During 2012, Cobb County brought in more than $54 million in investments, 1,700 jobs and 19 new business announcements, Chairman Tim Lee said during his Jan. 14 State of the County address at the Cobb Galleria.
Lee described these and other successes during the Cobb Chamber of Commerce event attended by an estimated 550 people. He discussed various achievements and progress made by county government during the past year, as well as future plans that include lowering the millage rate.

Economic achievements during 2012 included relocation and expansions by businesses such as Gas South, Home Depot and Pramac.

“In these competitive times, in this economy these projects do not land in our community by chance, it happens because we work together,” he said. “We have a great community ‘product’ to market, and we need to keep our product competitive in order to continue this success.”

Lee cited strategic partnerships between the State Department of Economic Development, Cobb County, its six cities, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and others as helping retain jobs and recruit new jobs and investments in Cobb.

For the 15th consecutive year, Cobb County has had “Triple A” ratings from the nation’s three top bond rating agencies. Likewise, the Cobb Water System has maintained “Triple A” bond ratings since 2001 – one of the few in the country to do so, Lee said.

Cobb County has the lowest millage rate, the smallest budget and lowest sales tax rate compared to other metro Atlanta counties, with services delivered by the fewest number of employees, he said.
“We have the highest level of committed government employees in the nation and I appreciate each and every one of them,” Lee said.

Those interested in watching the full speech may view it on Government Access Channel TV23 at 6pm Jan. 18 and 1 pm Jan. 19-20. 

The Cobb County 2012 Annual Report is now available online also. It contains almost a dozen sections filled with informative details as well as up-to-date comparisons of the county millage rate, budget totals and sales tax with other metro counties. The entire report is available at www.cobbcounty.org/annual-report/.

Lee’s speech is featured as the EAST COBBER Video of the Week. View it HERE. 

 

County officials want lawmakers to allow the state caps on alcohol beverage taxes to be increased by 50 percent.

County Manager David Hankerson’s executive assistant, Judy Skeel, made the request during a breakfast between county commissioners and the Cobb legislative delegation on Friday at the Safety Village.

Skeel made the presentation at the request of Hankerson. The agenda for the breakfast is set by county chairman Tim Lee.

“In these economic times, we’re trying to reduce our reliance on property taxes and diversify our revenue stream,” Skeel said. “It’s actually more of a user fee since the only people that would be paying it are the people that purchase alcohol.”

The request would increase the beer excise tax from $.00417 per ounce to $.006255 per ounce; wine from 22 cents per liter to 33 cents per liter; and liquor from 22 cents per liter to 33 cents per liter.

“It’s something that hasn’t been looked at in a number of years in terms of keeping up with cost of administration and inflation, and I just think it’s something as we look at diversifying our revenue sources that that’s one way we need the legislators help on,” Lee said.

State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) asked how much the tax currently collects.

For fiscal year 2012, the county government collected $4.6 million: $3.4 million from the beer tax, $804,912 for the wine tax and $365,083 for liquor, county spokesman Robert Quigley said.

State Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) said he did not support raising the tax.

“That’s not going anywhere,” he said.

Skeel also asked lawmakers to allow the county to impose a $5 to $15 fee on convicted cases to pay for technology expenses for the court system.

“We’ve been deferring over $5 million worth of technology-related projects since 2008 because the revenue just hasn’t been there,” Skeel said. “We’ve looked at raising fees county-wide and would like to have the ability to impose a court technology fee for all criminal cases processed by our courts.”

The revenue would go to fund hardware, software and other technology-related expenses for the court system, she said.

Imposing a $5 fee is anticipated to generate between $900,000 and $1.1 million.

Ehrhart said he would examine the proposal more closely.

“That has some possibilities. You know, it is a user fee for those who are convicted of crimes,” Ehrhart said.

Unlike the Marietta City Council, which takes a formal vote to adopt its legislative priorities, the Board of Commissioners did not take such a vote, Commissioner Helen Goreham said. At the same time, Goreham said she liked the two proposals.

“The one for the courts, as I understood it, that would be a fee in criminal cases that would only be levied if the individual was convicted of a crime,” Goreham said. “As far as the alcohol beverage tax, I would have to look at it. I think we are not in line with most states as far as that tax, and in these days where we’re looking again for additional revenue, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to make us comparable to other jurisdictions in that area.”

Hankerson’s assistant wasn’t alone in asking for funding at the breakfast.

Dr. Jack Kennedy, district health director for Cobb & Douglas Public Health, pointed out that public health infrastructure is in trouble. Georgia’s population has grown by more than 18 percent since 2000 yet funding for public health has been cut by more than 20 percent, he said.

“Georgia spends about four cents per person per day for public health in the state, which is just about the lowest contribution of any state in the entire country,” Kennedy said, noting the average salary for a public health staff nurse is $37,000, compared to the market rate of $61,000.

Kennedy requested that Georgia’s cigarette tax be increased by $1 per pack to $1.37.

Dr. Dan Stephens, chair of the Cobb Public Health Board of Directors, said Cobb County is funded on a 1970 Census count.

“For our legislators I have a deal for you: You don’t have to appropriate any money. You don’t have to spend any money. But you can help us tremendously if we can just get the budget funded based on the 2010 population, not the ’70,” he said.

Per capita spending in Cobb County for mental health and for the Board of Health is the lowest of any county in the state of Georgia, he said.

Lee, who serves on the health board by virtue of his office, supports the request to use 2010 census data.

“If you assume that there is a percentage of every society that gets treated through public health, as our population has grown so has that number of people in Cobb County that have to utilize public health for services,” Lee said.

Ehrhart said the trouble is the state has a budget hole to fill.

“I understand Dan’s passion for that. They’re going to have to make do with that they have,” Ehrhart said.

Morgan said when people are out of work as many are today they rely on public health services.

“And the fact that we’re funding at a 1970 level should be unacceptable. I wasn’t even born in 1970, so it’s hard to imagine we’re still funding at that level and it should be unacceptable,” Morgan said. “Obviously we need to understand that when you don’t have money you can’t address every problem that we have, but I do think that that needs to be seriously looked at.”

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal. Written by Jon Gillooly, December 04, 2012. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – County wants higher taxes on alcohol)

Residents have differing thoughts on county chairman Tim Lee’s plans for spending $22.5 million in excess funds, which commissioners will vote on at tonight’s meeting.

Lee proposes using $4.5 million from the county’s medical and dental account to give employees a 3 percent raise because they haven’t had one in five years. He also wants to use about $18 million left over from fiscal year 2012 for a property tax reduction and to make improvements such as upgrading the court system’s computer network.

Tom Maloy of Powder Springs, a member of the Marietta-based Georgia Tea Party, said while his group hasn’t yet discussed the matter, he opposes a pay raise. The $4.5 million should be a one-time bonus, Maloy said.

“When the economy stabilizes, start talking about permanent salary increases, but right now they just don’t have enough evidence that the economy is even going to stabilize at all or recover,” Maloy said.

Better to give a one-time bonus and keep the staff employed rather than a salary hike and have to furlough if the economy slips next year, he said.

“If they give county employees a raise that’s permanent, a permanent raise in 2013, the way I look at it, they will probably be looking at furloughs and layoffs in 2014 or trying to increase property taxes again as they did two years ago,” Maloy said, referring to how Lee raised property taxes by 1.5 mills. “It’s great to make everybody feel good and say everybody is going to get a raise, but if that means that they’re going to be furloughed or laid off in a year, I’m not so sure how good that raise is going to do them.”

Commissioner Bob Ott said the decision should not be framed as whether to give county employees the money.

“This is a matter of what is the most prudent way to recognize the sacrifices and the hard work that they have done,” Ott said.

Ott said it’s premature to obligate the county to fund the pay increase without knowing whether such positive signs as an increase in SPLOST revenue and a lower unemployment rate will be sustained in light of Obamacare and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

“We have this one time money, we’re going to pay it as a bonus, and then we’re going to watch carefully over the next year exactly how the county finances go in light of all those other things that could easily have a negative effect on the economy,” he said. “If next year we can continue to lower the millage rate and not increase the water rate, and decrease the water transfer then we clearly have a sustainable recovery in place.”

Lee said Ott’s position is an example of Ott not wanting “to commit to anything.”

“Frankly, he sees the glass half-empty and I see it half-full,” Lee said.

Lee said a five-year forecast tells him such a raise is sustainable even if Congress fails to prevent the country from falling off the fiscal cliff.

“If we go off the fiscal cliff that in itself is more directly related to individuals than it is county government because a fiscal cliff is letting tax breaks for individuals and companies expire, so you as an individual will have $2,000 more additional dollars taken from your paycheck next year not the county,” Lee said. “The county won’t be impacted to that extent, but you as an individual, so you’ll be taking home $2,000 less next year as a result of the fiscal cliff. With that in mind, giving them that 3 percent at least offsets that fiscal cliff impact on the individual somewhat.”

Larry Savage of east Cobb, who challenged Lee in the primary election, lacks Lee’s optimism.

“Right now is a time of the greatest uncertainty of all as they head to this fiscal cliff thing and then the pending implementation of Obamacare, you can say that won’t affect the county, but you don’t know that because what we don’t know is what the ultimate fallout in the economy at large will be and when there is fallout in the economy at large we might see the barely developing improvement in the real estate market might collapse, the whole economy might be adversely affected, we just don’t know,” Savage said. “There’s so many unknowns and the opportunity for things to go bad in a heartbeat are unpredictable but many.”

Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy said Lee assured him the raise was sustainable, and he supports Lee’s plan.

“People can live better on a permanent salary than they can on what might not be a bonus,” Dendy said.

As for allocating about $18 million left over from fiscal year 2012, Maloy points out that sum is similar to the amount commissioners transferred from the water system to the general fund to balance their budget earlier this year.

“Why did we borrow $20 million from the water fund when we had that $18 million?” Maloy asked. “Couldn’t we use some of that at least to replace the $20 million that we borrowed from the water fund?”

The $18 million budget surplus is a result of increased revenue from development, business and real estate fees, as well as veterinary-service income from the animal shelter, coupled with reduced spending by county agencies, and $5.2 million in unused contingency funds in 2012, Lee said.

This is Lee’s proposal for what to do with the surplus: reduce the property tax rate by 0.2 mills for fiscal 2013 ($4.7 million); upgrade technology infrastructure in courts ($3.2 million); pay off debt for Powder Springs Station ($2.8 million); contingency planning ($2.7 million); accountable and capital equipment ($1.5 million); update police fleet ($1 million); replacement tower for McCollum airport ($1.3 million); storage of archeological items found during county construction ($62,000); solid waste post-closure study of landfills ($50,000) and solid waste methane gas issue at closed landfills ($250,000).

Maloy said the 0.2 mill reduction isn’t much relief.

“I don’t see where that small amount is going to help the property owner that much,” Maloy said. “I would rather see them start backing out or reducing the amount of money they have to take out of the water fund until they reduce it to zero. They’re addicted to it.”

Dendy said a number of the expenses on Lee’s proposal are needed, such as replacing the dated court computer system, and the McCollum tower, which has blind spots.

“So there is money here that needs to be spent,” Dendy said. “I wouldn’t say take the full $18 million and give it back to the water system because I think some of these things are necessary.”

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Opinions vary on Lee’s excess funds plan Commissioners vote tonight on chairman’s proposals for 22 5MResidents have differing thoughts on county chairman Tim Lee’s plans for spending $22.5 million in excess funds, which commissioners will vote on at tonight’s meeting.

Lee proposes using $4.5 million from the county’s medical and dental account to give employees a 3 percent raise because they haven’t had one in five years. He also wants to use about $18 million left over from fiscal year 2012 for a property tax reduction and to make improvements such as upgrading the court system’s computer network.

Tom Maloy of Powder Springs, a member of the Marietta-based Georgia Tea Party, said while his group hasn’t yet discussed the matter, he opposes a pay raise. The $4.5 million should be a one-time bonus, Maloy said.

“When the economy stabilizes, start talking about permanent salary increases, but right now they just don’t have enough evidence that the economy is even going to stabilize at all or recover,” Maloy said.

Better to give a one-time bonus and keep the staff employed rather than a salary hike and have to furlough if the economy slips next year, he said.

“If they give county employees a raise that’s permanent, a permanent raise in 2013, the way I look at it, they will probably be looking at furloughs and layoffs in 2014 or trying to increase property taxes again as they did two years ago,” Maloy said, referring to how Lee raised property taxes by 1.5 mills. “It’s great to make everybody feel good and say everybody is going to get a raise, but if that means that they’re going to be furloughed or laid off in a year, I’m not so sure how good that raise is going to do them.”

Commissioner Bob Ott said the decision should not be framed as whether to give county employees the money.

“This is a matter of what is the most prudent way to recognize the sacrifices and the hard work that they have done,” Ott said.

Ott said it’s premature to obligate the county to fund the pay increase without knowing whether such positive signs as an increase in SPLOST revenue and a lower unemployment rate will be sustained in light of Obamacare and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

“We have this one time money, we’re going to pay it as a bonus, and then we’re going to watch carefully over the next year exactly how the county finances go in light of all those other things that could easily have a negative effect on the economy,” he said. “If next year we can continue to lower the millage rate and not increase the water rate, and decrease the water transfer then we clearly have a sustainable recovery in place.”

Lee said Ott’s position is an example of Ott not wanting “to commit to anything.”

“Frankly, he sees the glass half-empty and I see it half-full,” Lee said.

Lee said a five-year forecast tells him such a raise is sustainable even if Congress fails to prevent the country from falling off the fiscal cliff.

“If we go off the fiscal cliff that in itself is more directly related to individuals than it is county government because a fiscal cliff is letting tax breaks for individuals and companies expire, so you as an individual will have $2,000 more additional dollars taken from your paycheck next year not the county,” Lee said. “The county won’t be impacted to that extent, but you as an individual, so you’ll be taking home $2,000 less next year as a result of the fiscal cliff. With that in mind, giving them that 3 percent at least offsets that fiscal cliff impact on the individual somewhat.”

Larry Savage of east Cobb, who challenged Lee in the primary election, lacks Lee’s optimism.

“Right now is a time of the greatest uncertainty of all as they head to this fiscal cliff thing and then the pending implementation of Obamacare, you can say that won’t affect the county, but you don’t know that because what we don’t know is what the ultimate fallout in the economy at large will be and when there is fallout in the economy at large we might see the barely developing improvement in the real estate market might collapse, the whole economy might be adversely affected, we just don’t know,” Savage said. “There’s so many unknowns and the opportunity for things to go bad in a heartbeat are unpredictable but many.”

Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy said Lee assured him the raise was sustainable, and he supports Lee’s plan.

“People can live better on a permanent salary than they can on what might not be a bonus,” Dendy said.

As for allocating about $18 million left over from fiscal year 2012, Maloy points out that sum is similar to the amount commissioners transferred from the water system to the general fund to balance their budget earlier this year.

“Why did we borrow $20 million from the water fund when we had that $18 million?” Maloy asked. “Couldn’t we use some of that at least to replace the $20 million that we borrowed from the water fund?”

The $18 million budget surplus is a result of increased revenue from development, business and real estate fees, as well as veterinary-service income from the animal shelter, coupled with reduced spending by county agencies, and $5.2 million in unused contingency funds in 2012, Lee said.

This is Lee’s proposal for what to do with the surplus: reduce the property tax rate by 0.2 mills for fiscal 2013 ($4.7 million); upgrade technology infrastructure in courts ($3.2 million); pay off debt for Powder Springs Station ($2.8 million); contingency planning ($2.7 million); accountable and capital equipment ($1.5 million); update police fleet ($1 million); replacement tower for McCollum airport ($1.3 million); storage of archeological items found during county construction ($62,000); solid waste post-closure study of landfills ($50,000) and solid waste methane gas issue at closed landfills ($250,000).

Maloy said the 0.2 mill reduction isn’t much relief.

“I don’t see where that small amount is going to help the property owner that much,” Maloy said. “I would rather see them start backing out or reducing the amount of money they have to take out of the water fund until they reduce it to zero. They’re addicted to it.”

Dendy said a number of the expenses on Lee’s proposal are needed, such as replacing the dated court computer system, and the McCollum tower, which has blind spots.

“So there is money here that needs to be spent,” Dendy said. “I wouldn’t say take the full $18 million and give it back to the water system because I think some of these things are necessary.”

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal. Written by Jon Gillooly, November 27, 2012. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Opinions vary on Lee’s excess funds plan Commissioners vote tonight on chairman’s proposals for 22 5M)

County Chairman Tim Lee and other community leaders are preparing for another trip to Seoul, South Korea, to strengthen education and economic ties between the “sister cities.”

Lee said the group will leave Oct. 12 and return the following Thursday.

County spokesman Robert Quigley said among those in attendance will be Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman Tony Britton; Walton High School principal Judy McNeill; Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck; county economic development director Michael Hughes; Sunny Park, president of the America Korea Friendship Society; Dr. Robin Dorff, dean of the Kennesaw State University College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Dr. Carolyn Dorff, a music instructor at KSU.

Cobb County and Seongdong-gu, a district in Seoul, have had a sister-city relationship since 2007.

The relationship began when former Chairman Sam Olens and an acquaintance of his, businessman and Korea native Sunny Parks, discussed creating a partnership with the two governments. With support from community leaders, the collaboration was born.

Lee said this will be his second visit.

“It’s a two-pronged trip,” Lee said. “You have an educational factor and an economic development factor and a tourism factor, so Monday morning we will meet with the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce, and the convention bureau I think is on Tuesday.”

Lee said Cobb will be signing an agreement with the South Korean district’s Chamber of Commerce to make it an official extension of the Cobb Chamber, “to be able to communicate with the businesses looking to expand in the United States.”

Lee will also meet with half a dozen South Korean companies planning to expand to the U.S.

“We’re going to meet with companies and tell our story as to why we’d like for them to come to Cobb primarily, but Georgia significantly,” he said.

Lee said he doesn’t know of any jobs created as a result of the sister city program.

Lembeck said she visited the South Korea district in 2010. For the last three years, students from the Seongdong-gu School District have attended summer school programs at Marietta High, she said.

“I’ll be going there to sign an official memorandum of understanding with the Seongdong-gu School District so that we can formalize a partnership which will enable us not only to maintain the current relationship that we have with the summer program but would help us to expand it so that in the future it is possible that their students would come to Marietta and our students would come to Seongdong-gu while school was actually in session,” she said.

Quigley said the only expense to the county for the trip is about $1,500 for Hughes’ airfare. Everyone else’s plane tickets will be paid for by the attendee or the organization they represent, and host officials will be paying for the group’s room and board.

“This type of global exchange is important not just for students now because it’s an enriching experience, but I think it will also enable students to be better prepared for economic relationships in their future,” Lembeck said. “The world is smaller. In fact, one of the benefits of now having a more formalized program with them is that our students even when they’re not together will be able to keep up through the use of technology.”

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal, September 21, 2012. Written by Jon Gillooly. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Chairman Lee leading Cobb group to Seoul )

East Cobbers have mixed reactions to county chairman candidate Bill Byrne’s suggestion that they form their own city.

This week, Byrne suggested the Cobb Legislative Delegation could draw up boundary lines in the unincorporated eastern part of the county and then turn it over to voters who live in the district to decide whether to become Cobb’s seventh city.

Republican activist Donna Rowe of east Cobb said she would want to see what the tax structure looked like before giving it her blessing.

“For example, the city of Marietta, the city of Smyrna, the city of Roswell all have additional tax on top of the county tax, so I’d like to see what the tax structure would be,” Rowe said.

Under the proposal, the county government would continue to provide water, sewer, police and fire services to the new city for a nominal fee of one dollar per year.

“If that’s part of the proposal and that’s what passes, I’m sure that would be amiable to the people of east Cobb,” Rowe said. “You know, everyone says, ‘I’m an east Cobber.’ … They don’t identify themselves per se with being in Marietta. I know Cynthia Rozzo with the East Cobber (Magazine) has tried to do east Cobb events like the parade and all that other stuff, but there’s really no center unless you want to call Merchant’s Walk a center.

“It’s an interesting proposal that’s worth investigating. … Bill usually has very innovative ideas that citizens like, and I’m sure he would go with the will of the people.”

State Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-east Cobb) said one of the first steps required on the way to becoming a city would be to have the Carl Vinson Institute of Government study the costs involved.

“It is government closer to the people, but it is another layer of government,” Cooper said. “If citizens in my district want to explore the possibility, I’m certainly willing to help them with that and tell them all of the complicated processes that creating a city entails.”

State Sen. Judson Hill (R-east Cobb) pointed out that neither the state legislature nor the county commission creates cities. Cities are created through referendums determined by the people in that community.

Hill said he’s never heard anyone suggest creating a new city in Cobb in the seven years he’s represented most of east Cobb and a portion of Sandy Springs.

“North Fulton has created a number of new cities in the last seven or eight years, and during that time period I’ve never had anybody from east Cobb suggest that Cobb County should follow North Fulton’s lead,” Hill said.

Hill said Byrne’s proposal is worthy of consideration and should be investigated by those with experience in county and city governments.

“It is very important to understand the financial pros and cons before creating another layer of government,” he said.

Jill Flamm, president of the East Cobb Civic Association, which represents about 10,000 homeowners, said she’d have to study the proposal in depth.

“I’m an engineer by trade,” Flamm said. “If I hear an idea, I want to go research it. I don’t have a knee-jerk reaction as far as ‘no’ or ‘yes.’ I try not to.”

At the same time, “It’s always good to look at different things,” she said.

Karen Hallacy, an active east Cobb community member, called Byrne’s proposal an intriguing idea that warrants study.

“There are tax and infrastructure implications along with administrative costs and many other considerations that need to be fully understood before proceeding,” Hallacy said.

J.D. Van Brink, chairman of the Marietta-based Georgia Tea Party, said his initial reaction to creating a city of east Cobb is favorable.

“The government that’s closest to the people is the best government — you know, more responsive to the citizens,” he said. “I’m not going to say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I think I need to think about it more. I probably need to talk with Bill Byrne about it and get some more information. My initial reaction, though, is pretty favorable. My understanding is that Sandy Spring has been doing pretty well, right? This is self-government, that’s what it’s all about. If this is what the people choose, then I don’t see any problem with it.”

The two county commissioners who represent portions of east Cobb, JoAnn Birrell and Bob Ott, say they are willing to listen.

“First of all, we need to wait and see what happens (in the runoff election between Byrne and incumbent Tim Lee) and then go from there, but I wouldn’t shut the door on it,” Birrell said. “I want to hear from the constituents and see what their thoughts are. I mean, it’s fine for people in Atlanta or other parts of the county to comment, but it’s not really affecting them like the impact it would have on my constituents and Bob’s constituents.”

Retired Lockheed chief Bob Ormsby of east Cobb said he’d like to learn more about the proposal as well.

“Let’s take some time to sort this out in an intelligent way,” Ormsby said.

Others, like Attorney General Sam Olens and Georgia GOP Chair Sue Everhart, say they oppose the idea.

“I don’t want east Cobb to become a city,” Everhart said. “We are served well by Cobb County government, and I see no reason to change as long as it’s going well. I’ve never had a problem in east Cobb. East Cobb pays more taxes than anybody else, but that’s OK too.”

Larry Savage, who lost in the Republican primary race for chairman and who has now endorsed Byrne, isn’t excited about Byrne’s idea either.

“It strikes me as a solution in search of a problem,” Savage said.

That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile to have a community conversation about it, though, he said.

“If we were to determine that we needed more local control, I think there might be some options that we would consider before going to the ultimate option of creating a city,” Savage said. “There are other places that have levels of government that are somewhat local, but not to the scale of a full-blown city. I’m thinking something in the realm of a township or a village where you can have some local management in a formal setting, but you don’t necessarily have the ability to completely uproot everything that your county government has done.”

The proposed city would be governed by an elected mayor and five City Council members, with wards drawn by the Cobb Delegation.

Byrne said the county government could provide $1 million from its capital improvements budget for the design and construction of a city hall and provide temporary meeting locations until construction is complete. The design, construction and location of the new city hall would be determined by the new mayor and city council.

“It’s a concept to begin the discussion, not to end it, and obviously the two district commissioners — Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell — would have to buy into it or it doesn’t fly, and the Delegation would have to buy into it or they won’t create it,” Byrne said Wednesday.

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal, August 10, 2012. Written by Jon Gillooly. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – East Cobbers voice mixed reactions to idea about forming city)

 

Would you be for the formation of the “City of East Cobb?” Click “Chime In” to comment on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you!