East Cobb Cityhood bill passes House Archives

The Georgia House on Thursday voted to approve a bill that would allow for a referendum for a proposed city of East Cobb.

After an hour of debate, the vote was 98-63, and the bill now goes to the Georgia Senate.

East Cobb Republican State Rep. Matt Dollar, the bill’s chief sponsor, voted in favor of the bill, along with other East Cobb Republicans John Carson and Sharon Cooper.

The latter is one of three co-sponsors of the East Cobb Cityhood bill, but was the only one of the trio who did not speak during the floor debate.

(You can watch a replay of the House floor session by clicking here and on the House Chamber Day 8 tab; the East Cobb debate begins around the 1:49 mark).

Voting against the bill was another East Cobb Republican, State Rep. Don Parsons, who said he wasn’t consulted about the legislation, nor has he ever heard anything from a citizens group supporting cityhood since the issue first arose four years ago.

He also objected because doesn’t think the proposed city area—around 60,000 people centered along the Johnson Ferry Road corridor—represents a community of interest.

“There is no city of east Cobb waiting to be incorporated,” he said. “There’s nothing that draws it together as a city.”

Also opposing the bill were Cobb Democrats who wanted all four current Cobb cityhood bills—including Vinings, Mableton and Lost Mountain—to be considered together.

Cobb delegation chairman Erick Allen, a Smyrna Democrat, was among those asking for a delay in an East Cobb vote for that and other reasons.

Among the charges opponents have made against the East Cobb bill would be that its proposed services—police and fire, planning and zoning and code enforcement—would add another layer of government.

But State Rep. Ed Setzler of West Cobb, another co-sponsor, said the bill isn’t about adding more government, but “representative government.”

While the current four Cobb district commissioners represent around 200,000 people, the six city council members in East Cobb would represent around 8,000 people.

“Why do the people of Smyrna deserve that level of self-governance, and the people of my community do not even deserve the right to decide if they want it?” Dollar said in his concluding remarks before the vote.

Opponents also questioned last-minute changes to Dollar’s bill this week, including moving up the East Cobb cityhood referendum from November to May.

“People need more than a couple of months of education to learn how the city would work,” said Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Democrat and former member of the Smyrna City Council.

A co-sponsor of the Mableton cityhood bill, she said she’s not opposed to cities, but said the East Cobb bill—a substitute of legislation first introduced last year by Dollar and Cooper—is being rushed through and is “not ready for a vote. Certainly not in May.”

Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones, a Republican from North Fulton, noted than in 15 years of new cities being formed, mostly in metro Atlanta, residents of those municipalities are generally satisfied.

They include Milton and Johns Creek in her district, as well as Peachtree Corners, Tucker and South Fulton.

“It has been a resounding success,” she said, imploring her colleagues to let the citizens of the proposed East Cobb city to have a say in how they may want local governance.

“Keep an open mind, and let the people vote,” Jones said.