I’m writing this issue at Marietta Coffee Company on Roswell Road. It’s a quaint spot that used to be Darwin’s Burgers and Blues with relaxing and chill vibes.

The relaxing and chill environment is needed after what happened on Tuesday.

In this issue, I’ll recap what happened at the Commissioners’ meeting, which was probably the most contested, vitriolic meeting I’ve been to.

Let’s kick it off with something more positive, our FIRST A Better Cobb social gathering! (if you want to skip to the Commissioners meeting, click here…)

A Better Cobb Kickoff Event

We had our first social gathering this past Sunday at Schoolhouse Brewing and it went GREAT! It truly is amazing to be surrounded by others who are passionate about our core issues: transit, safe streets, sustainability, and land use/housing.

After introductions and a general conversation about what we’re trying to accomplish, we broke out into four different discussion groups for each core issue. The discussion centered around how we can build consensus around these core issues and make a difference.

Here’s a recap of each of the conversations:

• Transit: Cobb 4 Transit already exists and its main focus in the near future should be centered on coalition building to build consensus for the 2024 referendum.
• Safe Streets: Cobb Streets for All needs to be launched and will focus on building out the bike and pedestrian network throughout the county with an initial priority on Connect the Comet. The next event will be announced soon!
• Land Use/Housing: (Name to be determined later) will need to come together and focus on getting changes in the Unified Development Code. Long term, creating a group that makes zoning and land use conversations fun and educational will have a huge impact.
• Sustainability: Sustainable Cobb will launch soon with a focus on driving sustainability efforts in Cobb. There is SO MUCH to do here that it’s sometimes difficult to even define what is needed. Determining the goals and the role of government, individuals, and businesses is very important. A climate action or sustainability plan would be a great way to move forward initially.

Personally, I thought it was a great event, but hearing some feedback from others only got me more excited about future events!

“It was heartening to see not only the amount of people that showed up, but how everyone seemed to be aware that our varied interests aligned and overlapped. Land-use is key to sustainability, and transit, and safe streets – and each is key to the other. Even if the minutia are up for respectful debate – we certainly agreed on the overall direction. I look forward to the future of A Better Cobb!”-Tyler B., who led the Cobb 4 Transit discussion

“It was interesting to hear from folks in different areas of Cobb about the different challenges and opportunities they see for making Cobb a better place to live.” -Matt C., who joined the Land Use/Housing discussion

We’re finalizing the next events in each of these areas as well as the next A Better Cobb gathering. Hopefully we’ll have some news in next week’s issue!

Commissioners’ Meeting Recap

Well, that went about as expected. Since this is such a complex issue, I’m going to just start it from the beginning.

• In November 2020, over 53,000 voters in District 2 elected Jerica Richardson to a four-year term. She joins newly elected Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield to form the first progressive majority Commission in Cobb County.
• In March of 2022, the state of Georgia enacted a new Commissioner District map which drew Commissioner Richardson out of her own district. This map was pushed by Republican state legislators outside of the typical county delegation process.
• In October of 2022, Cobb County Commissioners approved a new map using their Home Rule powers. This map kept Commissioner Richardson in her district.
• An election took place in November 2022 using the new maps from the State of Georgia.
• On January 1st, 2023, Cobb County entered a legal purgatory where it is operating under two maps. Commissioner Richardson still holds her seat until the legal process determines otherwise. As of this writing, there is no active lawsuit challenging her position.
• January 10th, 2023, the first Commissioners’ meeting during this legal purgatory takes place. You can read my recap here. There was a lot of fallout from this meeting as the video was paused at one point and political narratives have filled the space. I’ll try to recap the key talking points here:
  • Commissioners Birrell and Gambrill abstained on the first vote of the meeting
  • County Attorney reminded them that they most vote on an item or have a valid reason to abstain. A financial conflict of interest is the only relevant reason in County code. They still abstained.
  • The Chairwoman then said they would take a recess to talk to the attorney to determine how to move forward. The video then cuts out.
  • While the video was out, the Attorney reminded the Chairwoman that they must vote to go into executive session. A vote occurred and the TV screen showed all 5 voting “Yes” to go into executive session. They left and returned a few minutes later.
  • After returning, the Commissioners still refused to vote. They were then asked to remove themselves and after still not leaving, the chairwoman then asked for the officer to escort them off the dais. At that point, they left on their own, left the room, and then came back and sat in the back. The meeting then continued with the 3 remaining Commissioners.
  • To be clear, if Commissioners do not follow procedure of the meeting, they are removed from the proceedings.
• During Monday’s Work Session, Commissioner Gambrill challenged the minutes of the meeting claiming she did not vote to enter executive session. When audio was played that filled in some of the gaps that happened during the video recording being shut off, she then claimed that the audio recording was manipulated.
• Moving on to the Board of Commissioners’ meeting on January 24th, after Announcements and Public Comment (I talk about that later…), the Consent Agenda was next. Usually an automatic process meant to save time, there were two reasons why it was different:
  • Both Commissioners Gambrill and Birrell read lengthy statements to the record before casting their votes.
  • Approval of the minutes was removed from the consent agenda to allow for discussion. During discussion, here’s a recap of each Commissioners’ statement:
    • Commissioner Gambrill again contested that she did not vote for an executive session and claimed that the quality of the audio recording changed during the part the video cuts out. She requested a forensic analysis of the audio and video.
    • Chairwoman Cupid responds that today is a “disheartening day” that this is the first time the County Clerk was called up and have their integrity questioned. She ends her comment saying “Truth is still truth and what they eyes saw, the eyes will not unsee… to go back and forth with the Clerk, who was here and saw what occurred as everyone else did who was here is unfortunate, a display of pomp, and it is disrespectful to the professional responsibility and duty that our clerks have to this county. Nobody will say it, but I will.”
    • Commissioner Birrell then commented that the part where they were asked off the dais and the police being asked to escort them off the dais is not in the record (up to the clerk if that’s added or not). She then questions that the vote was recorded as 3-0 instead of 3-2 with the abstained votes (not realizing that if you abstain, your vote doesn’t count).
    • Commissioner Sheffield then comments that she saw the 5-0 vote to go into executive session displayed on the screen. She then asks what the fixation is on the video, “the only thing I can conclude is that there is a desire to use it as political fodder…words matter and words have consequences…as leaders of this county, we are responsible for our words and lowering the temperature…”
    • Commissioner Richardson then finished it off saying she recalls the vote and protects the clerk.
  • The vote to approve the minutes passed 3-2. You can guess the votes.
• The rest of the meeting went pretty smoothly, with majority of it being Transportation items. You can read the preview in last week’s issue here. Four items have significance in our areas of interest:
  • RAISE grant approval for planning for road realignment of Cobb Parkway, Due West Rd, Old Hwy 41, and McCollum Pkwy
  • RAISE grant approval for planning for Cumberland Loop/Sweep
  • RAISE grant approval for planning for East-West Connector
  • A Carbon Reduction Program transit grant for 6 buses freeing up $4 million for other transit needs
• During Public Address, there were a couple more comments:
  • Commissioner Birrell blames the Home Rule challenge for the bad press the county is receiving.
  • Commissioner Sheffield responds that the voice of the voters that were disenfranchised by the map that drew Commissioner Richardson out of her district. It’s the “Big ball of paradox”.
  • Chairwoman Cupid does a recap for the year, including highlighting the 5-0 vote to support a 2024 transit referendum.

So that’s a recap on the meeting in the context of everything that’s happened. As Commissioner Sheffield said, the temperature of the room was definitely dialed up and I’m sure you can hear the crowd reactions one way or another in the videos above.

You can read the AJC story and MDJ story.

I wanted to review the public comment individually as I do think they are important to highlight. When I showed up at 5:10PM (almost 2 hours early), I was 4th on the list. By 6:00PM, the list was already full (12 people can sign up). Before the initial list comes out, there is an unofficial list being kept by commenters against Home Rule and Jerica Richardson keeping her seat. They got caught trying to save a spot for one of their speakers who showed up late. To their credit, they did fix the issue, but still…

Here’s a recap of the public comments:

• 3 people spoke out against Home Rule
  • Sabrina Mao mentioned that she is the part of the county that was in District 2 but now in District 3. She then talks about the approval process for the State map. She says that we are a free nation, not like a communist country where everything is dictated from the top. Uhhhh…
  • Leroy Emkin says that the “law is the law” and reads the opinions of others.
  • John McClain referenced the pledge of allegiance and accused the Commissioners of not upholding their oath to the US and State Constitutions. He compared the removal of the Commissioners to the insurrection of the US Capitol.
• 7 people spoke in favor of Home Rule and Commissioner Richardson keeping her seat
  • Dan Hydrick, a Vietnam veteran, spoke about how he represents veterans and they need all of the Commissioners every day. I highly recommend watching his comments.
  • Kevin Redmon played a video you have to watch that highlights everything that has been said so far, from the “she should just move” to the comments said by Commissioners.
  • Matt Stigall (disclaimer: me) put the context of what is happening today into a timeline of Georgia and Cobb County history of marginalizing black voters. I also specifically called out the comparison of the situation to Rosa Parks. I was nervous but I said what I felt needed to be said.
  • Mindy Seger points out that the county is protecting voters and elected officials from being disenfranchised and drawn out. She also mentioned that no extra money is being spent on the legal team above their salaried amounts. She also called out the comparison to Rosa Parks.
  • William Parker highlights that for 38 of the 40 years he has lived in Cobb, he was served by a Republican Commission. If Republicans want to change that, “they should pull up their big girl or big boy pants, suck it up, and fix it at the next election”. He finished up saying that the legislature should “stay in their lane” and let people decide it with their vote and not by “disgruntled old folks”.
  • Michael Garza shared a story of a teenager who recently lost their life due to a tragic shooting. He then brought up that two Commissioners abdicated their position by not voting and it was made worse by the comparison to Rosa Parks. He ends his comment saying that they are no Rosa Parks, but urges them to join the right side of history.
  • Donna Court thanked the Commissioners for voting earlier that night. She is empathetic for everyone involved and is hurt by the toxicity directed at the community and the Commissioners.
• 2 other people also spoke but it wasn’t clear if they were supportive or against Home Rule.
  • Monica Delancy referenced the Home Rule discussion to talk about eviction rights.
  • Donald Barth brought some comedic relief to the meeting.

So that’s the recap of the meeting. It was a pretty sad spectacle but at least the business of the county was completed.

I would say the audience was about 70% against Home Rule.

As I mentioned in my Public Comment, I wish I was talking more about transit, safe streets, and sustainability, but these are historic times in the county as we move forward.

I look forward to brighter days ahead. This is why we must stay engaged and focus.

Other news and updates

Transit Advisory Board meeting was Monday, January 25th and there were a few highlights from the meeting worth mentioning:

• Caleb Stubbs from ATL Trains presented and shared his vision for Regional Rail and how it would benefit Cobb County.
• Updates were received for an upcoming Mobility On Demand study, progress of the Transfer Center Site Selection studies, and rider.
• A calendar of what to expect as we progress towards a referendum was shown

I’ll probably write about this in more detail soon, but there has been A LOT of articles that EVs are not the end-all-be-all solution to save the environment. Here’s just a sample from a few must-read articles this past week:

• Original Report: Achieving Zero Emissions With More Mobility And Less Mining
  • Guardian: How US Transition to Electric Cars Threaten Environmental Havoc
  • Common Dreams: Transition in EVs Must Be Paired With Investments in Mass Transit
  • Curbed: An EV in Every Driveway is an Environmental Disaster
  • Newsweek: Electric Cars Are Great but How ‘bout A Good Old Fashioned Bus?
  • Bloomberg Citylab: EV Hype Overshadows Transit as a Climate Fix
• GovTech: McKinsey Report Shows Explosive Growth Expected In Micromobility Sector
• Greenbiz: Micromobility and Transit Pave the Way to Net-Zero
• Guardian: Is the Tiny Little Neighborhood The City Of the Future?

Transit. Sustainability. Land Use. Micromobility (bikes). See a consistent theme…;)?

Last and not least, Transit Equity Day is next weekend, February 4th, to celebrate Rosa Parks’ birthday. People are encouraged to take transit on either February 3rd or 4th. Let’s find a way to take transit, take pictures, and we can share it on Cobb 4 Transit’s social media accounts!

That’s a lot for now. Hopefully you came for the Commissioners’ meeting recap and stayed for the links at the end. Can’t wait to see y’all again!

-Matt