MARIETTA - Cobb County School Board member Dr. John Crooks said Friday that he will appeal a judge's ruling that authorized a recall campaign against Crooks to proceed.

In a statement to the Journal, Crooks said he believes there are several legal errors in Judge Walter Matthews' ruling and that he and his legal team from FSB Legal Counsel will appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

"We, me and my legal team, respectfully believe that the judge's remaining order may create a dangerous precedent by allowing school board members and other elected officials to be subjected to recall proceedings simply for making motions in open, public meetings in which the board's lawyer was present and he did not raise any objections to the motion." Crooks said.

"We also believe that there are a number of legal errors in the order, and that there was insufficient evidence to allow the recall to move forward. We are looking forward to the opportunity to address these issues before the Supreme Court."

On Tuesday, Matthews found that the facts set forth by east Cobb parent Carrie Nicholas-Welkis are sufficient to constitute a recall, based on the grievances of intent to mislead the public, just one of the grounds Nicholas-Welkis set forth in her petition to recall the board member.

Following the judge's ruling on Tuesday, Crooks said he was disappointed with the ruling, but thought the "judge was correct in dismissing three of the four allegations because they were not supported by the facts."

In a hearing last week regarding the recall efforts, Crooks denied purposely misleading the public by not giving proper notice that the cell tower item was placed on the July 23 school board meeting agenda. Crooks did, however, admit to saying that notifying the public of the item "would have probably caused a circus," a quote that was printed in the Marietta Daily Journal on Aug. 14.

Last July, Crooks called for a vote to allow a 150-foot cell tower at Eastvalley Elementary School, a proposal many parents and residents opposed as an unwanted and unsafe eyesore. Crooks placed the cell tower matter on the board's agenda the day of the July meeting without advance notice. Several families then filed suit against the school district, arguing that the board violated state Open Meetings Act by failing to give proper advance notice on the vote.

Cobb Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order against the board, halting any work from being done on the tower, but then Crooks called for second vote on the tower in October. This time it was advertised on the agenda in advance, and the board approved the tower.