The holiday season is here, and on the first weekend there couldn’t be a more festive way to get it started than with a community rendition of “The Nutcracker.”
The Georgia Metropolitan Dance Theatre is staging the event Thursday through Sunday at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre at the Cobb Civic Center (548 S. Marietta Parkway). The show times are as follows:
Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 25th at 2 p.m.
As we noted earlier, more than 150 local dancers have been selected and have been getting ready the Georgia Dance Conservatory on the Marietta Square. Tickets are $10 to $30. For information visit: www.georgiametrodance.tix.com.
On Saturday, Small Business Saturday is being observed around the country, including in East Cobb, and it’s a good way to keep your holiday shopping dollars local, which in turn helps strengthen the community. Some businesses are extending their sales throughout the weekend and beyond.
School’s been out this week, but if your child needs some extra tutoring as the Thanksgiving weekend break comes to an end, stop by the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) on Saturday between 2:30-4:30 p.m. for free 30-minute tutoring lessons.
The library is partnering with mentors from Walton, Wheeler and The Westminster Schools for students K-8 in math, science and reading. While registration is required, there may be walk-up space available by calling 770-509-2730.
Holiday arts and festivals will resume next week, but the Good Mews Holiday Decor Marketcontinues at the Sandy Plains Exchange Shopping Center (1860 Sandy Plains Road) from 10-5 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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!
We posted earlier this week about free eye exams and glasses for Brumby Elementary School students. The Cobb County Public Library announced this week that the Lions Club will have some vision screenings for the general public in September, including one at the East Cobb Library.
That screening on Sept. 21 will be conducted by the East Cobb Lions Club, which will be at Brumby later this fall and does many screenings at Cobb schools.
Here’s more about the screenings from Thomas Brooks at the library system, who says the screenings are for adults and children six months and older, and that walk-ins are encouraged:
Lions Club volunteers use a screening device to detect possible vision issues that require follow-up professional care. Vision issues have a significant impact on quality of life, including children’s success in school and injury risks for all ages.
Lions Club volunteers are providing Vision Screening events in September as part of Cobb County Public Libraries’ Falls Prevention Awareness Initiative.
The costs due to falls injuries are substantial for Cobb families, a major national healthcare burden and public safety challenge. The average hospital cost is more than $30,000 for a fall injury, according to the CDC. Reports by the Georgia Department of Public Health show about 10,000 emergency room visits by Cobb residents each year due to fall injuries.
Saturday, September 8, 2 pm to 4 pm: North Cobb Lions Club at the Kennesaw Library. 2250 Lewis St., Kennesaw 30144. (770) 528-2529.
Tuesday, September 11, 2 pm to 4 pm: Paulding-West Cobb Lions Clubat the West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Lane, Kennesaw 30152. (770) 528-4677
Tuesday, September 18, 1 pm to 4 pm: South Cobb Lions Club at the South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Rd., Mableton 30126. (678) 398-5828
Friday, September 21, 12 pm to 2 pm: East Cobb Lions Club at the East Cobb Library, 4880 Lower Roswell Rd., Suite 510-B, Marietta 30068. (770) 509-2730
Another East Cobb entity that provides free health care assistance announced today the renewal of another popular event. The Mansouri Family Dental Care practice on Lower Roswell Road said its annual free dental exams will take place on Nov. 10.
For several years the Mansouris have enlisted volunteer dentists to provide exam for those in need. We’ll have more details when we get them.
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!
The East Cobb Library opened at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010.
What started out as a Facebook page has expanded its presence online. The citizens group Save Cobb Libraries launched a website Monday as part of its continued efforts to stave off proposed Cobb library cuts.
Rachel Slomovitz, an East Cobb resident who started the Facebook page, said Monday in introducing the site that “here we are, gathering our supplies, getting prepared for battle in these next 3 months really.”
The East Cobb Library is one of eight slated for closure or consolidation as part of proposed library cuts amounting to nearly $3 million, or roughly one-third of the Cobb library system budget.
Cobb commissioners will approve a fiscal year 2019 budget in July, with projections of a deficit of at least $30 million. Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce announced last week several budget town hall meetings in June, including one at the East Cobb Senior Center.
At a recent town hall meeting Slomotitz and other library advocates attended, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott pledged that the East Cobb Library “isn’t going to close,” but urged citizens to lobby his fellow commissioners.
The Save Cobb Libraries website has details about the proposed cuts, suggests talking points, urges citizens to contact their commissioners and sign a petition and has testimonials from patrons about the value of libraries.
In her message Monday, Slomovitz also said she’s sending out an e-mail update every Monday for those who aren’t on Facebook (contact info@savecobblibraries.com) and encouraged fellow library advocates to stay active:
“The Commissioners are convinced by those that come up and represent their views. So if no one comes out in favor of the libraries, they say it’s clearly not a priority, it will be an easy one to cut. If people come out with force, then it’s less likely going to end up on the chopping block.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click the button below to sign up, and you’re good to go!
With the possibility of significant library cuts leading ongoing Cobb budget talks, District 2 commissioner Bob Ott was adamant on Monday that the East Cobb Library would not be among them.
It’s one of several Cobb library branches slated for closure or consolidation in a staff recommendation for fiscal year 2019, and one that has generated strong community opposition.
At the outset of his town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, Ott said that “we’re going to dispel some serious misconceptions about the libraries.”
While the meeting included discussions about transit, zonings, county employee pay increases and tax assessments, many in the packed audience of around 300 people came out to plead for the preservation of the East Cobb Library.
The commissioners met last fall on a budget retreat and heard many recommendations for reducing a projected deficit between $30 million and $55 million.
The proposed library cuts of $2.9 million amount to a quarter of the department’s budget. Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed a property tax increase of 1.1 mills, but few other major budget proposals have been made public.
That’s what Ott referenced as he held up a thick binder from the retreat at the town hall, held in the Sewell Mill Library’s black box theater:
“Have you heard anything else mentioned?” There are a whole lot of proposals that have come from staff, but [suggestions to cut libraries] gets everybody riled up.”
While the East Cobb Library doesn’t meet the county’s criteria for serving as a regional library due to being less than 20,000 square feet, because of its heavy use, Ott said, “we would all agree it’s a regional library.
“It isn’t going to close,” he said to loud applause.
The East Cobb Library is the third-busiest in the Cobb library system, with more than 250,000 materials checked out in 2017. It’s also the only branch that is in leased space, at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.
That rental expense is $263,000 a year, and it’s a factor that Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell cited when she suggested last year that the branch should close.
That got East Cobb residents in an outcry, and Ott was visibly upset in a town hall meeting he held at the library last summer.
“It’s been based on one commissioner who tried to close it, and she’s not here tonight,” Ott said Monday.
The East Cobb branch relocated from Merchants Walk in 2010, and leasing space at the time was considered more economical than building a county-owned facility, given local real estate prices.
When Ott was asked if it might be possible for the East Cobb Library to eventually get out of a leasing situation, he replied that “it’s a matter of finding the right opportunity.”
Ott opposes tax increases without finding savings in the current budget. Last year, he pressed for the closure of the business office at the East Cobb Government Service Center, a move that funded three new staff positions at the Sewell Mill Library.
He also mentioned the pending relocation of the Lewis A. Ray branch to the West Village development in Smyrna, which is offering 3,000 square feet of library space for $1 a year. That would save half the current operating cost of that branch.
“There are ways of doing this without raising your taxes,” Ott said.
Ott said that while many of his constituents contact him about right-of-ways and keeping medians maintained, his fellow commissioners hear often about keeping buildings open, including libraries.
“I don’t get e-mails about facilities,” he said. “You don’t necessarily want stuff. You want the place to look nice.”
He said that in order to ensure that the East Cobb Library stays open, he needs two other commissioners to vote with him. The budget is expected to be adopted in July.
“Send e-mails, not to me, but to the other commissioners and the chairman,” Ott said. “Let them hear what you think.
“You all know how to turn up the heat. Believe me, I’ve seen it.”
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!
The new Sewell Mill Library would be a 20-minute drive for a resident who lives close to the East Cobb Library that’s proposed for closure. (East Cobb News file photo)
Tuesday morning was the first opportunity for the public to formally comment on proposed Cobb library closings before the county board of commissioners.
Several East Cobb residents appeared during a general comment session at the board’s business meeting, and some indicated they would support a millage rate increase to keep open the East Cobb Library and other branches recommended for closure by the county library system.
Nearly $3 million in proposed cuts—a quarter of the Cobb County Public Library System budget—were made public last week, and they include closing or consolidating eight of the 17 branches.
“Nobody wants their taxes raised,” said East Cobb resident Peggy Williams, but she added that “most people in this fairly affluent county could afford to pay more taxes.”
Donald Kay of the Hampton Woods neighborhood, who supports a millage rate increase, said the East Cobb Library, located just a few minutes away from his home, “is a font of the community. It’s full of people all the time. It’s a real resource to the community.”
He said that if the East Cobb Library closed, traveling to the new Sewell Mill Library several miles away on Lower Roswell Road would be a 20-minute drive.
Matt Little of East Cobb, who took off work to speak Tuesday morning, said he “could not fathom our local library closing.”
His children have grown up spending plenty of time at the East Cobb Library, as well as playing in the East Side Baseball program at Fullers Park. Little said that the summer reading program at the library is vital, as is the branch’s role as a hub in “a very close community.”
Charles McCrary of East Cobb said that he thinks that a millage rate increase alone isn’t going to solve the county’s budget issues, but “libraries mean more than you might think.
“The way the community comes together in a library is badly needed in today’s polarized society, where people can exchange ideas and have an environment [in which] to do it,” he said.
Marietta resident Peggy Poole noted the library system’s new program that enables Cobb public school students to use their student IDs as library cards, making them “a whole new group of library patrons.”
She said that several rounds of Cobb library cuts begun in 2008, starting with the recession, have taken a toll, and asked commissioners “what is the cost?” of more.
“Please don’t close our libraries,” she said.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce said what’s on the table now is only a proposal, but he wanted “to put it out there early,” five months before the fiscal year 2019 budget is adopted.
He said while it will be a “tough budget, we’ll get there because of more public input early in the process.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has opposed closing the East Cobb Library but has been in favor of consolidating what he calls “underperforming” libraries. On March 5 he will hold a town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library.
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!
In the wake of steep budget cut proposals, Cobb library branches have set up tables for patrons to have their say, and contact their county commissioners. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
I went to the East Cobb Library Saturday, and it was PACKED! With people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Yes, the weather was dreary, and yes, the few weekend hours it’s open certainly had a lot to do with the turnout.
We all know this, given how the East Cobb branch is the second-busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System. I read a few newspapers and magazines, browsed the bookshelves and did some research for this piece.
At times I wondered if all this might go away in a few months, this corner of the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, given how the East Cobb Library is on a list of proposed closures.
I was afraid of getting too sentimental, since I grew up in East Cobb (and have written previously about my neighborhood branch, the late, great East Marietta Library).
I’ll admit I’m a bleeding heart for libraries, and this week some really bad emotions came flooding back when I saw not just the East Cobb branch on the hit list (as was suggested last year by commissioner JoAnn Birrell), and several others. Nearly half of all the county branches. A quarter of the operating budget may be slashed, and nearly half of the current operating hours.
For the second time in seven years, local elected officials are playing Cobb library politics, and this time I fear the results could be worse. In 2011, then-commission chairman Tim Lee threatened to shut down 13 of the 17 branches.
The county was in the midst of a budget crisis due to the recession, and his ploy worked. No branches were closed, but hours were cut back. Library patrons kicked up a fuss, and property taxes were raised.
As a citizen, I took a dim view of Lee’s tactics. Those of us who ardently support libraries were played, like a cheap fiddle, even though none of our branches were closed. We felt we had won a battle, but looking back, there was a larger war over our emotions that we may have conceded, and possibly for good.
As a ballyard sage famously put it, it’s déjà vu all over again. Lee’s successor, Mike Boyce, has learned very quickly in his first year in office that nobody wants their property taxes raised. He couldn’t get a 0.13-mills rate increase last year to fully fund the 2008 parks bond referendum that was part of his campaign.
For the last month or so, he’s been toting budget boards to speaking events around the county, with pie charts and lists and all kinds of dollar signs, illustrating a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon in January.
It’s likely to be much higher, and he’s trying to get ahead of the process by repeating this message months ahead of time, preparing Cobb citizens for the worst, what he’s called “the painful truth.” Others think he’s pandering to their emotions to get a tax increase.
At a town hall meeting last month at the East Cobb Senior Center, he told seniors angry about fee increases and the imposition of a membership fee that “we’re all in this together.” Some of them groaned, but he understood the power they wield.
“You all vote,” he said. On the other hand, library patrons “may not all be voters, but if you close their libraries, they will become voters.”
There were some chuckles around the room. This was just a few weeks after the commissioners held their budget retreat, and instructed department heads to look for steep budget cuts.
This week, the library list was the first to be revealed, and nobody is laughing. These proposed cuts have stirred the emotions of library advocates, right on cue. Tuesday’s commissioners meeting will include a public comment session that figures to be the first of many occasions in which they will get an earful from citizens about libraries.
This round of Cobb library politics is complicated by two other major factors that weren’t there in 2011: the Atlanta Braves stadium, and a property tax rollback two years ago.
Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott have been making a point recently that the $8.6 million Cobb pays annually for the bond issue to build SunTrust Park may pay off for itself this year.
However, that vote—made in haste in late 2013 following a sham of a process that lacked transparency and accountability—reflects what many, myself included, still believe to be misplaced priorities.
Ott and Birrell, East Cobb’s other commissioner, voted for the millage rollback in 2016 at the behest of Lee, right before Boyce trounced him in a runoff. Those decisions cannot be undone, but they certainly have contributed to Cobb’s financial state today.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened in December, two months before drastic budget cuts were proposed by the library system.
We starve libraries in Cobb, and have for years. It’s ridiculous that I can’t go to my new neighborhood branch, the fantastic Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, before 1 p.m. on a Saturday.
Never on a Sunday is any Cobb library branch open, except the main Switzer branch, but that’s only during the school year.
Braves stadium funding, by the way, is on the “must” list. That item, with a 30-year contract, moved to the head of the line of priorities. Libraries, must settle, as usual, for scraps, if there are any at all to have.
The public library system has a short history in Cobb. Until 1957, libraries were operated only in cities, by municipal governments in Marietta, Powder Springs and Austell. Then the Cobb-Marietta system was born, prodded by Dennis Kemp, a former library board chairman from West Cobb concerned that there were no library services for citizens in unincorporated Cobb.
The county would soon rapidly transform from farmland to suburbia. The first countywide library bond issue was in 1965, and the library system became part of Cobb County government in the 1970s.
I discovered this information in a book about the history of Cobb County by Thomas Allan Scott, a historian at Kennesaw State University. It was published in 2003 by the Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society, and it’s available in every Cobb library branch.
I may not have known this without spending a lot of time in library branches here in East Cobb. Sure, you can buy that book on Amazon, and do a lot of things online, and on your phone, that libraries still haven’t quite grasped. A book I checked out Saturday at the East Cobb Library, “BiblioTech,” argues eloquently that libraries are as vital today as ever, but they need to get their digital act together.
It’s hard to do that if you don’t have the resources, and political support when it matters the most. Sadly, libraries pop up on the Cobb political radar only when they’re threatened.
On the list of proposed library closures revealed this week is the Kemp Memorial Library, named after Dennis Kemp. Another is the Sibley library on South Cobb Drive, named after Frances Weldon Sibley, the first licensed librarian in Cobb County, who started her 30-year-plus tenure in that role in the 1930s.
They were visionaries, well ahead of their time, who believed in the common good of libraries long before they became the third-rail political issue of today.
Whatever you think about tax increases, and the SPLOST process, it’s a shame their names could vanish into history, as well as the East Cobb Library, because elected officials might end up doing more this year than simply playing to your emotions. And mine.
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!
It’s supposed to be a bit soggy, but not enough to dampen a spirited weekend of events in East Cobb:
Tonight and Saturday are the final showings of “The Savannah Disputation” at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), presented by CenterStage North and the Mountain View Arts Alliance. It’s a Southern theological comedy (there is such a thing!) involving two elderly sisters and a door-to-door evangelist caught up in a crisis of faith. Tickets are $16 and the curtains lift at 8 p.m. both nights;
Also tonight, at the nearby Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) historical novelists Lauren Willig and Deanna Raybourn will be discussing their books from 6:30-8 p.m. The event is free, and copies of their books will be sold and available for signing;
The 38th annual Walton Raider Chase 5K gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday at Raider Valley (1590 Bill Murdock Road). The event is a fundraiser for the Walton track and cross country teams. A 1-mile fun run starts at 9:30 a.m., and walk-up registration is available for both races;
From 10-5 on Saturday, the Lassiter High School Band is holding a mattress sale fundraiserfor its 2019 trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade in the band room (2601 Shallowford Road). Name-brand items will be sold at a discount, and you can arrange for delivery;
The enticing aromas of Essential Oils will discussed and diffused during a special presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road). The guide is Heather Seeley of Young Living, who will demonstrate the health and cosmetic benefits of such substances. Registration is required by calling 770-509-2730;
Also on Saturday, a Local Lens film screening will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). Local filmmaker Bill Pacer will show “Meatfactory,” a music video, and take questions after.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share with the East Cobb community? Let us know! E-mail calendar@eastcobbnews.com with your information. Check out more things to do, this weekend and beyond in East Cobb’s most comprehensive events guide! Have a great weekend!
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!
What East Cobb Library advocates have feared for months has come to pass: Their branch, the second busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System, has been formally recommended for closure due to Cobb County government budget cuts.
Several months after Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library, the branch is included on a proposed list of eight library closings or consolidations from the library system to the commissioners.
The Cobb library system has set up an “I Love My Library” page on its website with information about the draft budget proposal, submitted by library director Helen Poyer.
The other library branches that would be closed under the proposal include Kemp Memorial in West Cobb, Lewis A. Ray and Windy Hill in Smyrna, Sweetwater Valley in Austell and Sibley in Marietta. In addition, the Acworth and Kennesaw branches would be consolidated.
The proposed budget cuts also include the elimination of all part-time staff positions, and hours would be cut nearly in half, from the current 780 hours a week throughout the system to 424.
The proposed library cuts would total nearly $3 million, or about 25 percent of the system’s current fiscal year operating budget of $12 million.
Cobb County officials say they’re facing a fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million, and have been directing department heads to recommend cuts in services to balance the budget.
“We need to really fight, now that we’ve seen it in black and white,” said Rachel Slomovitz, who calls the East Cobb Library her “second home” and who has been a vocal library proponent.
The East Cobb Library got a reprieve for fiscal year 2018, but that came just as the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center was set to open on Lower Roswell Road. Commissioners temporarily delayed full funding of that expanded branch—formerly the East Marietta Library—until after the start of the fiscal year 2018 in October.
In December, Slomovitz started an online petition, seeking the support of 1,000 people for raising the millage rate to avoid library budget cuts. Thus far, that petition has more than 750 signatures.
In her petition, Slomovitz estimated that what she called a “minor” millage increase would result in a $25 a year increase in property taxes to fund libraries. Last week, she started a closed Facebook group called “Save Cobb Libraries” to provide information and urge other citizens to contact their elected officials.
The East Cobb Library costs around $770,000 in staffing and for other operations every year, but that doesn’t include an additional $263,000 in annual rental expenses.
The branch opened at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after operating as the Merchants Walk Library. The cost of moving and relocating the branch was borne by the developers of Merchants Walk when that retail center was redeveloped.
“I always feared that East Cobb would be on the list” because the branch is leased, Slomovitz said, but she added that the situation is an opportunity for citizens to reinforce to commissioners what’s important to them.
She said she noticed that during recent town hall meetings on senior center fees that funding for the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park was included on a “required” list, while libraries are on a “desired” list, along with senior services and parks and recreation.
“Why can’t the libraries be regarded as just as worthy?” Slomovitz said.
In early 2011, then-chairman Tim Lee proposed closing 13 of the 17 branches as the county faced deep budget cuts due to the recession.
It was a ploy to get commissioners to come to the cutting table and it worked, but also generated heated opposition from library patrons who packed the commissioners meeting chambers.
No branches were closed, but library hours were cut from 1,089.5 hours a week to the current 780 hours, and some programs and services were also reduced.
The new proposed closures come less than a month after county officials, including all five commissioners, participated in ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the new Sewell Mill branch, which has been declared “the library of the future.”
Current Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has wanted to get an early start on the FY 19 budget, which doesn’t go into effect until October. Budget adoption is in July.
But just as he heard from Cobb seniors about rising costs and a membership fee to use county senior centers, Boyce and commissioners are bracing for an earful from library supporters.
In addition to the Sewell Mill Library, the East Cobb area is served by the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road and Gritters Library, located near Canton Road and Piedmont Road.
The “I Love My Library” page reminds readers that the proposals are not final, and that there will be public comment periods at commission meetings to offer citizens a chance to have their say about the libraries, and the budget. The page also includes scheduled meeting dates over the next few months.
“We’ve saved the libraries before,” said Slomovitz, who admits she’s “scared” by the prospect of the East Cobb Library closing its doors for good. “If we did it once, we can do it again.”
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!
Students, teachers, staff and parents at the official opening for the new Walton High School building in July. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
East Cobb News launched in July, but most of the most notable stories in the community took place during those last six months of 2017.
With just a few days left before the start of a new year, here’s a more-or-less chronological compilation of the stories, events and people who were the biggest newsmakers in East Cobb in 2017.
Handel elected in nationally-watched Congressional race
When Karen Handel defeated Jon Ossoff in a June runoff to win the 6th Congressional District special election, she got a strong turnout in East Cobb that aided her victory. Among her biggest supporters were East Cobb commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Bob Ott, at whose August town hall meeting Handel spoke shortly after taking office to succeed Tom Price. Story.
New classroom building opens at Walton High School
The new $48 million Walton High School classroom and administration building was officially opened in late July, right before the start of a new school year, as work on a new gymnasium and fine arts building was set to get underway. Story and Photos.
In his first year in office, Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce was defeated in his proposal to raise the property tax millage rate to fulfill the 2008 parks bond referendum. Story. A couple months later, he and his colleagues hammered out a fiscal year 2018 budget by using contingency funding to close a $20 million deficit. Story.
Wheeler High School becomes STEAM-certified
Shortly after the school year began, Wheeler High School was notified that it was the first high school in Georgia to earn STEAM certification. Story.
Lower Roswell Road crash kills two
Two young men escaping hurricane weather in Florida were killed in September when their car crashed into a brick wall at the entrance to the Gold Branch Unit of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area on Lower Roswell Road. One of the victims was a Wheeler graduate. Story.
Dream season for Walton football team
With a first-time head coach and a losing record a year ago, the Walton Raiders weren’t expected to be a contending team in 2017. But they were one of the biggest surprises in all of Cobb and Georgia high school football with an 11-1 season that ended in the state playoffs. Story.
East Cobb water main replacement completed
After nearly two years of traffic delays on Lower Roswell Road, the $47 million East Cobb Water Main replacement project was completed in the fall and into the early winter, replacing the 54-inch, 6-mile pipes laid down 50 years ago. Story.
Funding for Mabry Park construction approved
After years of delays, Mabry Park is set to become a reality in 2019, as Cobb commissioners voted to spend $2.85 million to build the new facility on Wesley Chapel Road. Story.
A library opens, another eyed for closure
In December, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened to replace the East Marietta Library. Story. However, the occasion was preceded by commissioner JoAnn Birrell’s suggestion to close the East Cobb Library, which drew heated opposition. Story.
A Winter Wonderland in East Cobb
In early December, an unexpectedly heavy winter storm dumped nearly a foot of snow in north Georgia, and most of East Cobb got several inches. Coverage. For one East Cobb family, however, the storm left them without power and heat for nearly four days. Story.
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!
A very cold, wet and wintry weekend for Halloween events has passed, and temperatures are already rising to an autumn feel as November approaches.
To start the week off is tonight’s Cobb-Marietta Marching Band Exhibition (7 p.m. at McEachern High School), including the bands from Lassiter, Sprayberry and Wheeler. This part of the extravaganza has been delayed twice before by rain, but it’s clear today, and it should be in the low 50s tonight. Admission is $5.
Here’s what else is coming up in East Cobb through Thursday:
Most Halloween-related events were over the weekend, but at Powers Ferry UMC (245 Powers Ferry Road), they’re having a Trunk or Treat event on Halloween night, Tuesday, Oct. 31. It lasts from 6-7:30 p.m., and little trick or treaters are asked to wear their customes; in addition to candy, they’ll also be serving hot dogs;
Wednesday is Nov. 1, which for Roman Catholics is more than just the start of the month. It’s All Saints Day, a solemn Christian festival also known as All Hallows Day, and all three East Cobb parishes will be having special services. At Holy Family Catholic Church (3401 Lower Roswell Road), there’s a Tuesday vigil at 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday masses at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., the latter two are bilingual and a Spanish Holy Hour respectively; at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road), the services Wednesday are at 6:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., with an All Souls mass Thursday at 7 p.m.; at Transfiguration Catholic Church (1815 Blackwell Road), a Spanish-language mass on Tuesday starts at 7 p.m., with Wednesday services at 12 p.m., 4 p.m. (children’s mass) and 7 p.m.;
The Page-Turners Book Discussion Group meets on Wednesday at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road), and the book this month is “Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. If you’d like to read up for the December session, the club is giving you some latitude: Choose a biography of Abigail Adams and prepare to talk about it on Dec. 6;
Stretch into November with Yoga for Seniors, Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road); registration is required for this event that’s part of the library’s continuing wellness program series;
Later on Wednesday, the East Cobb Library will hold another Family Fun Time event from 3:30-4:15, and is for children of all ages. Wednesday’s topic will a celebration of American Indian Heritage Month. The event is free, but all children must be accompanied by an adult;
After school on Wednesday is another installment of the Gritters STEAM Team series at the Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Road). From 3:30-4:30 students from K-5 can learn about geodosic domes. Experts deliver the lessons and the kids engage in hands-on activity;
The Gritters Drama Club is newly formed and is working toward a performance on Nov. 18 at the Mountain View Regional Library. The group meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 3:30-4:30, and is aimed at students for 4th and 5th graders. The club leader is theater connoisseur and Gritters staff member Olivia McCurley. Registration is required.
Did we miss something. Do you have a calendar item to share? Let us know? Send us your listings to calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post it.
After a lengthy public hearing and discussion and the possibility of not approving a budget today, the Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget was adopted by the Board of Commissioners.
The $403.4 million budget is based on the millage rate of 6.76 set by commission in July, and using $19.7 million in contingency funding—”one-time monies” in budget parlance—to balance the budget. More than $1 million for Cobb community charities was not included in the budget, and representatives of many of those organizations were vocal about keeping their funding.
The new budget includes funding for the East Cobb Library, which commissioner JoAnn Birrell had proposed closing, but does not include funding for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which will replace the East Marietta Library and is slated to open this winter.
Like the funding for the charities, funding for the new library is expected to be taken up by the commissioners in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
What follows is a live-blog format of the public comment period, both from the public and the commissioners, that was updated as the budget proceedings took place.
We’ll have other matters from today’s commission meeting, including the approval of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan, posted separately.
We’ll also link to the final budget document once it’s made available online. Here’s the original.
1:41 PM: The budget passes 3-2, with Boyce, Birrell and Bob Weatherford voting yes, Ott and Cupid voting no.
1:28 PM: Chairman Mike Boyce is the last member of the board to speak, saying “budgets are never easy.” Regarding the non-profits, he said many provide services that government should be doing, but they do it better. “This isn’t black and white. The bottom line is we can’t give you what we don’t have . . . money because of the millage rate.”
Carving out a budget based on a 6.76 millage rate includes figuring out how “to provide services this county has come to expect.” He said “we’re a five-star county” and that he hopes conversations over the next few months will result in some kind of consensus from the board in the future.
Boyce makes motion to approve budget, with Birrell seconding.
1:15 PM: South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid said the budget situation today is “the direct result of the millage rate vote [from earlier this summer] that I did not support.” She also said that the situation is “not only mind-boggling but somewhat shameful,” and cited cuts in assistance to community non-profits, the continued limited hours for libraries and more.
“This is a not a good situation that we’re in today, to not pass a budget” that will “put us in a worse situation. There are real people with real needs that are attached to” what is tied into the budget.
She also referenced how the needs of the Braves are being accommodated, but not those who benefit from community charities. “I’m just troubled by this whole ordeal.” Cupid said she cannot support the budget proposal.
1:08 PM: The public hearing is closed, and the commissioners are making some opening comments during their discussion period. Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said: “Is this a perfect budget? No. But is pretty much a flat budget” and she supports it.
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said he would like to see some details on how to deal with the one-time money, but “I don’t see it there.”
1:01 PM: Michael Paris of East Cobb, head of the Council for Quality Growth, spoke in support of the proposed budget. “Go forward and make sure we continue to make this county great,” he said.
12:29 PM: Ray Thomas, a South Cobb resident, expressed concern that the budget proposal includes contingency funding despite an improving economy and rising Cobb tax digest. “What happens when things really get tough? . . . This is very disconcerting.” He said the county has two choices: cut back services or find more revenue, and he cited a rise in the millage rate.
12:23 PM: Dan Daniel, a longtime East Cobb resident and volunteer at the East Cobb Library, pleaded with the commissioners to keep that branch open. If it closes, he said, nearby residents would have to go a great distance to patronize the library system.
12:01 PM: The public hearing on the budget is continuing, but we’re taking a break. This very well may be an all-day meeting, given what else is on the agenda, and what looks to be a commission impasse on the budget. Some very impassioned speakers already, and there are more to come.
11:22 AM: The directors of a number of community service organizations, including MUST Ministries, Family Promise of Cobb County and the Cobb Schools Foundation, are speaking on behalf of continuing the county funding they receive. The proposed budget does not include charities funding.
A retired citizen, John Morgan, asks the commissioners to consider “what will your legacy be?” especially as it pertains to Cobb’s homeless, and cites several Bible passages. The crowd applauded as he concluded.
11:05 AM: The first speaker is East Cobb resident Abby Shiffman, the chairwoman of the Cobb library board of trustees, and she’s urging the commission not pass a budget today, especially as it pertains to the library budget. “How can you pass a budget without specifics?” she asked, noting that the library system has suffered “cut after cut after cut” with no increase in funding, including expansion of library hours, since the recession. The notion of closing a library branch (Birrell has proposed closing the East Cobb Library) “without a true hearing is something I cannot understand.”
BTW: Tonight is the Cobb Library Foundation’s gala dinner, “Booked for the Evening,” featuring East Cobb author Jonathan W. Jordan, that’s one of the year’s biggest fundraising events for outside money to support the library system.
A postponed meeting from last week that was to include the Cobb 2018 budget adoption and the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan will take place Friday.
District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will meet starting at 10 a.m. in the 2nd floor room of the Cobb BOC building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
The meeting was rescheduled because county government was shut down due to Tropical Storm Irma. Before commissioners vote on the fiscal year 2018 budget, a final public hearing on the budget will take place.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million budget (PDF here), with $405 million for the general fund, and without a millage rate increase. After losing a battle in July to boost the millage rate to fully fund the 2008 Cobb parks bond referendum, Boyce is proposing to use $21.5 million in contingency funding to balance the budget.
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has gone on the record stating he does not support a millage rate increase and called for a budget review to find cost savings (East Cobb News post here).
The East Cobb Library opened at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010.
He’s also been feuding with his fellow East Cobb commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, who has proposed closing the East Cobb Library to help balance the budget. At an August town hall meeting at that same library branch—the second-busiest in the Cobb public library system—Ott said he would propose closing an “underperforming” branch elsewhere in his district but has not publicly elaborated since then (East Cobb News post here).
Addoption of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan is on Friday’s agenda, which reflects “Cobb’s vision, policies and goals based on the existing plan and community involvement,” according to documents explaining the plan update process.
Hearings, revisions and other work going into the 2040 plan have been ongoing since 2015. The final draft was completed on Sept. 5, with final revisions explained here.
Several East Cobb citizen activists have been critical of the proposed Cobb 2040 report, concerned about the influx of high-density development in the East Cobb area.
The county is required by the state to adopt a plan and submit it for review by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Also on Friday’s agenda are the following East Cobb-related items:
A change order to approve $194,700 in funding to resurface Dickerson Road, located off Lower Roswell Road, where a new subdivision, Crossvine, is being built by Lynwood Development;
An appeal by the owner of a proposed bar in northeast Cobb whose application for a liquor license was denied. Naseeb Rana of Kasbah Corp. wants to open an establishment in the Sandy Plains Village shopping center called Paprik’a which would have outdoor seating close to residential homes. Citizens from the Chatsworth and other subdivisions have strongly protested the application, saying the noise and late hours are incompatible with the community. They also said other establishments in the area serving alcohol are all-indoors and that Rana has not been responsive to community concerns;
East Cobb resident Ross Cavitt is expected to be appointed Cobb communications director, after more than 20 years as a reporter at WSB-TV (East Cobb News post here.)
This shouldn’t come as a surprise: Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott is opposed to raising the millage rate to balance the fiscal year 2018 Cobb County budget.
Commissioner Bob Ott at his East Cobb Library town hall meeting in August. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
With commissioners scheduled to adopt a budget next Thursday, Ott sent out a lengthy message right before the Labor Day holiday weekend explaining why he would not support a rise in the property tax millage rate to cover an estimated $21 million shortfall.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million spending package (PDF here) that includes using contingency funding to close the entire deficit gap.
In July, Ott helped foil Boyce’s plan to raise the millage rate to fully fund the $40 million 2008 Cobb Parks referendum (East Cobb News coverage here).
The proposed FY 2018 budget would be balanced by using reserve funding from the following sources:
$10.4 million from the reserve for a county employees pay and classification implementation study;
$5.7 million from the county Title Ad Valorem Tax Reserve;
$5.3 million from the county economic development contingency.
Ott, who’s been vigorously opposed to property tax increases in general, said he can’t support raising the millage rate now, for a full fiscal-year budget, with contingency money available. In his weekly e-mail newsletter that came out on Friday, he said:
“I believe it is wrong to raise the millage rate before the BOC uses the money from these funds to pay-down the deficit. Together, at their height, these funds totaled approximately $22 million being held in reserve on top of the county’s ‘normal’ reserve funds.”
He also hinted at this position at an Aug. 17 town hall meeting at the East Cobb Library, just days after the budget was revealed, telling constituents “it’s your money.”
In his Friday e-mail, Ott urged finding ways to reduce expenses in some county services, including two familiar targets of his, the annual transfer of Cobb water system revenues to the general fund, and transit subsidies:
“I don’t believe the answer to addressing this $21 million deficit is simply an increase in the millage rate. A complete review of the budget and expenses should be done to identify and eliminate wasteful spending. Two areas that I believe illustrate inefficiencies in the budget are the need to transfer $20 million per year from the Water System to the general fund and the roughly $17 million a year subsidy of the county transit system. CobbLinc provides invaluable service to many county residents. However, many buses travel the routes virtually, if not completely, empty.”
Ott’s also been in a budget fight on another front, with fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who is proposing to close the East Cobb Library, citing duplication of services.
After hearing from upset East Cobb residents opposed to shuttering the second-busiest branch in the Cobb library system, Birrell defended her proposal at an Aug. 22 public hearing on the budget. She cited a recent report calling for more police officer hires in Cobb (Birrell has long wanted to create a new police precinct in Northeast Cobb) and said she wants to be good steward of taxpayer money.
At his town hall, Ott said he is considering moving some services at the East Cobb Government Service Center to the East Cobb Library and possibly closing an “underperforming” library elsewhere in his district, but he hasn’t elaborated.
Here’s his full statement from Friday; he said he’ll be detailing more suggestions on budget cuts.
The ‘Mindfulness Meditation’ sessions this fall at East Cobb Library are part of the “Build A Better You” adult program.
Starting on Wednesday, East Cobb Library (Parkaire Landing, 4880 Lower Roswell Road) will be holding a four-part series for adults this fall called “Mindfulness Meditation” (ECN calendar listing here) that’s part of the “Build A Better You” program. It’s one of many library events in East Cobb in September that’s gearing up for patrons of all ages.
The sessions are the first Wednesday of each month, starting at 11:30 a.m. and lasting until 12:30 p.m. and registration is required (call 770-509-2730. The other dates are Oct. 4, Nov. 8, and Dec. 6.
This is an introductory meditation class aimed at helping reduce stress and increase awareness. Here’s more about the program, taught by instructor Lisa Wellstead:
It is based on the core principles found within Jon Kabat-Zinn’s “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” course (MBSR) and Mark Williams’ “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” course (MBCT). Both MBSR and MBCT are well-researched and evidence-based mindfulness programs. These sessions are offered free of charge as part of a Wellness series in collaboration with local instructors at the East Cobb Library this fall.
Also on Wednesday, the monthly meeting of the Page-Turners Book Club takes place starting at 10:15 a.m. at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road). This month’s book is “Between, Georgia,” the new book by Atlanta novelist Joshilyn Jackson. Future book selections for the fall are listed here; you need to register by calling the MVRL’s adult reference desk at 770-509-2725.
Adult reading clubs also meet monthly at the Gritters Library (Sept. 12), at the East Marietta Library (Sept. 20) and at the East Cobb Library (Sept. 21, morning and afternoon sessions).
We’ve got more library events included in our full calendar listings; but for a quick look at library events in East Cobb at the four local branches, here’s a link from the Cobb County Public Library System.
In addition to the usual storytime sessions for children, there are Tai Chi sessions, family movies and, on Sept. 25 at Mountain View, another Cobb Cooks Book Club and Potluck event.
Another special program of note, regarding the quality of the public water supply: Kathy Nguyen of the Cobb County Water Efficiency Program will speak at the East Cobb Library Sept. 26 in “Water, Water, Everywhere?,” which includes the latest updates on drought conditions, ongoing Georgia-Alabama-Florida water issues and more.
Like all library programs, this one is also free, but registration is recommended by calling 770-509-2730 so enough informational handouts can be printed.
JoAnn Birrell—speaking here to a business group last week—says closing the East Cobb Library would reduce duplication of services. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
After several East Cobb residents objected to the possibility of closing the East Cobb Library on Tuesday, the Cobb commissioner making the proposal strongly defended her position, and laid out a detailed set of numbers in making her case.
JoAnn Birrell, who represents Northeast Cobb, said at the end of a long Board of Commissioners meeting that “this has never been a personal agenda” but instead addresses what she terms as an issue of duplication of services.
She said she’s proposing the East Cobb Library closure because of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that will open before the end of the year, replacing the adjacent East Marietta Library.
The two libraries are located five miles apart on Lower Roswell Road, and carry some expensive operating costs, Birrell said. (That’s also about the same distance between the two East Cobb-area libraries in her district, the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road, and the Gritters branch off Canton Road.)
The East Cobb Library opened in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after being previously known as the Merchants Walk Library and relocated when that shopping center was redeveloped.
“This is about being a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ money,” Birrell said, reading from a written statement, adding that budget decisions will be made by the board, not one commissioner.
The East Cobb Library closure plans were first made public last Thursday, at a town hall meeting held by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said Birrell “has been relentless” in proposing the move (East Cobb News coverage here).
Birrell said her proposal “was just one” cost-saving suggestion as the commission was presented last week with a proposed FY 2018 budget of $890 million, including $21.5 million in one-time reserve funding to avoid a property tax increase.
After hearing protests to the closure plan earlier Tuesday at the first formal public hearing on the budget, Birrell said the consolidation of Cobb libraries has been “years in the making,” and referenced the 2011 budget crunch. In the wake of the recession and a steep decline in the Cobb tax digest, then-commission Chairman Tim Lee proposed permanently closing 13 of the 17 county library branches, including East Cobb and East Marietta.
But he backed down after vocal public opposition. While no branches were closed, library hours and staffing levels were reduced.
Most of the funding for the new 8,600-square-foot Sewell Mill library complex, which will include an amphitheater and other cultural arts space, comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST (special local option sales tax) approved by county voters.
Birrell said the new library will have annual staffing and operating costs of roughly $732,000. The East Marietta Library currently costs around $524,000 a year to run, according to her figures.
The East Cobb Library, she said, not only has annual staffing and operating costs estimated at $771,000 a year, but another $263,000 a year, ($21,961 a month) is paid out in lease costs at Parkaire Landing.
For that kind of money, Birrell said, the county “could hire three police officers” as part of a larger recommendation in a recent police chiefs’ report that Cobb add 60 more officers to meet current public safety needs.
Just a few days after seeing the proposed fiscal year 2018 Cobb County budget for the first time, commissioner Bob Ott briefed East Cobb constituents on the numbers Thursday night and offered some suggestions that could punctuate budget discussions over the next few weeks.
At a packed town hall meeting in the community room of the East Cobb Library, Ott outlined the $890 million spending plan proposed by commission chairman Mike Boyce, including using $21.5 million in one-time reserve funding.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold the first of two public hearings on the budget on Tuesday before approval on Sept. 12. That’s not much time to absorb a proposed spending package that’s 3.79 percent higher than the FY 2017 budget, and only weeks after a heated battle over the property tax millage rate.
Click the graphic to view and download the budget proposal.
The budget document also was released this week [there’s a downloadable PDF here] as Cobb homeowners were mailed their property tax bills for 2017. As Ott reminded them, “the tax bill you just got is to pay for [the last fiscal] year.”
The proposed budget is based on the current millage rate established by commissioners last month. Ott and fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell prevailed in their refusal to raise the millage rate by 0.13, as Boyce had wanted.
The inclusion of the proposed reserve funding to help balance the budget is a dramatic one. A total of $10.4 million would come from the reserve for a county employees pay and classification implementation study; $5.7 million would come from the Title Ad Valorem Tax Reserve; and the $5.3 million would come from the county economic development contingency.
“The board has to decide what are the critical needs,” Ott said. “The bottom line is, it’s your money.”
Specifically regarding the reserve money, Ott, an ardent opponent of tax increases, repeated himself: “It is my belief that it’s your money,” and that there’s “no reason” for it to remain unspent and raise taxes instead.
District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has announced he’s holding his next town hall meeting at the East Cobb Library.
The meeting takes place on Thursday, Aug. 17, starting at 7 p.m. in the community room of the library, located in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, 4880 Lower Roswell Road.
Ott briefs citizens on happenings in county government, and fields questions from the audience.
The second-from-last weekend before the start of school has several events geared for kids in end-of-summer mode, but there are quite a few slated for youth and adults alike.
The East Cobb NewsEvents Calendar has all the details of every weekend event we’ve got listed (and send yours along if you don’t see it to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com). Here are a few of the highlights:
At 10 a.m. Saturday, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for “Sunny,” a piano kids at East Cobb Park’s ARTSCAPE! camp have been painting this summer. It’s the latest Play Me Again Piano delivery in metro Atlanta, and “Sunny” will be a permanent fixture at the park’s upper pavilion;
Want to learn about mushrooms—how to grow and cook them? The East Cobb Library is holding a mini-fungi fest at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with a “Build A Mushroom Garden” seminar, and reservations are strongly suggested;
Another library event, this one starting at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mountain View Regional branch: A screening of the “We Are Marshall” film, about a college football team that perished in a 1970 airline tragedy, and how those on the freshman team played on in their honor;
For grown-ups, the weekend ivory-tinkling continues at Red Sky Tapas Bar, with the 88 Licks Dueling Piano performances Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to midnight;
The 180th Marietta Campmeeting concludes Sunday with an 11 a.m. service, and twice-daily services are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The guest sermon for the finale will be delivered by Dr. Charles Sineath, a retired pastor formerly at East Cobb’s Mt. Zion United Methodist Church who’s been designated as this year’s Campmeeting Pastor.
Again, let us know if you have calendar items to share, for this weekend and beyond. We’re working to have the best calendar listings in East Cobb, so have a look around and let us know what you think!
