[Tuesday evening Mableton District 4 Councilwoman Patricia Auch and District 6 Councilwoman Debora Herndon held a Town Hall for their districts at the Cobb County Public Safety Training Academy.

The Courier was unable to send a reporter, but Barry Krebs was kind enough to let us publish his notes from the event, reprinted in full below]

There was a pretty good turnout with around 150 attendees including VIP’s such as Commissioner (Monique) Sheffield, Police Major (M.D.) Hurst (Commander of Cobb Precinct 2), Chief (Stuart) VanHoozer, District Attorney (Flynn) Brody, City of Powder Springs (Public Service Director) Bill Tanks and City of Austell Councilwoman Sandra Leverette. 

Also present were an assortment of local civic organizations including the Mableton Improvement Coalition, South Cobb Arts Alliance, River Line Historic Area, We Thrive On Riverside,
Our Giving Garden, the local Girl Scouts Troop Leader, GA Native Plant
Society and South Cobb Lions Club. 

The presentation began with a brief introduction.  Commissioner Sheffield spoke a few words of praise for the new City of Mableton elected officials. She expressed her appreciation for them for already stepping in to make our community better.  The slide show started with the basics including the city’s transition timetable.  (Councilwoman) Patty (Auch) took us through the new website where citizens can access documents and minutes of prior city council meetings
located in the City Clerk portion of the site. 

Councilwoman Debora (Herndon) took us through the revenue and expenses part of the presentation.  Councilwoman Auch followed Debora by holding true to a campaign promise that she had made to donate one half of her first year’s salary to local civic organizations.

As she handed the checks out, she gave a thorough introduction to each of the five nonprofits along with a summary of their accomplishments in our community.  It was very nicely presented.  Every attendee learned about these wonderful organizations who are helping the City of Mableton every day.   Afterward, the floor was opened up to a question-and-answer session.

Most of the questions revolved around new or increased franchise fees.  One question was answered by Frank (Milazi), our interim finance manager.  Mayor Owens also spoke up about revenue versus spending.  The question of trash services was asked.  While the City Council members said that there were no plans to change the way the citizen’s waste disposal choices, Mayor Owens stepped in to discuss some of his research on the topic.  He has met with the Trash Hauler Association to learn more about their business and possible oversight.  He seemed enthusiastic about a recycling center in the years to come. 

One person asked about how to discourage littering in our city. Councilwoman Auch, who often volunteers on litter cleanups, gave a well-thought-out answer advocating that local group cleanups were important now.

However, the long-term solution needs to involve educating our young people on the destruction that litter can cause on a community.  A question was asked about the pending lawsuit. 

Another topic that arose was about the problem at Six Flags.  Mayor (Michael) Owens had been at a closed meeting with police officials, Commissioner Sheffield and Six Flags executives earlier in the day.  He had to be careful with his comments due to the ongoing investigation.  But he assured us that action was being taken.  Other questions regarding alerting citizens that they are in the new City of Mableton.  There are still many citizens who do not know that they are in the new city.  While it is somewhat expensive, he is entertaining sending a postcard to each household if his city council agrees.  

Overall, it was an upbeat and positive meeting.  Both Councilwomen have great relationships with their constituents.  It took about an hour to clear out the Public Safety Building after the meeting concluded due to everyone wanting to thank the elected officials for hosting the Town Hall meeting.