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 at Tuesday's meeting. 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. The mental health court will serve as a problem-solving court similar to drug courts and domestic violence courts, where offenders are offered long-term community-based treatment instead of being prison-bound. Lee said the current grant can pay for 10 participants, but it is …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Fernando Wise was removed after refusing to give his name during a public hearing.
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 in place 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 - …
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 commission chairman will speak at a Cobb Chamber breakfast next Monday.
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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 12 p.m. 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. …
Monday, December 10, 2012
The card will allow all Cobb residents, regardless of income, age or health status, to participate in the program and save on the cost of their medications.
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Monday, December 10, 2012
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners is participating in a new prescription drug discount program known as the Coast2Coast Rx card. The card will allow all county residents, regardless of income, age or health status, to participate in the program and save on the cost of their medications. The program has saved cardholders throughout the nation an average of 60 percent in 2012 on the cost of prescription drugs. Even pets and other people living outside the county are able to take part in the program. The Rx card will be distributed free of charge and may be used at all pharmacy chains and most independent pharmacies in Cobb County and includes more than 60,000 drugs in its formulary. There are no eligibility requirements, so the Rx card …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Proposals by Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and board member David Banks will be discussed at Wednesday's work session.
Multiple school calendar proposals will be brought before the Cobb Board of Education on Wednesday, restarting a debate that embroiled the board for much of 2011. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, who urged the board to create a committee to tackle calendar planning, will be offering a different calendar than conflicting recommendations by the panel. School board member David Banks, a central figure in the school calendar controversy when it first came up in early 2011, also will be submitting his own proposal. The discussion will take place at the board's monthly work session, which begins at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the board room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The entire agenda is available …
Monday, September 3, 2012
Now that the Cobb Board of Commissioners is predominantly female, will the way the county is run change?
In addition to running most U.S. households, making the majority of car purchasing decisions, shuffling the kids to and from various activities, cooking most meals at home and even laying out clothes for their husbands, women are gaining numbers as elected officials across the country, including in Cobb. After community advocate Lisa Cupid captured 76 percent of the vote in Tuesday's run-off, she became the lone contender for South Cobb's District 4 commissioner seat. Because of this, she will likely win the November election, which will mean that she will join Commissioners Helen Goreham and JoAnn Birrell, creating the first majority female Board of Commissioners in the history of the county. Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee, who narrowly…
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
It is the hoped that the changes proposed by Bob Ott will increase redevelopment that doesn't cost the county a dime.
The Cobb County commissioners have before them Tuesday a proposal that could help redevelopment efforts in the county. The Cobb County Development Standards code has been written through the years for new development, said Commissioner Bob Ott. He explained at last week's District 2 Town Hall Meeting that these measures were originally intended to protect undeveloped land and that when the code was being written officials hadn’t considered redevelopment. Over time he said it became more expensive for developers to redevelop an old site than it would be to construct a new one. “So what happens is that’s really why you see a lot of green field development and we’re leaving this trail behind us of worn down, worn out shopping centers and …
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The first of two January hearings is tonight as the county makes its annual revisions to the Comprehensive Plan.
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Thursday, January 5, 2012
Cobb County is holding hearings tonight and Jan. 17 to discuss proposed changes to the county’s Comprehensive Plan. The plan, adopted in 2007, establishes future uses for land throughout the county and fits into a vision for Cobb in 2030 to be “recognized as Georgia’s most complete community, a place that combines the best of urban, suburban, and rural life to appeal to a broad spectrum of people.” The county holds hearings each January to update the plan. Two kinds of changes are in the works: 13 zoning decision (ZD) changes, which adjust the Comprehensive Plan to take into account individual rezoning cases the county has handled; and three commissioner proposals (CPs). The commissioner proposals apply to: “If you look at that area, most …
Monday, December 19, 2011
Right now, if a private plane flies into the area from outside the country, it is not allowed to land at the Cobb County airport.
Adding a customs agent at Cobb County's airport is on the agenda for the commissioners' meeting Tuesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has notified the county that Cobb County Airport-McCollum Field is eligible for inclusion in the User Fee Aiport Program. Such airports receive, for a fee, customs services to process aircraft, passengers, and cargo entering the country. If approved, a full time customs officer will be stationed at McCollum. The county will have to reimburse CBP $140,874 for the first year and $123,438 for succeeding years. Commissioner Bob Ott, who is a nonvoting member of the Airport Advisory Board, told the Marietta Daily Journal that the lack of a customs agent has kept the airport from maximizing its …
