09/03/2023
Last night at a Glance: Wednesday, August 30 at 6:30pm at the Riverside Epicenter, 135 Riverside Pkwy.
Mayor Owens called the meeting to order, Council member Ron Davis conducted the invocation prayer, council member Keisha Jeffcoat led the pledge of allegiance.
The agenda and consent agenda were all approved unanimously.
Six citizens gave public comments.
1.) Jeff Padgett of district 5 asked what can citizens do to help? He suggested welcome signs on Fontaine Rd and Veterans memorial hwy. He said he would like to see Veterans Memorial fixed up and beautified.
2.) Angela Wynn of district 2 asked for a renters bill of rights.
3.) Monica Delancey of district 2 stated that 65% of her district were renters. She announced a community meeting/event her organization was hosting, We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association, to be held September 13 at 5:30pm at Premier Learning Academy.
4.) Cynthia Poselenzy of district 4 asked about the city website and email addresses. She stated many citizens are still unaware of how to contact the city, or that they are even in a new city. She suggested the city talk to local businesses and the MIC and ask if they would contribute to funding post cards to notify citizens.
5.) Cassandra Brown of district 4 stated she is a member on the Cobb County School Technology Oversight Committee, and she gave updates about the schools.
6.) Denny Wilson of district 2 stated that the right of ways in South Cobb needed to be mowed, and that our community did not have the same appearance of places like East Cobb. She advocated for citizens to speak up about the issues that need to be addressed. She stressed the importance of the city establishing and adhering to a budget.
Special Speakers: Lisa Crossman, deputy director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, and Georgia House 39 representative Terry Cummings.
Lisa Crossman addressed four health topics: Covid, drug use, STD testing, and the new public health facility coming to Riverside Pkwy.
Hospitalizations due to Covid are down and the CDC guidance for covid has not changed. She provided free Covid tests and hand sanitizers for attendees to take home.
Crossman then addressed a rapidly rising health issue in our community: opioid overdoses, particularly those from the synthetic opioid, Fentanyl. She stated several ways citizens can prevent substance abuse from opioids:
-Dispose of all unfinished opioid prescriptions
-Patients should ask for alternative pain management medications instead of opioids
-Please ask for help if you are suffering from a substance use disorder.
-The Health Department has resources to provide the life saving drug naloxone for free - just contact the health department and ask about it.
Citizens can test quickly and privately for STI’s with a at-home STI testing kit, available for free by filling out this form at https://dph.georgia.gov/georgias-home-sti-self-test-kit. The at-home test detects the following STDs: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV, Syphilis and Trichomoniasis.
A new South Cobb Public Health Center is coming to Riverside parkway. It’s estimated to break ground in 2024, and open in 2025.
Terry Cummings talked about her event that occurred August 29 advocating for HB 520. She announced PNC bank will have a mobile branch (a 30ft truck) to come by the Riverside Epicenter for two hours on September 8th. The mobile bank will be at the Epicenter on the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month along with the Food Truck Village. On September 16 Cummings will have a pizza event for high school seniors.
Discussion:
10 laptops, smart phones, and related cybersecurity and productivity software was unanimously approved.
A planning retreat was proposed for September 14-16 at GMA headquarters in Atlanta to discuss vision and mission statements, service and staffing priorities, and preliminary funding. Council member Auch raised concerns about parking for the public, the costs associated with the retreat ($750 per day), whether the purpose of the retreat could be achieved with local work sessions, and noted several schedule conflicts, as council member Oladapo would be unable to attend the retreat in-person, and Auch had a scheduling conflict on one of the days. Herndon expressed surprise that the cost of the retreat had not been mentioned prior and it had been assumed in earlier discussions that the use of the GMA facility could be used by the council at no charge. Council member Ferguson made the motion to approve the retreat at a cost not to exceed $2,000, and Council member Jeffcoat second the motion. The motion passed 4-2, with council members Davis, Jeffcoat, Ferguson and Mayor Owens voting in favor, and council members Auch and Herndon voting in opposition.
Council Comments:
Ron Davis stated that Mableton is a city now. He expressed that he and the council are trying to make the city the best it can be, and we have to make it work for everyone.
Dami Oladapo submitted a written statement which Mayor Owens read aloud. She announced the the birth of her baby girl, Eden. She wrote that she is very appreciative of the community’s support.
Keisha Jeffcoat announced that she attended Pebblebrook’s open house and enjoyed seeing the new facilities. She discussed her attendance at Terry Cumming’s mental health forum advocating for HB 520. Jeffcoat expressed support of the bill and encouraged for others to reach out to senators to express their support.
Patricia Auch clarified her decision to vote in opposition to the planning retreat. She stated her preference for money being spent for council meetings to be spent in Mableton, and believes the meetings should be local and accessible to the general public. She then shared information about the upcoming Welcome to South Cobb festival happening September 2 at the RiverLands Gateway Park.
T.J. Ferguson acknowledged upcoming Labor Day weekend. He thanked educators. He asked for citizens to support local business in Mableton. He asked for people to support local events occuring this weekend like the Welcome to South Cobb Festival, the 50 years of hip-hop celebration happening at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheater. He also announced the MIC’s economic summit event happening on September 22.
Debora Herndon encouraged citizens to attend the council’s planning retreat. She expressed the city’s need for citizen input. She addressed the council and stated that there are people invested in the growth and development of Mableton so to be mindful of the motives and interests of those who benefit from certain suggestions made to the council.
Michael Owens echoed the importance of citizen input. He reminded citizens of the city’s email address [email protected] and encouraged citizens to send their input and concerns, especially those about transit. He reiterated that the city plans to have a transitional budget soon, and that the .gov domain has been secured and a website can be created. He explained seeclickfix app as a tool to reporting issues to the county and encouraged citizens to report issues they see. Mayor Owens closed his comments by stating, “We won’t get everything right, but we will make sure everything we do is in the spirit of moving things forward in the right way.”
Council then went to executive session.
After executive session, the council unanimously voted to approve authorization of the city attorney to serve as a hotel tax administrator in addition to the city clerk.
Meeting was adjourned.
