Confusion reigns at Mableton town hall
Feb. 17—AUSTELL — With just over a month until the Mableton cityhood elections, south Cobb residents at a town hall Thursday night continued to complain they have more questions than answers about the fledgling city.
The county-hosted event was the second town hall on cityhood in the last month, drawing a smaller, less rowdy crowd than a January meeting hosted by state Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs.
That was perhaps due to the billing of the event, pitched as a general question and answer session on Mableton rather than a rallying cry for the de-annexation movement.
Still, de-annexation from the city continued to be a theme, with some residents calling for an outright do-over of the November referendum in which cityhood passed with 53% of the vote.
"How do we un-annex ourselves out of this? Because I didn't sign up for this," said one resident.
Lisa Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, and Commissioner Monique Sheffield, who co-hosted the event, suggested they shared in the disgruntlement with the process (the county has previously called for legislative reforms to cityhood to promote more public awareness of each proposal).
"I acknowledge what you're saying, and I don't think — I shared this at the Capitol — your frustration is not unreasonable," said Cupid. "If your address doesn't have Mableton, Georgia, 30126, it just was not intuitive that you would be in a new city unless someone took the time to thoroughly educate you. That's a given."
Thursday's event came the day after the county announced Gov. Brian Kemp will not appoint a transition committee to lead talks with the county before the council is seated. Asked why Kemp made that decision, Cupid shrugged.
"That's for him to answer. It was a very brief conversation," Cupid said.
County Manager Jackie McMorris told the MDJ that without a transition committee, the county at present has no point of contact for the new city.
Sheffield, meanwhile, told the audience that while their grievances with the process were legitimate, their die had been cast.
"It's not going to make the situation any better, nor is it going to reverse the vote. Mableton is a city now, and we're going to work together to move forward to ensure the success of the city," Sheffield said.
By at least one measure, knowledge of — or at least interest in — the upcoming elections appears to be thin. Elections Director Janine Eveler said her office has received just 52 applications for absentee ballots thus far out of around 50,000 registered voters.
(In an email to the MDJ, Eveler suggested that tracks with other one-off special elections. In a June 2021 special election for House District 34, only 205 of 42,089 eligible voters requested a ballot.)
Eveler added that in an effort to get the word out, the elections office is sending letters to each and every registered voter within the city limits with their voting information, a measure she said was unusual for her staff.
"We are going the extra step of sending the letters this time, but it is not a common practice and it is quite expensive," Eveler said. The county currently estimates the election will cost around $255,000, not including likely runoff races.
Other concerns pointed to the most basic functions of city government, like whether Mableton is allowed to levy a property tax and if it will (the city can, but the decision to would be made by its mayor and City Council).
Still others seized the opportunity of having county staff all under one roof to bring up whatever happened to be on their mind. One asked Tax Assessor Stephen White why his home valuations continue to go up when he lives in a dated, unrenovated home.
Pledged White, to much applause, "I'll give you my contact information, and get your address. I'm going to make sure that there's notes in there that says these bathrooms and kitchens are not updated."
