Cobb County cityhood movements advance

April 2nd, 2022

A sign in the ground outside a home in Cobb County on Feb. 14, 2022 encourages residents to vote in favor of creating the city of East Cobb. It's one of three cityhood referendums coming up in May in Cobb County that follow the election of three Black women to the county commission in the 2020 election, giving Democrats a majority on the commission for the first time in decades. (AP Photo/Sudhin S. Thanawala)

Metro Atlanta is experiencing an explosion in cityhood movements.

Cobb County voters will be able to vote in favor of or against the cityhood movements in East Cobb, Vinings and Lost Mountain in May.

Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign a measure that will allow Mableton voters to cast their ballot in November.

On Friday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Kennesaw State University political science professor David Shock told program host Rose Scott cityhood movements often occur in fast-growing states across the country.

Kennesaw State University political science professor David Shock discusses the explosion of cityhood movements across the metro Atlanta area. (Courtesy of Kennesaw State University)

He further explained that locally, the creation of the city of Sandy Springs paved the way for other cityhood efforts in Georgia and discussed the long-term tax implications if Cobb County voters vote in favor of East Cobb, Vinings, Lost Mountain and Mableton.

“We think of these cityhood movements as isolated events in one part of the county, but it really does affect the whole county but yet, the whole county doesn’t have any say in the whole cityhood movement process and outcome,” explained Shock.