At its April 24 meeting, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners thanked Mike Terry for his service as a member, and then as the chairman, of the Cobb County Planning Commission.  Terry was appointed to the commission in 2009, representing District 3 on the commission, and was elected chairman in 2013. He has been replaced as chairperson of the commission by Judy Williams.

Terry told the Courier before the meeting, “Well, I’ve been doing this for nine and a half years.  I laughed when I came in the front door and said ‘This is the first time I’ve been in this building without a tie on in almost ten years’. But I decided tonight is my night, so I’m just not going to wear a tie. I hope the chairman doesn’t mind.”

Asked about how many meetings he had presided over, Terry said, “Including my seven years with Smyrna, about 1500 meetings. Some of them run on very late. Clearly, the Braves zoning was the biggest zoning I ever oversaw. That was a billion dollar zoning, and lots and lots of little ones, and you never make everybody happy.  You always know that half the room is going to be okay with what you’ve recommended, and half is not.”

The proclamation stated: “We the Cobb County Board of Commissioners extend our heartfelt thanks to Mike Terry for all the time, work and effort he has put into helping improve our community.”

The Cobb County government website describes the planning commission as follows:

Established as an advisory Commission to assist the governing authority (BOC) in the administration and enforcement of the Zoning and Planning Act and to prescribe the duties and functions of such commission. The full duties and functions of this Commission are contained in the Cobb County Zoning Ordinance, Section 3-28-9 134-61. Members are appointed for terms which run concurrently with those of the appointing commissioner and are subject to removal with or without cause and without regard to any unexpired term. The Commission Chair is compensated $275.00 per month, the Secretary is compensated $275.00 per month with all other members compensated $250.00 per month.