Cobb Planning Commissioner Thea Powell, who said she was being replaced by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, offered some remarks Tuesday morning before her last meeting.
An East Cobb resident who also served twice on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said she received a letter from Boyce on July 26 notifying her of her termination, effective at the end of August.
She said Boyce had never expressed to her any disagreements about her votes on zoning issues, and said no reason was given for her firing. Powell noted that the letter came not long after she spoke out as a citizen against his proposed property tax increase.
In her comments, Powell made references to freedom of speech, saying that “no government should have the arrogance to believe that it alone knows what is in the best interest of its citizens.”
She thanked her colleagues on the five-member Planning Commission, who are appointed by county commissioners, and urged them “to continue to listen to all who come before” them.
She also thanked the county zoning staff and citizens and said “you have and will continue to make a difference.”
At the last public hearing before the budget was adopted, on Aug. 17, Powell referred to budget presentation information supporting a tax increase “a dog’s breakfast.”
She said that in spite of a 1.7-mills increase in the general fund that Boyce had sought in a record tax digest year, the county was spending more money than it had, and feared there may a repeat of the same situation next year.
(Commissioners voted 3-2 to raise the millage rate in adopting a $454 million budget).
Powell has a long history of public and civic service in Cobb County, starting with the East Cobb Civic Association. She served as a commissioner from Northeast Cobb’s District 3 from 1988-91 and also on an interim basis in the same post in 2010 when Tim Lee resigned to run for chairman.
Powell served on the Cobb Development Authority after being appointed by East Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott. In 2011, he tried having her appointed to the Cobb Citizens’ Oversight Committee.
At the time, there was speculation that she might run against Lee in 2012 (she did not), and her nomination was thwarted by the commissioners. Ott later hired her as his full-time staff assistant.
Powell also was appointed by Cobb Board of Education member David Chastain to serve on the school district’s Facilities and Technology advisory board. In 2016, she was a campaign adviser to Boyce in 2016, when he upended Lee.
After he took office, Boyce appointed her to the planning commission. Powell said Tuesday she looks forward to “having the opportunity to use my freedom of speech unencumbered.”
Some of Powell’s supporters have created an online petition.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
