u/A_Soporific

Y'all. Watch the Video.

First up was a guy commenting on something on the agenda. This rarely happens, and it is a separate comment period than the normal one. This fellow wanted to complain about the liquor license. The neighborhood behind that shopping center is already a bit rough, they get break-ins sometimes and he's worried that a new liquor store there would be throwing gas on that particular fire. He also noted that when the shopping center was approved a condition of the zoning was no liquor stores, but that didn't pop when the city staff was doing the work. Was it not recorded properly? Did they say something to the neighbors that wasn't true to tamp down opposition? Who knows.

The next thing to come up was the Liquor License for Carni Spirits at 2953 Cobb Parkway, at Cobb Parkway and Mack Dobbs Road. They did all necessary paperwork and took the classes. Finance Department recommended approval. The business was within 300 feet of houses which is restricted, but that can be waived if the council believes that it wouldn't negatively impact them. The business owner spoke saying that owning a business was his life-long dream, that he is a veteran, and he wants to work with the city. The vote came up. It was 5 - 0 in favor of approval.

History Kid spoke about the bicentennial, 50 years ago. The cities in Cobb County decided to focus on local history. There were a few big efforts, the most visible one was updating Big Shanty Spring, on the site of City Hall and the reason why Kennesaw is here at all. Unfortunately, that work was redone into its current form in the 2010s. Bu that wasn't all. The event itself was marked with a Bonfire at the Depot and a "Trade Days" that featured a buy/sale/swap of homemade goods and historical artifacts. This also marked the genesis of the Big Shanty Festival, which is one thing we still have going on.

Now the fireworks start. The Woodland Park Guy came up. He handed out copies of e-mails and other documents to make sure everyone has them. He pointed out that staff had told him that repairs will be happening that ended up not happening. He said Councilman Jones promised a discussion that didn't happen. He hammered pretty hard on certain representations.

This got Councilman Jones to respond. Councilman Jones strongly objected to some of the things that the Woodland Park Guy said he said, particularly the use of racial epithets. This degenerated quickly with people talking over one another and voices being raised. I wasn't capable of keeping up with the notes and conflicting voices. Please watch the video to get a full understanding of what was said by whom.

Ultimately, I was present at the time and place that this happened but I cannot say that I heard the alleged statement. I wasn't directly involved in the conversation being nearby so it's entirely plausible that I just didn't hear it although I think I should have if it occurred as alleged.

Getting back to the next public commenter, Mr. Mayo was up next. He had questions. He wanted to ask again about the trail camera. He know it's the cities, but why is it there? Why hasn't anyone been willing or able to explain what is up? Why is the gate still chained off? He has limited mobility and the chain greatly restricts his access, as he requires ADA compliant access but the chain blocks the closest access to that. He highlighted his deep roots in the area, his family's involvement in the city for decades decades ago, and the historic disinvestment in the area. He wants that town hall where he can sit face to face with city staff and actually get his concerns answered as soon as possible. He still doesn't feel heard.

To wrap it up the city Manager wanted to thank the city staff for their hard work for the Independence Day festivities. Things went pretty well despite the estimated 15,000 attendees and weather. Councilman Bothers wanted to say that the city really came together to pull off the event. Councilman Jones said that he was grateful that the weather held off just long enough.

After the meeting I chatted with a few council members. The fireworks thing wasn't a result of the city cutting the budget so much as they didn't increase the budget and the cost of fireworks was much higher this year due to a spike in demand. Also, I have from several councilmembers that they intend to have a discussion on the Woodland Park next week, but the Mayor controls the agenda so there could theoretically be complications there.

Also, a community clean up of the park is being organized by the woodland acres folks who turn up to the meeting, one of their employers is sponsoring a dumpster, the dumping fee, the truck, and the sort of gloves that will let you handle glass safely. If you're on Facebook then check out their group if you're interested in volunteering this weekend.

Naturally Zoom only worked for Councilor Orochena. Councilman Bothers had to call in in order to ensure everyone was on the same page.

First up was an alcohol license. Carni Spirits will be opening at Cobb Parkway and Mac Dobbs. They're applying for package retail for beer, wine, spirits, and Sunday sales. Problem? They're within 300 ft of a bunch of houses on Summer Stream Lane. The city can approve it anyways if no one complains.

The police are reupping their deal for cooperation with Cobb County PD. It's a fairly standard agreement that the city seemed very familiar with. It got put on Consent, so it'll be approved next week with no further discussion.

The police also want to surplus a bunch of older cars as well. They're going to auction them on GovDeals.com first and then scrap them if they don't sell. There are 13 in all. 6 are Ford Interceptor Sedans, and four of them are being drummed out because they're north of 100,000 miles, but 2 are for transmission failures. 5 are Ford Explorers, 4 that hit that 100,000 mile mark where self-insurance no longer works and 1 with a borked engine. There's a Ford Fusion SE that's just hit the mile cap and Chevy Tahoe whose transmission failed. Then there is a Ford F-350. Do not buy the Ford F-350, it has "multiple points of failure" including interior water leaks, charging system failures, and "general condition".

The Devin's Shire townhomes on Duncan Drive want to update their plat because lot 29 was built a bit different than the plans had it. They'd rather fix it up front rather than get dragged into court about it later. It was moved to consent because it is mostly good bookkeeping and there's not a lot to actually complain about there.

Now it's public comment and the week off didn't cool off tempers any.

The Woodland Park guy was first off. He wanted to comment on the attempt to ban commentors from referring to staff or council by name, and was pleased that the initiative failed to pass muster. He was further disappointed that a council member (I don't know which) referred to some of the SeeClickFix tickets as "minor" when they were referring to anti-police and racistly prophane graffiti. He managed to get some of it off with his own power washer but couldn't get some of the vulgarity gone with his own tools. He wants the city to have better dialog, and is deeply disappointed that the Woodland Park Town Hall was pushed to November.

Another guy from the neighborhood followed up. He pointedly addressed the Council rather than the Mayor and Manager because he felt that the Council was the only group that heard him out previously. He then noted that there was a trail camera installed at the Woodland Park site and he couldn't get an answer as to who put it there and why. He found it odd.

The Mayo spoke next. He was also very concerned about the trail camera. Worried that it was found a nefarious purpose he contacted the Kennesaw Police about it, and they said that it is the same sort that Public Works uses sometimes, but he wasn't able to get an official response from the city as to why it is there. He also would like a town hall where people can sit down and really explain what is going on and why to him.

That's that for the meeting.

Oh, wait, SPECIAL BONUS MEETING!

It's the preliminary budget meeting for the 2027 annual budget.

The headline budget they're asking for is $35 million. Slightly above last year's, but not keeping pace with inflation so it's functionally less than last year.

There's a 2% increase in property tax that offsets the increase in the budget. In 2024 they reduced the tax rate from 8 mills (0.8%) to 7.75 mills (0.775%).

They plan on putting ~$350,000 in reserves and giving a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment to staff.

They want to pull a cool $1 million out of the general fund (not reserves) to do more roadwork in addition to the big projects ($3.5 million for the Cherokee Street project, $1.8 million for the Ben King projects, and the Sardis Street Extension).

Fees from developers is still real low. The number of new projects of either residential or commercial character is down again this year. So we're two years away from approving most the things that are in progress. Somewhat concerning, as developers are finding funding challenging.

They're going to up the fee for the Rec Center by $5/year and get them automated car readers to streamline the process.

Storm water is increasing by $0.50/year and the streetlamp fee is going up by $0.05. Both these systems have required expansion or replacement of large amounts so upping fees is necessary to try to catch up.

The city is looking to get $1.19 million from the county out thanks to new state laws shifting stuff around.

The Senior Tax Exemption is costing the city $1.9 million in 2027, up $300k. The City Manager doesn't seem super happy with it.

The various departments asked for 6 new full time positions and 2 new part time positions. The city manager intends to deny all such requests.

There's a couple of highlighted expenditures in the budget:

• They want new generators for city buildings so that work can continue during power outages.

• The police need license scanners and authentication software because digital driver's licenses are going to be a thing.

• The police are looking for 5 marked and 3 unmarked police cars to replace cars that wore out.

• Public Works is getting a hot asphalt trailer to allow them to do longer lasting road patches. The cold trailer they have is way cheaper, but they patches wear out quick when there are trucks and buses invovled.

• The Southern Museum is getting a new sign.

• The bathrooms in Adam's Park by the baseball/softball fields need to be ripped out and replaced in their entirety.

• The skate park at Swift-Cantrel Park also needs a complete overhaul.

• There's half a million for various deferred projects in Woodland Park.

• Knightsbridge, Kennesaw Springs, and Blackjack Estates will have their streets and sidewalks redone at the start of the 2027 budget year so this fall/winter.

There was more meeting, but I had to duck out about that point. You can find the full budget here.

Tonight (6/25) all the way out in East Cobb they have an outdoor movie night at the Avenue. Event kicks off at 6 PM. The movie is Alice in Wonderland the Disney Classic. Might be worth checking out.

Tomorrow (6/26) they have Guardians of the Jukebox, a 1980s style act playing at the Marietta Square from 8-10 PM. Seems like a date night sort of thing.

Alternatively, Friday (also 6/26) Cobb County is doing its big 250 anniversary event at Jim R Miller Park from 5 to 10 PM. They'll have vendors and family activities early and capping it off with a drone and light show after dark.

Seems like there's a bit of a lull before the big events for the 250th anniversary next weekend.

According to Councilman Gutierrez-Leon, the engineering for the Ben King and Cherokee Street projects should be wrapping up in the next month or two, so they will be ready for bids for construction in "late summer" or "early fall". Bids for construction should take a few weeks, but then there's nothing left but the physical doing. That means that there will be disruption during school, and we should all prepare for that.

The first thing is that the Mayor had a proclamation to proclaim. This week is Municipal Court Clerks Week, he claims. Our court clerks are among the first people come into contact with and the fairness they show people is essential to making the municipal court function. Hooray clerks.

The Mayor wanted to make another comment. He wanted to "clarify" the rules for Public Comment. He "reminded" everyone that he can remove people who are being rude or slanderous and ban them from making further public comments for 60 days. This can only be overturned by getting an 80% vote by the council. Four Council Members (not including Councilor Orochena), the mayor, and the manager signed on to a warning about the consequences of harassing city employees and a statement to the effect that it has been hurting morale among staff and causing a hostile environment. I haven't seen any harassment, but a much higher level of scrutiny than usual. While I can see how that could feel oppressive, even if staff isn't doing anything wrong, but I don't think that this warning will deescalate the Woodland Park stuff.

Speaking of staff, it's the final public hearing for the Capital Improvement plan. They worked out a plan that runs through 2030 to qualify for grants and what not. Council voted to pass it along to the Atlanta Regional Commission and State as required with a vote of 5 - 0.

There's a land use hearing for Summerlake Drive. A guy wants to do an engraving and gift personalization business out of his garage. Staff recommended approval provided that there would be no noise, vibrations, or noxious gases to bother the neighbors. This was approved 5 - 0.

1600/0 Old 41 came up again. This was previously pitched as a townhome community but the floodplain wrecked that latest of ideas. The developer rolled it back to mixed use apartment. The plan has 182 1- and 2- bedroom apartments, 5,000 square feet of office and coworking space, and a gazebo. Sidewalks will be required to connect with all the neighboring stuff, including the missing sidewalk on Old 41 down to Ridenour. Residents complained at the committee meeting, and committee approval is contingent on the existing curb cut not being used for cars.

The Walton Homes rep decided to speak up. He said that the property has been something of a white whale for them. He said that it's an "ugly" lot and not a good look for a "gateway" to be sit vacant. He also pronounced Ridenour as "Ride now". All access to the property will be through Ridenour by the Sushiology. He tried to rest on the developer's laurels as having built a bunch of stuff and lean heavily on the need for sidewalks on Old 41.

The council voted 4 - 1 to approve the rezone. Councilman Guiterrez-Leon was the sole no vote.

They also asked to reduce the minimum number of parking spaces by 64 to 337. They noted how restrained they are by how steep and flood prone the lot is, so saving that much space on parking would go a very long way to make the development viable. Staff noted that they can share existing underutilized parking, and so recommend giving an exemption to the development reducing the number of spots required from 1.75 per apartment to 1.5.

Councilman Bothers asked how much Ridenour parking was left unused since they're at 98% occupancy. The developer said that there was "substantial" underused parking, noting that he thinks that 1.75 spots per apartment was overbuilt to begin with.

The council approved reducing the number of required parking spots 5 - 0.

The mayor made some comments about how the sidewalk there was overdue and how he approves of getting that bit done.

Crime Stats were up next. Crimes were up to 130 from 105 last May. That drug crimes were up 24 accounts for almost all of the increase. Unfortunate. 911 calls were slightly down, and arrests were up year over year. There was one pedestrian hit by a car.

The police also wanted to surplus some trailers. Three to be precise. Two were radar trailers that were no longer functional and no longer supported by their manufacturer. One had been used to move around equipment that the city no longer uses and they didn't know what else to do with it. All three will be auctioned on GovDeals with a 5 - 0 vote.

Councilman Jones took the chance to tell the police chief that he really appreciates the police's Juneteenth celebration.

Now it's public comment.

History Kid said that Kennesaw once had a very active checkers club. He was skeptical at first because it was written about in the AJC on April Fools, but then the Marietta Daily Journal covered it a couple of weeks later so it's probably not a bad joke. The story was that Acworth had been hosting checkers tournaments in the 1930s and Kennesaw was their rivals, but it was more of a one-sided rivalry since Kennesaw routinely trounced Acworth in Checkers.

Up next was the Woodland Park guy. He said that he's down for deescalation but that needs to be a both sides sort of thing. He filed an open records request and noted that in some private meeting the Mayor had told the Council to not focus on the issue. He also noted that one of the council seemed to think he was stumping for next year's municipal election, something he insisted was very far from his intentions. He also noted that he's been getting more attention from Code Enforcement, which seems a bit like retaliation due to the timing. All in all, he just wants to be heard and seen and for it to at least look like the city is taking their neighborhood seriously.

Another Woodland Park neighbor, the one who went up two weeks pervious to complain this his parents with limited mobility were imperiled by damage to the sidewalk in front of their house, wanted to say that he really appreciated it getting fixed properly so quickly. But, he went on to say that he was concerned by how the Mayor tabled the park issue to November. He also didn't like how hostile the Manager had been two weeks ago. The Manager had said he had been spreading misinformation, but he noted that he hadn't gotten any information from the city and was working off of what he saw. Ultimately, he just wanted better communication, and hoped that the town hall that had been penciled in for November could be moved up.

But it seems not all Woodland Park neighbors want the park redone. One of the people who live adjacent to the park said that he remembered people coming from well outside the area, sometimes counties away, to hang out at the park. What else could they be doing but drugs and crimes? Also, there wasn't enough parking in the area for the neighborhood park to be put back as it was. So his vote is for no reinstallation of the park.

Another of the Woodland Park neighbors came up. He said that three of the council members had been canvasing the neighborhood (Councilmen Jones and Bothers along with Councilor Orochena). It was good they were out talking to the neighbors. But he's concerned that the good communication from them was being stopped by the Mayor. He noted that while the Mayor insists that Commentors don't reference staff by name, he and Woodland Park Guy get called out by name. He said that he'll be turning up week after week until the city makes a decision about the park.

A Kennesaw Drive resident came up to talk. She isn't part of the neighborhood per say, but she's close enough. She noted that the lot seems to be kept up better since people started complaining about it, and she hasn't seen or anything that would indicate a crime or drug problem there. She just wants better communication for everyone. She wants the town hall moved up as soon as possible, just to ensure that a decision is made with people's input.

Another resident came up to talk about Depot Park instead. She noted that and some friends had been by, and she was a bit unhappy with the design. She thinks it's too focused on big events like concerts and festivals and with no nearly enough shade, play space, or benches. She thinks that there are a lot of minor additions that would make the space far more useable even when there aren't any big events.

The City Manager didn't address the controversy, he was far too busy digging into the July 3rd festivities. The first concert starts at 5 and it rolls through the fireworks. City Staff will be stressed by the big 250th.

Councilmembers Jones, Bothers, and Orochena talked a little bit about the survey they did of Woodland Park. Turns out most of the neighbors generally though city services were adequate, noticing more work being done. They also noted that few residents recognized any of them, but did know the names of the city staff that has been doing work in the area. More work needs to be done, but getting the plans and money together will take some time. They intend to canvas the area again to try to talk with those they missed the first time through.

Councilman Guiterrez-Leon said that he'll give me an update on the big road projects on Ben King and Cherokee Street. They are definitely happening this year, but they won't be done before school starts up again in the fall.

They moved the Grocery Store thing to the end for good reason.

The first thing was the 2026 Comprehensive plan update. They're currently still working on the demographics and population projections based off of previous plans and the most recent statistics. The final draft will be in October, but starting in the next couple of weeks the website will open for public complaining and they'll schedule public outreach events.

The 1885 is getting their liquor license expansion to sell unopened wine for consumption elsewhere as part of the same transaction as a meal. Staff recommended approval, and the council agreed 5 - 0.

History Kid noted that Elanor Roosevelt visited Kennesaw in October of 1932. She was on a train tour for the election, but was needed in D.C. So the plan was to get off the train in Kennesaw, be whisked to an event in Marietta before being driven by the Mayor of Atlanta to the new airport. The problem? The Mayor of Atlanta thought the train was coming in a half hour later, so instead of going to that event in Marietta she spent time with us in Kennesaw before being rushed directly to the Airport by the Mayor of Atlanta.

The Woodland Park Guy was back. There was residual spice from last's week's snippiness. He didn't get all the follow up from the city about the city spending all that money on fixing up the neighborhood, but in the FOIA requests he made he got the deed to the now vacant lot that was/is Woodland Park. The deed shows that a former Mayor transferred the lot to the city for $10 under the condition that it be a park for whites only (it was a while ago) and would revert if ever not used for that purpose. He asked if the city was willing to risk ownership of the lot over this.

Another guy from that neighborhood said that he got a response, but it didn't break down how the city spent $1.4 million on the Woodland Acres subdivision (IIRC the city did budget $1.4 million for road improvement for three subdivisions including Woodland Acres this last budget cycle). He spent his own money on getting documentation in his own free time. If he can get these records then why is it taking the city so long to get them? He still feels that his neighborhood has been neglected, and the shortness of the Mayor and Manager haven't been helping matters.

Another neighbor of theirs said that she is glad that the neighbors are getting together, walking the roads to catalog all the potholes and crumbling storm drains, and really talking about how to improve things. But she's annoyed by the city's slow responses, while the others have gotten something from the city (even if it wasn't everything they were looking for) she hasn't even gotten a reply yet. She just wants to focus on the future of the city, particularly the park and roads. The park is still chained off, and the lack of communication and visible action is irksome.

Donovan Giardina (candidate for council, and runner of the farmer's market) wanted to talk about something else. He was wondering if the city could lower the speed limit on Paulding Street. It's a residential cut through that only goes between two city roads but the speed limit is 35. The entrance to his street is hard to see and people are going too fast to avoid collision. A lower speed limit or better signage would be most appreciated. Also, there's a possibility to change the timing on crosswalks to give cross walks a few seconds of go before the cars go, this would improve visibility for pedestrians without requiring a big investment in infrastructure.

The Mayor noted that the Mayor and Council don't have to respond to public comment, but the Woodland Acres people files 92 clicket tickets and 20 FOIA requests over the past couple of weeks. It's taxing the city staff. This is budget season and they had to pull people off of that to try to keep pace with the complaints. He wants to push the Woodland Park issues to November when the staff can be mobilized. But this statement was controversial in semantics, since the mayor referred to Woodland Park as "closed" when it is technically not, but it is chained off. But, in my take on this response is that the city is simply understaffed if there's not enough manhours to cover this amount of community engagement.

Anyways, here we are for the headline event. The El Ranchito Grocery Store hearing. I have 9 whole pages of notes. I will not be typing them up as spoken. Do refer for the video on the city website for the specifics.

Here are the facts as I understand them:

The Grocer divorced the Ex somewhere around 2001 and started the Grocery Store in 2002 at its current location on Cherokee Street in the shopping center with the Pizza Hut and Kennesaw Billiards. In December of 2024 KPD noted something that looked like a drug deal and pulled over both cars. One car contained the Grocer's ex, and 2 grams of cocaine. The Ex then verbally agreed to a search of the Grocery Store and handed over a key, where more cocaine was found. In March of 2025 the Organized Crime Unit of KPD followed up and executed a search warrant on the Grocery Store. No additional drugs were found, but they found sandwich bags, spoons, and scales all of which tested positive for cocaine residue. There was an arrest in April of 2026. In May of 2026 the Grocery Store went to renew its business license and was denied. The denial was based on an ordinance that required the revocation of a license if an owner knowingly allows drugs to be sold or consumed in a place of business.

After some 2 hours of testimony the council voted 5 - 0 to uphold the revocation.

It's clear there were drugs there, as drugs and drug accessories were found there. The grocer was evasive as to the question of when he fired his ex, and it turned out it was last week. Presumably that was about when he hired a lawyer, and if an enforcement action wasn't brough it is pretty clear that the ex would still be working there and (presumably) still dealing out of there. Based on that, the city didn't cut him any slack.

Personally, I think there was a path to a preponderance, though. It took way too long to get to any of this but I think it's entirely possible that he actually didn't know until the city denied the license. The store had four employees, but those were himself (and he was working two jobs and only showed up when asked to sign paperwork), the ex, and their two daughters who only showed up to cover shifts when requested. I though for sure that the scales and baggies being out and about in the break room would be the kill shot for him knowing, but people were only there when the ex asked them to be there. But what about the two arrests? Well, he seemed surprised by the cost of bail, so while his daughter paid bail it doesn't seem like he was up on any of the details. But what about the letters the city sent him? Well, I'm pretty sure he can't read English as he was unable to do so when prompted by the lawyers. I think that you could construct a plausible take that he was pretty negligent in letting his ex run his business without checking up on it but him simply not knowing because she (and a daughter) hid the drugs and arrests and mistranslated the letters. But, yeah, that wasn't the argument made and therefore the place is closed.

To wrap up, I won't be attending next week's council meeting and I won't be able to write something up based on the live stream because I'll be on a boat and without consistent internet access. Sorry about that.

Due to the Holiday we had the meeting on Tuesday. Also due to the holiday Councilor Viars was not physically present, so we had to make do with her disembodied voice for most of the meeting.

The Business License Revocation Appeal for the El Ranchito Grocery was the thing that I thought would be all the drama, but there was no real discussion this time. It seems that we'll get the whole thing next week.

The only public hearing was for the Comprehensive Plan update. It's required by the 1989 Georgia Planning Act to do an update every five years. Our due date is June 30th 2027. Next week we'll do step one, with a website going up that will allow residents to complain and propose changes to the comprehensive plan. The draft plan is due in November with the final plan projected to be done in March of 2027.

The 1885 Grill wants to upgrade their liquor license with a package license. This would allow them to sell unopened bottles of wine for later consumption off site in the same transaction as a meal. This is a new option, do interesting to see how that goes.

The 2028 SPLOST agreement is due as well. The County needs to set its final list and we need to sign on to the intergovernmental agreement to get our stuff on the list.

Speaking of necessary parts of the comprehensive plan, we forgot to pay the people doing the comprehensive plan. It just wasn't part of the thing where the city authorized the Placemaking Collective to make the plan, apparently people were on vacation. So we really should just pay up next week.

The Public Safety Building needs funding for their interview rooms, the visible cameras and hidden cameras and other AV equipment. All in it's $47,240 so it's a bit of money for just three rooms.

Public works came up with a crisis. A storm drain failed on St. Charles Lane and it turned into a sink hole. It's already doing damage to the street and private property as it doubled in size over the past two days, and with the continued rain we don't have time to wait. Rather than doing a full bid process Public Works is contracting with companies already on the payroll for $35,000 rather than paying much more with a delay.

At this point the power went out and we lost the disembodied voice of Councilor Viars, but the live stream was still up so she was still able to participate some other ways.

They wanted to surplus a Zero Turn Mower. It's only from 2019 but they worked it real hard. They'll surplus it to GovDeals.com.

3057 Main Street (AKA Townes at Cantrell) is doing their second phase, as approved by Mayor and Council in 2018. They'll be adding an additional 38 town homes, this is a final plat adjustment and sit it fits all the rules staff recommends approval. There was no discussion in the dark.

Similarly 1651 McCollumn Parkway is doing their final plat. The rezone from a single lot to 68 townhomes was approved back in 2024. Now they have all the stuff set up they're doing the final bit. It meets all the rules so staff recommends approval. There was no discussion.

Public Comment kicked off.

It's the Woodland Park guy. He said he's impressed by how responsive the council and staff have been. He also said that he wasn't there to call out specific people or anything. But he wasn't sure that the story he was told was accurate, so he filed an open records request and got all the police reports for the parks before they were closed. Turns out there weren't that many, and most was a neighbor crying wolf as repeated calls for suspicious persons resulted in no police action. He decided to wrap things up by trying to get the mayor to answer some questions on the record.

The mayor pointedly did not respond.

Another guy from the woodland Park Subdivision showed up. He wasn't there about the parks. He had deep roots in the neighborhood and moved back in part to keep an eye on his parents, who are of limited mobility and in their 70s. The sidewalk in front of their parent's place was damaged with all the rain after so long without anything. There was a repair done but it was clearly insufficient and restricting both his (he walks with a cane) and his parent's ability to get out and about. He very much wants a far more comprehensive repair. He wasn't all that heated, but there had been a decades-long sense of neglect of the area.

Councilor Orochena stepped in. People reached out to her about this and she went to see it in person and talked to public works. What's out there now is a temporary patch.

The lights came back on at this point.

The City Manager was getting a bit heated himself. He'd been working on it and felt accused. He pointed out that the patch job was necessary, but a more comprehensive repair required the county to come out and mark the underground infrastructure, something they won't/can't do until it's dry.

The guy said he didn't know and tried to lower the temperature, but he reiterated that he and his parents felt like they'd been overlooked for a very long time.

The City Manager was a bit snappy in the reply stating that the city spent $1.4 million in the neighborhood over the past few years adding sidewalks and resurfacing. I do remember them appropriating a similar number for the neighborhood over the past few years.

Another fellow in the audience (there were quite a few people there given how wet it was) was inspired to get up and speak. He wanted to defend his neighbors and demanded to know when the city spent that much and how it was spent. The city manager promised to send him that information. There were some tempers on both sides.

The Mayor wanted to go into executive session do discuss some matter pertaining to city employee(s), but Councilor Orochena asked about her discussion topic and extracted from the mayor that it'll be on the next work session's agenda. And that's where it wrapped up.

Seems like Councilor Orochena has been very active of late.

So, does anyone have any experience with them? They're going to have a hearing before the Mayor and Council on the 1st and I'd like to hear a little more about it. I have to confess that I've not been very often at all.

Reading the stuff in the meeting (which will be tomorrow) it seems that they're in danger of losing their business license because someone associated with the business got popped by the Cobb organized crime unit.

Sorry about that everyone. If someone else could cover that'd be great.

The first thing to come up was a fireworks permit. Supershow Fireworks want to set up a temporary booth in a parking lot. That of King's Liquor on 41 between Due West/Summer Street and Pine Mountain/Jiles. They moved it to the consent agenda, so it'll be approved without comment next week unless someone complains. All of that contingent on the Fire Marshall approval that hasn't quite come in yet.

There's a Hazard Mitigation Plan up next. The county (and all the cities therein) need to make a plan to handle disasters that will be submitted to FEMA every five years or so. The last time we did it was 2021, so it's right on time. There was no objection to making plans, so they moved it to consent for quick approval next week.

The police are going to be moving to their new digs pretty soon, as such they're clearing out the warehouses. In the warehouses there were a ton of old Motorola body cams that they no longer use. Rather than bring the body cams that have already been replaced with better models to fester in a new storage location they decided to ask permission to sell them off. They got approval to list them on GovDeals.com, the E-Bay of municipal governments.

The crime stats were up next and they're bad, like real bad. Last April there were 91 crimes. This year there's 132, like a 45% increase. Almost all of it comes from a big spike in drug offenses, fraud, and sex offenses. The only bright spot was a drop of arson to 0 from 1. Even the number of arrests is down, so it's not like they're catching more people overall. Things like this happen, I guess. Crime is still vanishingly rare, but it's a nasty little spike there.

The city's IT department needed to ask for money for the networking equipment in the new Public Safety building. The bids were handled under existing State of Georgia contracts and the money was covered from SPLOST money earmarked for the new building, so it was moved to the consent agenda for approval without further comment.

The old library being turned into a parking lot needs engineering work. Apparently $88,750 in engineering. Because the city believes they need the parking this contract approval was moved to consent.

The Federal Government issues Community Development Block Grants, and rather than the city fighting with the county and other Cobb cities for the money the local municipalities have agreed to apply together, guaranteeing that everyone gets a fair share of the money. The deal need renewal, so the city will be moving that renewal to consent.

For Parks and Recreation it's already Christmas time. The Holly Daze event is being planned, and since the drone show went well last year they're planning on doing it again this year. The show would cost $28,000.

Councilor Viars asked staff could do anything about the weather this year, in a humorous reference.

Councilor Orochena was more skeptical, preferring that the money be dedicated to lasting improvements. She noted that the city was becoming known for good quality shows, but those special events didn't seem to be helping the city after the shows end.

Councilman Bothers said that he thought that the last year's event was short. He would prefer a longer show if we are spending that much on it.

Councilor Viars said that the drone show is roughly analogous to a fireworks display in terms of cost. She thinks that it works well as a capstone to a day-long event and it can be better integrated into a larger event.

The Mayor was completely on board with the drone show and said as much. So it very much looks like it'll be approved next week.

Parks and Recreation want new lawnmowers for $27,000. They had a few mowers that were toned down. They actually need them, so that's moved to the consent agenda.

The Community Development Department is doing a Main Street Program. There's a few national groups that give out money for those that get accredited Main Street programs to maintain and improve things like the Marietta Square. We qualify for full accreditation for this first time this year.

Councilor Orochena noted that the qualifications require a "visioning event" of public outreach every year, to allow citizens input into the work done with that public money. She wanted to know if the event was scheduled for this year as she didn't recall one last year.

Staff said that they had one last year, but they haven't yet scheduled one for this year yet. It'll be some time in the Fall.

Councilman Jones asked more about the annual assessment and how to maintain and improve that accreditation.

Staff explained that they get a checklist and the other organizations will check up on them every year.

Now it's up for Public Comment. No History Kid this time.

The Woodlawn Park guy was here, though. The Mayor warned him to not mention by name any staff member this time other than himself and the assistant city manager. Despite that confrontational start, the park guy said that he had a good sit down with staff and they explained why the two parks in question had been downgraded, including going over crime stats and incident reports and how stepping up enforcement in the 1990s could have legitimately bankrupted the city. The decision made sense then, but those same conditions do not persist to today and he has a number of petitions and several hundred signatures for those parks to be restored.

After the meeting the Mayor said that he did a good job of keeping within the rules of decorum this time.

He wasn't alone in speaking on it. Ms Lion was there as well. She was raised in Woodland Acres, and she remembered the parks when they were still in good shape. She recently moved back after inheriting her childhood home, and was shocked by their current state. She knows there's a real desire for having those parks back, after all the neighbor kids are already playing in her yard adjacent to the Woodland park, and neighbors gather there as well. She firmly believes that having the benches, play set, and picnic area back would be a boon to the neighborhood.

And that's that. Sorry for the delay. There's some kind of ick going through my family at the moment and I just didn't get the post up last night.

Acworth is hosting their Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival this Friday (5/8) and Saturday (5/9) at their Logan Farm Park. Friday will be "The Lord of the Wings" competition, and you can buy tickets to taste. Saturday will be "Taster's Choice" a more generalized competition. They'll be open from 5 to 10 PM on Friday and 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday. All profits will go to local charities.

This Saturday (5/9) the City of Kennesaw is shredding its documents, and you can too! It's free and open to all, up to a 10 box limit of documents. Please no glass and no electronics. The mobile shredder will be at Swift-Cantrell Park from 9 AM to Noon.

It's the Mountain 2 River Trail Festival on Saturday (5/9). The festival is centered on the Atherton Square, the plaza just to the west of the Marietta Square by the railroad tracks. They have art installations along the trail all the way to Lewis Park by Kennestone Hospital and all the way down to the pedestrian bridge near Brown Park right next to the Confederate Cemetery. So, there's a lot of art and a lot of ground to cover. In Marietta's core free art drops, scavenger hunts, aerialists, live music and dances. The event starts at 11 AM and runs to 6 PM.

Okay, the Yaarab Shrine Circus will actually be in town starting on Friday and running through the 17th. Tickets are $10 a head, and parking is $5. The Midway opens at 5 PM on weekdays, 10 AM on Saturdays, and Noon on Sundays. They will set up at the Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta. For real this time. I promise.

Finally, on Thursdays this month (so I missed it for today) Marietta is having a Brown Bag Concert from Noon to 1 PM. Sit on the square and enjoy a live music performance.

The starting hearing was for the 1600 Old 41 Highway development. They originally brought it to the city in March, but they are going to have to go all the way back to the drawing board. Too much of the lot is flood plain and the city pushed back on the workarounds they suggested.

The council approved their withdraw 5 - 0.

The capital improvement report for the Atlanta Regional Commission for the years 2026 to 2030. This is necessary to charge developers extra fees and get grants. There's no reason not to submit the report.

It's approved 5 - 0.

The consent agenda was up next. I don't usually mention it, it's full of stuff that no one objects to but needs council action, like authorizing staff to do stuff or approving the purchase of lots in the city's cemetery. This time Councilor Orochena had a comment on one of the things, so it derailed the usually streamlined process. She wanted to make sure that they kept the trees on the lot of the old Kennesaw Public Library when its bulldozed for a parking lot.

Ultimately, the consent agenda was approved 5 - 0, but it was much more of a process.

The accountant who audited 2025's books came up to speak. They issued a "clean opinion", meaning that there was nothing wrong with the books and everything was accurate. The city staff answered all the questions they had and no one needed to twist any arms. The headliners, the city had total assets of $242 million, liabilities of $32 million, and free cash of $31 million. Revenue is up big over the past five years, including up $1.3 million last year.

Councilman Jones wanted to ask some questions, mostly about the senior tax exemption. Apparently, it's stupid expensive for the city, but staff and the accountant weren't ready to answer the question off the dome. The estimate was about $2 million, up big from 2024 when it was ~$1.5 million.

The council had to vote on the record to indicate that they got and understood the report.

History Kid spoke during public comment. He wanted to talk about the naming of Kennesaw State University. Turns out when the school was first founded they didn't have a name attached. The working title was "Cobb County Junior College". There was a campaign to name "Richard Russel Junior College" after a long serving senator. Ultimately, it came down to Mr. Strugis, the first president of the University. His first swing at it was "Marietta Junior College", which made many people very angry. Since it was pretty far away from Marietta. But the people from Marietta were mad when it was suggested that the name shouldn't stick. There was a compromise, Kennesaw Mountain. Kennesaw Mountain was close enough to both places and "claimed" by North Cobb and Marietta. The problem? "Kennesaw Mountain Junior College" was considered too "hick" or "country". So they chopped the mountain off and rolled with it. Hence the name "Kennesaw Junior College" which eventually grew into "Kennesaw State University".

The city manager said that they had great turnout among millennials for the Boy Band Review this last Saturday. The concerts seem to be going quite well. He also wanted to congratulate the finance folks for the positive audit. Going back over every entry on every spreadsheet with outside accountants looking over your shoulder takes months and is very challenging, and despite that they did a very good job.

Sorry about the lack of "stuff going on this weekend" posts. My, apparently, had a fever for a week and didn't think it was worth telling anyone. The ER quickly diagnosed him with pneumonia. He was hospitalized for three days, but he's doing a lot better now. The doctors and Kennestone said that they've been slammed by such cases, and since it responds well to antibiotics early check up on your elderly loved ones, a quick urgent care visit now is much better than overnight stays in the hospital next week.

First things first, the Cobb Galleria people were there. The city kicked in a fair chunk of its hotel/motel tax to a massive $190 million upgrade so they were there to give an update on how things were going. The project has been underway for a while, and a big chunk of the main building reopened January 11th. The red deck was demolished and they're going to add a new deck elsewhere to make up the numbers. They're adding 13,000 square foot conference rooms and convention space indoors with an 11,000 square foot outdoor event space for weddings and what not. They're also adding RGB gamer lighting everywhere so they could turn the lighting orange for Home Depot and what not. Councilman Jones asked if we could get one of the conference rooms named after us, and the replied that we'd be getting mural instead.

They expect to be done for an already booked convention in April of next year.

The folks doing 1600 Old Highway 41 want to turn it from woods to a multi-family housing area, but the developers withdrew the plan again. Turns out staff has been pushing back and they need to go back to the drawing board again.

Staff needs to do the Capital Improvement Plan for the Atlanta Regional Commission. Getting this done on time enables Kennesaw to get all sorts of grants, so it's important to get it done. Councilor Orochena asked about the affordable housing report, and staff explained it was part of the Comprehensive Plan they're working on.

The financial audit will be gone over in detail next week. You can read the executive summary here and the full report here.

The Hiram Butler House in the Smith-Gilbert Gardens is to get some renovation done. It's going to be more than half a million dollars, but first half million is covered by the State of Georgia. Thank you state reps for bringing home some bacon.

The owner of 0 Maple Drive (across from the East Park on Cherokee Street) wants to subdivide their one lot in to three lots so as to build three houses where one house was. It conforms to existing zoning, which allows 1 house on a lot no smaller than 15,000 square feet and the lot will be divided into three that are larger than that. It was moved to consent agenda, so it will be approved with no additional discussion if no one complains.

The Lacy Phase 2 rezoning is up. The Kennesaw Wrecker lot and the trailer park and going to be smooshed together into one lot to allow them to build the big development. Staff recommended approval and it also was moved to the consent agenda.

We now know what's up for the old library building. It's going to be a parking lot. Womp womp. Councilor Orochena asked about the trees. The contractor says that they will try to avoid cutting them down, but if they have to they'll replant them somewhere else on site.

Now it's public comment:

The Miller said that her parents were scientists and when they retired they spent time educating kids about nature and gardening. They used to give talks on stuff exactly like this, and it's very important to keep bug populations up which also keeps bird populations healthy. Also, pollinators are essential to farmers and gardeners to do their thing.

The Georgia Native Plants Society turned up. They already organize volunteers to help restore native plants to the Smith-Gilbert Gardens and would very much like to organize volunteers for the soon-to-be proposed pollinator gardens.

The Conservation Landscaper guy was there again. Instead of talking in favor of the playground this time he was talking in favor of the pollinator gardens. He says that native plants are great for pollinator gardens and they have bunches of advantages over the annuals the city currently plants. Most native plants self-prune, don't require fertilizer, and are perfectly happy with the natural level of rain we get here outside of droughts. A pollinator garden could pay for itself if it replaces expensive landscaping.

The Mayor tried to call it, but there were more people to speak.

The Woodland Park guy came up. The mayor had warned him about his tone and civility (the last time he was accusatory of certain city officials). This time he started out positive, there had been some work done between last time and this time, including getting signs back up. He also spoke to a previous public works manager who said that the two neighborhood parks he was talking about had gotten less support due to historical drug and vandalism problems, so previous mayors and councils had deprioritized them for several decades. He was confident that the parks could be rehabbed now that the city was listening to needs of people on the other side of 41 and hoped that a lot more work could be done.

The last fellow was back on the topic of Pollinator Gardens. He said that they could very well be a good quiet meeting place in public parks. Its hard for neighbors to hang out and get to know one another and as great as the big parks are they aren't conducive to neighbors getting to know each other. In fact, his HOA president was willing to volunteer to work on a pollinator garden. Pollinator Gardens aren't community gardens, but he was hopeful that they could fulfill the same goal.

The City Manager noted that there are two concerts coming up this weekend. The First Friday Concert featuring the Kränberries (Alt Rock/Pop/Classic Rock) and the Amphitheater Concert Series featuring the Boyband Review. The city manager said he isn't into boy bands himself and doesn't know much about it. The County will be doing its comprehensive plan, where the county sets up its goals for the next five years, they had a kick off meeting on Wednesday and they should be interviewing the council soon to establish the goals for this part of the county.

Finally, there's the discussion Councilor Orochena put on the agenda to discuss allowing volunteers to establish pollinator gardens in neighborhood parks. She just wants permission for a pilot program.

Councilman Bothers said that he's not against it in principle, but is worried about cost.

Councilor Orochena said the pilot location would be the planter box on JO Stephenson that is currently being used for annuals. It's right next to the old Eaton Chiropractic and if it uses donated plants and volunteers it shouldn't cost almost anything.

Councilman Guiterrez-Leon said that he's in favor, and he thinks that a larger program could compliment the Smith-Gilbert Gardens. He'd go so far as to volunteer himself to do some planting.

Councilman Jones said that he was involved in 4-H in school and wondered if they could get involved. It did seem right up there alley, and he'd be more than happy to donate some of his time as well.

Councilman Bothers asked where the initial cost in terms of plants would be coming form.

Councilor Orochena said that she thought that there could be partnerships and corporate donors for that.

Councilor Viars asked if they had any source for plants.

Councilor Orochena said that there are existing native plant and pollinator garden groups that have access to spares. She postulated that small gardens in neighborhood parks could get plants form and advertise for efforts at the Smith-Gilbert Gardens.

Councilman Jones wanted liability wavers to limit the risk if someone managed to hurt themselves. The City Attorney said that was a given.

The Mayor chimed in with some concerns. The city was doing a lot more now than it was when he first started and he was worried that a big project could stress city resources. He would rather it be on private property at first, and to keep the city from being on the hook for additional costs should enthusiasm from volunteers fall off.

Councilor Viars noted that since the proposal was just for the one planter just off Main Street right now they could just plant annuals again like they have been should volunteers stop turning out.

The City Manager asked if the plan would involve city employees, and was reassured that the current proposal was volunteer-only given the number of people who had already volunteered. He said that since the draw on city resources would be minimal that he had no objections.

The end conclusion was that if Councilor Orochena organized the materials and volunteers herself then she should bring it back to the council and they would vote on it then.

So it's the political Semi-Finals, with the winners of this election going on to the championship. Just as a reminder, the State of Georgia doesn't register people by party so it doesn't know or care which party you are, you get to pick one of the two separate party elections that just so happen to be going on at the same time and place. Once you pick one then you are stuck with it through any runoffs that may be happening in June. If you want to vote to determine who the Republican governor candidate will be you won't get to weigh in on county Democrats, so make your decision carefully. You CAN vote "non partisan" but then you will only see the nonpartisan races like the various judges and not see races for US Senate, Georgia Governor, or the Cobb County Commission, so it's only recommended for those who are trying to make a point of some sort.

Here is the official page for Advanced Voting. Regional voting locations include the Ben Robertson Community Center, North Cobb Senior Center, West Cobb Regional Library, and the central office across 41 from the Big Chicken. During the weeks between Monday (4/27) and Friday (5/15) they'll be open 7 AM to 7 PM. They'll be open on Saturdays from 9 AM to 5 PM. Some locations like the central office and the North Cobb Senior Center will be open Sundays from Noon to 5 PM.

If you already have made up your mind, go get them. Getting it out of the way early is a great idea. If not, then please vote to replace the incumbent Superior Court Clerk.