Historically the naming of a vice chair is a yawner. But the upcoming appointment of Thompson, a Republican-turned Democrat, has irked the current vice chair, Northwestern District Commissioner Helen Goreham, who wants another year as vice chair because the person holding that title this year is expected to serve as acting chair for three months. Olens plans to resign in March to run for state Attorney General, and the vice chair will assume the chair's reins from then until a special July election is held for the remainder of Olens' term.
The feisty Goreham, who considers herself the homeowners' friend and the developers' worst nightmare, reportedly is royally PO'd that fellow Republican Olens would name a Democrat as his successor. And some observers predict that Olens, who faces a GOP primary opponent from Macon in the AG race, will pay politically for rejecting a fellow Republican.
Olens counters that the vice chair position is traditionally rotated and he doesn't want to politicize the commission. He added that he preferred not to appoint Southeastern Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott to the post because Ott, a Delta pilot, flies the lengthy trans-Atlantic routes and thus might be out-of-pocket for day-to-day items that come up.
However, rifts between Goreham on the one hand and Olens and his protege, Commissioner Tim Lee, on the other, are the norm on the commission. Lee is expected to resign his Northeastern District seat to run for the chairmanship after Olens resigns.
Goreham is running for re-election this year, but she's reportedly undergoing surgery next week and won't be at Tuesday's meeting. So don't expect it to be the scene of a pre-emptive attack by Goreham.
AND WITH THE UPCOMING GAME of musical chairs at the courthouse, speculation is mounting on who will be appointed to fill Lee's seat after he resigns at the end of the April 13 commission meeting in order to qualify the next day to run for the chairmanship. Qualifying for chairman will open April 12 and end April 14.
One name being floated is that of Bank of North Georgia exec Rob Garcia, who is Lee's neighbor and who Lee told AT "would be a good choice and do an excellent job."
"But I'm not going to get involved in (that section)," Lee said, though he added, "If they ask me for my advice about him, I'll give it to them."
The same source also told AT that Garcia's platter is full thanks to his upcoming inauguration as Cobb Chamber chair Jan. 23 and his bank workload, because of the real estate meltdown.
Also mentioned - but not likely to get the interim appointment - is former Cobb tax office official Scott Chadwick. The outspoken Chadwick was appointed to the east Cobb seat by then-acting Chairman Joe Lee Thompson in 2002 to succeed Olens, who had resigned to run for commission chairman after incumbent Bill Byrne resigned in an unsuccessful attempt to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Another rumor swirling in the Courthouse this week was that another former Commission chair, Earl Smith, would be named to fill Olens' seat until the election. Lee confirmed to AT that he'd heard that rumor "around the beer wagon." But Olens told AT that only if he resigned the same day as qualifying would there be a vacancy to fill. Olens says, however, he intends to resign in March before qualifying in April, leaving no appointment to be made.
The bottom line is that Cobb will have four - not five - commissioners from April to July, when Olens' successor is elected and when a successor to Lee in northeast Cobb is elected.
Lee's Eastern District post has already attracted at least four announced candidates with no apparent front runner with qualifying still four months away. The four are Waste Management Corp. community relations director JoAnn Birrell, attorney Steven Ellis, architect Stephen Moon and IT consultant Earl Stine.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST: An unexpected visitor showed up for the Marietta Council work session at its cramped meeting room on the fourth floor of City Hall on Wednesday — none other than former Mayor Bill Dunaway, barely 48 hours out of office at the time. Dunaway sat among the city staff during the three-hour meeting, and although he didn’t stay for the entire session, he was there long enough to cause several of his former council colleagues to remark after his departure that he seemed to be having a hard time letting go.
LYNDA’S LADIES: A fundraiser benefiting Georgia Senate District 32 candidate Lynda Coker of east Cobb is slated for Jan. 14 at the InfoMart on Terrell Mill Road in east Cobb. It’s being sponsored by “Coker’s Crew” — a group of 50 of Cobb’s best known businesswomen, including retired Cobb Board of Realtors head Liz Owens, InfoMart’s Tammy Cohen and Sundial Plumbing’s Mitzi Smith.
Suggested donation is $100. For more, call (770) 955-9526. …
Susan and Mike Roberts of east Cobb will host a fundraiser at their home Jan. 31 from 2-4 p.m. on behalf of JoAnn Birrell, who’s seeking Tim Lee’s northeast Cobb District 3 seat on the county commission. Suggested donation is $50 per person or $75 per couple. Call (404) 394-9601.
LONGTIME MDJ COLUMNIST the Rev. Dr. Nelson Price, pastor emeritus at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, was guest speaker at Wednesday’s Marietta Rotary Club meeting.
“The first thing I read every morning is my Bible and the second thing I read is my MDJ,” he said.
Speaking without any notes, Price added that we need higher ethical standards at all levels of government and a new spiritual awakening in America.
Amen.
WELL-KNOWN MARIETTA REALTOR and freelance photographer Johnny Walker will wed Tuscaloosa native Kim Rogers this summer at the St. Simons Island home of his mother, Totsy Walker. Ms. Rogers lives in Atlanta and works at Utmost Interiors on Whitlock Avenue. They met on Good Friday last year and will reside in the house he is restoring on McCord Street near Marietta Square.
STATE SEN. John Wiles (R-north Cobb) was spotted this week sporting a beard.
EVENTS: Now through April 18, The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History, 2828 Cherokee St. in Kennesaw, will feature “In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits.” The photographs show a variety of cultures and time periods throughout world and American history in a visual timeline. Call (770) 427-2117 or visit www.southernmuseum.org. … Leadership Cobb, the Cobb Chamber’s development program, will be open until Feb. 19 for nominations for its 2010-11 class, to be selected from business, industry, education, government, civic, religious and other groups.
SPEAKING OF GOOD FRIDAY, the annual Easter Sunday Sunrise Service at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park has long been a project of the Marietta Kiwanis Club. But henceforth, it will be jointly sponsored by the Kiwanis and the Marietta Rotary Club, it was announced this week.
PEOPLE: GRANT M. WILLS of Acworth, a Harrison High School junior, has been appointed as a U.S. Senate page by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). He will be attending the U.S. Senate Page School atop the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to complete his junior year. Pages start school at 6:30 each morning in order to report to work by 10 a.m. ... Graham Brown has received the Virginia Wilbanks Kilgore Scholarship at UGA’s Family and Consumer Science Donor Awards ceremony. He is the son of Jeff and Laura Brown of Marietta.
U.S. REP. TOM PRICE’S 6th Congressional District includes all of Cherokee County, most of east Cobb, north DeKalb and most of north Fulton above I-285. It’s already home to state Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, Now it’s also home to newly elected state House majority whip Jan Jones of the 6th State House District, representing the northern tip of Fulton County, near the new municipality of Milton.
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Oh how ture the slogan is for the man Running for District One, "It's Church Time". Church has my support!
And by the way, Helen Goreham is the epitome of the Peter Principle, can't the residents of her district find someone better?
The cites of Powder Springs, Austell & Smyrna aren't doing what is necessary to bring economic growth, industry & business to South Cobb! As a matter of fact, I don't see ANYTHING being done @ all to spur change!