Cobb chairman gets first-ever deputy chief

Among the job responsibilities of Cobb County’s new deputy chief to the chairman:

• Attends internal and external meetings and speaking engagements; serves in chairman's place on various committees as designated.
• Researches, coordinates and prepares special reports as required by the chairman.
• Coordinates and manages special projects, including defining the scope of projects, identifying individuals for required tasks, formulating solutions, time lines and deadlines, and implementing the final plan
• Coordinates media inquiries and open records requests received in the chairman's office.
• Receives and responds to public inquiries.
• Coordinates, reviews, drafts, and finalizes all official communications for the chairman.

After a year of contentious dealings with the public and the media, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee has hired a deputy chief who is authorized to comment on his behalf, attend meetings and speaking engagements in his stead and draft all official communications from his office.

Kellie Brownlow, who worked for the Atlanta Regional Commission before becoming director of economic development at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, starts in the new, $105,000-a-year position Tuesday.

Brownlow is the first deputy chief for a Cobb chairman in the county’s history. She will report directly to Lee, and her hiring was not subject to a vote of the full commission.

Lee, who makes $135,000 a year, refused to answer questions about the hire. But commissioner Bob Ott said that a vote of the full commission wasn’t required because Brownlow is technically taking an existing, vacant position in the Community Services Department. County spokesman Robert Quigley said that arrangement will last through 2016, which is the last year of Lee’s current term.

“I felt more comfortable about it when I was given the job description and it was clear that she’ll be working for the chairman and not speaking for the whole board” of commissioners, Ott said.

Lee faced harsh criticism last year, especially concerning the Braves move to Cobb County. He often refused to talk to The Atlanta Journal-Constution and has used a political consulting firm, the chairman of the Cobb Chamber and a private public relations person to help answer questions posed by the newspaper in writing.

In a three-page letter to residents sent in November, Lee wrote: “…I am troubled by the criticism regarding the lack of transparency, and we could have done a better job of communication to eliminate genuine concern … over how the project came about.”

Brownlow was economic development director for Partnership Gwinnett, which spawned a lawsuit over the county government and school system providing money to the chamber’s economic development efforts. The lawsuit was dismissed last summer. She said she took the Cobb County job because of all the new initiatives.

“It’s a different role; it’s not economic development,” Brownlow said. “So it’s trying something new and different. And there are lots of awesome things happening in Cobb right now. I’m also excited about helping move forward the chairman’s initiatives for the county.”

Bill Byrne, who served as Cobb chairman for 10 years, said no other commission chairman “has ever even approached this kind of thing.”