The day after filing a last-gap appeal to stay in office for a little while longer, Jerica Richardson took her familiar seat on the dais of the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.
After a Cobb judge ruled on Dec. 31 that she must vacate her seat, the District 2 commissioner got a reprieve on Monday when she appealed that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
That means that the ruling by Judge Ann Harris to vacate the seat is stayed during the appeal. The Georgia Court of Appeals has 30 days to decide whether to hear the appeal.
Richardson was appealing a decision by her colleagues last summer to vacate the seat after Harris ruled that she did not live within the boundaries of District 2 and therefore was ineligible.
On Tuesday, she cast votes from a short roster of agenda items and introduced a new assistant.
Richardson’s term expired on Dec. 31, as did the term of District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield. But special elections have been called after another court ruling invalidating 2024 primaries in those races after county-observed “home rule” electoral maps were ruled unconstitutional.
But a two-year drama over those maps, and who’s legally qualified to serve on the board now, continues.
At the board’s first meeting of the year Tuesday, all four district commissioners read from prepared statements.
Richardson, a Democrat who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in legislative maps passed in 2022, said she was continuing her legal battle because of “precedent”—Republican Cobb lawmakers pushing through maps not submitted by the county delegation—and for being reapportioned during the middle of her term.
The Georgia Constitution delegates county reapportionment only to the legislature. Cobb’s “home rule” claims to draw electoral maps, Harris ruled last fall, violated that Constitution.
Richardson labeled herself a “de facto commissioner” as the appeal continues, and with her successor to be determined by the end of April (She unsuccessfully ran for Congress last year).
“Some would say that’s unacceptable, to take this seat on the dais,” she said. “I would say that having 200,000 people not represented for nearly half the year is unacceptable. I would say that the right of the General Assembly to remove elected officials at any point in their term is unacceptable. I would say that overturning elections is unacceptable.”
She said that “this fight was never about me but about protecting American values.”
Richardson’s old District 2 included a portion of East Cobb. But most of East Cobb is now represented by District 3 Republican JoAnn Birrell.
While she still thinks it’s unfair that Richardson was redrawn out of her seat, Birrell said the court rulings have been clear that she’s no no longer eligible to serve.
“When will this stop? Enough is enough. Taxpayers should be furious of the time spent and the cost involved by the county in these actions.”
She said she didn’t it was right for Richardson to continue to serve past the end of her term and because the courts have ruled her to be ineligible.
“It’s time to put an end to ignoring the Constitution and the laws of this state and the county and go back to the real business of the county at hand.”
Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb said “Welcome of Cobb County’s J 6″—a reference to the January date in 2021 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the Electoral College process.
Gambrill, whose initial lawsuit challenging the “home rule” maps was thrown out due to a lack of standing, objected to the Cobb County Attorney’s Office unilaterally concluding that one commissioner is “ruled de facto.”
“There are no laws that govern de facto status, those have only been awarded by judges based on legal challenges,” she said.
“Because of an unconstitutional home rule resolution, the chair of the Cobb Board of Commissioners is now extending the term of commissioners.”
Sheffield is a Democrat who won her primary in May and has qualified for the special election in District 4 in South Cobb.”
She said that during the two years of the home rule maps, commissioners made a number of important decisions, including the current fiscal year 2025 budget with improved salaries and benefits for public safety personnel.
“Were there any gaps in the efficiency of the county?” she said. “Were we able to move the county forward? For me that answer is yes.”
She disputed assertions that she was wrongfully occupying her seat past the end of her term, saying state allow allows for a continuation until a special election is decided.
“The role is temporary and tied to a proper transition,” in this case a special election meant to bridge a gap, Sheffield added.
Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, presiding over her first meeting since being re-elected in November, didn’t offer her thoughts, but said “the public was due an explanation as to why we are here the way we are today.”
You can watch all the comments on the issue on the video below, starting around the 20:00 mark.
Related:
- Cobb government seeks feedback in ‘brand equity’ survey
- Richardson’s Cobb commission seat declared vacant by judge
- Richardson’s fall capstone interns present projects
- Power-Jackson Cabin restoration funding approved
- Cobb to increase water and sewer rates through 2029
- Cobb Public Library System director announces retirement
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