Thursday, May 2, 2013
Next Wednesday's meeting with constituents begins at 7 p.m.
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Thursday, May 2
District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott will hold his next East Cobb town hall meeting next Wednesday, May 8, at Walton High School. The meeting will take place in the auditorium from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. At his town halls, Ott typically updates constituents on developments in Cobb County government and the community and takes questions from the audience. Walton is located at 1590 Bill Murdock Road.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Cobb Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to accept a state grant to establish the county's first mental health court.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners gave the green light to funding the county’s first mental health court on Tuesday. The board voted 3-2 to accept a state grant to create the mental health court, with commissioners Helen Goreham and Bob Ott opposed. The new court will be overseen by Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley, using a $53,615 state grant commissioners accepted for the remainder of the fiscal year through June 30, said county chairman Tim Lee. Lee said the current grant can pay for 10 participants, but it is uncertain whether a second grant will be given to the county for the next fiscal year until more state guidelines come out in June. Last year, the state gave $353,676 in grants to 20 courts including the Cobb Family Dependency …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The current East Cobb Commissioner has made Thea Powell his full-time assistant.
It may seem like a novelty, and perhaps even a stroke of audacity, but District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott calls his hiring of a former colleague "a natural fit." That's what Ott told The Marietta Daily Journal, which reported Tuesday (subscription) that the East Cobb Republican had hired former District 3 Commissioner Thea Powell as his full-time assistant. Powell, a Republican who served the Northeast Cobb district now represented by JoAnn Birrell from 1997-2001 and on an interim basis in 2010, succeeds Renee Nichols, a 20-year commission assistant who has retired. The newspaper noted Powell will have to step down as a member of the Development Authority of Cobb County, a post to which she was appointed by Ott. Ott and Powell didn't …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The county approved Tuesday to hire Willie A. Hopkins, Jr. as its new support services director, and tabled court officials' request of a grant to fund the county’s first mental health court.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners recognized volunteers and community leaders, and made a new hire to its management team on Tuesday. The board approved the appointment of Willie A. Hopkins, Jr., the assistant city manager of Pompano Beach, Florida and former director of general services for Fulton County, as Cobb's new support services director. The position manages a staff of 320 people in the area of property management, information services purchasing, and government service centers. Former director Virgil Moon retired last September to become the chief financial officer at Cobb and Douglas Public Health. Hopkins is expected to start in his new role on April 15, and receive a salary of $136,000, said Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"I would much rather have a couple of chickens in my neighborhood than a couple of my neighbors," Maxine Saless of Marietta said.
If you live on less than two acres in size and you want chickens in your backyard, Cobb County will at least consider your request now. With Chairman Tim Lee and and District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell opposed, the Board of Commissioners Tuesday night voted 3-2 in favor of a code amendment that allows Cobb residents to apply to the Board of Zoning Appeals for backyard poultry on lots of that size. The final vote didn't sit well with several East Cobb residents who urged commissioners earlier in the evening to oppose the amendment. "I know first-hand what backyard chickens can do," Melanie Skinner said. "I had a neighbor who illegally was raising them on ¾ of an acre. When you have poultry in your backyard, it's going to bring the vermin…
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
A total of 32 vacant acres near Parkaire Landing will be turned into 125 luxury homes, including 40 townhouses.
One of the few remaining large slices of wide-open land in East Cobb isn't going to stay that way much longer. The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to rezone 32 acres on Johnson Ferry Road, south of Lower Roswell Road, for a high-density, high-priced 125-unit residential development. Located between the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center and the Riverhill subdivision and across from Chattahoochee Baptist Church, the property also will be developed to include a six-lane swimming pool, tennis courts and a clubhouse for the new residential community. A total of 85 single-family homes will be priced in a range between $400,000 to $850,000, and 40 townhomes will start around $300,000. As in several recent East Cobb rezoning cases, …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
A man was removed from the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday after refusing to give his name during a public hearing.
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Wednesday, January 23
A Cobb County man was released after being escorted from the Cobb Board of Commissioner's meeting Tuesday night in handcuffs when he refused to give his name during a public hearing. "There is nothing in the first amendment requiring me to give my name to speak," Fernando Wise said. Chairman Tim Lee, who asked Cobb County police officers to remove Wise from the meeting room, said there are processes and procedures that must be followed. "I apologize it has to come to this, but we must be consistent," he said. Members of the standing room only crowd yelled, "Let him go!" as Wise was escorted from the room. In the foyer, residents in favor of allowing backyard poultry in Cobb County - of which Wise's father, Lamar, is a member - gathered, …
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Cobb Commission Chairman is the featured guest at the Jan. 30 meeting of the East Cobb Civic Association.
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Monday, January 21
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee is the featured speaker at the Jan. 30 meeting of the East Cobb Civic Association. His remarks will begin at 7 p.m. at the East Cobb Government Services Center, 4400 Lower Roswell Road. A general membership meeting will follow. Lee delivered his official State of the County address to the Cobb Chamber of Commerce last week; see the accompanying video for the full speech. Over the weekend The Marietta Daily Journal reported that Lee is requesting a three percent raise for county officials, just as county employees received late last year. Both measures are opposed by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott. He supported a one-time bonus for employees and told the newspaper that county officials should not "get a …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Board of Commissioners also has approved the hiring of a new director of public services.
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Wednesday, January 9
After being officially vacant for nearly two years, the position of Cobb Director of Public Safety will be filled. The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved the hiring of Jack Forsythe of Currituck, N.C., a former law enforcement executive with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Association/Homeland Security. Forsythe succeeds Bob Ash, who retired two years ago, with Cobb Fire Chief Sam Heaton serving in an interim capacity. The Marietta Daily Journal reported Tuesday that Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said the position remained vacant during Cobb Citizens Oversight Committee deliberations. The panel recommended that the position, which oversees operations for police, fire, …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The county is in strong financial standing, Chairman Tim Lee said Tuesday.
In a time when some local governments are close to filing for bankruptcy, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said Tuesday that his county is thriving. Cobb, which recieved an unqualified or clean opinion on its Comprehensive Annual Plan audit, has the lowest millage rate in the metro Atlanta area, added 3 percent to the general fund reserve and 5 percent to its fire district fund reserve. And, in most areas, the county's revenues for fiscal year 2012 not only exceeded expenditures but also exceeded what county officials originally had budgeted. For example, in the General Fund, revenues came in at $327.5 million, up from the $325.8 million originally budgeted. And, expenditures came in at $313.3 million, $17.3 million less than what county …
RALPH
5:24 pm on Saturday, May 11, 2013
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