Dunaway is known for his strained relationships with members of the delegation under the Golden Dome.
"We have a delegation here that was carefully chosen," City Manager Bill Bruton said with a laugh.
Tumlin, a former state representative and former delegation chairman, addressed the current chairman, Sen. John Wiles (R-Kennesaw).
"I didn't know the chairman looked so bad from this side of the room," Tumlin said to laughter, prompting Wiles to reply that if he looked rough, it was because the Cobb School Board had just preceded the city in the contentious meeting, which ultimately saw Wiles deliver a dressing down to school board Chairman Dr. John Abraham.
Responded Tumlin: "I'm here by virtue of being a recent graduate of the Bill Dunaway School of Charm."
State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-North Cobb) asked where Dunaway was, then surmised he must be having lunch with MDJ publisher and AT contributor Otis Brumby, a quip that drew even more laughs.
CONGRATULATIONS to the seven local attorneys who made Georgia Trend magazine's 2009 legal elite.
Local lawyers who made the list include:
- under personal injury attorneys, former Gov. Roy E. Barnes of Barnes Law Group in Marietta (Barnes was also listed in the general practice, trial category);
- under criminal law, Nathan J. Wade, of the Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade Marietta;
n under labor and employment, Ben J. Mathis Jr., of Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP, 100 Galleria Parkway;
- under taxes, estates and trusts, east Cobb resident Cassady V. Brewer, of Morris Manning & Martin LLP of Atlanta;
- under bankruptcy/creditors' rights, Howard D. Rothbloom, of The Rothbloom Law Firm in Marietta;
- under governmental affairs, Fred D. Bentley Jr., of Bentley, Bentley & Bentley in Marietta;
- and under family law, Stephen C. Steele, of Moore, Ingram, Johnson & Steele LLP in Marietta.
To compile the list of top lawyers in the state, Georgia Trend and publisher Neely Young of Marietta mailed ballots to a sampling of attorneys and put downloadable ballots on its Web site, www.georgiatrend.com. Any Georgia attorney who is a member of the state bar was eligible to vote.
THE COBB YWCA AND 100-PLUS WOMEN AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE are planning one of the first high-profile fundraisers of the New Year, "Boots, Bluejeans & Country Music," Jan. 9 at Jim Miller Park. Tickets are $35 per person or $50 per couple, with food by Williamson Bros. Bar-B-Que and music by the Bill Atkins Band featuring Pat Head. The event is being chaired by former Cobb Commission Chairman Bill Byrne, District Attorney Pat Head and Cobb Solicitor General Barry Morgan. RSVP to Babe Atkins-Byrne at (770) 425-8122 or babeatkinsbyrne@yahoo.com.
GEORGIA LT. GOV. CASEY CAGLE was in Cobb last week to meet with leaders of the YWCA of Northwest Georgia. With Holly Comer, CEO/Executive Director of the YWCA, and Kim Gresh, a member of the Y's board of directors, he toured the Y's shelter for domestic violence victims. It was built 30 years ago and was the first of its kind in the state, and it remains the only such shelter in Cobb County, though it is in need of renovations. Cagle's staff raised money to assist in those renovations, and Cagle personally matched the funds.
RETIRED LOCKHEED PRESIDENT MICKY BLACKWELL, known as the "father" of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, has penned a just-published book called," Where Two or More are Gathered ... in Prayer."
Blackwell says in recent years he has observed a decline in Wednesday night prayer meetings but still believes that praying together - and out loud - is sometimes more powerful than praying individually. He also writes that Christians need to know what to pray for - not good health or a good stock market - but to pray to know and learn God's will for our life and our country.
Blackwell says the book was three years in the writing. He is past member of the board of Trustees of the First United Methodist of Marietta and is a golfing buddy of the church's pastor - Dr. Sam R. Matthews - who will shortly review the book for MDJ readers.
The book will be sold on Amazon.com and via Barnes & Noble, as well as via the publisher, United Writers Press, which can be accessed at www.corporate prayer.com.
SUNDAY'S MDJ reported the death of Dr. George Beggs, a stalwart at Kennesaw State University since the school's earliest days.
Another of its longest-tenured faculty members, history professor Dr. Tom Scott, sent AT this tribute on Monday:
"After President Horace Sturgis and Dean of the College Derrell Roberts, Dr. Beggs was the next faculty member hired at the embryonic Kennesaw Junior College and the first hired actually to teach classes. He also became the first and only chair of the Social Science Division, and, when we converted from divisions to schools, he was the first dean of what today is Humanities & Social Sciences. He retired in 1994. No one was more important in building KSU in those early decades. No one on the faculty was more public spirited and more involved in the community. He was certainly my mentor and the person who had the greatest influence on my academic career."
Services for Dr. Beggs, who died Saturday after a battle with Alzheimer's disease at age 74, took place on Monday.
EVENTS: "The Sanders Family Christmas" will continue through Jan. 3 on Theatre in the Square's main stage at 11 Whitlock Ave. in Marietta - a lively event that has become a family destination in the holiday season. The Sanders Family (of "Smoke on the Mountain" and "Mount Pleasant Homecoming") is dealing with the beginning of World War II and its effects on the gospel-singing clan.
Performances are Tuesdays and Sundays with some matinees also to be scheduled. Prices are $20 to $35. The show is for audiences 10 years old and up.
For details, call (770) 422-8369 or visit www.theatreinthesquare.com.
FORMER MARIETTA HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT JESS SIMPSON continues to add to his formidable legacy at Buford High School after guiding the Gwinnett County-based Wolves to their sixth state Class AA championship of the decade on Saturday.
The defense-minded Wolves hammered out a 13-10 victory for the title over a Calhoun team that raced into the game averaging 45 points an outing and limped away.
The victory gave the Wolves their third straight state title with Simpson at the helm. In five seasons, Simpson has led Buford to a 68-3 record - and his two teams that didn't win championships did make it to the quarterfinal round in the playoffs.
As you might suspect, this kind of success draws a lot of attention to the coach from other schools that would like to have him on their sideline.It has been widely rumored around town that Simpson's alma mater would welcome him back with open arms, especially now that Blue Devil alum and head coach Friday Richards has told close friends that this past season will be his last. However, football insiders don't expect to see Simpson coming back to lead the Blue Devils. He is said to have quite a comfortable agreement with Buford, which has the backing of a large and generous booster club. And if he should decide to give that arrangement up, he likely could choose from an array of assistant coach offers from high-profile college teams (and if you haven't been keeping up with the news, it's now common for offensive and defensive coordinators to make upward of half-million bucks a year at the elite Football U's - defensive guru Will Muschamp's payday at Texas is $1 million a year.)
Simpson played for Dexter Wood at Marietta and played at Auburn University from 1989-91 for Pat Dye. Wood left Marietta to take the Buford job in 1994 and Simpson served as an assistant coach under Wood for 10 years before succeeding him as the Wolves' head coach in 2005.
After winning the 2008 state championship, Simpson was chosen for the Touchdown Club of Atlanta's annual Wright Bazemore Award, symbolic of the state's top high school coach.
Simpson is married to another Marietta native, the former Tricia Collins, and the couple has four children, three boys and a girl. His parents are Howard and Carol Simpson of Marietta.
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