Politics & Government
Delay Urged in Cobb Braves Vote
Three Cobb commissioners will be holding town hall meetings on Monday.
A new poll reveals overwhelming support from Cobb residents to delay next week's vote on an Atlanta Braves stadium proposal.
But at least three members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners appear ready to go ahead with that vote on Tuesday.
During a town hall meeting on Thursday, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said delaying the vote even by a month, as some citizens suggested, might threaten the proposed deal with the Atlanta Braves for a $672 million stadium near Cumberland Mall.
Commissioner Helen Goreham, who hosted the town hall meeting in Marietta, continued her enthusiastic line for the project, saying the economic impact for the Braves in Cobb would be "substantial" not only for the county but the metro Atlanta region.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who is holding a town hall of her own on Monday, told Patch after Goreham's meeting that she remains "comfortable with" the proposed memorandum of understanding between Cobb and the Braves that she and her colleagues will be voting on Tuesday.
Late Thursday, a Washington, D.C. political consulting firm released findings of a poll it conducted indicating that 81 percent of Cobb residents favored a delay.
The Braves Come to Cobb
- Get Your First Looks at Braves' New Stadium
- Cumberland CID Votes Itself A Tax Increase
- Cobb Releases Memorandum of Understanding With Braves
- Anti-Braves Stadium Website, Petition Created
- Braves-to-Cobb Draws National Headlines
- Cobb DOT Prepares for Braves' Relocation
- Ott Undecided on Braves Stadium Plan
- Cobb Officials Urged Not to Rush Braves Deal
- Cobb to Fund 45 Percent of Braves Stadium
- Braves Announce Move to Cobb County
Lincoln Park Strategies polled 750 Cobb residents Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Stefan Hankin, the firm's president, even a majority of those in favor of the stadium want to make sure the commission will, in the words of one resident polled, "take the time to do this right so we’re not rushing into a bad deal with Cobb County taxpayers holding the bill.”
Cobb's commitment to the stadium project is $300 million, with most of that money coming from revenue bonds that would be repaid over 30 years with $8.9 million of annual funding from existing Cobb property taxes and new taxes in the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb adamantly favors a delay. She told The Marietta Daily Journal after Thursday's town hall she's "absolutely blown away" by the rapid timeline for approving the stadium proposal, which was made public only last week.
“We have taken more time to vet less serious and less significant matters for the county,” she was quoted as saying.
Cupid is having a town hall on Monday at 7 p.m. at the South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lion Club Drive, Mableton.
At the same time on Monday, commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the Cumberland area, will have a town hall in the 2nd floor board room at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta.
He hasn't said much about where he stands on the stadium deal or whether he favors a delay.
Ott was the only commissioner not in attendance at the Goreham town hall; he was in East Cobb at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new fitness center.
Birrell is also having a town hall on Monday, from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road.
She said her office has received more communication from citizens about the stadium proposal than any other matter, including budget cuts two years ago in which Lee proposed closing 13 of 17 Cobb library branches.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.