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.
- GOVERNMENT
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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, upset …
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 …
The commission chairman will speak at a Cobb Chamber breakfast next Monday.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, January 8
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee will deliver the 2013 "State of the County" address before the Cobb Chamber of Commerce next week. The organization's First Monday breakfast starts Jan. 14 at 7:30 a.m. at the Cobb Galleria Centre, 2 Galleria Parkway. The online registration and refund deadline is this Wednesday, Jan. 9, at noon. Tickets are $25 a person for Cobb Chamber members online and $40 at the door; general admission tickets are $60 a person. Lee, a Republican from East Cobb, won a full-term as chairman last August after filling the final two years of former chairman Sam Olens' term. Lee was sworn in for his new term last month, as was District 2 commissioner Bob Ott, a Republican who serves East Cobb and the Smyrna-Vinings area. …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The 4-1 rejection stems from the shopping center on Barrett Parkway being fewer than 600 feet from a church.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday denied a waiver request for alcohol sales at a West Cobb Walmart because the store is fewer than 600 feet from a church. According to county law, a waiver may be granted for a business closer than 600 feet to a school or church if it can show that the sale of alcohol won't affect property values or adversely affect the school or church. The Walmart is at the intersection of Barrett Parkway and Powder Springs Road. Evidence presented by Walmart's attorney used a nearby RaceTrac as an example. The convenience store is more than 600 feet from the church—Pine Grove Baptist Church in Powder Springs—and has been selling beer and wine for several years. "No evidence has been presented to this board today…
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Alternatives for the Northwest Transit Corridor include light rail and the expansion of bus services from the county to downtown Atlanta.
- GOVERNMENT
- Justin Ove
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Cobb Board of Commissioners were briefed on the progress of a transit alternatives analysis presented by Connect Cobb, a project of the Cobb County Department of Transportation, during their Tuesday morning meeting in Marietta. The $1.8 million study, performed principally by Croy Engineering, looked at the best possible ways to establish a mass transit conduit from Acworth to Midtown. The presentation outlined several different mass-transit scenarios, including light rail, express service in HOV or managed lanes on Interstate 75, and bus rapid transit. All proposals have the goal of extending rapid transit options from Cobb to the existing mass transit systems inside Atlanta. Cities involved in the new transit lines would include …
Monday, September 3, 2012
A fixture at Board of Commissioners public comment sessions, Craig Harfoot will seek the county's top elected post in November's elections.
- ELECTIONS
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Monday, September 3, 2012
East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot, who has twice run for Cobb Commission chairman, is doing it again, this time as a write-in candidate. Harfoot, whom the Marietta Daily Journal calls a "local gadfly," is asking for votes on the Nov. 6 ballot in opposition to incumbent Chairman Tim Lee, who won the Republican runoff on Aug. 21 to remain in office. No Democratic candidate qualified to run for chairman. In an e-mail to Patch, Harfoot said his reasons for running were related to the economy and jobs, and his assertions that Cobb County government has been a barrier on both counts. "The current Cobb administration has put reguations in place that make it more difficult and expensive to start your own small business, especially from your own …
Friday, August 31, 2012
With the county's legislative body soon to be made of three women and two men, what types of changes, if any, should residents expect?
After community advocate Lisa Cupid captured 76 percent of the vote in last week's run-off against incumbent Woody Thompson, she became the lone contender for Southwest Cobb's District 4 commissioner seat. Because of this, she will likely win the November election, meaning she will join Commissioners Helen Goreham and JoAnn Birrell. The three will create the first majority female Board of Commissioners in the history of the county. Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee, who narrowly won his run-off last week against former Chairman Bill Byrne, and District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott, who is unopposed this year, will comprise the male minority. A young girl of about 10 at Cupid's election gathering last week said she learned from this election that…
Saturday, August 25, 2012
The device will help residents and emergency managers protect lives and property in the flood-prone Sweetwater Creek area.
- GOVERNMENT
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Saturday, August 25, 2012
By Tim Lee Cobb Commission Chairman Earlier this week the U.S. Geological Survey unveiled a new web-based tool, called a "flood inundation map," that will help residents and emergency managers protect lives and property in the flood-prone Sweetwater Creek area. Many Cobb residents recall the epic Atlanta floods of 2009 resulted in 10 deaths and more than $250,000,000 total estimated damages in a 7-day period. Floods impacted more than 20,000 homes and businesses and damaged hundreds of roads and bridges, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency. At that time, Sweetwater Creek experienced the highest flows recorded in more than 108 years of measurement with a recorded 31,500 cubic feet per second—300 times higher than the creek’s …
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
With all precincts reporting, the 35-year-old law and public administration student defeated the three-term incumbent in Tuesday's Democratic runoff.
Lisa Cupid will likely be the only new member of the Cobb Board of Commissioners after November's election, as well as its only Democrat. With all 35 precincts reporting 4,053 votes, the 35-year-old law and public administration student at Georgia State gained 75.6 percent in Tuesday's Democratic runoff for the Southwest Cobb District 4 commission seat. The incumbent, real estate broker Woody Thompson, had the remaining 24.4 percent. Since no Republicans qualified for the seat, it appears that Cupid will be the only candidate on the ballot in November, nearly guaranteeing her the victory. Set to graduate in December, Cupid, of Austell, is the community facilitator for the Austell Community Partnership. She also has a mechanical …
Voters on Tuesday will decide on a Cobb commission chairman, a South Cobb commissioner and a State Court judge, among other offices.
The combative three-week period between Tim Lee and Bill Byrne in the Cobb commission chairman's runoff campaign is nearing an end. Voters go to the polls again today to decide on whether to keep Lee, the incumbent, or return Byrne to his old position after a 10-year absence. Since there is no Democratic opponent in November, the winner of this battle between Republicans will be elected chairman for the four-year period starting in Jan. 2013. The chairman combatants flailed away at each other late last week, with Lee accusing Byrne of being stuck in the past. Byrne, in turn, continued to charge that Lee is beholden to big business interests and supports higher taxes. Byrne's proactive move during the runoff was to propose a City of East…
Marcy Petty
4:19 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
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