The chairman is expected to resign from his position as chairman at the end of March to focus on his run for Georgia's attorney general.
The Cobb County Chamber of Commerce is hosting Olens for his speech at their monthly first breakfast meeting. The breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. and will take place at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest.
Olens will reference a PowerPoint presentation throughout his speech.
The main concern for most counties, and a strong concern for Cobb as well, is the county's budget in a struggling economy. Olens will recognize that Cobb County actually rose from an audit of 2009's budget with a small surplus, with no furloughs, layoffs or pulling funds from the county's reserves. He will also talk about the county receiving it's 13th consecutive annual AAA rating, a rating that few counties in the nation obtain.
Olens will begin his presentation by reviewing the public safety department's 2009 successes, such as a 28 percent decrease in false alarms through the false alarm ordinance, the police department's new Reserve Police Officer Program and the fire investigation unit's award from the Georgia Arson Control Board. Olens will state that public safety is the county's "No. 1 priority."
The county began and finished several major construction projects, including the completion of the Cobb County Adult Detention Center expansion, Public Safety Village, the East Cobb Library expansion and the renovation of the Powder Springs Station for Community Development department offices. Olens will update the audience on where these projects stand as well as projects still in construction, such as the new superior courthouse, various transportation projects and the South Cobb Tunnel.
Cobb's school systems made significant advances in 2009, and Olens will address those successes as well as steps the systems are taking to better the county's students in the future. Olens will also recognize Cobb's three higher education institutions, Southern Polytechnic State University, Chattahoochee Technical College and Kennesaw State University. KSU's growing athletics programs will be highlighted.
Cobb County is the Atlanta Regional Commission's first government to receive the ARC's Silver Level Green Communities Certification, and Olens will use this platform to address the steps the county is taking to become more sustainable. Sustainability often results in being environmentally friendly and saving money, as was the case for the county when it saved $5 million by privatizing the solid waste department.
Olens will conclude his speech by addressing the county's A+ rating from the Sunshine Review, which grades government entities on its overall transparency of information and availability of its employees to the community, and recognizing the county's newest department leaders.
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Our school system is not doing fine. Cobb County schools are ranked the lowest in all the states and the jewel, Walton High School did not even make the top 100 in the nation as they have done in the past. So we know that the school system is not doing well and their future plan is to raise expectations by 1%, so I am wondering if the rest of the county's successes are true or is this just more smoke being blown up our chimneys!