Cobb County Government is holding what it’s calling community listening sessions in each of the four commission districts to gauge citizen input into its Comprehensive 5-Year Strategic Plan.
It’s a chance for the public to provide feedback on various county priorities and services and what county officials are saying is “the primary strategy to lead the ongoing vision and priorities of Cobb County.”
A public session for District 2 starts at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Boy Scouts of America Atlanta Area Council (1800 Circle 75 Parkway). That’s followed at 6:30 p.m. by Commissioner Jerica Richardson’s quarterly town hall meeting.
Another strategic plan session will take place at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 at the Mountain View Community Center (3400 Sandy Plains Road).
An online survey for the strategic plan also is available and can be downloaded and filled out by clicking here. The survey will be open through Dec. 23, and paper copies will be available at library branches and senior centers.
Cobb commissioners recently voted to spend $1.45 million to hire Accenture LLP, an outside consulting firm, to conduct a comprehensive long-range strategic plan that includes a shorter-term element for the years 2023-2027.
A county release said Accenture helped formulate the survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete.
“A significant component is getting input from those who live or work in Cobb about what they see as the county’s priorities,” the release said. “Residents can provide feedback to formulate initiatives based on community needs and help the county develop and deliver better services.”
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Steven Blesi sent out a photo of his son on social media after a Saturday stampede in South Korea. Steven Blesi Jr. was among 154 people killed in the incident in Seoul.
Among the more than 150 victims of a Halloween incident in Seoul, South Korea that turned into a deadly stampede was a college student from Northeast Cobb.
Kennesaw State University announced on Sunday that Steve Blesi, 20, a sophomore majoring in international business, was among those killed on Saturday.
The Lassiter High School graduate was studying in a semester abroad program in South Korea. KSU said it has 11 students in that program this semester and the other students are safe.
“On behalf of the entire Kennesaw State community, our thoughts and prayers go out to Steven’s family and friends as they mourn this incomprehensible loss,” Kennesaw State University President Kathy Schwaig said in the social media message.
Earlier Sunday, Blesi’s father Steven Blesi sent out a desperate message on Twitter saying he’d heard about the stampede but had not been able to get in contact with his son.
Later he Tweeted that “We just got confirmation our son died” and asked for time to grieve. Later on Monday, he interacted with the media and public on social media.
“He was a great young man with a big heart. Never said anything bad about anyone, was so full of love and loved by many.”
He responded to another user on Twitter saying that “We have to be strong for our other son who I will pick up at college today. Somehow we have to press on, but our lives have forever changed.”
“I just never thought something like this would happen,” he said. “I can’t understand how they didn’t have crowd control. I don’t even know how the hell it happened.”
He described his son as having “an adventurous spirit” and who “could have done anything he wanted in this world.”
According to a social media post by the Lassiter PTSA, the younger Steve Blesi graduated in 2020 and his brother Joseph graduated in 2019.
State Rep. John Carson of Northeast Cobb sent out a statement of condolence Monday afternoon to Steve Blesi Jr. and his wife Maria, saying the younger Blesi “was a devoted member of the Eagle Scout, Northeast Cobb County and Kennesaw State University communities, and in his short time on this earth, he was truly a bright light to all of those around him. He will be dearly missed, always remembered and forever loved.”
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Cobb Elections is offering two additional days and extra locations for voters to return absentee ballots before the Nov. 8 general election.
In addition to being able to drop off absentee ballots at previously designated locations—including the East Cobb Government Service Center—during early voting hours through Friday, there will be drop off availability on Saturday and next Monday.
It’s called “Last Call,” and it’s being done because of the proximity to the general election and to give absentee voters the assurance their ballots will be collected on time.
Absentee ballots can be dropped off at the early voting designated location drop boxes by 7 p.m. Friday or received by mail at the Cobb Elections office by 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Nov. 8.
In addition, the “Last Call” locations—all of them at public library branches around the county—will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.
They include the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) and the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road), along with the North Cobb Regional Library, the Powder Springs Library, the South Cobb Regional Library, the Switzer Library and the Vinings Library.
Jennifer Mosbacher, an East Cobb resident and a member of the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, said voters using the “Last Call” service will hand-deliver their ballots to an official registrar at the library branch of their choice.
That registrar will then prepare the ballot on-site for electronic tabulation that will commence with the closing of the polls on election day.
Mosbacher said the voter will be notified that their ballot has been received and that it will be counted after 7 p.m. on Nov. 8.
On Election Day, Nov. 8, absentee ballots may be returned only to one location, the Cobb Elections main office (995 Roswell Street), between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
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4850 Rushing Rock Way, 30066 (Tanglewood Park, Lassiter): Barbara and Howard Goldt to Afu Mohammad Abdul; $975,000
1851 Ebenezer Farm Circle, 30066 (Ebenezer Farm, Sprayberry): Mark Campbell to Rama Konda and Purvi-Busa Konda; $868,000
3193 Bluff Road, 30062 (Hickory Bluff, Pope): Shannon Blackstone and Todd Lyman to Ferocity Assets LLC; $323,190
2310 Windmere Court, 30062 (East Lake Ridge, Wheeler): Carlos Torres Fletcher to Hagins House LLC; $155,000
640 Creekwood Trail, 30068 (Willow Ridge, Wheeler): Wallace Charles Cannon Jr. to Kristin Willis; $425,000
3730 Clubland Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Parho Properties Inc. to Debora Paralta-Garcia and Albert Vidiella-Oromi; $2 million
1922 Clearwater Drive, 30068 (Hamby Acres, Wheeler): Sandra Gay Farley to Courtney Alicia Newton; $200,000
1928 Clearwater Drive, 30068 (Hamby Acres, Wheeler): Courtney Alicia Newton to Sandra Gay Farley; $200,000
Oct. 12
4501 Outlook Drive, 30066 (Highland Ridge, Lassiter): Bradley Wedge to Samit Lal and Reema Mathur; $731,000
515 Dover Street, 30066 (Dover Downs, Kell): Esse Celender to Richard and Stanley Sharp. $345,000
4500 Club House Drive, 30066 (Highland Pointe, Lassiter): Clint and Meredith Sammons to Bradley Barrett and Celina Killilea; $675,000
4420 Old Mabry Road, 30062 (Old Mabry, Lassiter): Pamela Wiggins to Samuel Wilson; $450,000
503 Old Canton Road, 30068 (Country Place East, Wheeler): Built Holdings LLC to Adam Bates; $570,000
1944 Hamilton Place, 30062 (Meadow Brook, Wheeler): Bobbi Jo Pentecost, executor to Silvio Gomes; $251,000
1474 Wood Thursh Way, 30062 (Chestnut Springs, Walton): Bhavin Sanghavi to Colby Christian and Anna Skinner; $515,000
905 Sunny Meadows Lane, 30062 (Walton Creek Estates, Walton): Deluxeton Walton Creek Alpha LLC to Padmanaban Venkatesan and Subhashini Sriramalu; $1.253 million
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The rain stayed away for a Halloween carnival for all ages Saturday afternoon at The Avenue East Cobb.
The “Boo Bash” was certainly aimed at kids—with plenty of trick-or-treat goodies and a “Mega Awesome Costume Party” courtesy of East Cobb Church—but plenty of grown-ups and even a few pets came decked out for the festivities.
They included a bouncy house, balloon art and goods from local shops and vendors.
The costume contest included music, prizes for costume categories, an illusionist and a hopeful message for the holiday season to come.
Parents and kids also lined up to take a trip around the retail center in The Avenue Express, which also proved to be very popular.
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We were wondering this back in 2020, when the Cobb government GIS (Geographic Information Service) launched a real-time wait-time map to assist voters during an extraordinary set of circumstances for elections:
To get the latest wait-time estimates, click here.
Our traffic figures reflected a high level of interest in that feature (including our most-clicked individual post link on Oct. 12, 2020, more than 75K times).
Cobb government said earlier Saturday that after two weeks of early voting in the 2022 general election, the wait-time map has been clicked more than one million times.
That’s also roughly the number of people in Georgia who have cast ballots during early voting, with one more week remaining.
In Cobb, the number of early voting is at 107,503, according to Cobb Elections, about 20 percent of registered voters in the county.
Through the first two weeks of early voting, 14,957 people have voted in-person at the East Cobb Government Services Center, the most of any location.
The Tim D. Lee Center is third, behind East Cobb and the Smyrna Community Center, with 14,620 votes cast.
That’s through Friday, with Saturday being the last Saturday for early voting. Sunday voting will take place for the first time in Cobb tomorrow, Oct. 30, from 12-4 at the Cobb Elections main office, 995 Roswell Street.
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot passed on Friday. Those receiving them can mail them back in to Cobb Elections or drop them off at designated drop boxes during early voting hours only.
A drop box is located inside the East Cobb Government Services Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).
All absentee ballots must be received at the Cobb Elections office or delivered to a drop box by the time the final election day polls close (7 p.m., Nov. 8)
This year voters will be choosing candidates in some new boundaries following redistricting, and there was an error in assigning some voters to the wrong post in a highly-watched Cobb school board race.
That’s in Post 4 in Northeast Cobb, where 111 voters have cast ballots although they’re actually in Post 5. Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler said 1,112 voters registered in the Sandy Plains 1 precinct were coded as Post 4 voters although they live in Post 5.
She said the votes that already have been cast cannot be changed, but the error has been corrected.
That race features Republican incumbent David Chastain and Democrat Catherine Pozniak.
It’s unclear what might happen if the margin of difference in that election is less than 111 votes, but the results could be challenged and a new election could be called.
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Venya Gunjal, a junior at Wheeler High School, was recently elected State President of Georgia 4-H at the State 4-H Council in Eatonton.
She will lead more than 200,000 students in Georgia 4-H, which is a youth development program that conducts projects in health, agriculture, science, civic engagement and public speaking with the aim of helping students acquire life skills.
As a representative of Georgia 4-H, Gunjal will be speaking at State 4-H Congress, State 4-H Council, 4-H Day at the Capitol, and Fall Forum. She has attended the State Officer Training to prepare for this role, where she met the Dean and President of the University of Georgia.
“Serving as a State 4-H Officer will help me touch the lives of so many more of my peers in a positive way. I’ve seen the work that past State Boards have done, and they’ve all left feeling completely inspired,” she said in a release issued by the Cobb County School District.
“It’s been a dream of mine to serve on the State Board for years. A position on the State Board of Directors will help increase my impact in communities all over the state of Georgia.”
Gunjal, who is enrolled in Wheeler’s magnet program, The Center for Advanced Studies in Science, Math and Technology, has been involved in 4-H since the 5th grade. She is a three-time master 4-Her, Dean’s award in STEM winner, and first place winner at the State Congress level for her presentation in the Environmental Sciences category.
She was honored in 202 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the “Taking the Pulse of the Planet” award recipient and won first place in the public speaking competition at the State 4-H Congress;
Gunjal also was awarded the highest honor given by Georgia 4-H Master 4-Her, and earned the Water Wise Scholarship for water conservation and education within the community.
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The long-delayed start to the Lower Roswell Road traffic project could be pushed back further after Cobb DOT officials said Thursday they’ll be proposing a redesign for part of the project.
During a community meeting at the East Cobb Library organized by Commissioner Jerica Richardson, Cobb DOT director Drew Raessler said budget issues and public feedback have prompted a number of possible changes.
The $9 million project, first proposed more than a decade ago, would add turn lanes and enhance traffic flow along Lower Roswell between Woodlawn Drive and Davidson Road, and in particular at the intersection with Johnson Ferry Road.
The objective has been to improve safety in an area with a high number of crashes.
But Raessler said at a meeting attended by a few dozen citizens that all of the construction bidders came in over budget—the lowest bidder was $1.9 million over.
Lingering issues over access along a portion of the project also are being considered.
“We’re going to go back and do a small redesign to bring the scope to budget,” said Raessler, adding that he is planning to ask commissioners for funding for a redesign in November.
Drew Raessler, Cobb DOT director
The main redesign changes would include removing a planned bike path and expanding a multi-use trail to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.
The multi-use trail would be eight feet wide, but Raessler said the expansion could be “as wide as we can get it.”
Those changes have come about only in the last couple of weeks and are not yet reflected on the project’s fact sheet.
But Raessler and Karyn Matthews, a DOT transportation engineer who covers the East Cobb area, said the redesign work is expected to take 6-8 months. He estimated that the work could start in the first quarter of 2024 and be completed by early 2026.
Until recent months, little public opposition had been expressed. Most of the concerns came from business owners worried about traffic access that would be limited with a raised median on Lower Roswell between Davidson and Johnson Ferry.
Cobb DOT has proposed one left-turn lane in either direction, but that didn’t quell some of the citizens in attendance.
Some worried that traffic that now comes out of Parkaire Landing to turn left on Lower Roswell westbound would cause backlogs on Davidson Road with a median installed.
A proposed raised median would prevent left-turn traffic coming out of Parkaire Landing to Lower Roswell Road in a high-accident area.
One citizen wondered if a roundabout could be built there, saying that “you’re trying to retrofit something and a lot of it is unsolvable.”
When he suggested that that portion of the project be put on hold, Raessler said safety concerns have to be addressed.
Between 2016-2018, Cobb DOT said 61 crashes were recorded along the project route, 49 of them between Johnson Ferry and Davidson, primarily due to more than a dozen curb cuts.
That doesn’t include crashes in the Johnson Ferry-Lower Roswell intersection.
“There is a safety problem there,” he said.
Raessler said the median would be landscaped to add to a “sense of place,” providing some greenery and reducing the amount of impervious surface.
Some have asked the county to ditch the project altogether, wondering about trail access for a project deemed necessary for safety reasons.
“We’re not a pedestrian culture, we’re not a biking culture,” a resident said. “This is laden with so many hangups.”
Another component of the project is a passive green space area at the southeast corner of Lower Roswell and Woodlawn, where the Frasier house once stood.
Matthews said Cobb Parks and Recreation will soon be requesting funding to begin design work.
Larry Savage, a former Cobb Commission Chairman candidate has been a critic of the project’s trails component, said after the meeting that doing a redesign is a good step.
“But there are still a lot of conflicting goals,” he said. “They want to make it safer but then they’re going to reduce the speed limit for pedestrians and cyclists and that’s going to affect traffic flow.”
For a larger version of the project route, click here.
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The attorney for the property owner of the Starbucks at Paper Mill Village is asking for more time to prepare a rezoning request to build a two-story coffee shop at the same location.
Garvis Sams sent a letter to Cobb Zoning Office Oct. 21 outlining architectural and parking issues for the continuance.
A request by S&B Investments Inc. to rezone 0.73 acres at the northeast intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Paper Mill Road for a 5,000-square-foot building and 25 parking spaces was to have been heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission but has been tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 6.
The zoning office has recommended approval of the request with some conditions, including no variances—a minimum of 50 parking spaces is required for the Neighborhood Retail Commercial designation the applicant is seeking.
“Building size will have to be reduced,” the staff analysis stated.
Starbucks occupies part of a smaller building that has been on that site for more than 25 years.
In a recent interview with East Cobb News, Suresh Parmar, who has run the Starbucks for that period of time, said the reason for the expanded building is to accommodate customers who want to “linger” by doing work or meeting with friends.
He said it’s part of a larger trend among younger people and those newer to the community.
Paper Mill Village also has stipulations for Williamsburg-style architecture. The proposed standalone Starbucks would have a more modern look, according to renderings.
In his letter Sams said “that a strict application or the utilization of a ‘Williamsburg style’ architecture may be preferable to some, but to others on the cutting edge of industry commercial prototypes, are of the opinion that such a style (at least for Starbucks) is simply ‘tired and forlorn architecture’ and not consistent with the more updated and ‘fresh’ architecture which is representative of area demographics.”
He said that the Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines—which apply to new and renovated properties in the corridor—”can also be incorporated into the design in order to comply with that document.”
Also being delayed again is a request to rezone 13.38 acres at 4701 Post Oak Tritt Road, near McPherson Road, from R-30 to R-15 for 20 single-family homes.
Scheduled to be heard Tuesday is a request ADP—Terrell Mill LLC for community retail commercial (CRC) from low residential at 1140 and 1150 Terrell Mill Road for a self-storage facility. A companion special land-use permit also is required.
The Cobb Planning Commission is a five-member body appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners to make recommendations in zoning cases.
Final decisions are made by county commissioners, who meet on the third Tuesday of the month.
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After easily winning election to the Cobb Board of Education in 2014 and 2018, incumbent Post 4 member David Chastain is facing opposition that has prompted a different campaign approach than in the past.
Typically circumspect and mild-mannered in public, the Republican chairman of the seven-member board has issued newsletters, press releases and other statements that are anything but reserved.
The intensity of his campaign against political newcomer Catherine Pozniak (our profile of her is here), a Democrat, has ramped up as the Nov. 8 general election date approaches.
Pozniak denied the charge, saying Chastain “has stooped to mining my father’s obituary and weaponizing the details of his death and his estate to launch personal attacks.”
She previously accused him of campaign finance violations he has rebuked, although he has hired a former Congressional candidate and state ethics chairman to defend him in Pozniak’s complaint that will be decided after the election.
In a Post 4 area (Kell, Sprayberry, Lassiter clusters) that was redrawn by the GOP-dominated Georgia legislature to preserve a Republican seat, Chastain acknowledges there’s a different dynamic this year.
Since his last election, Democrats have become the majority party on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb legislative delegation.
Until recently, she held a sizable campaign finance advantage over Chastain, who recently held a fundraiser at Atlanta Country Club. As of the end of September, both campaigns reported raising around $45,000 each, which is much higher than other recent school board elections in Cobb.
“Voters here have to show up and participate,” Chastain said in a recent interview with East Cobb News, referring to his conservative base. “I’m being attacked for things that have nothing to do with policy. You’re seeing this at the federal and state levels too.
“It’s not like me,” he said when asked about the charged rhetoric from his campaign, including his taking a shot at Harvard, where Pozniak earned a doctorate degree.
A proposal analyst at Lockheed Martin, Chastain is campaigning on the Cobb school district’s test scores and defending its academic accreditation, and is hailing a high employee retention rate and designation by Forbes magazine of being one of the top employers in Georgia.
Chastain also is a stalwart supporter of retaining the senior exemption in Cobb County for school taxes.
But he’s also frequently referencing what he thinks Democrats have in mind to in their attempts oust him, saying much of Pozniak’s support comes from “outsiders.”
“My opponent isn’t so much about our kids but to fulfill some sort of an agenda, more oriented toward more liberal social reforms and away from academics,” he said.
“It boils down to a power struggle and they want the power.”
Republicans hold a 4-3 majority on the board. Chastain is the only GOP member up for election this year; Post 6 will stay in Democratic hands and Post 2 in the Smyrna area is Democratic-leaning.
Those new representatives will replace outgoing members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard, respectively, Democrats who were at the center of several mostly partisan disputes on the Cobb school board the last four years.
Chastain has twice been chairman in his second term, including in 2019, when he proposed a policy to ban board member comments.
He said it was necessary because some members had become “too political” in some comments that weren’t related to schools. Howard and Davis complained they were being censored, but Chastain defends the policy.
He also defended Superintendent Chris Ragsdale for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
“He’s done a good job,” Chastain said. “We are getting back now close to where we were before and are planning for the future.”
He rattled off some areas of emphasis, including expansion of digital learning, improving Individual Education Program options and increasing school safety.
Pozniak has been critical of the Cobb school district for flagging reading scores at the third-grade level as well as others, and said Chastain is mistaken in asserting that “things are good enough.”
Chastain said it’s at the third-grade level “when you first see who is going to need some help. I think we’re doing as much as we can. COVID was a mess but the resources have come together” for a recovery.
He also took issue with criticisms that he and the Republican majority on the board haven’t been responsive to some parents and students.
“Who are we talking about?” Parents and their children’s educations? Our policies and curriculum are aligned with state standards,” he said, adding that the Cobb school district is “building on success.
“We’re doing well for a school district that’s so diverse,” Chastain said, adding that “there’s this desire on the part of the Democrats to take power.”
A Wheeler High School graduate, Chastain doesn’t think his alma mater needs a name change, as some in that school community and beyond have been advocating due to Joseph Wheeler’s role as a Confederate general in the Civil War.
The board hasn’t taken up the issue since a board majority is required to add meeting agenda items other than those submitted by the chairman and superintendent.
That’s another controversial matter that’s come up in Chastain’s second term, as was a vote last year to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory. A board discussion wasn’t allowed, and the Democratic members abstained, but Chastain said the topic is “still relatively new.
“It’s difficult to define,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure that there’s no curriculum that limits a child’s perspective about their color and ethnicity.”
The Cobb school district has come under fire for some finance and spending issues, including some that were part of a special review by Cognia, the district’s accrediting agency, pertaining to COVID-19 safety measures.
“That became a dumpster fire,” he said of the Cognia review.
While Pozniak has said the district’s finances and contractual procedures are “opaque” and lack transparency, Chastain said he’s confident that the district’s procurement processes are solid and claims that the district “is a great steward of taxpayer money.”
Chastain said maintaining Cobb’s academic progress is his ultimate priority, and cited recent managerial issues and changes in the Gwinnett school district, the largest in Georgia, as a cautionary tale.
Once a solid conservative area, Gwinnett now has a Democratic majority on its school board that terminated the contract of 25-year superintendent Alvin Wilbanks in 2021, a year before his planned retirement.
“What has happened in Gwinnett—I don’t want that to happen here,” he said.
“Cobb is still the best place to teach, lead and learn in metro Atlanta. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
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After previously being staged in multiple venues at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, the 2022 Apple Annie Arts and Crafts Show will be held in one place—the church’s new parish hall.
The 41st annual show takes place Friday, Dec. 2 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Parish Life Center at St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road).
It’s organized by the St. Ann’s Council of Catholic Women as a fundraiser for the parish and local charities.
More than 100 artisans will be selling handmade crafts including holiday décor, woodworking, painting, jewelry, stained glass, fabric crafts, and more.
The St. Ann preschool also will be selling baked goods and the Apple Annie Café in the new parish hall will be serving soups, sandwiches and beverages.
There will be raffle prizes, including a handmade quilt.
Admission is $5 for ages 13 and older and is valid both days. Strollers are not permitted.
Parking is available at the church and at The Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (1795 Johnson Ferry Road), with free shuttle service.
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The final weekend before Halloween is upon us, as many schools, churches and other organizations are holding their own trunk or treat events.
Two of the larger gatherings include the Lassiter Craft Fair, now in its 37th year, to benefit the high school’s marching band program.
It’s the first of many long-standing fall and holiday craft shows in the East Cobb area, featuring dozens of local vendors selling homemade crafts, home decor and other items. Concessions, baked goods and raffle tickets also will be available.
The fair takes place all throughout the school (2601 Shallowford Road) on Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 11-4.
On Saturday, The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road) is inviting costumed kids for the Boo Bash, a Halloween celebration with face painting and balloon art station, a costume party and plenty of trick or treating.
The event takes place from 1-3 in the front lot near Tin Lizzy’s and includes a Halloween show on the main stage presented by East Cobb Church.
The entertainment portion of the event, starting at 2 p.m., is subject to postponement due to the possibility of inclement weather.
A cancellation notice would be posted on The Avenue’s Instagram page.
You can find our calendar listings in one handy place on our site. If you have events to share with the public, please e-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we will post them here.
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After leaving home to attend college, teach and become an educational administrator, Catherine Pozniak has returned to her Northeast Cobb roots to put that background to local use.
When she moved back to her family home in 2020 following the death of her father, she said she hadn’t thought about running for elected office.
But the effect of the COVID-19 response on schools and eventful developments in the Cobb County School District where she graduated prompted her run for the Post 4 seat on the Cobb Board of Education.
Pozniak, 43, is an educational consultant and Democrat who’s challenging two-term Republican incumbent David Chastain for the post that represents her alma mater, Sprayberry High School, as well as the Kell and some of the Lassiter clusters.
“This is an important moment in time in education,” Pozniak said in a recent East Cobb News interview. “This is an opportunity now to build something better than what is there now.”
You can visit Pozniak’s campaign website by clicking here; East Cobb News has interviewed Chastain and will be posting his profile shortly.
In addition to addressing what she says are lagging test scores and curriculum issues—especially for grade-school reading—Pozniak also said she is running on behalf of parents, students and other stakeholders who feel they’re not being heard by the current board majority.
“My opponent is saying that things are good enough,” Pozniak said. “But for so many families and students, they are not good enough.”
Although she is a first-time candidate in the political world, her candidacy quickly caught notice. Neither she nor Chastain had a primary opponent, but over the summer, she outraised him with more $20,000 in contributions.
He held a fundraiser at the Atlanta Country Club and both are reporting having raised around $45,000 each.
With Republicans holding a 4-3 majority, party control of the school board is on the line, and the highly-watched contest has led to mutual and even third-party mudslinging.
Republican legislators also have said that if Pozniak is elected and Democrats gain control of the school board, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale will be replaced and Cobb schools will indoctrinate students in social and cultural issues instead of basic academics.
Despite the charged rhetoric, Pozniak said she’s been encouraged with what’s she seen, heard and learned on the campaign trail.
“I’m optimistic about the involvement from the community on both sides,” she said. “People get how important the school system is. It’s pretty remarkable how a school board race is getting this kind of attention.”
Pozniak, a 1997 Sprayberry graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sydney in Australia, a master’s from Cambridge University in Britain and an educational leadership doctorate degree from Harvard.
She taught on a Native American reservation in South Dakota and was an assistant secretary in the Louisiana Department of Education. She currently consults on educational fiscal policy for Watershed Advisors.
Her priorities include improving the Cobb school district’s literacy curriculum, which she says “is lowly rated and not founded in the science of reading.”
She said she wasn’t pushing for a particular curriculum to replace it, but hears from teachers “who say they’re frustrated” and that “kids aren’t reading proficiently.”
As a school board member, she said it would be one of her primary responsibilities to help set academic expectations for the Cobb district, the second-largest in Georgia.
Pozniak also has been critical of Cobb’s algebra curriculum and noted the Cobb school district’s 50.5 percent score in that portion of the Georgia Milestones end-of-course test.
“That’s even lousy for high school students in Post 4,” she said, arguing that Cobb needs a comprehensive math curriculum.
On the subject of the senior tax exemption for schools, Pozniak said she doesn’t favor revisiting that—Chastain has been adamant that it should not be touched—and said it’s a matter for the legislature to take up.
On fiscal issues, Pozniak said the Cobb school district is not as transparent as it should be. She said that not all contracts are made publicly available before board meetings or even voted on.
“Except for SPLOST [construction and maintenance projects whose contracts are required to be disclosed by law], you really don’t see that in Cobb. It’s really an opaque system.”
“That’s a $2.9 million contract,” she said. “To not have it come up for approval, it’s stunning. There’s no oversight.”
Chastain, the current chairman, Pozniak said, “has been part of how we got to this point. There’s an erosion of transparency and accountability and he hasn’t taken any measures to change that.”
Pozniak has tried to steer clear of cultural wedge issues that have flared up recently on school boards across the country.
She called the clamor over Critical Race Theory—the teaching of which the Cobb school board banned last year—as “political theatre” and said that’s not a concern she’s hearing from parents.
“It’s not about issues that are hot-button issues,” she said. “It’s about what is going on in the schools and the students’ experiences there.”
As for diversity, equity and inclusion issues that also have been raised in schools, including Cobb, Pozniak said she understands “why the partisan narrative gets the play that it does.
“But not until recently was this an issue. It’s just where we are.”
She said the opportunity she sees this year “is to get educators on board” to help address learning issues in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions.
“I have a crossover of bipartisan support,” she said, “parents of kids with dyslexia, special-education students. These are very frustrated parents who are looking for something better.”
Pozniak has been accused of taking campaign contributions from outsiders. Her biggest donation, $3,000, is from Democrats for Educational Equity.
There’s not much publicly available information, but it’s a Washington, D.C. political action committee that “is dedicated to helping to elect a new generation of leaders, who will bring their shared experiences for the goal of educationalequity,” according to information Pozniak provided at the request of East Cobb News.
She said that “I am one of many educators that Democrats for Educational Equity supports, but being an educator is not a requirement.”
Pozniak said most of her other campaign donors are from those oriented around education issues or people she knows.
“If they’re not a friend, they’re a friend of a friend.” she said.
“They know what I’m trying to accomplish,” Pozniak said, adding that a number of local contributors, including educators, are doing so anonymously.
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The following food scores for the week of Oct. 24 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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The current Cobb Commission map (at left) shows District 2 in pink; a redrawn map (at right) placed most of East Cobb in District 3, shown in yellow.
Cobb commissioners voted along partisan lines Tuesday to submit an unprecedented home rule resolution over commissioner redistricting to the state in a dispute that’s expected to be decided by the courts.
The 3-2 vote was the second of a required two votes to invoke home rule provisions. The board’s three Democrats voted in favor, and the two Republicans were opposed.
During reapportionment earlier this year, District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson, a first-term Democrat who represents some of East Cobb, was drawn into the new District 3 with incumbent Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
Richardson said never before has the Georgia legislature redrawn a county commission incumbent into another district during the middle of a term, and called that an example of state overreach into local matters that home rule is designed to prevent.
Cobb Republican lawmakers ignored a map drawn by State Rep. Eric Allen, the county’s Democratic legislative delegation chairman, that would have left the current lines relatively unchanged, and instead pushed through a map that put most of East Cobb into District 3.
That’s the justification Richardson and her Democratic colleagues gave for making a home rule challenge that Birrell and other Republicans said flouts the Georgia Constitution.
The resolution, which includes reverting the commission district maps to those drawn by Allen, starting Jan. 1, 2023, does not have any bearing on 2022 general elections.
Legislatures in Georgia have the duty to conduct reapportionment.
In its legal challenge, Cobb will be asserting that the state pre-empted the county’s home rule powers, a claim that hasn’t been tested regarding redistricting.
Commissioner Jerica Richardson
“The electoral district lines established by HB 1256 [Allen’s map, which was not voted on], satisfy the traditional redistricting principles of compactness, contiguity, respect for political boundaries, preserving communities of interest, and protection to incumbents,” the Cobb resolution states.
“I love my district—it’s a true slice of America,” Richardson said in prepared remarks before the vote. “Local government is the operational arm that comes the closest to the community.”
She said that the “historic precedent” of the home rule challenge isn’t just about how her district was redrawn, but preventing the legislature from enacting similar measures that would trample on local home rule.
“This is about the balance of power between all 159 counties and the state,” Richardson said.
Richardson moved to a home off Post Oak Tritt Road in 2021 from an apartment in the Delk Road area, which remains in the new District 2.
She has until Dec. 31 to move into District 2 if she wants to seek re-election in 2024, and some public speakers at Tuesday’s meeting suggested that she do that.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell
Birrell, who is seeking re-election this year to a fourth term in the new District 3, repeated previous comments that while she thought what happened to Richardson was unfair, the home rule resolution is “politically motivated” and said “this board has no power or authority over the legislature.”
She said the county should take up the issue with the legislature during the 2023 session.
Keli Gambrill, the other Republican commissioner, stressed that “this is not personal. It’s about the rule of law and we can’t be making things up as we go along.”
Richardson’s mother Valerie spoke emotionally on her daughter’s behalf, saying she was “appalled that this election can be null and void after two years.”
She said GOP legislators not only ignored Allen’s map but did not consult with commissioners before having their own drawn up.
“Did they think [Jerica Richardson] would move back to her old apartment or just cry?” Valerie Richardson said. She also referenced previous District 2 commissioner Bob Ott, saying that if he were still in office, “this would not have happened.”
Valerie Richardson also referenced the Civil Rights movement, and asked “Do we have to wait another 100 years to fix this wrong? You have the authority to fix this now.”
Cobb Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs said that while she likes Richardson, the maps approved by the legislature were signed into law early this year and wondered why Democratic commissioners didn’t issue a home rule challenge then.
“This was an apparently calculated plan by Commissioner Richardson,” Grubbs said. “She chose to move in 2021, knowing that redistricting was coming.”
A home rule challenge, Grubbs added, is “not fair to the citizens of Cobb County.” She wanted Richardson to recuse herself due to a “major conflict of interest,” which would have resulted in a tie vote.
Richardson not only didn’t recuse herself, she seconded the motion to adopt the resolution.
South Cobb Commissioner Monique Sheffield, a Democrat, took issue with those who suggested Richardson move, saying it’s code for “you don’t belong, go back to where you belong. . . . She has a right to live anywhere in her district.
“When there was flooding in East Cobb [in September 2021], it was Commissioner Richardson, not the state, holding town halls and advocating on your behalf.”
The board’s other Democrat, Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, in acknowledging the Cobb resolution as “a novel question of law,” said that “this is not something that we can just move past . . . this is not something that we can just take lying down.”
Cobb County Attorney William Rowling said during the discussion that the Allen map would be filed with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, where it’s expected to be challenged by the state Attorney General’s office.
In March, after the Republican maps were adopted, Richardson vowed that “I will not step down.”
On Wednesday, she wrote a message on her Facebook page saying that due to the resolution, “on January 1, I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents and no longer be forced to resign 2 years before the end of my term. I appreciate all that came out to have their voices heard and the support for defending local control. It was a beautiful showing of our Cobb community.
“We still have much work to do and must stay committed to doing the good works daily. We cannot forget that the tenets of a republic must be defended, and not taken for granted. The only guarantee is that we will always defend our community regardless of what is yet to come. In the meantime, it’s full steam ahead on the issues that matter to you: infrastructure, economy and workforce, quality of life, and breaking the walls of division.”
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Not long after we posted today that Mt. Bethel Church is dropping its sponsorship of a Boy Scout troop due to rising insurance costs, we learned of more changes afoot for other church-related activities.
Teachers and parents of the Mt. Bethel Day Care Center (615 Woodlawn Drive) were notified last week it would be closing as of Dec. 16, saying labor shortages and rising costs, including insurance liability, were among the reasons.
Mt. Bethel Church is selling that property and three other pieces of land it owns: a community center next door, and two parcels across Lower Roswell Road.
One of the day care parents has started a Go Fund Me account to financially assist the 12 staff members who will be out of jobs. That fundraiser has netted more than $1,500 out of a goal of $10,000.
Samantha Black, a spokeswoman for Mt. Bethel Church, said the decision to close the day care—which has 28 children from 22 families—came as part of a broad evaluation of services, activities and properties by church leadership as it adjusts to being an independent church.
“It was becoming too difficult to continue operating a day care at the standards we expect,” she said. While deciding to sell the other properties were easier calls, she said, “closing a day care was tough. It has had a great history for 22 years.”
She said 60 percent of the families of the children enrolled in the day care have found other arrangements, and existing pre-school and day care services on the main Mt. Bethel campus on Lower Roswell Road remain available.
The staff members will be receiving what Black said were “generous” severance benefits through the end of the year.
Mt. Bethel Church separated from the United Methodist Church this summer following a court settlement that stemmed from a disputed reappointment of Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray in 2021.
In the settlement, Mt. Bethel paid the North Georgia Conference of the UMC $13.1 million. During their legal dispute, the Conference estimated the value of the Mt. Bethel properties at more than $35 million.
In the consent decree (you can read it here), Mt. Bethel was allowed to keep eight parcels that it could sell without restrictions.
Those properties are currently appraised by Cobb County at nearly $1.5 million. The properties being sold are appraised collectively at $771,670.
The church is prevented from selling eight other parcels, including the main church campus and parking lot, for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and its North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.
The appraised value of the restricted properties is $1.085 million, according to Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office records.
The day care is located on 0.967 acres appraised at $317,220, according to current Cobb property tax records.
Those records show Mt. Bethel paid more than $965,000 in 2002 for the land and 6,156-square-foot building that was completed in 1990.
The community center adjacent to the day care sits on 1.2 acres at 4608 Lower Roswell Road and has an appraised value of $145,270.
Across the street, two properties are being put up for sale that are next to the post office branch.
A former homesite known as the Cagle House (4525 Lower Roswell Road) has an appraised value of $124,860 on 0.9 acres.
Next to that, at 4505 Lower Roswell Road, is a vacant lot of 0.8 acres appraised at $184,320.
Black said the Cagle House has been used for Mt. Bethel’s Backpack Blessings program that will relocate to the main campus.
The other properties that Mt. Bethel holds free and clear are two homes on Fairfield Drive that have served as parsonages and another that houses a special-needs program.
Those are not being sold, nor is the Mt. Bethel Cemetery on Johnson Ferry Road next to the Zaxby’s, Black said.
Those four properties combined are appraised at $671,850.
Ferrell Coppedge, Mt. Bethel’s lay leader, said in a statement Black provided to East Cobb News that “now that Mt. Bethel is out from under the Trust Clause of the UMC, we have newfound freedom to take a fresh look at our ministry priorities and how our assets and properties can best support them. Proceeds from the sale of Mt. Bethel’s properties can be redeployed for vital ministry.
“Most of these properties were originally bought for their potential to house a high school, not to support active ministry of the church,” Coppedge said. “As part of responsible stewardship, our committees, our leadership council and our pastors will continue to evaluate how Mt. Bethel’s assets can best support the ministry of the church.”
The Mt. Bethel Christian Academy campus on Post Oak Tritt was not subject to the terms of the lawsuit. That 33.4-acre parcel near the intersection of Holly Springs Road, which conducts high school classes and worship services, is appraised at $7.3 million.
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Saturday was to have been the 50th birthday celebration for Boy Scout Troop 1011, which was chartered at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and has met there ever since.
But the anniversary event was postponed after church leadership decided not to renew its charter with the Boy Scouts of America.
Mt. Bethel Church—renamed after it left the United Methodist Church in a contentious dispute that ended in a court settlement this summer—said the change was being made due to increasing insurance costs.
A spokeswoman for the church said that Mt. Bethel and the troop are working on “a mutual agreement” for the scouts to continue to meet at Mt. Bethel while a new charter organization is brought on board.
“Mt. Bethel and Troop 1011 have a long, fruitful relationship and Mt. Bethel recognizes the value of the troop and acknowledges its history,” Samantha Black said in a statement on behalf of the church. “We have enjoyed a great relationship and the Troop continues to meet on the Mt. Bethel campus.”
The Boy Scouts of America requires troops to be chartered by organizations that must provide insurance for their events and activities.
They’re typically churches and other community organizations that allow troops to meet on their premises.
They also can be third parties. The new chartering organization for Troop 1011 will be the Rotary Club of East Cobb, according to Bob Ott, the troop’s charter representative.
He’s a Mt. Bethel Church member and a former Cobb commissioner who said the timing of the change had nothing to with the church’s new status as an independent church.
“This is totally related to this being the time every year when chartering is done by the Boy Scouts,” he said, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the troop.
Troop 1011, he said, “isn’t being kicked out” and that the charter change will enable the church and the troop to continue “a great partnership.”
Ott said that property and gear belonging to the scouts remain on the Mt. Bethel campus.
East Cobb News has left a message with the Rotary Club of East Cobb seeking comment.
In Mt. Bethel’s legal settlement in Cobb Superior Court, it was required to pay $13.1 million to the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The dispute centered around the Conference’s reassignment of Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, the senior pastor, in the spring of 2021.
Mt. Bethel is among the Methodist churches that in recent years have expressed theological concerns on a number of issues, including ordaining gay clergy and performing same-sex marriages.
Both are currently banned by the UMC, but that is expected to change.
UMC delegates were to have voted on a set of protocols to allow conservative congregations to leave in 2020, but its global conference has been delayed several times due to COVID-19 restrictions and has been rescheduled for 2024.
Since then, the Boy Scouts also have accepted openly gay scout leaders.
Ott said the issue of gays in the Boy Scouts had no bearing on Mt. Bethel’s decision not to be Troop 1011’s chartering organization.
Troop 1011’s 50th anniversary celebration, initially set for McFarlane Nature Park on Paper Mill Road, is being postponed until it completes the chartering process with the Rotary Club.
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Two Republican legislators from Cobb are accusing a Democratic candidate for a seat on the Cobb Board of Education of improperly claiming a senior exemption from school taxes.
State Reps. Ginny Ehrhart of West Cobb and John Carson of Northeast Cobb are alleging that Catherine Pozniak is violating state law for claiming a homestead exemption from paying school property taxes in 2021.
“Ms. Pozniak stole from the students of the Cobb Public School system by failing to pay duly owed school property taxes,” Ehrhart said in a press release over the weekend. “What’s worse, she illegally used the senior tax exemption of a deceased individual to claim a fraudulent homestead exemption. This action is inexcusable. No one should commit such a violation, and most certainly not someone running for the Cobb School Board.”
Ehrhart wants the Cobb Solicitor’s office to conduct an investigation.
Pozniak is challenging Republican incumbent David Chastain for the seat in Post 4, which includes the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry clusters in what has become an increasingly bitter campaign.
She responded by saying that “for Mr. Chastain and his political cronies to retaliate with a smear campaign launched on a family tragedy is beyond reprehensible.”
In Cobb County, homeowners aged 62 and older can claim an exemption from school property taxes if they are the official homeowner as of Jan. 1 of a given year.
Pozniak, a Sprayberry graduate, is listed on Cobb property tax records as the owner of a home that previously belonged to her father, who died in April 2020.
Those records indicate that a senior exemption was reflected on 2020 and 2021 tax bills with Edward Pozniak listed as the property owner.
The 2021 bill was issued on May 13, according to tax records.
A Cobb real estate deed dated June 9, 2021 listed Catherine Pozniak as the executor of her father’s estate and having granted ownership of the home to herself and her sister and then to Catherine Pozniak as the sole owner of the home where she now lives.
Her 2022 tax bill includes $3,019 in school taxes.
In a statement to East Cobb News, Pozniak said that “our family has ample documentation to show that we settled Dad’s affairs with honesty and integrity, just as he lived his life.”
State Rep. Ginny Ehrhart
She said the transfer of property took longer than expected due to his death occurring at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the Cobb Tax Commissioners’ office didn’t know of the ownership change when the 2021 bill was issued.
Pozniak said that “when I asked to pay for the exemption, the tax commissioner’s office said that they can’t bill a new owner for a previous owner’s exemptions.”
Senior exemptions are automatically renewed unless there is a change in the ownership of the property.
Ehrhart and Carson were sponsors of redistricting bills for Cobb commission districts and school board posts that sidestepped maps drawn up by the county’s Democratic-led legislative delegation.
The school board lines were drawn at the behest of the board’s Republican majority by attorneys at Taylor English Duma. Its affiliated company, Taylor English Decisions, a lobbying and political consulting firm, is run by Ehrhart’s husband, former legislator Earl Ehrhart.
His campaign responded by calling it “baseless and politics at its worst.” On social media, Chastain denigrated Harvard, where Pozniak earned a doctorate in educational leadership.
In her statement Monday, Pozniak said that “with two weeks left in this race, David Chastain has already stooped to mining my father’s obituary and weaponizing the details of his death and his estate to launch personal attacks because Mr. Chastain has nothing to say about the fact that half of Cobb’s 3rd graders can’t read and half of Cobb’s students can’t pass algebra.
“My father served this country for 25 years in the Army, signed-up for two tours in Vietnam, and was a Bronze Star recipient. Mr. Chastain cannot trample on the reputation and memory of a decorated Vietnam Veteran to deflect from his own failures as a leader.”
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The addresses include ZIP Codes; subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:
Oct. 3
5446 Tally Green Drive, 30068 (Tally Green, Walton): Mario Martinez Dubreuil and Francesca Massari Figari to Steven LoCoco and Zahra Ali Alley-Baktoo; $550,000
527 Smithstone Trace, 30067 (Smithstone, Wheeler): Yutaka Nishida to Janak and Parbati Baral; $440,000
476 Old Chelsea Circle, 30067 (Paper Mill Manor, Wheeler): Billy Mayberry to Janice and Clifford Branch; $665,000
3144 Willow Grove Circle, 30062 (Timberlea Farms, Wheeler): Allan Bowman to Primary Home Advisors LLC; $298,000; Primary Home Advisors LLC to Cottage On a Hill LLC; $315,000
Oct. 5
1250 Riversound Drive, 30068 (River Sound, Walton): Cary and John Carman to Cody and Rebecca Shoniber; $775,000
2268 Sparrow Ridge Drive, 30066 (Sparrow Ridge, Lassiter): Obie Fernandez to Pablo and Deborah Bontti; $200,000
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Record turnout for the first week of early voting in Georgia for the 2022 general election included a record number of voters in Cobb County casting ballots.
According to Cobb Elections, 51,779 early votes have been cast in person during the first week, pending Saturday’s results.
Friday’s total of 11,388 was the highest individual day thus far, with 12 days of early voting continuing through Nov. 4.
Cobb Elections also has accepted 3,862 absentee ballots, after issuing 26,237 absentee ballots by request. Voters had until Friday to request an absentee ballot.
There are 13 early voting locations in Cobb, and the two in the East Cobb area have had the highest turnout.
A total of 7,109 votes have been cast at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and 6,868 at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
Another 6,357 votes have been cast at the Smyrna Community Center.
During early voting, voters can go to any location in the county to cast their ballots.
Nearly 730,000 voters have voted this week across the state, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
That’s ahead of the record pace of the 2020 elections. With a presidential race on the ballot, a little less than 500,000 early votes were cast two years ago for the general elections.
This year Georgians are selecting all statewide constitutional officers (governor, secretary of state, etc.) as well as deciding a U.S. Senate race, all 14 U.S. House seats and all state legislative seats.
In Cobb, there’s only one countywide race, for Cobb solicitor. In East Cobb, contested races include District 3 Commissioner, Post 4 Cobb school board and several legislative and Congressional offices (see our early voting guide for more).
Early voting continues Monday at the East Cobb Government Service Center and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center.
Hour are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8-5 next Saturday, Oct. 29. There also will be early voting on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 12-4 p.m. at the new Cobb Elections office at 995 Roswell Street.
The Cobb Elections office and the Cobb government GIS office also are teaming up again with an estimated wait-time map for early voting, with updates provided at each location by the polling managers.
Absentee ballots may be dropped off at drop boxes at designated drop box locations, including the East Cobb Government Service Center during early voting hours only.
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