Activist Emphasizes Education in South Cobb Commission Run

Community Volunteer Monica DeLancy's slogan in her run for Cobb County Commission is "We thrive on the Drive." That means emphasizing the positive things happening in her home neighborhood at Six Flags Drive, then building on them.

"When I moved here and told someone I was moving to Six Flags Drive, all they could say was negative things," said DeLancy, neighborhood resident since 2007. "But once I got here I realized there were task forces, politicians doing things, after school programs, positive things on Six Flags Drive."

DeLancy came to South Cobb from Texas and she has two sisters in the metro area. She works intermittently in childcare and tutoring, balanced with caring for her two school-aged children whom she said have health issues. But largely, "I am heavily involved in the community," she said. "I've been a community person since I was born." In fact, her grandmother was her hometown's mayor.

She was a science teacher and school community liasion in Texas. Though she is not employed full time, in Cobb, she's volunteered as an officer at several schools' PTAs, besides running workshops and serving with community organizations.

"I talk to as many people as I can about going to school," DeLancy said, urging them to retrain for today's economy, and "talking about ways to pay for college like the Hope grant."

That ties into what she says is the number one issue in the race: "making sure that our chidren and are families are being taken care of with jobs that pay adequate wages."

Then when jobs come to the area, South Cobb will be equipped, she explained.

DeLancy said she is the best person for the job because she's able to help people with utilities, job tips, connnections, when she has very few resources. "Imagine what I could do with resources," she laughs.