Cobb County will hold a special election to fill a Kennesaw City Council seat during the May primary election after former Councilman Robert “Trey” Sinclair abruptly resigned last month.
Sinclair cited his pending move out of the city limits as the reason for his resignation during a council work session last month. He did not mention charges filed against him over the summer for driving under the influence of alcohol, failing to stop at an accident with damage and following too closely.
According to the police report, Sinclair was involved in a three-car wreck in June, in which he rear-ended another vehicle and left the scene while waiting for the police to arrive. Cobb County police later found him at the brewery he owns, Dry County Brewing Company in Kennesaw.
Sinclair’s resignation came the day before his arraignment in Cobb County State Court. Neither Sinclair nor his attorney, Courtney Brubaker, responded to requests for comment.
“Coming up at the end of this month, I am not going to be living in the limits of the city of Kennesaw,” Sinclair said to the council. “I have really been honored and feel a great privilege to have served this city for the past two years.”
The officer investigating the accident observed Sinclair “stumble” out of his truck and hold onto the side of it, and he “appeared unable to stand under his own power,” the report says. He then failed a field sobriety test and was arrested.
Sinclair is also facing pending litigation in Cobb County Superior Court between the brewery he owns and Fifth Third Bank, which alleges that the business has failed to continue making payments on three small business loans that total $1.26 million, according to court documents. As of the lawsuit filing in November, the Dry County Brewing Company owed over $800,000 on the loans, according to the suit.
It is unclear whether the brewery is still open, as several customers have complained in Google reviews about the business being closed during normal operating hours. There have been no updates from the business on social media.
The Kennesaw City Council has faced turnover in the last few years. The city held a special election in 2022 after former Councilman James “Doc” Eaton resigned in protest of the city’s renewal of Wildman’s Civil War Surplus’ business license. The year prior, former Councilman Chris Henderson was arrested and charged with a felony during a drunken domestic incident at his home. The charges were later dropped after he completed a diversion program, the Marietta Daily Journal reported at the time, but he did not win reelection.
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