The 2022 session of the Georgia General Assembly began on Monday, with local reapportionment and cityhood bills of particular interest for the the Cobb delegation.
The proposed City of East Cobb is one of four cityhood bills that have been introduced by Cobb lawmakers, along with Vinings, Lost Mountain and Mableton.
The Cobb delegation also will redraw lines for the four district seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and all seven posts on the Cobb Board of Education.
The initial East Cobb cityhood bill introduced in 2019 was abandoned by a committee pushing for incorporation after opposition surfaced from the community and Cobb elected officials.
State Rep. Matt Dollar has the support of State Rep. Sharon Cooper as a co-sponsor for the current bill, but it also will need the sponsorship of State. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick.
She has not commented publicly on the bill; in 2019 she said she could not support it because of negative feedback from citizens.
In 2021 the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood held several virtual meetings and said it will be continuing to meet with individual civic groups as the legislative session continues.
The city would have a population of 55,000, centered by the Johnson Ferry Road corridor, and is proposing police and fire, planning and zoning and code enforcement services.
The East Cobb cityhood bill is HB 841 and you can track its progress here; it has been assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee.
(See all our previous coverage on our East Cobb Cityhood page.)
If the bill passes the full legislature, there will be a referendum in November for voters living in the proposed city limits to decide whether a City of East Cobb will be created.
The reapportionment wheels have already been cranked up for redrawing Cobb school board posts.
The board has a 4-3 Republican majority, and in December voted along party lines to recommend a map that would maintain that advantage.
It would redraw the current Post 6, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters, into the Smyrna-Vinings-Cumberland area, and reduce East Cobb representation to Post 5 and part of Post 4.
Post 6 Democratic incumbent and current Post 2 Democratic incumbent Jaha Howard would be put together in the school board’s recommended map.
But the Cobb delegation has a two-member Democratic advantage, and a draft map that’s been circulating since then would keep Post 6 very similar to what it is now, and keep Davis and Howard in separate posts.
She vocally opposed the school board’s recommended map, as has Amy Henry, a parent of four students in the Wheeler cluster who has announced her candidacy as Republican for Post 6 later this year.
Davis has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election; Howard has declared an intent to run for Georgia school superintendent.
Cobb lawmakers also will be redrawing lines for the four county commission districts. Currently there are three Democrats (including chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who was elected countywide) and two Republicans.
Both of the GOP incumbents are up for re-election in 2022, including JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in Northeast Cobb.
In a November special session, the legislature redrew Congressional and legislative lines that will take effect after the 2022 elections (you can view the adopted maps here).
Links to East Cobb-area lawmakers are included below. You can see what legislation they’re sponsoring, how they vote, see maps of their districts and find contact and information.
State Rep. Mary Frances Williams (D-37)
State Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-43)
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-32)
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