East Cobb Cityhood lawsuit motion to intervene

East Cobb Cityhood leader seeks to intervene in lawsuit

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East Cobb Cityhood debate
Craig Chapin, president of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed last week to stop or delay referendum.

There’s a new development in the lawsuit filed last week to stop the East Cobb Cityhood referendum on May 24.

On Monday Craig Chapin, the president of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the suit.

He’s also requesting consolidation of his complaint with similar motions filed in support of cityhood votes in Lost Mountain and Vinings, also on May 24.

Chapin has the same attorney who’s involved in the motions seeking interventions on behalf of the Lost Mountain and Vinings referendums.

Allen Lightcap, an attorney in Atlanta, has filed lawsuits to stop the East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings referendums, challenging their constitutionality.

He said proposed city charters included in legislation that passed this year violate state home rule provisions regarding the provision of services by local governments.

Specifically, the suits say that the legislation in all three cases takes away the discretion of local governments to provide supplementary powers.

He said those powers can be enumerated only through general law applying to all local jurisdictions in the state and not via local law, which the three Cobb cityhood bills are.

In his motion (you can read it here) Chapin claims that East Cobb resident Colin Brady, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who is opposed to Cityhood, “seeks to use this Court as a tool in his efforts to suppress the right of East Cobb’s citizens to vote for the creation and charter” of a new city.

“The right to vote is a sacred and Constitutional right that that should be respected by all citizens and elected officials,” Chapin continued. “Unfortunately, [Brady] is actively seeking to deny this fundamental right to vote without any basis in law.”

While the lawsuit was filed against the Cobb Board of Registration and Elections, the motion claims that the county can’t be relied on to defend the suit “since Cobb County has engaged in a pattern and practice of conduct that is hostile to allowing an East Cobb referendum.”

Chapin’s motion continues by repeating claims that Cobb County officials are improperly using taxpayer funds and making misleading statements in their information sessions about Cityhood.

All three lawsuits have been assigned to Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Leonard.

Pro-Cityhood forces in Vinings and Lost Mountain, including State Rep. Ginny Ehrhart of West Cobb, have filed similar motions as Chapin to intervene and consolidate the legal actions.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr also has filed notices of interest (amici curiae) in all three suits. That means he’s not an official party, but is following their proceedings.

As of Wednesday, no hearing on any of the Cobb Cityhood lawsuits has been scheduled.

There’s one more scheduled East Cobb Cityhood debate, next Wednesday, May 4, at Pope High School.

It’s sold out for in-person attendance, but Blaine Hess of the Rotary Club of East Cobb, which is sponsoring the event, said it will be shown  via livestream on its Facebook page for those who can’t be there in person.

The debate lasts from 6:30-8 p.m. in the new auditorium on the Pope campus (3001 Hembree Road).

And like the previous debate on April 19, the second forum will include representatives of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood and the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes the referendum.

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