County Officials Get Firefighting Experience

Cobb officials recently participated in firefighter exercises.

A group of Cobb County government officials got to experience what it's like to be a firefighter. District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott, Cobb Public Safety Director Jack Forsythe and 911 Director Ann Flynn took part in firefighter training exercises last week at the Public Safety Training Center in Marietta. The experience included a ladder climb as well as interior smoke and fire simulations. More than 650 sworn firefighters and 32 civilian employees make up the team at Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services. The department covers 305 square miles of the unincorporated areas of Cobb as well as three incorporated cities including Kennesaw, Acworth and Powder Springs. The team responded to more than 48,000 calls last year.

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Area Closures, Detours and Road Work Updates

Check out the latest updates on road constructions, delays and detours around Cobb County.

Here are the latest updates on road work being done around Cobb County, according to Commissioners Bob Ott, Helen Goreham, JoAnn Birrell and Lisa Cupid. Davidson Road to Willow Point Pkwy Willow Point Pkwy to Timber Ridge Road Karls Gate Drive to Lake Fjord Pass GDOT I-285 Top-End Resurfacing Project Expect delays as Georgia DOT continues working on a $56 million resurfacing project on I-285. Crews will resurface 10 miles of I-285 between Paces Ferry Road in Cobb County and Ashford Dunwoody Road in DeKalb County. Most work will take place nights and weekends. The project is scheduled to complete in August 2013. Click here for more information. Detour Scheduled for Multi-use Trail From Monday, Feb. 18, to Monday, March 11, parts of the …

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Ott, Lee, Cupid to Be Sworn In

The District 2 commissioner and the Cobb Commission chairman will take the oath of office for their second terms on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott will be sworn in for a second term today. Ott, a Republican who was re-elected without opposition this year, will take the oath of office Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the office of Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs, 70 Haynes St., Marietta. His District 2 covers the Smyrna-Vinings area and most of East Cobb below Roswell Road. In an article published in The Marietta Daily Journal on Monday, Ott pointed to his role in a number of commercial redevelopment issues as his main accomplishments, especially in the the Johnson Ferry Road and Powers Ferry Road corridors. On Thursday, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee will be sworn in. Lee is an East Cobb resident who defeated former chairman Bill Byrne in the Republican …

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Bob Ott Hosts Town Hall Meeting Tuesday

Bob Ott will host his regular town hall meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Judge's Map Keeps Mableton Whole, July Commission Elections on Track

If a U.S. district judge's county commission district map is approved, Cobb citizens could save $200,000 for a special election and Mableton would remain in one district.

Mableton residents may be able to remain together in Cobb Commission District 4 if a U.S. district judge has his version of a map approved. If the map is approved within the week, the county could move forward with its July 31 election without a costly special election for districts 2 and 4. The Georgia General Assembly is responsible for creating a new redistricting map after every U.S. Census to account for the county’s changing population and ensure that each district has approximately the same number of constituents. This year, legislators made no final decision on the county’s new map, leaving citizens without proportionate district boundaries. With no final district map, the scheduled July 31 election for South Cobb’s District 4 and …

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Rich "The Equalizer" Pellegrino

11:06 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012

"Why do you think state legislators failed to approve a map during this year's legislative session?" Because they were too busy wasting time and taxpayers money trying to pass hateful and useless legislation penalizing and targeting immigrant students, taking away women's health choices, preventing people's right to protest, etc ad nauseam--which are all distractions from the fact that they have …   more ›

Ott Talks Traffic and Transportation at Third Town Hall Meeting

Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott addressed several transportation and traffic issues at his third town hall meeting since early February.

Traffic and transportation were hot-button issues at Commissioner Bob Ott’s third town hall meeting of the year, which was held Wednesday night at the Vinings Estates clubhouse in Mableton. Several county officials–including Sen. Doug Stoner, Cobb Chairman Tim Lee, Community Development Director Rob Hosack, Economic Development Director Michael Hughes and Transportation Director Faye DiMassimo–attended the meeting. Ott has not shied away from expressing his opposition to the Transportation Investment Act, which will be sent to voters in July. “I’m not anti-transit, I’m anti-the-list-that’s-being-proposed,” he told the crowd of about 50. The $6.14 billion list of transportation projects was approved in October by the Atlanta Regional …

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Ott, Wilkerson to Host Upcoming Town Hall Meetings

Each will host a separate town hall meeting in South Cobb.

Southeast Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott will host a town hall meeting on March 14 at 7 p.m.  at Vinings Estates in Mableton. The meeting will be held at Crescent Ridge Clubhouse at 655 Crescent Ridge Trail in Mableton. If the county commission redistricting map proposed by Representatives Rich Golick and Ed Setzler pass the Senate after passing the House two weeks ago, Ott would represent more of eastern Mableton. Rep. David Wilkerson (D-Austell) is holding a town hall meeting of his own on Monday, March 12. Wilkerson will discuss current legislative issues, bills and the regional transportation referendum to be voted upon in July. The town hall meeting will be held at the Ron Anderson Recreation Center in Powder Springs from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.…

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Thompson Supports Code Changes that Boost Redevelopment

East Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott proposed changing the county's development measures to include redevelopment.

The Cobb County commissioners have before them Tuesday a proposal that could help redevelopment efforts in the county, including the many current efforts in South Cobb. The Cobb County Development Standards code has been written through the years for new development, said Commissioner Bob Ott. He explained at last week's District 2 Town Hall Meeting that these measures were originally intended to protect undeveloped land and that when the code was being written officials hadn’t considered redevelopment. Over time he said it became more expensive for developers to redevelop an old site than it would be to construct a new one. “So what happens is that’s really why you see a lot of green field development and we’re leaving this trail behind …

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