boy, and I just wanted him to be a good boy.

“People say to me that Teddy is a kind boy.”

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Cobb Water System to ask commissioners for a rate increase

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Cobb residents have been up in arms over the prospect of higher property tax bills as Cobb commissioners are scheduled on Tuesday to adopt the fiscal year 2024 budget and millage rates.Cobb Water System to ask for rate increase

Commissioners also are being asked by the Cobb County Water System to raise water and sewer service rates for the second time in less than two years.

An item on Tuesday night’s agenda (you can read it here) is seeking an increase that would raise the average residential bill by more than $5 a month.

The water system said it needs the rate adjustment because it’s costing more to buy chemicals, wholesale water and materials and to dispose of biosolids, as well as to fund “planned infrastructure replacements and upgrades.”

The water system says the average residential customer consumes around 5,000 gallons a month, and is charged around $54.85 for water and sewer and a $7 monthly service charge.

“It should be noted that this is among the lowest rates in the Atlanta Metro area, and it is substantially lower than most other major counties,” the agenda item states.

The rate adjustments would raise water commodity charges (the cost per thousand gallons used) by 7.5 percent and sewer commodity charges by 8.5 percent. The water system also is asking to increase the service charge for all meter sizes.

The rate hike, if approved, would go into effect Oct. 1, when the county’s fiscal year 2024 begins.

“Even with the proposed rate adjustment, our rates will remain lower than other major counties in the metro Atlanta area with our average residential customer,” the agenda item states, “paying $1.35 for the delivery of 100 gallons of treated water, removal of the water once used, treatment of the wastewater to a very high standard, and return of the resource to either Allatoona Lake or the Chattahoochee River where it is available for further use and enjoyment.”

Here is a detailed fee schedule the water agency has submitted with its proposal for a rate increase.

Cobb raised water rates by around 11 percent in 2021. In 2018, rates went up by around $5 a month, but commissioner JoAnn Birrell voted against that.

She has been opposed to transferring water system revenues to the county’s general fund and has pushed for that amount to be lowered.

Birrell reiterated that objective at a town hall on Wednesday about the budget and millage rate. The proposed budget would reduce water system revenue transfers from 7 percent to 6 percent.

A final hearing on the proposed budget (details here) and millage rate will be conducted by commissioners at the beginning of the meeting (summary agenda here).

The general fund millage rate is proposed to remain at 8.46 mills but because of rising property tax assessments the state considers that a tax increase and hearings are required.

At Birrell’s town hall and elsewhere citizens have pleaded for a reduction in the millage rate. She said she supports a cut but hasn’t determined how much that might be and needs two other votes from commissioners.

Cobb school board members voted Thursday to adopt a fiscal year 2024 millage rate of 18.7 mills, a 0.2 reduction. But school taxes will still be going up as Cobb announced a record tax digest of $58.1 billion for 2023.

The full agenda for Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting can be found by clicking here.

It begins at 7 p.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

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East Cobb faith communities take part in new Habitat project

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East Cobb faith communities take part in new Habitat project

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Last weekend, Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta and the Cobb Interfaith Habitat Coalition (CIHC) hammered the first nails and raised the first walls on their 22rd annual Habitat house.  

This year’s faith groups include Smyrna First United Methodist Church, Bethany United Methodist Church, the Islamic Center of Marietta, East Cobb Islamic Center, Temple Kol Emeth, St. Thomas the Apostle, Log Cabin Church, Covenant UMC, Unity North Church, McEachern United Methodist Church, St. Catherine’s Episcopal, First Presbyterian of Marietta, and Due West United Methodist Church.                                                             

This year’s corporate partners include Pinkerton & Laws Construction of Atlanta, Fortune Johnson, Foresite Group, Moore Colson, Atlanta West Carpets, and Nissan. 

The build is for future homeowner Vernita, who has worked as a General Manager at McDonald’s for 21 years. Vernita is always willing to lend a helping hand, a quality that has allowed her to create a family environment with her work staff. She chose this role because it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her daughter Diamond, who is now 21. 

The family of two lives in a Villa Rica apartment where the living conditions are very stressful. Vernita didn’t think she would be able to afford the down payment on a home, but now that she is approved for Habitat for Humanity’s affordable homeownership program, she is so excited to have a place to call home. She is most excited about spending time outside working in the yard. 

“For more than two decades multiple religious organizations from many different faiths and denominational backgrounds, come together with corporate partners for the common purpose to build,” says Jessica Gill, CEO, Cobb County Habitat Coalition.” 

The CIHC coalition uses the motto, ‘We Build to Coexist, We Coexist to Build’. Henry Hene, longtime coalition co-chair said, “Despite obstacles, and regardless of the economy, for 22 years, this coalition stayed the course of showing selfless service and demonstrating faith in action.”  

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Cobb parents ask for ‘inclusivity’ after teacher’s firing

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Cobb parents ask for inclusivity after teacher's firing
Carly Lyon reads to the school board from “My Shadow is Purple,” the book at the heart of the firing of a Cobb school teacher over Georgia’s divisive concepts in education law.

Although they weren’t permitted to directly address the firing of a Cobb County School District teacher over Georgia’s “divisive concepts” in education law, parents, teachers and other citizens found a creative way to get their point across on Thursday.

During a public comment session at a Cobb Board of Education meeting, a speaker read from the book that got fifth-grade teacher Katie Rinderle fired from her position at Due West Elementary School.

The book in question, “My Shadow is Purple,” by Australian author Scott Stuart, is a picture book about a child of elementary school age who doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl, but falls into what has been called by some as “non-binary.”

Among the charges against Rinderle is that she told students to use “they/them” pronouns to refer to the main character of the book instead of a gender-specific identifier.

Speakers at the school board meetings were told by Suzann Wilcox, the school board attorney, they couldn’t comment about a pending personnel matter. Rinderle is appealing her termination and a hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 10.

Cobb parents ask for more inclusivity
Michael Garza

The Cobb school district concluded the subject matter taught by Rinderle violates the 2022 divisive concepts law, which bars educators from teaching that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and covers some issues about sex and gender identity.

The law that prompted an outcry from teachers and education organizations across the state as being draconian and lawsuits have been filed.

Rinderle’s termination, which came after the school district investigated complaints by Due West parents, is the first in Georgia since the law was passed.

For some parents, who came to the school board meeting wearing purple shirts saying “Ban Bias Not Books,” the action smacks of what they claim is the district’s lack of an embrace of a diversity and inclusion agenda.

Jeff Hubbard, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, asked that the district reinstitute “No Place for Hate,” a curriculum program developed by the Anti-Defamation League.

That was removed shortly before the Cobb school board voted in 2021 to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory.

Anna Clay, who said she is a Cobb teacher, was wearing a purple shirt.

She said the schools “should be welcoming of all students. Some are boys. Some are girls. Some are neither. Some are trans. Some are still figuring it out. They all deserve to be treated with respect. They all deserve to be represented in classroom literature.

“Our students are human beings, not divisive concepts.”

Michael Garza of East Cobb adapted a portion of the book’s text to explain his some of his educational experiences, and to comment on the Cobb school district’s actions.

Cobb parents ask for inclusivity
Caryn Sonderman

“What I am left wondering is why is hate speech always free, yet your administration is quick to dismiss speech that validates me,” he said. “Being gay, being brown, being Jewish, being different is not a sin. When we all band together, your bigoted policies will not win.”

At a Thursday afternoon work session, Caryn Sonderman of East Cobb thanked the district for not allowing the teaching of those issues.

She said that the “truth is found in only one source God’s word. .  . Are you building the kingdom of Satan or are you building the kingdom of God?”

“Children are being confused and deceived when God clearly made a man and a woman, a boy and girl, and you influence children to get them to think they can be other than what God made them to be.”

Board members did not comment, but later in the meeting approved a request by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to give him authority to establish procedures and create a list of qualified candidates to serve on tribunals that conduct personnel hearings that are submitted to the school board.

“Tribunal members must possess academic expertise and must be impartial,” according to the agenda item, which was passed on the consent agenda.

During a brief discussion at the work session, the matter involving Rinderle was not mentioned.

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Cobb school board adopts millage rate as Banks vote present

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Cobb school board adopts millage rate
“I don’t want to get into a situation where we tax people out of their homes or can’t pay the rent,” Cobb school board member David Banks said in supporting a 0.5 millage rate cut.

As he did during the adoption of the Cobb County School District’s fiscal year 2024 budget in May, school board member David Banks didn’t cast a vote Thursday when it came time for setting a new millage rate.

As he did previously, Banks, the board’s vice chairman from East Cobb-based Post 5, voted present as his colleagues voted 6-0 to set the millage rate at 18.7 mills.

The millage rate is set separately from budget adoption since the Cobb tax digest isn’t formalized until July, when the Cobb school district budget goes into effect.

That’s 0.2 mills less than the millage rate that’s been set annually since 2007, but not as much as Banks wanted.

At a work session and voting session Thursday, he reiterated his desire for cut of 0.5 percent, due to rising property tax assessments that have prompted an outcry from citizens across the county.

He repeated claims that even with a 0.2 cut, the FY 2024 budget includes the largest tax increase in the history of the Cobb school district.

But during the work session, Brad Johnson the district’s chief financial officer, said he researched that issue and found that in 1972, the Cobb school budget had a tax increase of more than 30 percent.

That was a few years before the Georgia legislature approved a senior tax exemption for homeowners 62 and over from paying school taxes.

“I’m not for a wholesale reduction,” said Banks, a fourth-term Republican, saying that a 0.5-mill cut would suffice “until we get to a level that is appropriate.

“I don’t want to get into a situation where we tax people out of their homes or can’t pay the rent.”

It’s a similar concern expressed at a town hall meeting held Wednesday by JoAnn Birrell of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to adopt a budget and millage rate on Tuesday.

The new $1.4 billion school district budget based on an 18.7 millage rate includes substantial pay increases for teachers and full-time employees, who have received strong pay and benefits raises for after several lean years.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said those initiatives have been necessary to make Cobb schools competitive for hiring and retaining teachers, issuing a common refrain of “so goes the district, so goes the county.”

But Banks persisted with a line of questioning that irritated board chairman Brad Wheeler, a fellow Republican, who wanted to “move along” with the discussion.

“Please don’t interrupt me,” Banks shot back, as the two went back and forth like that for a few moments.

At the evening voting session, the board’s three Democrats also said they liked the idea of a bigger reduction, but only one of them, Tre’ Hutchins of Post 3 in South Cobb, voted with Banks on the latter’s amendment to reduce the rate to 18.4 mills.

First-term Democrat Nichelle Davis of Post 3 in Smyrna said the 18.4 millage rate is “a step in the right direction.”

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Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy hires director

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Chattahoochee River National Park Conservancy hires director

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Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy (CNPC), the official Friends Group and Primary Philanthropic Partner of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) announces Brittany Jones as the first Executive Director in the organization’s history. Hiring an executive director signifies a major milestone in CNPC’s development and growth. Jones began her new role on July 10. 

Before joining CNPC, Jones served as Chief Experience Officer at San Francisco’s Filoli, a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. She most recently was Executive Director of Smith-Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw, Ga. In 2021, Jones completed her Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco. Through her final capstone project, “DEAI in Nonprofits: Through the Lens of Museums and Gardens,” she explored practices and barriers around Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion. Jones received her Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies at Florida International University. 

“We couldn’t be more proud that our volunteer-led organization has reached a point where our size, complexity, and strategic goals necessitate the appointment of a dedicated leader to manage and oversee its operations,” says Graham Dorian, CPNC President and Board Chair.  “Brittany is inclusive, collaborative, and strategic and has the skills and experience to continue to develop CNPC. We are confident her commitment, fresh perspectives, energy, and expertise will allow us to continue to be an impactful partner for the national park.”

“What CNPC has accomplished in just 10 years is astounding, and I am thrilled to be joining such an active, growing, and engaged organization!” says Jones. “I have a deep passion for parks and the volunteers who care for them and look forward to enhancing CNPC’s ability to achieve our mission and create a meaningful impact.”

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Federal judge sides with Cobb schools in redistricting suit

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A federal judge has said a group of plaintiffs suing over redistricting of Cobb Board of Education seats doesn’t have a legal claim against the Cobb County School District.

Cobb school board redistricting town hall
Cobb Board of Education maps passed by the legislature were first recommended by the school board’s Republican majority.

That doesn’t end the lawsuit, filed on behalf of several plaintiffs by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU and other attorneys.

Judge Eleanor Ross also ruled against the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, the defendant, to have the suit dismissed entirely.

Plaintiffs claimed that the Georgia legislature, which passed the new maps last year, violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act and used race as a guiding factor in redrawing the seven school board posts.

Those actions included Post 2 and 3 in South Cobb and Post 6, which had covered most of the Walton and Wheeler high school attendance zones, and which was moved out of East Cobb, and mostly into the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.

Among the claims made by the plaintiffs was that the Cobb Board of Education’s four-member white Republican majority “voted on racial lines and without substantive debate to hire—at great expense to the county—a consulting firm to draw a proposed map” and that the process “both the hiring of a third party to draw the redistricting maps and the Board’s decision to forego bids from multiple firms— strayed from the Board’s past practices.”

That map was adopted by the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp and went into effect for the 2022 elections.

The lawsuit seeks to declare the drawing of posts 2, 3 and 6 unconstitutional based and to order the legislature to draw a new map.

But in a ruling issued Tuesday, Ross, of the U.S. District Court in Atlanta said that “the Court finds that the above allegations are insufficient to establish a ‘longstanding and widespread practice’ by the District of recommending a racially gerrymandered map for the Board of Education elections in Cobb County.”

Ross, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued the ruling nearly a month after a hearing in her courtroom.

You can read the ruling by clicking here.

The Cobb school district hired an outside law firm as it sought a judgment that it shouldn’t be held liable for a redistricting map approved by the state legislature.

In a release issued late Thursday afternoon, the Cobb school district said the following:

“The suit is an unfortunate extension of efforts by political activists and organizations to exert influence in Cobb County’s schools. . . .

“While the Court’s opinion frees the District and its Board members from baseless accusations of racial discrimination, the District continues to be concerned that Cobb County Board of Elections, a politically appointed body, chose not to join the District in asking Judge Ross to rule in its favor and conclude the lawsuit.”

The SPLC issued the following statement from Poy Winichakul, one of its attorneys for voting rights:

“Despite the district’s mischaracterizations of the court’s order and the case itself, we are pleased that the plaintiffs’ case against the Board of Elections is moving forward. Judge Ross declined to rule on any of the district’s arguments related to the map. What this means is that our case is proceeding exactly as plaintiffs originally pled it last summer and the district will no longer spend the county’s resources litigating the case, but instead will return to its important job of educating the students of Cobb County. We look forward to proving our case on the merits.”

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At fiery town hall, Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate

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Birrell pledges effort to cut tax rate
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell (right) is questioned by East Cobb resident Debbie Fisher, with Cobb Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann looking on. ECN photos.

What was designed to be an open house for Cobb homeowners to sort through assessments and tax bills one-on-one with county officials turned into a contentious town hall over a scheduled vote next Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners about whether to lower the millage rate on property taxes.

Many of those in attendance Wednesday at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center in East Cobb took aim at the event’s host, District 3 Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

For nearly two hours, she and other county officials took questions—and plenty of broadsides—from residents livid at the proposed fiscal year 2024 Cobb government budget of nearly $1.2 billion that holds the line on the general fund millage rate but that has $53 more in revenues.

Under state law, that constitutes a tax increase, and the county has had to hold three public hearings. The final comes Tuesday, before the budget and millage rate are adopted.

At Wednesday’s event, East Cobb resident Jan Barton, a frequent critic of county government spending and a commenter at public meetings, asked Birrell if she planned on voting to reduce the tax rate.

“I’m working on it,” said Birrell, prompting a number of groans. “I’m one vote in five.”

Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate
When a resident accused county officials of “not being able to take the heat,” County Manager Jackie McMorris said that “if we didn’t want to take the heat, we wouldn’t be here.”

Birrell said she’s continuing to meet with county officials about finding areas to cut spending—she doesn’t support funding any new positions, for example—but said “something can be worked out.”

She didn’t specify how much of a cut she might propose and where she might find a third, and decisive vote.

(The Cobb Board of Education passed its fiscal year 2024 budget of $1.4 billion based on a 0.2 millage rate reduction, which it is poised to adopt on Thursday, but there are calls for a larger millage rate cut.)

Birrell is one of two Republicans on the commission. Her GOP colleague, Keli Gambrill, also has said she wants to cut the general fund millage rate, which funds most county government operations.

Citizens at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center asked why the county can’t tighten its belt, since they’re having to.

“We don’t need larger government,” said a 91-year-old man, who added that “I have never seen anything as bad as the crap we’ve got right now.”

Others shouted at, interrupted and openly confronted county officials, including County Manager Jackie McMorris during a two-hour meeting that at times descended into chaos.

There were complaints about the taxpayers’ cost of funding Truist Park and the Cobb special local-option sales tax (SPLOST) that funds maintenance and construction costs unrelated to the operating budget.

When Birrell explained her longstanding effort to reduce the percentage of revenues transferred from the Cobb water system to the general fund—the budget proposal reduces that from 7 to 6 percent—she even got an earful about that.

“Now you’re explaining why people don’t trust government anymore,” East Cobb resident Jim Astuto said.

Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate
East Cobb resident Jim Astuto (right) speaks with Cobb CFO Bill Volckmann.

After a woman suggested that citizens stop voting for the SPLOST, McMorris responded that they should be careful what they wish for.

Some growled back at her, and with a bit of sarcasm McMorris said that, “Yes, we wake up every day trying to figure out how to make people mad.”

As Birrell tried to restore order and an open house format, a man standing in the back of room boomed: “It was a non-speaking meeting until everyone started to speak.”

This year’s record Cobb tax digest is $58 billion, is up 15 percent from last year.

Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate
Cobb resident Tracy Stephens decries higher spending in the proposed Cobb budget.

That fueled further criticism that the county should learn to do more with less. Bill Volckmann, the county’s chief financial officer, tried to explain that in some categories where spending is higher, a critical factor is a looming recession, and that “we’re trying to prepare.”

That didn’t sit well in the room either.

“As a stupid man sitting on the sidelines, I don’t see how spending more is saving money,” said Tracy Stephens, a home contractor who also has spoken at public hearings on the budget and tax rate.

At a millage rate public hearing on Tuesday, commissioners heard from citizens in South Cobb, including retirees who complained that higher assessments have raised their tax bill by 20 percent or more.

(District 4 commissioner Monique Sheffield, who represents South Cobb, is scheduled to have a town hall meeting on Monday.)

Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate

Of the nearly 50 people at Birrell’s town hall, most of them were middle-age and older, including some retirees who said that with inflationary costs for other living expenses, a much higher tax bill threatens to price them out of their homes.

“Some of my neighbors are worried about losing their homes,” said Barton, who handed out a long list of “Questions for Cobb County” prepared by a citizens group, Cobb Tax Revolt.

A woman who just turned 62—making her eligible for the senior exemption from school taxes—said that still won’t help her much.

Birrell pledges effort to cut millage rate
“I need two other votes,” Birrell said, and explained that her own property assessment has gone up dramatically.

“We’re the people who made East Cobb what it is,” she thundered to applause. “We’re the ones who made the schools what they are. . . . You’re pushing all of us out. We’re getting cheated out of our retirements.”

Birrell replied that “I’m doing the best I can to get support and lower the millage rate.”

She said cutting the rate to the “rollback” rate of being tax neutral to the current-year budget isn’t possible.

There are public safety salary and benefit increases that have been factored in.

“There are other things I don’t agree with that we need to get rid of,” Birrell said. “But I need two other votes.”

East Cobb resident Debbie Fisher asked for the budget and millage rate votes to be postponed, both for Birrell’s purposes and for the public to understand the numbers better.

Mack Cobb, a retired youth sports coach and a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year, referenced the failed East Cobb Cityhood efforts. Opponents said citizens in the proposed city would be paying higher taxes, just as those living in Cobb’s other cities do.

“It got bloody,” he said. “We were told, ‘Don’t vote yes, your taxes will go up.’ Well hello? Thank you very much, but my taxes are going up.”

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Mother gets life for killing toddler found in Chattahoochee River

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A woman who pleaded guilty this week to killing her toddler son and leaving his body in the Chattahoochee River in 2021 has been sentenced to life in prison.

Mother gets life for killing toddler found in Chattahoochee
Breyanla Lachuan Cooper

The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that Breyanla Lachuan Cooper, 29, of Stone Mountain, pleaded guilty in Cobb Superior Court to one count of malice murder, one count of aggravated assault and one count of concealing the death of another.

She was issued the sentence by Judge Kellie Hill.

Cooper was 27 when the body of her 19-month-old child, Faheem Cooper, was found by Cobb Fire and Emergency Services personnel in the Chattahoochee River near the Palisades Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

They were conducting a training session on July 1, 2021, when they noticed the child, who was deceased, floating in the water.

The Cobb DA’s office said after the news was released to the public, Cooper called the Cobb Fire non-emergency line to see if she could identify the body.

Cobb detectives investigating the death said Cooper told them that a man took her son because she owed him money, and that she was afraid to report it, according to the DA’s office, but police later determined there was no kidnapping.

Police also talked to Cooper’s mother, who described for them the details of her daughter’s car that was identified via GPS data at having been at the river on June 26, 2021, in the early evening hours. prosecutors said.

“It was during this time that she killed her child, leaving him in the river,” the Cobb DA’s office said, but didn’t elaborate on how the child died.

Cooper was arrested on July 2 and further interviews by police included the woman’s older child, “who disclosed that Cooper told her that their time with Faheem was done,” the DA’s office said.

At sentencing, Hill said that “it is unspeakable that a mother would do this to her own flesh and blood. There’s just nothing the court can say or do to make this any better for anybody.”

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East Cobb Food Scores: Chopt; The Orient; Laredo’s; more

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Chopt East Cobb opening

The following food scores have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Chopt East Cobb
4250 Roswell Road, Suite 630
July 19, 2023 Score: 85, Grade: B

Fugu Express
2900 Delk Road, Suite 200
View inspections:
July 17, 2023 Score: 85, Grade: B

Laredo’s Mexican Bar & Grill
1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 400
July 18, 2023 Score: 86, Grade: B

The Orient
3050 Windy Hill Road
July 19, 2023 Score: 87, Grade: B

Taco Bell
2169 Roswell Road
July 18, 2023 Score: 96, Grade: A

Taquito Express
3065 Shallowford Road, Suite A
July 20, 2023 Score: 71, Grade: C

Waffle House
4797 Canton Road
July 17, 2023 Score: 91, Grade: A

Wendy’s
1312 Johnson Ferry Road
July 21, 2023 Score: 90, Grade: A

Wildwood Cafe @ 3200
3200 Windy Hill Road, Suite 150
July 18, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Wings and Burger Haven
2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 128
July 18, 2023 Score: 83, Grade: B

Zaxby’s
750 Johnson Ferry Road
July 18, 2023 Score: 91, Grade: A

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The Avenue East Cobb to unveil ‘The Plaza’ with cocktail event

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The Avenue to unveil The Plaza

There’s still a good bit of work to be done on the new plaza area at The Avenue East Cobb, which is the centerpiece of the retail center’s ongoing redevelopment project.

But North American Properties, The Avenue’s management company, announced this week that it’s scheduled an unveiling of “The Plaza” in early September.

A cocktail event takes place on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 6-9 p.m., with appropriate attire, and featuring live music, light food and drink and more.

It’s being billed as “an exclusive first look at the Redefined Avenue East Cobb,” and tickets will go on sale Monday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m. More information can be found by clicking here.

The Plaza is a public space that will include live music and other special events.

Tickets for the unveiling are $75 per person, and include a complimentary open bar and food tastings from new restaurants that are part of the overhaul, including the two “jewel box” buildings going up on either side of The Plaza.

Those include Press Waffle Co. and Peach State Pizza, as we noted back in February.

All ticket proceeds from the cocktail event will benefit MUST Ministries.

For redevelopment updates, including a construction livestream, click here.

The Avenue to unveil The Plaza

The Avenue to unveil The Plaza

The Avenue to unveil The Plaza

The Avenue to unveil The Plaza
A rendering of The Plaza, with a music stage in the background.

There’s also a new women’s clothing store that’s coming soon to The Avenue. It’s called Evereve, which has more than 100 retail locations around the country, including two others in metro Atlanta, and is going in next to Warby Parker.

The Avenue Evereve store front

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Portion of Powers Ferry Road closed due to water main break

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Powers Ferry Road closed

Cobb DOT said Wednesday morning that Powers Ferry Road is closed between Delk Road and Terrell Mill Road due to a water main break.

Alternates include Bentley Road and “Delk and Terrell Mill Roads to where they intersect east of the problem area,” DOT said.

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said that Cobb DOT has brought a contractor to the scene but “we don’t know how long this closure will last.”

A Cobb Commute update indicates the work could take the rest of the day, showing an estimated completion time of 6 p.m.

Cavitt said 26 businesses in the area were without water but that service was restored before 9 a.m.

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Powers Ferry biz update: Kroger opening set for Aug. 2

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Powers Ferry biz update Kroger opening

The finishing touches are being put on the new Kroger Superstore that’s the centerpiece of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill development in the heart of the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

It’s one of the last components of the project to open, and a ribbon-cutting has been scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 2, at 8 a.m.

The store is a 90,000-square foot “superstore,” one of the largest for Kroger in the metro Atlanta area, and includes a drive-through pharmacy, a dedicated area for online pickups and a fuel center with 18 pumps that recently opened.

Kroger spokeswoman Tammie Young-Ennaemba said the public is invited to assemble for a rally at 7:30 a.m. before the ribbon-cutting.

The store will open to the public after that, leaving two restaurants as the final additions of the $120 million MarketPlace Terrell Mill, which replaced aging office buildings, retail space and the original campus of Brumby Elementary School and was developed by Connolly and Eden Rock Real Estate Partners.

The Los Abuelos Mexican Grill, with existing locations in Newnan and John Creek, was tentatively to have opened in June at the Shoppes At MarketPlace, but there’s not an update on a new timeline. The Terrell Mill location has a sign in the window indicating that a liquor license has been applied for.

The same is a couple doors down where The Brass Tap Craft Beer Bar is preparing for an opening in August. It’s a a Tampa-based chain with Atlanta-area locations at Perimeter Center, Milton and Hapeville.

Los Abuelos MarketPlace Terrell Mill

The Brass Tap MarketPlace Terrell Mill

A couple miles down Powers Ferry, the Rose and Crown Tavern is expected to reopen this summer, along with a companion restaurant between the new Bexley and Overture apartment complexes on what was Restaurant Row.

An update on the restaurant’s Facebook page was no more specific than this:

“Rose & Crown Tavern and R & C Kitchen coming to you this summer season.”

The tavern (1935 Powers Ferry Road), the last surviving business in Restaurant Row, closed in July 2019 for what was intended to be only two years.

But it’s been a little more than three, as COVID-19-related and other delays have kicked in. Owner Miquel Ayoub has directed customers to the Mojave restaurant he opened on Powers Ferry Road in Sandy Springs in early 2019.

East Cobb News has left a message seeking more information. Readers also asked for more specifics:

“Hurry up and open already!”

“Is Shrimp and Grits still on the menu?”

Not far up the street, a standalone building for the relocating Tasty China Restaurant (1808 Powers Ferry Road) also is nearing completion.

The popular Szechuan restaurant is moving from Franklin Gateway, where it opened in 1998, to the former site of La Frontera Restaurant. A tentative opening was for the spring, and there’s not an update beyond a liquor license application notice in a front window.

Rose & Crown Powers Ferry

Tasty China Powers Ferry

At Terrell Mill Village, the former Kouzina Christos space has a new occupant. It’s the forthcoming Milancho Fresh Market & Kitchen, part of a New Jersey-based chain of locations featuring European-style groceries and with a focus on traditional Bulgarian food products.

There was a Milancho grocery and cafe in Smyrna but that closed in early 2022.

And for the time being, the Starbucks on an outparcel facing Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road is closed, as the coffee shop is being renovated.

That includes the drive-through window, and there are cones blocking access to the parking lot and drive-through lanes.

Across Powers Ferry, the Jacobs Java Cafe (1350 Terrell Mill Road) serves up Chicago-style coffee, espressos, and smoothies as well as a variety of hot dogs. You can also buy bags of its coffee blend.

Malincho Fresh Market & Produce Terrell Mill Village

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Cobb assistant DA in Arbery trial named top Ga. prosecutor

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Cobb Assistant DA named top Ga. prosecutor

Linda Dunikoski, a senior assistant Cobb District Attorney who prosecuted three men in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial, has been named the Georgia prosecutor of the year by the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady presented Dunikoski the award recently at the organization’s summer meeting for her work getting convictions for Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William R. Bryan.

They were found guilty by a Glynn County jury in the 2020 shooting death of Arbery in a case that gained national attention.

Arbery was a black man jogging down a residential street in Brunswick when he was pursued by a vehicle with the McMichaels and Bryan, who are all white.

The Cobb DA’s office was assigned the case when the Glynn County district attorney declined to bring charges, citing Georgia’s citizen arrest law. She later was indicted for her handling of the case.

“I am so honored to be recognized by the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia for my 21 years of service to the citizens of Georgia and for our team’s work on the Ahmaud Arbery case,” Dunikowski said in a statement issued by the Cobb DA’s office.

“Our trial team, including Paul Camarillo and Larissa Ollivierre, could not have achieved justice for the family of Ahmaud without the support of Cobb DA Flynn Broady.”

In the same statement, Broady said that “the eyes of the world were upon the team led by Linda. The trial team showed that we as prosecutors will fight for victims and their families, despite the hardships inherent in a prosecution of this magnitude. Not only did she deliver justice, she brought back the legitimacy of our system of justice to many. We are very proud of the work by these men and women in our office.”

Dunikoski currently is the managing attorney of the Appeals Division of the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.

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East Cobb residential real estate sales, June 26-30, 2023

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Sewell Farms, East Cobb real estate sales
Sewell Farms

The following East Cobb residential real estate sales between June 26-30, 2023, were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:

June 26

3374 Renfro Street, 30066 (Royal Oaks Estates, Sprayberry): $620,000

1726 Hickory Woods Pass, 30066 (Hickory Woods, Sprayberry): $925,000

755 Huntington Place, 30067 (Stratford, Wheeler): $525,000

1614 Alexandria Court, 30067 (Bentley Ridge, Wheeler): $221,000

338 Indian Hills Trail, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): $1.868 million

2722 Harper Woods Drive, 30062 (Harper Woods, Sprayberry): $565,000

3662 Autumn Ridge Parkway, 30066 (Blackwell Chase, Sprayberry): $549,900

3799 Apple Way, 30066 (North Ridge, Sprayberry): $475,000

4446 Windsor Oaks Circle, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): $619,000

4118 Springwood Place, 30062 (Jefferson Park, Lassiter): $670,000

June 27

1471 Logan Circle, 30062 (Independence Square, Walton): $707,500

2322 Heather Court, 30066 (Wuthering Heights, Sprayberry): $390,000

3599 Liberty Ridge Trail, 30062 (Liberty Ridge, Pope): $597,000

2800 Davis Road, 30062 (Sprayberry): $750,000

1575 Redbud Trail, 30066 (North Ridge, Sprayberry): $380,000

2266 Nottley Drive, 30066 (Barrett Creek Townhomes, Sprayberry): $340,000

June 28

1275 Adams Oaks Landing, 30062 (Enclave at Adams Oaks, Walton): $1.549 million

2321 Ventana Crossing, 30062 (Keswyck Common Townhomes, Sprayberry): $415,000

609 Old Canton Road, 30068 (Cobb Estates, Wheeler): $430,000

320 Kurtz Road, 30066 (Kings Wood Estates, Sprayberry): $370,000

3279 Timber Bluff Drive, 30062 (Timber Bluff, Pope): $696,100

2868 Pauls Way, 30068 (Pope): $1.05 million

4014 Upland Trace, 30066 (Highland Park, Lassiter): $665,000

1471 Waterford Court, 30068 (Willow Point, Walton): $740,000

June 29

2333 Barrett Cottage Place Unit #6, 30066 (Cottages at Bells Ferry, Sprayberry): $430,000

670 Oakland Drive, 30067 (Forest Ridge, Wheeler): $377,000

1944 Ferry Drive, 30066 (Kings Wood Estates, Sprayberry): $560,000

1810 Danforth Drive, 30062 (Sewell Farms, Walton): $900,000

3690 Hickory Ridge Court, 30066 (North Ridge, Sprayberry): $461,000

3830 Bluffview Drive, 30062 (Creekside Bluffs, Lassiter): $835,000

2478 Devon Wood Way, 30066 (Devon Oaks, Lassiter): $615,000

2000 Kemp Road, 30066 (North Landing, Kell): $345,000

4996 Turtle Rock Drive, 30066 (Turtle Rock, Lassiter): $285,000

974 Forest Pond Circle, 30068 (New Bedford, Walton): $746,500

June 30

3375 Renfro Street, 30066 (Royal Oaks Estates, Sprayberry): $620,000

3205 Powers Ford, 30067 (Old Paper Mill, Wheeler): $885,000

3578 Turtle Cove Court, 30067 (Shadowlake, Wheeler): $608,000

266 Indian Trail, 30068 (Sewell Manor, Wheeler): $332,000

2548 Hunton Court, 30068 (Hanover Woods, Wheeler): $475,000

811 Creekstone Court, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): $660,000

3532 Billingsley Drive, 30062 (Princeton Corners, Walton): $685,000

1898 Beaver Dam Lane, 30062 (Beaver Brook Farms, Pope): $450,000

4257 Green Ridge Drive, 30062 (Bishops Green, Walton): $769,600

3153 Bunker Hill Road, 30062 (Bunker Hill, Pope): $607,000

2209 Smoke Stone Circle, 30062 (Chimney Springs, Pope): $720,000

2747 Bob Bettis Road, 30066 (Sprayberry): $410,000

40 Heartwood Drive, 30062 (Heartwood, Pope): $420,000

4194 Liberty Trace, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): $795,000

2269 Sparrow Ridge Drive, 30066 (Sparrow Ridge, Lassiter): $410,000

4484 Windsor Trace, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): $701,128

3299 Hutton Walk, 30066 (Hampton Ridge, Lassiter): $665,000

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Our ‘6 for 6’ campaign off to a good start—thanks East Cobb!

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East Cobber parade
A juggler from Timber Ridge Elementary School at the EAST COBBER parade, which returns in 2023.

A week ago today we launched our “6 for 6” campaign to ask readers to support what we do at East Cobb News bringing you community news and information.

I’m humbled by the support we’ve received thus far, and wanted to say thanks to all of you who have contributed!

We’re calling it “6 for 6” in that we’re marking our 6th anniversary in July, and asking for a minimum contribution of $6 a month, or $60 a year.

Some of you have done that, and even stepped up those amounts more. We’ve gotten pledges for recurring monthly contributions of $12 a month and $20 a month, and a one-time contribution of $125.

I’m just blown away by the response, especially in the stifling heat of the dead summer.

What I planned as a soft launch with people on vacation has exceeded my expectations—so thanks again!

We’ve created a special page with a link where you can contribute on our safe, secure encrypted online payment platform.

It’s called Press Patron, and it’s designed to help local news publishers like East Cobb News solicit support from their readers.

As I noted last week, I’d like to get 500 supporters signed up by the end of September and 1,000 by the end of the year. After our first week, we’re certainly on track to achieve that, and want to maintain the momentum.

Here are some suggested levels of support:

  • $6/month or $60/year
  • $12/month or $125/year
  • $30/month or $300/year
  • $50/month or $500/year
  • Custom amount
  • One-time donation

Donate today!

We’d really like to encourage recurring monthly donations if you can swing that. When you click on the link to donate above, you’re not required to create account. But if you want to change your contribution settings, you’ll need to do that.

Please note that since we are a for-profit business, your contribution is not tax-deductible. But it will go a long way to help us keep giving you the local news that you love!

And during our initial “pledge drive” of sorts, we’ll include in these posts some of our favorite photos over the years, including the above taken at the EAST COBBER parade and festival, which is returning this September.

You depend on us to get you the news. We depend on you to help us financially. Now is not time to sit on the sidelines waiting for someone else to support local journalism.

We offer some affordable and dynamic ways to promote local businesses, and we’ve got enticing readership numbers to help those running small businesses to reach new customers.

Our “Six for Six” campaign also includes some advertising specials, so please visit this link for more.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with questions about using Press Patron and our contributing to supporters’ campaign, as well as general inquiries about East Cobb News: wendy@eastcobbnews.com.

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East Cobb Rotary seeking sponsors, runners for Dog Days Runy

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Dog Days Run

One of the largest community fundraisers in East Cobb—the Dog Days Run—is just around the corner.

It’s the 18th edition of the event staged by the Rotary Club of East Cobb, and takes place Aug. 5 at the McCleskey Family-East Cobb YMCA (1055 E. Piedmont Road). The run/walk is a 5K format that starts at 7:30 a.m.

Last year, the event generated nearly $100,000, with proceeds going to more than 20 charities in East Cobb. After the run, awards will be given out to top finishers in various categories and sponsors and community groups will have tables in a mini-festival setting.

Butch Carter, current president of the Rotary Club, said runner registrations “typically more than cover the race expense, so that combined with the business sponsorships are what allow us to give back to the community.”

Dog Days Run

Sponsorships range from $250 for a “Friend of Rotary” sponsorship that includes a race entry and t-shirt to a $15,000 presenting sponsor designation. They’re designed to appeal to all sizes of businesses and community organizations.

Other sponsorship levels include silver ($1,250), lazy dog ($2,500), gold ($3,000) and platinum ($5,000), and include a variety of verbal and logo recognitions, Rotary Club breakfast invitations, race entries, t-shirts and festival booths.

Higher-level sponsorships also receive tickets to the Rotary’s “Give Back” dinners during which charities receive their donations from the run.

You can find more sponsorship information by clicking here.

This year’s sponsors include Honest-1 Auto Care, Indian Hills Country Club, Dentistry at East Piedmont, the YMCA, The Hanna Family and Malon D. Mimms Company.

Race beneficiaries include the following:

  • MDE School; American Cancer Society Relay for Life; Boy Scouts of America; Brumby Elementary School; Camp Kudzu; Center for Children and Young Adults; Cobb Library Foundation; Cobb County Public Safety; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; East Cobb Park; Family Promise of Cobb County; Laws of Life School Essay Contest; Kidz2Leaders; Project Mail Call; Rally Foundation; Rotary Youth Exchange Program; “Service Above Self” Heroes; Walton/East Cobb Robotics; WellStar Foundation (Hospice); Wheeler High School AVID Program; YMCA NE/East Cobb

The registration fee is $30 through July 31 and is $35 after that and for phantom runners.

Prize Money includes $200 each for the overall male and female winners, $200 for the master (age 40-49) male winner, $150 for the master female winner; $150 for the grandmaster (50+) male and female winners; $100 each for the senior (60+) male winner; $50 for the senior female winner.

For more information and to register, click here. Volunteer information can be found by clicking here.

East Cobb Rotary Dog Days Run grant recipients
The Rotary Club of East Cobb holds a “Give Back” event for charity recipients of the Dog Days Run.

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Cobb school board member fined for campaign finance violations

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David Chastain, Cobb school board candidate

David Chastain, a third-term member of the Cobb Board of Education, has been fined $250 and ordered to pay back a portion of two campaign contributions from last year that were deemed to be a violation of state campaign finance limits.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission ruled last month that two donations Chastain’s campaign received exceeded state limits and that his campaign didn’t file the proper paperwork to separate them between the primary and general election.

A Republican, Chastain was re-elected last year to serve Post 4, which includes the Kell and Sprayberry high school clusters, after a bitter general election campaign against Democrat Catherine Pozniak.

Neither of them had a primary opponent last March. Pozniak, a Sprayberry High School graduate who took an early fundraising lead over Chastain, accused him of violating state laws limiting the amounts of individual contributors three weeks before the general electdion.

One of them was a total of $5,000 from State Rep. Ginny Erhart, a West Cobb Republican who filed reapportionment maps for the Cobb school board and Cobb Board of Commissioners that were passed by the legislature.

Another was $4,000 from Jonathan Crumly, an attorney with Taylor English Duma who drew the school board maps. Erhart’s husband, former State Rep. Earl Erhart, was the CEO of Taylor English Decisions LLC, the lobbying arm of the law firm, last year.

The individual limit under Georgia campaign finance law is $3,000, and Chastain later filed amended reports that split the contributions in two.

He said his campaign mistakenly forgot to separate the contributions from Ginny Erhart and Crumly. But the state campaign finance commission, in a June 26 consent order, concluded that Chastain didn’t file the necessary paperwork to bundle the donations.

In addition to the $250 civil penalty, Chastain was ordered to repay Erhart $1,500 and Crumly $1,000, which Chastain included in a revised campaign finance report filed July 7.

At the time, Chastain said Pozniak’s complaint was “baseless and politics at its worst,” and showed “a deliberate attempt by Catherine Pozniak and her small platoon of Democratic socialists [that] is on full display by Cobb County.”

A few days after the Pozniak complaint was filed, Ginny Erhart issued a press release claiming Pozniak fraudulently filed a senior school tax exemption for her late father’s home.

Pozniak denied the charge and said that “for Mr. Chastain and his political cronies to retaliate with a smear campaign launched on a family tragedy is beyond reprehensible.”

Chastain defeated Pozniak with 54 percent of the vote as Republicans kept a 4-3 majority on the Cobb school board.

The school board map sponsored by Ginny Erhart is the subject of a federal lawsuit that the Cobb County School District has joined.

Earl Erhart is now the managing director of Freeman Mathis Decisions, the lobbying group for Freeman Matbis and Gary, which the Cobb school district has hired to represent it in the lawsuit.

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Cobb citizens plead for property tax millage rate relief

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Cobb citizens plead for property tax relief
“I’m very disappointed that you all are not trying to save us money instead of costing us money,” East Cobb resident John Frank Sanders Jr. told commissioners Tuesday.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners and Cobb Board of Education got an earful this week from Cobb citizens who say their property tax bills will be crippling them and others.

Public hearings are underway as both bodies get ready to set their millage rates for 2023, which has a record tax digest of $58 billion, up 15 percent from last year.

That’s due to tax assessments that across the board are an average of 18 percent higher than last year.

Because neither commissioners nor the school board are “rolling back” to match last year’s revenue collections, the state considers that a tax increase and governing bodies must advertise that and hold hearings.

The proposed fiscal year 2024 Cobb government budget of $1.2 billion includes retaining a general fund tax rate of 8.46 mills. The fiscal year 2024 Cobb County School District budget of $1.4 billion that began July 1 is based on a property tax reduction of 0.2 mills, from 18.9 to 18.7.

But public commenters at those hearings this week said that’s not going to help them that much, and that government should look for ways to tighten its belt when citizens are having to do so.

“I’m very concerned about the most vulnerable members of our community, and that’s the renters,” said Daniel Larkin, a resident of the Meadowbrook neighborhood of East Cobb, at a commission public hearing on Tuesday.

Since rental property owners cannot claim homestead exemptions like homeowners, “they’re going to have to pass the increases on” to their tenants.

“It’s ironic that people talking about affordable housing are driving rising rents” that will hurt tenants more.

The proposed FY Cobb budget is $43 million higher than the current budget, and reflects what county officials say are growing needs for many county services, including fire and emergency services.

Some departments would be getting double-digit percentage increases in their budgets, including public safety.

East Cobb resident Hill Wright likened the county’s appetite for spending to the plight of addicts.

“When they come and bug you to moderate your drug habit, your answer to them is ‘What would you have Cobb County sacrifice? How dare you have Cobb County sacrifice.’ ”

He said when the budget is adopted and the millage rate is set by commissioners on July 25, “you will decide to snort or not to snort.”

John Frank Sanders Jr., who has lived in his East Cobb home since 1982, said Cobb has been a “wonderful place” to live and raise a family.

Cobb citizens plead for property tax relief
East Cobb resident Daniel Larkin said commissioners and the school board “are playing a shell game, and there’s no pea under any of the shells.”

“But I can’t believe in the current economic climate we’re debating raising our taxes and not lowering them,” he said, referencing higher costs for groceries, gasoline, housing and interest rates.

“My property value is up but I don’t get the benefit for that. I’m going to live in that house until they drag me out. Yet I have to pay more for that house in addition to all the other expenses that are going up. I’m very disappointed that you all are not trying to save us money instead of costing us money.”

During a budget presentation, Cobb Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann said that taking out homestead exemptions, the tax digest growth is closer to 10 percent.

Those exemptions, he said, are 38 percent of residential tax digest, compared to 25 percent less than a decade ago.

“Even if your assessment goes up, you don’t pay any more into the general fund,” he said.

Volckmann also showed a sample tax bill for a resident who saved more than $600 due to the floating homestead exemption.

The Cobb fire fund millage rate, however, doesn’t have that exemption, and that same homeowner would pay $145 more for taxes in that category under the proposed budget.

He also referenced in that bill a rise of nearly $800 in school taxes, even though the Cobb school board lowered the millage rate for the first time in 15 years. But Post 5 board member David Banks of East Cobb wanted a bigger increase, and at budget adoption in May voted present instead.

The school board held two public hearings Thursday for the millage rate, and the small handful of speakers—some who also addressed commissioners—asked them to lower it even more.

Larkin was among them, and he repeated his claims that the commissioners and school board are engaging in “a shell game.

“You’ve made it abundantly clear you’re going to ram this through,” Larkin said, adding that the cutback is “a token percent.”

“I want you to think about the wreckage you’re going to instill on families,” he said. “The rents are very high in this county, and the mortgages are very high. It’s a de facto tax increase. It’s a shell game, but there’s no pea under any of the shells.”

The school board adopted a budget with pay raises for full-time employees between 7.5 percent and 12.1 percent, and the hiring of 11 new officer positions for its police department, which currently has 70 officers.

Laura Judge, an East Cobb resident who is seeking the Post 5 board seat, suggested a tax rate rollback of 0.5 mills, the same as Banks.

“I would like this board and the superintendent and staff to please listen to the folks that come here to ask for some relief on the millage rate,” she said during comments that she later sent out in a press release. “Maybe even listen to the current vice-chair who asked for a rollback of .5 mills.

“I know the budget revolves around what we expected the millage rate to be and rolling back the millage rate means tightening up within our budget. Please listen to the community members who are asking for relief.”

Commissioners will hold another public hearing on the proposed millage rate increase Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and on July 25 at 7 p.m., when they’re scheduled to adopt the hearing and set the millage rate (more info here).

Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell will have an open house on the budget next Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3322 Sandy Plains Road).

The Cobb school board will have a final millage rate hearing next Thursday at 7 p.m. during its voting session, at which the millage rate is to be formally adopted.

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