Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens delivered his swan song address as chairman at Thursday's Marietta Kiwanis Club meeting. Some in the audience may have expected a recap of his January State of the County address. But that's not what they got.

"There are only so many damn times I want to give that talk!" Olens explained, to laughter from the crowd. "And it's only five days until I'm unemployed," said the chairman, who is resigning as of Tuesday to pursue the GOP nomination for state attorney general. So instead, he gave a "SWOT" analysis, describing the county's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

First among its strengths is its low level of bonded indebtedness, he said, just $53 million, including $40 million from the 2006 parks bond.

"When I took office in 2001, it was close to $100 million," he said.

Incidentally, the county is entitled under state law to accumulate bond debt of up to $3 billion. But we've always played it close to the vest here.

Other strengths include strong public safety agencies, good local schools and colleges and an educated workforce.

"(Businesses and industries) know they can fill jobs here. Everyone talks about our low taxes, but let me tell you a little secret. It's not the low taxes that brings the jobs, it's the educated workforce," Olens said. "When those companies go to Fulton and DeKalb they are offered far better tax abatement proposals. But the issue isn't the millage rate because if you're not having to pay taxes, it's zero. The issue is the educated work force. That gets us those jobs."

Then there's our excellent health care system, he said.

"When I moved to Cobb, WellStar was not the WellStar it is today," the chairman said. "A lot of people went to Northside Hospital and St. Joe's for their medical care. And now you've got that cyber knife, you've got open-heart surgery, you've got the most cancer patients being treated there of any hospital in the northwest corridor. You've got a state-of-the-art hospital that grew much during Dr. (Robert) Lipson's leadership and is continuing to grow under Dr. Simone's leadership. And that is a huge, huge issue, because under this economy, there are only two things that are growing, and that is health jobs and education because people are going back to school during the recession."

Olens also mentioned our quality of life as a strength, thanks to our parks, libraries, senior centers and theaters.

"It's the fact that wherever you live in the county, there are little places to go that make your living better," he said.

As for weaknesses, there is our crime rate, he said.

"When I first moved here (in the 1970s) the jail was full of drunks. But now we have folks who kill," he said. "You can't deny the facts, and the facts are that there's crime throughout this area. There are a lot of folks committing crime here who do not live in Cobb, but our judges get to prosecute them whether they live in Clayton, Fulton, Cobb or wherever. You can take some solace in knowing how few of those violent offenders live in Cobb, but they're still affecting Cobb."

Another weakness is the effect the bad economy has had on the county's ability to maintain its infrastructure.

"We took a lot of pride out of saying we were all up to date on our maintenance needs," he said. "But in the last two years we can't say that. We're starting to get behind now, and we will continue to get behind. We have made an overt decision to keep people employed in the county rather than keep the capitol program fully performing. We are now running where if you're looking at another two years of a slow economy, we're going to be four years behind once things pick back up. But if your choice is whether to have a new roof on a building or whether to have 15 folks employed, I'd rather have the 15 folks employed."

And then there is traffic.

"One of the things that has absolutely frustrated me in this job is the five years at the Atlanta Regional Commission and the inability to get from planning to doing. We have got to have transit in this region and in this county, and that takes maintenance money and operating money, not just capital," he said. "The county is moving forward with a proposal that the cities here really love, which is to move light rail down Highway 41 instead of 75. If you put it on 41, it will reinvigorate the area in Smyrna, Marietta and Kennesaw."

Threats to the county include the difficulty in determining what the public desires.

"There is a very vocal minority, but the hardest part for elected officials is to figure out what the majority want, not the 20 who press the 'send' button on their e-mail," he said.

And then there are the county's opportunities. Cobb is better integrated than many other communities, he noted.

"When you go to Atlanta, it is segregated," he said. "Cascade is African American. Inman Park is not. For all the grief that the urban core likes to give the suburbs, we are more integrated in Cobb County than anything Atlanta has. And the more diversity and the less segregation we have, the better this county will be down the road."

"Folks want to live in good communities and those folks come in every shape and size and color. And when you provide that opportunity, good things are going to happen."

True enough. Cobb has always been the land of opportunity. And if we keep electing leaders like Sam Olens, it always will be. He'll be missed.

Bill Kinney is associate editor of The Marietta Daily Journal. HIs column also appears on Tuesdays and Sundays.