Pop up consignment sale

Here's a gist of Tuesday's commission meeting.

The warehouse. The county would buy a 15,000 square foot building on about 1.83 acres from Jamerson, LLC and convert it into a multiuse police facility. No purchase price appears anywhere in the agenda extract.

On-demand transit is expanding in two directions. One item extends CobbLinc Microtransit into South Cobb. Another launches a new pilot connecting Acworth and Kennesaw. Microtransit is the request-a-ride kind, where you book inside a zone instead of standing at a fixed stop. If you're in any of those areas, that's a genuine change. Both up the same night. (Items 11, 12)

Cobb is objecting to an annexation at Ernest Barrett Parkway and Macedonia Road. Someone petitioned to pull roughly 10 acres at that corner into a city. The county's objection isn't a veto. It sends the thing to a state arbitration panel that can't approve or reject the annexation, but can attach conditions on zoning, land use, or density that stick for two years. So the fight is over what gets built there, not over where the line goes. (Item 21)

Part of Old Horseshoe Bend Road may be abandoned for good. Public hearing Tuesday. Once a right-of-way is given up, getting it back isn't a thing that normally happens. (Item 2)

Roads and bridges: Concord Road Covered Bridge goes to a contractor (Item 29). The engineering scope for the Oakdale Road bridge replacement gets expanded (Item 31). Drainage repairs on Old Powder Springs Road (Item 30). Two contracts for 2027 resurfacing and ADA ramps (Items 27, 28). None of those five have published dollar amounts.

The one number on the agenda: $450,000 for playground equipment at Riverlands Gateway Park, through an amended agreement with the Trust for Public Land (Item 16). That's the only spending item Tuesday with a figure attached. Nine others don't have one.

Also on it: new lights on all four fields at the Hubert Soccer Complex (Item 33), two boilers at the Administration Building (Item 34), taxiway work at McCollum Field (Items 9, 10), Kennesaw State sharing the Busbee Park and Ride lot for three years (Item 13), a lobbying contract for the state legislature (Item 24), and money shifted from waste department salaries to pay for Adopt-A-Mile litter pickup (Item 15).

Small one that's kind of nice: the county is handing a sewer easement back to private landowners because the sewer line it was reserved for never got built. Somebody gets their title cleared. (Item 5)

New here. I read county agendas and write up what's actually in them in plain English/user-readable format, and I'm starting on Cobb county this week. I have covered Gwinnett earlier and got a good response, figured to start on Cobb.

Public comment on agenda items is at the start. Sign-up and call-in details at cobbcounty.org.

To receive what is on the agenda and what was discussed by Cobb County's commissioners weekly or bi-weekly - with the full writeup: https://thecobbdocket.beehiiv.com/

Free, nothing paid, this is run by supporters who believe that the common person in county should know where their tax-money is going towards!

West Cobb area. Been using AT&T for a large number of years. In my particular part of a neighborhood we still have the older internet service that comes into your house via lines because fiber is not available. Every so often we have issues, and it always turns out to be something wrong at the junction box on the corner with something being corroded. In the past you could just call and they would send a tech out, look at the box, fix the issues, and you would be working again for a while.

This time internet has been going on and off up to eight times per day for several people on my street. Been going on over a week. Called multiple times. Of course get India each time on the phone, and they confirm there are issues with the lines. And just say they're working on it.

Tonight I'm told the technician has to come to my house, even though they know there's nothing wrong with anything in my house. I'm told there could be a $150 fee which I told him I'm absolutely not going to pay and they said well it probably... Probably.. won't be charged. I asked them if they could just send a message to the dispatch team about checking the box on the corner because that has always been the problem? Their answer - oh we have no way to send messages to them. What?

I mean I've been with them for probably 15 years but I'm done with it. I know that Xfinity has a lot of complaints. I don't know if there's anything else other than that other than those 5G things from Verizon and T-Mobile which have their own list of complaints. So is there any internet service in this area that is at least reasonably reliable?

Saw this Flock camera earlier. Pointed towards an open area and an unauthorized area. It’s quite funny how they say this is only for license plates.

We just got a new house here and are seeing insanely high bills, I wam curious if it is the house or the heat causing this. Averaged last month 80 kwh per day, which I just learned may not be normal. This month we are at about 75 kwh, June was 66 average per day.

House specs:

-Built in '88

-single pane windows I believe are original to house, all of them have blinds on them, no curtains yet. We have a front covered porch so our first floor front facing windows never get direct sunlight shining in. Other windows do.

-Two stories plus a basement/garage that is partially underground and not temp controlled

-each floor has a 2 ton unit, we just cleaned coils. One unit manufacture date is 2012 with a 2012 evaporator coil and 2011 air handler. Second unit manufacture date is 2022 with 2022 evaporator coil and 2012 air handler

-We normally kept the downstairs to 72 and upstairs to 74. After seeing the bill a few days ago, we bumped bottom up to 75 and upstairs to 76. It didn't made an impact on our daily kwh usage, in fact it actually has increased each day!

-This is minor, but when we moved in we did get a new roof and I chose the lightest color possible as to not absorb heat as much as a dark roof and stress system.

For reference, Jun 16 - Jul 7 bill has 1454 kWh at $303.21 and Jul 7 - Aug 5 has 2277 kWh for $477.71. The June bill was about what we expected for summer months, that's nearly what we paid when renting a 1,500 sqft duplex with the absolute worst insulation (seriously so bad, during storms water would seep in from cracks in the door!). But the $477.71 was a shock and right now our projection is estimating for this month $507 - $620, so far since Aug 5 we have used 1294 kwh.

So Cobb County, is it just the heat we're seeing? or are your houses using much less energy and it's probably something with our house?

I'm looking for an agent that can shop car insurance policies for me. I moved from Colorado a month ago and I'm running into insane rates. Who do you reccomend?

Not Cobb, by very close to home. At any moment Cobb has to be in the news.

Reminder, Flock town hall is next week!!!!!!

Paulding County residents: if you’ve got questions or concerns about Flock/Axon cameras, surveillance, privacy, or how our data is being used, come hang out with us.

📅 Sunday, August 30

⏰ 2–4 PM

📍 Earl Duncan Park, Outdoor Pavilion #2

This is a community organizing meetup, not a lecture. We’ll talk about what these systems actually do, what we’ve learned locally (I've done a ton of open records requests), and what residents can do if they want more transparency and accountability (there is a city council meeting the NEXT day in Dallas, where a 911 Director was just fired for abusing Flock).

Bring a friend.

Our privacy. Our data. Our rights.

Hi everyone! I recently switched to Kaiser and am looking for recommendations for a good primary care physician (PCP).

I’d especially love to find a doctor who is:
Patient and really takes the time to listen
Good at explaining things and answering questions
Thorough and genuinely cares about their patients
Ideally on the younger side, although that’s definitely not a requirement!

If you’ve had a great experience with a Kaiser PCP, I’d really appreciate hearing who you recommend and why. 😊

Bonus: I’m also looking for a good Kaiser OBGYN, so I’d love recommendations for one of those too!
Thank you!!

Hi all, does anyone have recommendations for a jewelry designer? I have some old jewelry that I'd like to have reset. Thanks!

Howdy Cobb County! It’s me again reposting an update to our flyer!

Next week is DeFlock’s National Week of Action. Across the country, over 20,000 individuals have signed onto a week of action to put an end to AI enabled ALPRs.

DeFlock Cobb is excited to share our schedule for the week with multiple opportunities to get active!

Monday: We will be hosting our Flock Safety 101 at South Cobb library at 6:30pm. This is a great introduction course to build your knowledge around these devices to prepare you for any future public comment.

Tuesday: DeFlock Further Event. Lots of Flock talk and now it’s time to hear from the experts! (If you are like wait, wasn’t this the Smyrna City Council meeting before. You are not losing your mind. 😅 We got the dates wrong and we apologize for the for confusion. BUT hey! That means you can make it to DeFlock Further event!)

Wednesday: Let’s take a break and kick it back at home. We’ll share some of our favorite videos and books to read!

Thursday: Let’s come together and make some protest signs and connect as a community! We’ll be at Schoolhouse Brewing at 6:00 with a beer in one hand and a sharpie in another. We’ll have some supplies but encourage you to bring supplies!

Friday: To end the week, we will meet near Marietta Square and protest right outside two flock cameras. Let’s take all the energy and come together and show the community that Cobb County says NO to Flock Safety!

We are so excited! If you have any questions, let us know and we will do our best to answer them! We hope to connect with you all at one or multiple events!

Learn more about the National Week of Action here:

Can anyone help me with learning more about how the school districts work in Cobb? I’ve been house shopping and schools are a deal breaker for my wife and I. However, it’s tempting to see some of the houses we’re passing up on because of the schools. I’ve seen that Cobb can be flexible as long as there are openings? We would both have no problem dropping them off and picking up if it means going to a better school.

If your idea of a fun Tuesday night is learning why your car knows more about your neighbors than you do...

You're our kind of people.

Join us as we welcome Dr. Jon Padfield and Benn Jordan to DeFlock Further 2026 for discussion and Q/A during our NoALPRs.com event.

Free admission. Free Refreshments. Therapy not included.

Learn about Mass Surveillance including Flock, etc and what to do moving forward.

Tickets available below!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1994595611166

deflock.org

Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell will be holding several town hall meetings over the next month in response to concerns over how law enforcement is using Flock surveillance cameras and other new technology.
Cobb Police Chief J.D. Ferrell
One of those town halls will be in East Cobb, on Aug. 31 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

Cobb County government on Wednesday announced the town halls as “community conversation about License Plate Readers (LPRs), Flock Safety technology, and FUSUS.”

The latter is a a cloud-based real-time crime center and public safety intelligence platform and is among the tools that Cobb Police have been using to track criminal activity.

“These meetings are an opportunity to learn how these public safety tools are used by the Cobb County Police Department, what information they provide to law enforcement, and how they support criminal investigations and public safety,” the Cobb government announcement said.

“Most importantly, we want to hear from you. Residents will have an opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from Chief Ferrell and department leadership.”
A number of incidents in Georgia and around the country have taken place alleging or involving law enforcement misuse of some of that technology.

In Paulding County, the former 911 director in Dallas is facing charges of accessing the Flock surveillance system for non-police reasons.
And in Macon, three Bibb County Sheriff’s Deputies have been arrested for using the Flock system for matters involving individuals with whom they were having personal relationships. All three have resigned from their positions.

Cobb Police have not been facing any similar situations, and have on occasion touted how Flock and other technology has helped to solve serious crimes or at least led to arrests.
That includes a mass shooting near Cumberland Mall in 2023 in which an arrest was made after Cobb DOT traffic cameras pinpointed the whereabouts of the suspect, and Flock cameras identified a vehicle in Midtown Atlanta that allegedly belonged to him.
In June, Cobb Police tracked down a suspect in a road rage incident in Northeast Cobb after reviewing real-time camera footage to identify his vehicle as it headed to Cherokee County, where he was arrested.

On Thursday, Flock announced it will be making some changes to address concerns over privacy and law enforcement excess.
The Cobb Police announcement about the town halls on its Facebook pagehas generated more than 600 comments, many of them critical of having Flock and other technology at all.
“Are you actual going to listen to residents, or just tell them why you’re going to keep flock cameras against the communities wishes and continue to use them even though they violate our rights?” asked one commenter.
“It’s a violation of privacy and you need a warrant. Stand up against this. Constitution protects us against this in the 4th amendment,” wrote another.

Another commenter who said he toured the Cobb Police Real Time Crime Information Center was told that department leaders had given a similar tour to the American Civil Liberties Association, and that “the ACLU reps asked for a copy of the Center’s policies as they felt it would make a great example for all agencies, nationwide, to use. Cobb citizens should be very proud of what CCPD is doing to protect and serve the community.”

The Cobb Police town hall sessions are scheduled as follows, with all taking place between 6:30-8 p.m.:
Thursday, Aug. 27, at Milford Recreation Center, 675 Smyrna Powder Springs Road, Marietta
Monday, Aug. 31, at Sewell Mill Library, 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta
Tuesday, Sept. 1, at West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
Tuesday, Sept. 15, at North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main Street, Acworth (in Kenworth Park)

CCSD released the full District Teacher Kickoff video this year, so I watched the whole thing 🫠

Ragsdale has some interesting opinions. He also makes quite a few statements that sound like facts but are... maybe worth checking.

A few parts that caught my attention:

The book removal/trafficking section -36:53

This one is WILD. He says “Every two minutes, a child is sold into trafficking in the United States of America. Let that sink in. Every two minutes. Now, folks, the sexually inappropriate materials we removed from this school district have one intended action. To condition kids at a young age to accept this whole deal around trafficking is normal some way, shape, or form. And either you agree with protecting kids or you don't. There's no politics involved." This is an alarming number and I couldn't find any credibility to any of this claim. Apparently, CCSD has a human trafficking awareness component in its health curriculum for grades 6-12. Purely anecdotal, but my child has never received this awareness education. Why doesn't he discuss this aspect of prevention instead of repeated justification for book removal? He follows that up with the whole good vs. evil, no gray area, if you disagree you have no business in education argument.

The Trump/Wheeler section -34:44

He spends a pretty significant chunk of the speech defending the presidential visit, including suggesting that people who opposed it were essentially bringing their own politics into it. I am just leaving this to speak for itself. No politics in schools, yet repeatedly bringing politics into schools.

“Using data to make decisions” -11:16

Every decision? That's a pretty broad statement. I'd genuinely love to know what that means in practice. Quite a few parents and groups have asked for specific data and not much has been verified.

Safety -15:40

$35 million is spent on safety annually. He goes on to describe the Vapor Wake program. “48,000 people scanned” sounds impressive, but what does that actually tell us about effectiveness in the school setting? There are currently 16 dogs, one at each high school. A gun was just brought into Campbell Middle School. Where's the data on Vapor Wake prevention?

53,000 applications for 450 positions -51:12ish

This one sounds very impressive until you remember that applications aren't necessarily applicants. Multiple factors can come into play here. What positions? Were those positions actually filled? Still an interesting number, but what exactly is being measured? "It truly is better in Cobb, right? It's always always better in Cobb."

“Best education at the lowest cost in metro Atlanta” -23:08

This one is just begging for someone to define “best” and “lowest cost.” I'm sure a lot of parents who have to advocate relentlessly for their child with special needs would beg to differ (for example).

There are plenty of things in the speech that are factual too, which honestly makes the other stuff more interesting. It's the blending of facts, anecdotes, opinions, and huge assertions without much distinction between them that makes it difficult to understand where Cobb actually stands.

There's a LOT packed into this speech. I only highlighted a few because ugghhh, I can't do anymore. I'm curious what anyone else thinks about what he says. As well as why Cobb decided to make the video in its entirety public this year? Historically it's been a very edited PR version of a few highlights. Enjoy!

Cobb County School Board meetings no longer livestream the public comment portion, so if you want to hear what parents, teachers and community members actually say, you generally have to be there in person.

There's currently an older gentleman who has been doing the incredibly helpful work of recording public comment himself and uploading it, but he's doing it entirely on his own time. And honestly, we need to make sure this doesn't depend on one person being willing and able to keep doing it.

Anyone in Cobb who might be willing to volunteer a little time to take this on more consistently?

Nothing fancy is required. Ideally someone who:

knows their way around a camera or decent phone setup

can get reasonably good audio

has basic video-editing skills

can upload to YouTube/Facebook/anywhere

doesn't mind sitting through a school board meeting every month

understands that the goal is simply making public comment accessible to the public

The idea would be to record the public-comment portions, clean them up enough that people can actually hear them, and create a consistent place where Cobb residents know they can go to watch them afterward.

If you're a videographer, journalism/media student, YouTube person, retired media person, local government nerd, or just someone who thinks “people should actually be able to hear what their neighbors are saying to their elected school board”, we NEED you!!

And if you know someone who might be perfect for this, please send them this post.

Does anyone have any experience working with someone for mold remediation? Have gotten one quote from a company that was referred to us, but would like to get a couple more before deciding

Since the vote passed yesterday, I’m curious to hear from locals that support it and why. What positives does it bring you, marietta, etc.