MARIETTA — On Monday afternoon, the sun and the moon nearly aligned over Cobb. The leaders of Cobb County and its cities, however, were not so united.
That was apparent at a meeting held to discuss the county’s proposed 30-year, 1% transit tax. Cobb mayors expressed interest and asked questions about the tax, but were hesitant to endorse it.
“I’m undecided,” Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling told the MDJ. “Look, there’s an immediate need for roads, for infrastructure improvements in our county, period. … Thirty years is a very long time. And I don’t know that voters are going to get past that.”
If approved by voters on Nov. 5, the Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (M-SPLOST) would collect $11 billion to construct 108 miles of rapid bus routes, half a dozen new transit centers and a countywide system of on-demand “microtransit” service.
To hold the countywide referendum, the county was legally required to invite elected officials from all seven Cobb cities to attend a Monday afternoon meeting on the M-SPLOST.
Three of Cobb’s seven mayors attended — Kennesaw’s Easterling, Powder Springs’ Al Thurman and Austell’s Ollie Clemons.
All of the cities had some sort of representation — a mayor, council member or city manager — except for Marietta.
In an effort to poll the county’s mayors on the referendum, the MDJ asked each if they support, oppose, or are undecided.
None of the five mayors reached by the MDJ voiced full support for the M-SPLOST. But none said they opposed it, either.
(Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood didn’t return a call by press time; Smyrna Mayor Derek Norton said in a text that he is out on medical leave.)
‘What are they paying for?’
Unveiled at Monday’s meeting were new projections outlining what the county expects to deliver in the first five years, second five years, and…
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