Bob Ott's Town-Hall Meeting: Budget, WellStar, SPLOST

We're collecting Wendy Parker's live tweets (@EastCobbPatch) from Commissioner Bob Ott's town-hall meeting for District 2 (roughly Smyrna and East Cobb below Roswell Road) and posting them here for your perusal and further comment. Expect this article to run a few minutes behind the Twitter feed.

9:07 p.m. And we'd like to thank Mount Bethel UMC for having very good Wi-Fi access. Couldn't have done this without it.

9:03 p.m. Thanks for bearing with a high number of tweets—we're experimenting with this format, and Ott's town halls are typically very info-packed.

9:02 p.m. And with that, we're wrapping this up, which is a good thing, because my laptop battery is down to a nub.

8:57 p.m. Ott: By Sept. 30, we have to have all zeroes on the board.

8:51 p.m. A citizen asks about the time frame for budget decisions. Ott: The board would like to make a decision in April, with FY '11 ending in 5 months. (Cobb County's fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.)

8:47 p.m. The alternatives analysis paid for by the federal government includes this question: What are you trying to fix? May not recommend doing light rail in the end.

8:45 p.m. Ott: "We do not live in a vacuum." A native of the Northeast, he says he's been an advocate of looking at existing freight lines for light rail.

8:44 p.m. A citizen thinks those who are discussing light rail through the county "are living on another planet."

8:43 p.m. Ott (and other public officials) previously could not take a public position on SPLOST once it was to put to a referendum, per state law.

8:42 p.m. Ott voted to put SPLOST on the ballot, to let the people decide. Says he personally voted against the SPLOST: "Too many wants vs. needs."

8:41 p.m. Ott: No county elections in November, only a few municipal elections, and so no cost savings. Also concerns about a gap in SPLOST collections.

8:40 p.m. Ott is asked about the , why it was a special vote that cost the county and what his position was.

8:39 p.m. And to delay "amenities" as long as possible. Lots of applause for that, but "amenities" are not defined.

8:38 p.m. A citizen commends Ott for taking a stance against raising taxes. Says what the county needs is to prioritize items on the new SPLOST list . . .

8:33 p.m. Refers to Merchants Walk growth, with Whole Foods coming in, John Wieland buying foreclosed development at Lower Roswell/Woodlawn, etc.

8:32 p.m. Ott: Economists saying you can expect a decrease in the tax digest to 2013. You can see a boost in economic activity in East Cobb . . .

8:26 p.m. "Don't people realize we don't have any money? Try to stop some of this."

8:26 p.m. A citizen recommends a forensic audit to find "waste, fraud and abuse" to make an attempt to "look after our money."

8:24 p.m. Ott is asked about possible alternatives for county employee health plans, says high-deductible offerings might be an option.

8:20 p.m. Ott is asked about the time frame for when all these budget matters are to be addressed. Ott says more staff recommendations are to come back to the BOC April 12.

8:18 p.m. Ott on public transit: "Shutting down CCT is not a viable option." He says Cobb DOT is looking into which routes have high ridership.

8:10 p.m. Ott: "If you're in your 40s or 50s, there's not enough time to make it up."

8:10 p.m. Ott: "I know what it's like to lose a pension. I'm going to work really hard to make sure that doesn't happen to our county employees."

8:04 p.m. Ott: "But this is a terrible economy to lay people off. The furlough days is kind of the in-between."

8:03 p.m. Ott on furloughs: "The worst thing you can do to an employee is to cut their pay. The easiest thing to do is to lay people off. . . ."

7:59 p.m. Now it's time for questions from citizens. It's a really big room and there are about 200 people here.

7:59 p.m. The reason is there is an exemption for the millage rate on the general fund but not for the fire fund.

7:58 p.m. Ott brings his property tax bill and is holding it now, explaining the small difference between the millage rates for the general fund and fire fund.

7:56 p.m. Ott said that despite "an absolute hiring freeze, the county is still hiring people." Exemption would be for "critical" public safety positions.

7:54 p.m. Ott on budget-related changes at the courts: "Nothing should be off the table. There can be no sacred cows."

7:53 p.m. Ott suggests considering alternating days that the East Cobb Library and East Marietta Library would be open instead of reducing hours at both. 

7:47 p.m. Ott: "We're not just looking at this year's budget but next year's. The tax digest could drop another 6 to 8 percent."

7:46 p.m. Ott: "That doesn't mean that there aren't things we can't find in the county budget to save money."

7:45 p.m. Ott: "No to a tax increase, and I still stand by that. We cannot go to you, our boss, and ask for a raise because we're spending too much money."

7:42 p.m. Ott: Cobb would save $657,000 for every furlough day (excluding public safety essentials).

7:41 p.m. Ott on furloughs: "I'm a pilot (Delta). I get what happens. We took 50 percent pay cuts. I don't talk about this lightly."

7:40 p.m. Ott on parks and rec: "We should build fields everybody can use. If people want something more than that, they should pay for it." Applause.

7:39 p.m. Ott on fees for parks and rec: "When we open the door, it has to be cost-neutral to the county."

7:38 p.m. Ott: 12 fire battalion chiefs we have earn $1 million a year. If we cut it to 4, those 8 other chiefs would pay for 17 firefighters.

7:36 p.m. Ott: Potential cuts to fire services aren't about firefighters or what's in the firetrucks. "That's not what I'm talking out."

7:35 p.m. Ott recapping options discussed at last week's commission work session during which 4 members, including him, . (Commissioner Helen Goreham in West Cobb was the lone voice in favor of considering a property tax increase.)

7:34 p.m. Ott: "There's five months left in the fiscal year to make up the $31 million difference. You kind of have to keep that in mind."

7:31 p.m. More writing on the white board (switching to black ink): General fund: -$22M, Fire fund, -$6.5M, Debt Service, -$3M.

7:30 p.m. "It's not the county's money, it's not the government's money, it's your money. It's your dollars and cents."

7:29 p.m. Ott writing on white board, in red ink: THE BUDGET: IT's YOUR MONEY.

7:23 p.m. Ott on WellStar: "They have no design, but only a rough idea where buildings might go. Nothing is set in stone."

7:22 p.m. Ott on WellStar: "If they so desire, they can go to the hospital authority and proceed."

7:21 p.m. Ott: "WellStar has been good about gauging the community's concerns. Everything they've shown is glass/steel glass/concrete bldg."

7:21 p.m. Ott: "The community was concerned about how it was going to look and how it's going to affect traffic."

7:20 p.m. Tomorrow night's East Cobb Civic Association meeting will be all about the WellStar proposal. 7 p.m. at the East Cobb Govt. Center.

7:19 p.m. Ott giving an overview of WellStar's plans for the East Cobb Health Park: "It is not a zoning case. Nothing has been filed."

7:17 p.m. Ex-Congressman Bob Barr and ex-Commissioner Thea Powell—a possible commission chair candidate—also here. (Ott has chosen Barr and Powell to be his appointments to the new Citizens Oversight Committee for county finances.)

7:15 p.m. Cooper, an East Cobb Republican, predicts that state Democrats will sue over redistricting to come following the 2010 census.

7:14 p.m. State Rep. Sharon Cooper giving opening remarks on the legislative session nearing its end: "Five more days."

7:09 p.m. We're collecting our tweets from Ott's town hall on our home page here: http://patch.com/A-gn6S. Lots of interest in this Cobb budget meeting.

7:02 p.m. There are nearly 100 people here so far, and it looks like a lot more are on the way.

7 p.m. Not only is Bob Ott here, but so are Chairman Tim Lee and Bill Byrne, the ex-chairman who's gunning for Lee's job, and state Rep. Sharon Cooper.

6:50 p.m. We're at for Bob Ott's town-hall meeting, to start at 7 p.m. It's located in the fellowship hall in the main office building.