In the third lawsuit of its kind, an East Cobb resident is seeking to remove the cityhood effort from the May primary ballot, arguing that the proposed city charter violates the Georgia state constitution.
The lawsuit filed in Cobb Superior Court on Thursday joins two other legal challenges filed against Cobb County cityhood movements in Lost Mountain and Vinings.
At issue in all three is whether the city charters that will be put before voters illegally limited the home rule powers of cities in Georgia.
Also this week, the attorneys contesting the cityhood votes filed emergency motions seeking an immediate hearing in the cases so they can be resolved before the vote. Early voting starts May 2, and election day is May 24.
As proposed, a city of East Cobb would provide the most extensive public services of the three, including police and fire, zoning, code enforcement and road maintenance. But like the other city charters, it dictates which services the city will and won’t provide.
Under the Georgia constitution, local governments are given 14 “supplemental powers,” which includes the ability to provide certain public services if they choose and levy taxes. The lawsuit argues that these can’t be regulated by the legislature through what’s known as a “local law,” or legislation that applies to only one entity, rather than to all local governments generally.
East Cobb’s charter requires the city to provide certain services, like public safety, while prohibiting the government from offering others without seeking voter approval through a public referendum. It also limits the city property tax rate to a maximum of 1 mill.
Colin Brady, a retired businessman who is challenging the referendum, told the AJC he worries residents may vote for a city of East Cobb thinking it will provide limited services, when that won’t necessarily be the case. If a court strikes down the disputed provisions, future city leaders could expand the city’s scope without asking for the public’s permission.
“We’re voting on one thing, and I think we’re getting another,” said Brady, who has lived in East Cobb since 1985. “And the potential of what we’re getting is scary. The potential for the new city to do things that we don’t understand is scary.”
The suit is filed against Cobb County and its elections office. The county attorney’s office in a statement said Cobb would not defend the lawsuit because it has no legal authority to represent the private interests of cityhood supporters. However, the statement said it’s the county’s opinion that the suits should be dismissed, because unless one of the disputed charters takes effect, the court lacks the jurisdiction to weigh in.
Before the East Cobb suit was filed, state Rep. Ginny Ehrhart, (R-Powder Springs), filed a motion this week to intervene in the other two cases on behalf of the cityhood movements and consolidate them into one case.
“The right to vote is a sacred Constitutional right that should be respected by all citizens and elected officials,” her motion says. “Unfortunately, petitioners are actively seeking to deny this fundamental right to vote without any basis in law or fact.”
In a joint statement to the AJC, the three cityhood campaigns said they expect Ehrhart and other interveners to file for the lawsuits to be dismissed, citing the county attorney’s opinion.
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