Staff/Todd Hull
MARIETTA — Former Cobb chairman candidate Mike Boyce said he’s not sure if he will endorse anyone in the chairman’s runoff set for Aug. 21.
“(Incumbent Tim Lee) and I were so far apart on our positions, and from day one (challenger Bill Byrne) never really took me seriously, so why should any endorsement that I give mean anything to him?” he said. “I have no desire to become part of a process where they’re going to use me as part of their positions.”
Lee will go head-to-head with Byrne for the chairman race runoff. Early voting will start as early as Aug. 13 and the election date is set the next week. With no Democrats in the race, the winner of the runoff will likely take office in January.
Larry Savage, the fourth candidate running for the seat, did not return phone calls as of press time Wednesday.
Marietta attorney Chuck Clay said it’s hard to say who could win the runoff because there should be a slight advantage to the incumbent, but with both Lee and Byrne being “known entities” in Cobb, it will all depend on who can get the most people back to the ballots in three weeks.
“The traditional rule is that if you’re an incumbent and you’re down, then you’re in trouble, but this is a little different scenario with the (TSPLOST) on and off, and both of these people have records that are known,” he said. “You don’t have an incumbent challenging a fresh face. It kind of throws that traditional view off.”
For Lee, Clay said he’s has the advantage in fundraising and seems to be well-liked, but Byrne is a hardworking candidate and within “striking distance.”
He also said that traditionally, around 15 to 20 percent of registered voters turn out for the primaries, and somewhere around half of that will make a showing for runoffs.
“At this time, it’s purely a turnout issue — who can get folks to come back to the poll?” he said.
Lee and Byrne’s runoff is not the only one on tap for later this month.
Lee’s colleague on the commission, Woody Thompson, will fight to keep his seat away from first-time candidate Lisa Cupid, who said she’s been endorsed by former candidates Monica DeLancy and Ruth Negron
Cupid said she is confident about the race, given that more than 70 percent of voters opposed Thompson.
“We were pretty successful knocking door to door and calling people directly,” she said. “That may have to continue.”
Thompson said he talked with Connie Taylor, whom he appointed to the SPLOST Oversight Committee and Board of Tax Assessors, about an endorsement.
While nothing is official, he feels confident about the endorsement from Taylor, who finished fourth in the race, just behind Dr. Michael Rhett.
“I think she’s on board to help,” Thompson said.
The third runoff on the ballot will be a competition between first-time candidates Brad Wheeler and Larry Darnell, who are vying to face Democratic incumbent Alison Bartlett to represent west central Cobb and McEachern, Harrison and Hillgrove high schools.
The third candidate in the race, Heather Ryan of Acworth, came just 76 votes, or 1 percent, shy of ending up in the runoff.
She said she didn’t know if she would endorse anyone.
“The people who stood behind me are smart enough to decide between the two, and I don’t want to sway their decisions one way or the other,” she said.
Both Darnell and Wheeler said they were going to reach out to her for their support though.
“She’s speaking for a lot of people in west Cobb,” Wheeler said. “Her message hit home with a lot of people, and I’d love to talk with her because I think there’s a lot of people who respect what she has to say.”
Janine Eveler, the county’s election board director, said voters can’t switch parties in the runoff.
“(Voters) have to cast the same party’s ballot, Democrat to Democrat, Republican to Republican, but if they voted the nonpartisan ballot on July 31, then they can choose either party’s runoff ballot on Aug. 21 because they haven’t voted in either primary at that point,” she said.
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That is so obvious from the stances he has taken on everything from increasing the millage rate to supporting the TSPLOST and everything in between.
Name one thing he has done that makes Cobb County a better place for its' residents since he has been Chairman.
We already know what Tim Lee's "solutions" look like.
Tax increases and ineffective, anemic spending cuts at the county.
Those aren't real solutions they are expensive, taxpayer funded band aids that don't address the basic problems.
He is our own local Obama clone.
We can't do any worse so I say we give someone else a chance.
We all paid a little more where Cobb county could keep the same number of people where he did not have to reduce the headcount.
Our Man in Powder Springs
Please explain "stuck being a west cobb farmer". In your view... is something wrong with farming? Are farmers lesser people? Are farmers on the bottom of the socioeconomic scale. Do Byrne fans look down on farmers and farming? Are you against local farms? Are you against the local markets where local farmers bring their crops to sell? Please explain yourself. Since you are a supporter, please explains Byrne's position on small farms and farmers.
I felt that Cobb County under Bill Byrne's stewardship was a well run efficient suburban community. I think he will do a good job again.
Tim is special & personal interest.
You cannot get a straight answer from him on most topics.
He continues to raise taxes as the answer to every problem each year...
Although Bill Byrne has his faults we know he will stand up to the special interests when they try to ram higher taxes, anti Cobb projects and policies down our throats.
It's still the choice of the lesser of two evils and for my money Byrne seems to be the best choice.
As a matter of fact he never stood up for anything that did not cost the tax payers money!!!!!
Except for the Bedminster fiasco, I think you have Byrne mixed up with a guy named Gordon Wysong who is, thank goodness, long gone from our community.
And it seems that many people here in Cobb and around the entire country (given the recent reaction to the Chik-Fil-A situation) are very supportive of traditional family values.
If I were you I wouldn't try to use that as a negative against Byrne.
That might gain some traction in Midtown, Piedmont Park,Virginia Highlands and Little Five Points, but it may work agains you in Cobb County.
Has Tim Lee taken a stance on the family value issue or has he just avoided it ?
That would be an interesting question to ask him.
Get your facts straight, Bill Byrne voted for the Family Values resolution and he voted to bring the Russian Art fiasco here and he was the leading push to get the Bedminister Plant built.
He could have voted against any or all of them.
And he went on TV and proclaimed he fully supported the "Family Values" resolution.
I hope that all the NO voters on the TSPLOST won't forget his getting in bed with the Chamber and Kasim Reed. Remember that he called you all a bunch of "spoiled brats." We'll see who is the real brat in about 3 weeks.
So because Bob Ott has consistently resisted the tax increases and other wrong headed ideas that Tim Lee has tried to promote that means he is working against Tim Lee in a most cowardly way?
How about this.
Ott doesn't work for Tim Lee.
Ott doesn't say he won't raise taxes and then does it anyway like Tim Lee does.
Ott doesn't always do the bidding for the Cobb Chamber regardless of its' negative impact on Cobb citizens like Tim Lee.
Ott doesn't work for the Cumberland CID when they support projects that work against the best interests of Cobb County like Tim Lee did.
Ott doesn't work for Mayor Kasim Reed when Reed tries to steal $859 Million from Cobb taxpayers to pay for Atlanta projects like Tim Lee.
Ott doesn't support outsiders that come to Cobb and call us bigots and racists like Tim Lee does.
Ott doesn't call his constituents "spoiled brats" and worse when they don't see things his way like Tim Lee does.
Bob Ott is working for his constituents and the citizens of Cobb County trying to represent their best interests. As he should.
What's cowardly about that?
On the other hand Tim Lee has proven time and again that he could care less about what is good for Cobb County and has little respect for its' citizens or their views.
Besides this isn't about Bob Ott.
It is about Tim Lee and his lack of Cobb County focused leadership.