Cobb County

‘It will be a big city’: Cobb County voters approve cityhood for Mableton

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County is on the path to having a new city. Voters approved cityhood for Mableton on Tuesday, with 53% saying yes.

It’s the only cityhood measure approved in Cobb County this year. The results from Tuesday night are unofficial until they are certified next week, but the group behind the Cityhood for Mableton movement is excited and looking forward to what lies ahead.

“We have about over 77,000 people that will be in the city, and yes, it will be a big city,” State Representative Erica Thomas told Channel 2′s Michele Newell.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Thomas said she worked together along with several other citizens to make this happen.

“It took us almost five years and over so many meetings and so many town halls to really let the people know what is going on before we put this on the ballot,” said Thomas.

There is a lot of new development in Mableton right now,  but there are also some abandoned buildings and underdeveloped areas. The group that is behind making Mableton a city wants to change that.

“They would love to see improvements in the district, zoning, economic development,” said Thomas.

TRENDING NOW:

The big question is what will happen next.

“We start planning for the governor’s transition committee. He will be appointing some people to the transition committee that will be putting together some policies and some things that would be great for our new city. We will have an election next year for six city council members and a mayor,” said Thomas.

The city of Mableton would take some services from the county, including planning and zoning, code enforcement and more. The county will continue to provide public safety services.

Preserve South Cobb has been pushing against the Cityhood for Mableton for several months now.

The group released this statement in response to Tuesday night’s election results.

“While we are disappointed with the outcome, Preserve South Cobb is grateful to the many supporters, volunteers and donors who assisted with the campaign. We look forward to seeing how future city officials will fulfill the many promises made by cityhood advocates while honoring their pledge not to raise taxes. Preserve South Cobb will be meeting in the coming days to discuss exploring the process of deannexation, starting with the area of the Birney 02. The precinct voted 71% against incorporation, demonstrating that the citizens of this area of unincorporated Smyrna do not want to be incorporated into Mableton. The cityhood issue has been framed as allowing citizens to have local control, and in this case local control means exploring deannexation through the legislative process for areas that voted heavily against being included in the city,” said Christie Lynn of Preserve South Cobb.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Hall County man charged with elder exploitation; guns and drugs seized A Gainesville man is in the Hall County Jail, charged with the financial exploitation of an elderly woman, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.

©2022 Cox Media Group

Most Read