Year: 2023

Cobb GOP Committee Meeting Splits Over Resolution Rules

Cobb GOP Committee Meeting Splits Over Resolution Rules

Marietta, GA—The Cobb GOP County Committee met at the Central Cobb County Library “Switzer” branch Wednesday evening to set the dates for the up-coming 2024 Precinct Caucus Meeting and the County Convention, to appoint committees to run these events, and to amend county party rules. Although the meeting was largely non-controversial, the meeting did get a bit testy when new rule amendments were presented governing how the Cobb GOP’s resolutions could be presented and passed.

Governor Brian Kemp

Ever since September 2021 when the Cobb GOP County Committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution publicly “censuring” or reprimanding Governor Brian Kemp for failing to deal with illegal immigration as he promised (and, as some contend, for failing to fully investigate the allegations of election fraud before certifying the 2020 presidential election in Georgia) the Cobb GOP has reined in the power of the county GOP’s Resolutions Committee. The Cobb GOP was targeted for issuing that resolution even though other GOP organizations such as the 14th Congressional District GA GOP, the 3rd District GA GOP, the Whitfield County GOP and other official GOP organizations around the state have also issued public resolutions reprimanding Republican-elected officials at the state capitol for failing to promote Republican principles or policies, and for generally failing to advance the Republican agenda.

Donna Rowe

The public backlash against that Cobb resolution involved so much pressure immediately after it happened in 2021, that the county committee over-corrected a procedural mishap by approving rules proposed by Establishment influences within the Cobb GOP (which some say were led by then Rules Committee Chairwoman Donna Rowe, who now serves as the Parliamentarian). These rules stifled the Resolutions Committee’s ability to present proposed resolutions directly to the county committee without first going through the Cobb GOP Executive Committee.

Under those current rules, the Resolutions Committee is prohibited from presenting more than two resolutions at a time. The Cobb GOP Executive Committee also has to first vet any resolutions the Resolutions Committee wants to propose to the full county committee before they are allowed to do so.

One of the proposed rule amendments on Wednesday which passed enabled the county GOP Executive Committee to possibly allow for more than two resolutions, at its discretion. The more contentious proposal would have required the Executive Committee to give the Resolutions Committee 45-day notice of a forthcoming county committee meeting so that the Resolutions Committee could prepare timely resolutions in preparation for that meeting.

Leroy Emkin

Cobb GOP Resolutions Committee Chairman Leroy Emkin from East Cobb used the discussion to argue against the two-resolution restriction on the Resolutions Committee. John McLean from West Cobb, who is also a member of the Resolutions Committee, said that the committee needed more time to produce timely resolutions before meetings, given the new restrictions that the Resolutions Committee has in order to have resolutions vetted by the Executive Committee 15 days in advance of the county committee meeting.

Former Cobb GOP Executive Committee officer Catherine Floam argued that the 45-day requirement would be too cumbersome for the Executive Committee, particularly when sometimes the Cobb GOP cannot schedule meetings related to things such as conventions until the state GA GOP completes preliminary business, and this may not allow for 45 days advance notice. Failure to follow the proposed 45-day requirement might invalidate the call of a committee meeting, Cobb RA President Chris Deeb expressed.

Lily Deeb

Cobb GOP Secretary Lily Deeb agreed that the proposed 45-day requirement would be too cumbersome for their team of volunteers, and argued that the 15-day requirement for the resolutions to be submitted for vetting to the Executive Committee was what was creating the problem.

All of the main participants in this debate, including Emkin, McLean, Floam, and Deeb are Cobb RA members serving on the Cobb GOP County Committee. In the course of the discussion, a motion was made to call the question and end debate, but that motion failed, and the debate continued until the 45-day proposal was eventually tabled.

“The problem stems from the Cobb GOP putting these additional restrictions on the Resolutions Committee since 2021,” said Nathaniel Darnell, the Cobb RA Chairman. “They should not require the Resolutions Committee to have all resolutions vetted by the Executive Committee prior to a county committee meeting, nor should they have a two-resolution restriction on the Resolutions Committee. We’ve never done it that way before during the last ten years I’ve been involved. The proposed resolutions should simply be shared with the Chairwoman and Secretary in advance to be included as attachments in the Call for a full Cobb GOP County Committee meeting, just like they do for proposed rule-changes from the Rules Committee.”

John McLean

“The way they’re doing it now,” said John McLean, “I don’t understand what the point is of even having a Resolutions Committee! It really doesn’t motivate me to want to continue to serve on the committee.” McLean expressed interest in the Cobb GOP Rules Committee potentially adopting Darnell’s suggested solution. He just did not want Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs to be blind-sighted by a proposed resolution prior to a county committee meeting.

McLean added that he believed the Resolutions Committee needs to be able to issue timely resolutions as our elected officials face pending bills and deadlines in order to provide feedback and accountability.

Sorry, Not Sorry: Governor Kemp Has Only Himself to Blame

Sorry, Not Sorry: Governor Kemp Has Only Himself to Blame

In a recent article entitled “You Have Only Yourself to Blame” from The Marietta Daily Journal about the previous Cobb GOP breakfast, State Senator Ed Setzler (R-Acworth) was asked by several participants why Governor Brian Kemp is doing so little to help his fellow Republicans in our county and in the state in general. “He says he’s a Christian,” said one questioner. “When is he going to act like a Christian?”

Democrat Fulton D.A. Fani Willis

Questioners reportedly asked in particular about the Executive branch’s failure to help with the “home rule” controversy pertaining to the Cobb Commission maps, and about the Governor’s refusal to call a special session to hold Democrat D.A. Fani Willis accountable for her harassment of the alternate electors (and other charges of misconduct).

Senator Setzler replied that he believes Kemp is retaliating against the Cobb GOP for issuing a public reprimand against the Governor in September 2021 after he certified the 2020 Presidential Election without fully investigating it for evidence of election fraud.

State Senator Ed Setzler

“When a party organization, you may think you’re justified, when a party organization formally and in writing censures a sitting governor from their own party in a rebuke, I can guarantee you what that “When a party organization, you may think you’re justified, when a party organization formally and in writing censures a sitting governor from their own party in a rebuke,” Setzler is reported to have said, “I can guarantee you what that means. Your party organization’s voice vanishes. … That doesn’t mean whether you are right or wrong on the issue. Set that aside. But when parties rebuke in writing and resolution their own sitting governor — you have every right to do that, but when you feel like your voice isn’t there anymore, you have only yourself to blame.”

Here is another case in politics of the tail wagging the dog. In our constitutional system, we are told that it is “We the people” who are in charge of the civil government, and that the Constitution is “the Supreme Law of the Land” but we still we have elected officials who seem to think they are over the people and the laws, and will make personal vendettas a higher priority ahead of doing the right thing to help the state, or even their own party. It’s also incredibly ungrateful since these folks have campaigned for Kemp, donated to him, and voted for him. It’s a slap in the face.

At best, it’s like a team’s football quarterback has decided to throw easy interceptions to the opposing team instead of his own team because he’s mad at the defensive lineman for not blocking a tackle when the quarterback previously lobbed the ball to other team.

Cobb RA President Chris Deeb

“This confirms what we all know,” said Cobb RA President Chris Deeb. “Kemp is small, petty, and vicious.”

While we at the Cobb Republican Assembly at the time did take exception to some of the procedure used in how the public reprimand of Governor Kemp was adopted in Cobb, we have expressed from the beginning and still to this day affirm that we believe the Cobb GOP ultimately did the right thing in calling out the Governor. When Republican officials will not receive private entreaties and/or when their wrong actions are public in nature and harmful to the community at large, it is appropriate for those actions to be publicly rebuked. Otherwise, the rest of the society might assume that all Republicans approve of such bad actions.

Christians have a Bible verse that reminds them “judgment begins in the House of God” (I Peter 4:17). It means that before Christians can preach against sins they observe in the rest of the world, they first have to address their own sins in the Church. By the same token, before Republicans can rebuke Democrats with credibility, they have to first hold their own accountable to what they preach. 

Accountability is what we need more of in the Republican Party throughout Georgia. Not a lap-dog mentality to those in positions of high office.

If we genuinely respect God more than politicians, we have to confront them when they violate God’s transcendent moral principles (upon which our Republican Party platform principles are based) found in “the laws of nature and the laws of nature’s God” (i.e. the Bible)—just as our founders did. God will certainly hold us accountable if we do not hold our political officials accountable.

Cobb RA Convention: Panel with Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership & Officer Elections

Cobb RA Convention: Panel with Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership & Officer Elections

We enjoyed a great county convention last Monday for our Cobb RA chapter as local officers were elected & attendees got to hear from Georgia Freedom Caucus leadership State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade), State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee), Mallory Staples, & Blake Bassham on the dynamics of politics at the state capitol. They discussed up-coming legislative efforts, including ones to revise the RICO laws and provide relief for the alternate electors.

Our friends at TurningPointUSA also held a table at that event and shared about their initiative to increase voter registration.

The members present at the business portion of the county convention voted to elect the following officers for our chapter: Chris Deeb as the Cobb RA President, Nathaniel Darnell as the Chairman, Matthew Hardwick as the 1st Vice President, Jerry Ramsey as the 2nd Vice President, Sophia Farooq as the 3rd Vice President, Nancy Rikard as the Secretary, and Angie Rawles as the Treasurer.

Those who missed the event can now watch the video interview with State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade) presented that evening here:

Click to watch the video interview with State Senator Colton Moore.

Thanks to everyone who came and participated! Here are some photos from our county convention:

County Convention on November 6th Will Feature Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership

County Convention on November 6th Will Feature Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a county convention of the Cobb County Republican Assembly. The gathering will involve a business meeting for members-only, followed by breaking bread together over some light refreshments, dessert, coffee, and punch. Then at 7pm we will be hosting a panel of the leadership from the Georgia Freedom Caucus to share a report on what happened (from a truly conservative constitutionalist perspective) behind the scenes at the last legislative session and to tell us what to expect in next year’s 2024 legislative session. We’ve been planning to host them since the previous session ended. But we didn’t expect the Freedom Caucus to gain so much notoriety as they have lately from the controversy regarding Fulton D.A. Fani Willis. So this will be an opportunity for you to hear from them on all of these subjects — and to ask them your questions!

All of the funds raised will go to help our chapter with upcoming outreach efforts during the Republican primary and to reimburse the church for the use of their facility.

Remember that anyone is welcome to register to attend the guest panel with the Georgia Freedom Caucus, but only members may vote in the business portion of the convention. Feel free to invite your friends from Paulding, Douglas, Bartow, and other counties in the surrounding area who would like to hear from the leaders at the Georgia Freedom Caucus.

In conclusion, here are the important details on this local RA chapter event:

Cobb County Republican Assembly Convention:
Georgia Freedom Caucus Live Panel with Q&A
Location: Temple Baptist Church of West Cobb
Address: 5415 Macland Road SW, Powder Springs, GA 30127
Cost: $20 early-bird \ $25 late registration
Refreshments, dessert & drinks included
Business: 6:00pm. Panel: 7:00pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE COBB RA COUNTY CONVENTION.

Cobb RA Dinner Meeting Shares Reports on Local Politics

Cobb RA Dinner Meeting Shares Reports on Local Politics

Last night, our Cobb County Republican Assembly chapter met at the Chuy’s Mexican restaurant near Town Center Mall to hear from a local guest panel of Cobb RA activists who provided us with a report on what is happening and what we can do to help locally with our Cobb County Board of Education, our Board of Elections, and our Cobb County Commission.

Audrey Neu speaks before the gathering

Our guest of panelists were Cobb RA members who have become local experts for each of these local government boards: Audrey Neu is a Cobb RA member who has worked with Truth in Education and serves as the official liaison between the Cobb Board of Education and the Cobb County GOP. Debbie Fisher is a former Cobb RA chapter President now serving as the Republican board member on the Cobb County Board of Elections. Christine Rozman is a Cobb RA member who serves on the Government Accountability Task Force (GATF) and provides vigilant oversight of virtually every meeting of the county commission.

With all the recent attacks from the left, on numerous issues and problems in every branch of government, activists like you and I can sometimes feel overwhelmed. You can’t fight everywhere all the time. 

These panelists have taken the wise course of focusing their efforts strategically, on a specific target. Folks came to learn how they could make a difference and help maximize their efforts.

There are a lot of exciting developments going on in each of these local arenas as we prepare for the primary season and elections next year! Although the federal government usually gets far more attention, local and state government have a huge impact on your life, and pose a significant threat to your liberty, your family, your home and your standard of living. We believe that civil government is most effective when it is more locally controlled. Citizens like you can have far more political impact at the local level, than in D.C.

Thanks to everyone who came to network, share ideas, and find answers to your questions from these like-minded patriot experts in our community.

Cobb Board of Education Comes Down in Favor of Parental Rights & Protecting Children in Transgender Book Case

Cobb Board of Education Comes Down in Favor of Parental Rights & Protecting Children in Transgender Book Case

Marietta — In a story that has gained national attention, the Cobb County Board of Education thankfully votied 4-to-3 in favor of parental rights and upholding the recommendation of the superintendent to protect children from transgenderism! They upheld the firing of the teacher who read the book pushing radical and unrealistic transgender concepts at the cost of Cobb taxpayers.

Audrey Neu with other activists on Thursday evening

Cobb RA member & Cobb GOP education liaison Audrey Neu said: “Our board members showed tremendous courage tonight. Both the state law and county policy are clear on this issue. Parental rights must be upheld and respected by the teachers and staff. I’m thankful we have a Superintendent and Board willing to stand up and protect the children of Cobb County.”

As we reported previously, the ordeal began when a Cobb County teacher read a book promoting transgenderism to a group of gifted ten-year-old children without their parents’ knowledge and permission. A parent complained and the superintendent fired the teacher. The firing was appealed to a three-person panel of retired educators.

Local activists thought the panel would easily affirm the firing of the teacher, but even though the tribunal affirmed the contested facts in the appeal, acknowledging that rules were broken, they recommended that the teacher not be fired. The story swelled with national attention from the media as the Cobb Board of Education met last week to decide whether to accept the recommendation of the tribunal or of the superintendent.

Cobb RA members and other concerned activists in the county sounded the alarm and mobilized numerous people to show up at the board meeting Thursday evening to encourage them to do the right thing during the time for public comments. They argued for parental rights over education and against brainwashing children in the unrealistic radical ideas of transgenderism at taxpayer expense.

In Cobb County, the only elected civil government board that Republicans still have majority-control over is the Board of Education. The county commission is now composed of three Democrats to two Republicans, but even when Republicans still controlled the county commission Republicans frequently voted for Democrat policies such as tax increases rather than spending cuts. Constituents wondered if one of the Republicans in the majority Board of Education would likewise in this instance join with the Democrats to absolve the teacher.

If she was allowed to get away with this violation, how might other educators be emboldened to push the envelope in the future?

Attorney for Southern Poverty Law Center arguing before the tribunal

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) defended the teacher, arguing among other things that the book should be allowed to be read to enable a free-flow of ideas. The SPLC betrayed their hypocrisy, however, since they were the organization that back in 2001 sued Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for having a Ten Commandments monument in the state Judicial Building. In that case, the SPLC argued that it was too offensive for an adult attorney to happen to see the Ten Commandments in his peripheral vision as he walked by to the law library—but the SPLC has no problem with minor children being forced-fed transgender ideology at the cost of the taxpayer!

This shows that although groups such as SPLC have claimed they defend freedom of expression, what they are really in favor of is using state power and tax-funding to coercively censor ideas they don’t like and to push ideas they do not. They do this not just on adults, but on vulnerable and impressionable minor children. They want to censor ideas contrary to their worldview, and indoctrinate children in the faith-based presuppositions of their worldview even though they have spent decades making that accusation against Christians in the public arena. This hypocrisy illustrates that they are devoid of credibility.

GRA members Abigail Darnell & Rhonda Thomas with
Truth in Education

Thankfully, the Cobb Board of Education voted along party lines to uphold the firing of the teacher. Those in favor of parental rights and protecting children overwhelmingly outnumbered the other side.

You can watch the video of the two hearings before the board recorded last Thursday and see the public comments expressed by many Cobb RA members at this link.

The GRA’s 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell from Cobb, who spoke at the hearing, was interviewed by WSB radio Saturday evening about the story on the MalaniKai Show, and you can hear her interview here at timecode 20:50 of the broadcast.

Cobb School District Hearing Seeks to Protect Children from Fired Teacher Pushing Transgenderism

Cobb School District Hearing Seeks to Protect Children from Fired Teacher Pushing Transgenderism

Today the Cobb School District is adjudicating the appeal of a teacher who was fired for reading a transgender book to her class. This hearing began yesterday morning and is likely to be long and hard fought on both sides. 

The charges brought by the Cobb School District are insubordination and willful neglect of duties. The school procedure for teachers, who want to use materials that parents may find objectionable, was ignored by Rinderle. Testimony shows that the teacher did not attempt to get a consent form signed by the students’ parents, nor did she inform the parents that the book she chose without their permission was about “gender identity,” “gender fluidity,” and “gender non-binary.”

On March 8th, in a class of 10-11 year-old gifted students, Katie Rinderle read and held a class discussion about the book My Shadow is Purple

The back cover reads: “My Dad has a shadow that’s blue as a berry, and my Mom’s is as pink as a blossoming cherry. There’s only those choices, a 2 or a 1. But mine is quite different, it’s both and it’s none.”

The cover of the book features a boy wearing pants, but his shadow is wearing a skirt. 

The School District said reading the book is inappropriate, but the defense argued it was merely a difference of professional judgement between educators. The defense attorney argued that the Board doesn’t have authority to fire someone for “political reasons,” but only for educational reasons.

Concerned parents, teachers and citizens flood the hearing.

We are here to defend Katie Rinderle from the culture war. We are here to prevent a group of parents from running out a good teacher… This is what happens when politics overtakes education. The politics of outsiders and angry parents do not come into the classroom.”

The defense attorney alleged in his opening argument that parents who were concerned were the ones being “political,” not the teacher. He also made the point that “only a few parents complained.” 

The room was full and many of the attendees were wearing purple T-shirts with the words “Ban Bias Not Books”, as if they believe all books are appropriate for elementary school minors. 

Audrey Neu, the School Board Liaison for the Cobb GOP, and a Cobb GRA member, helped to keep parental rights supporters informed of the developments of the case and many of them showed up for the hearing to support the school’s decision to terminate Ms. Rinderle’s employment with the school.

Thank you to everyone who took time out of their day to attend day one of the teacher tribunal. Based on the evidence presented and questions asked, it is clear Cobb School District is determined to defend parental rights and maintain educational standards, as defined by the state of Georgia. This is a direct result of the strong leadership Cobb has in place. We will have to wait and see what day two testimony holds,” said Audrey Neu.


Attorney for the defense reads from the book in question, argues parents are being “political”

The panel deciding this case is made up of retired principals who were appointed by the school board. These retirees are not in an age demographic that is likely to be supportive of sodomy or transgenderism. 

The class was for gifted students, sometimes called a target class. Target classes only meet one day a week. One parent testified, that if she had been notified the book My Shadow Is Purple was going to be read, she would have requested her child stay with his regular teacher. 

One of the school policies referenced by the prosecution prevents teachers from trying to influence students toward one political party or a partisan side of an issue, however, in 2022 Ms. Rinderle read a book to her students by Stacey Abrams, then candidate for Governor. Rinderle admitted to posting a book review about it on social media, tagging Abrams. Some parents complained about her introducing a book by a political candidate.

Rinderle admitted that her students were doing “service projects” on “LGBTQ+ advocacy,” but she had informed her Principal about it.  

The attorney for the school district called Rinderle to the stand as her first witness. Referencing the cover of the book she said: “Would you not agree with me that a skirt is traditionally worn by girls?”

Fired Teacher Katie Rinderle Being Sworn In as a Witness

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about a gender norm. Females can wear many different things,” said Rinderle. 

Another question had to do with whether Rinderle was aware that transgenderism is a “controversial, hot-button topic,” to which Rinderle replied indicating that she was not aware of that. 

One wonders which is more concerning, that we have a teacher who is indoctrinating children in ideologies that have no basis in reality, or that a teacher employed by Cobb schools is unaware of the national controversy over transgenderism?” said Nathaniel Darnell, a Cobb County parent and the Cobb Republican Assembly Chairman.

I am deeply disappointed to hear of yet another example of our tax dollars funding the indoctrination of children in woke ideology, but I am grateful that the school district in this case has taken action to protect children and parental rights. I am hopeful they won’t back down,” said Darnell.

After the tribunal the panelists will have five days to present their recommendations to the Board of Education. The Board of Education consists of four Republicans and three Democrats, one of the few areas still controlled by Republicans. The Board is expected to vote on the matter at their August 17th meeting. 

The attorney for the teacher’s defense showed that Ms. Rinderle was never trained in or given examples of what a “political or partisan issue” was or what the terms “controversial” or “sensitive” meant.

He compared it to “hot button topics” such as slavery in the South. However, parents today aren’t divided over whether slavery is moral or immoral. Parents do not send complaint emails anytime a teacher talks about the existence of or immorality of slavery. 

But morality really is the core of the issue, here. There is a school policy that says that parents have the right to direct the moral and religious views of their children. But experience would show us that a thorough education about the world cannot be neutral. Ethics and morality are inescapable. 

The narrative of history, what is considered societal progress, the information a teacher or author chooses to exclude or feature, all of these decisions are impacted by someone’s presuppositions and worldview. Not to mention the questions of which historical characters are the heroes or the villains, and the theory about the origin of the universe. 

Is There Really Such a Thing As a “Neutral” Classroom?

The Cobb County School system claims to strive for a “neutral classroom” and yet they cannot be neutral about morality. Questions such as: Should historic slavery be presented as moral or immoral? Should government welfare, increased statist involvement in people’s lives, be considered moral or immoral? Was the Federal Reserve a positive or negative development for American economics? Does absolute truth exist?  Does man have a moral obligation to care for the environment? If so, when and how does that moral obligation override property rights? 

Environmentalism is an Outflow of One’s Worldview

The answers to all of these kinds of questions hinge on a moral framework, which is in turn based on a theological framework. Each of these subjects, though perhaps addressed only implicitly in a classroom setting, would stem directly from the teachers’ basic standard of morality. Educators simply cannot escape their own worldview as they attempt to teach children about the world in which they live, and the more they attempt to be unbiased and avoid any moral presuppositions, the more boring and meaningless their lesson becomes.

Woke-ism is in fact a facet of a religious or theological viewpoint. Woke-ism defines something considered to be akin to a “sin” in that worldview (racism, intolerance of LGBT-ism, etc.) and then lays out a means of atoning for that sin (e.g., reparations, affirmative action, social justice, special rights for certain identity groups, etc.). 

Secular humanism and it’s accompanying statism are also of a religious or theological nature, as has become clear in recent days. “No god will save us,” declared the Humanist Manifesto II (1973), “we must save ourselves.”

It has a competing standard of morality. It has a specific competing belief about the origin of the universe, a belief about God (denying His existence), a belief about salvation (man must save himself), and a method of salvation by which man would save himself — and that method is statism

In 2020 Was It Morally Wrong to Not Wear A Mask?

Therefore, American civil government schools cannot really be said to be “neutral.” They teach the religion of humanism or a conglomerate of religious views, depending on the teacher.

Humanism invariably leads to statism. G.K. Chesterton hit the nail on the head of statism when he said:

It is only by believing in God that we can ever criticize the government … Once abolish God, and the government becomes the god. That fact is written all across human history; but it is written most plainly across that recent history of Russia; which was created by Lenin. There the Government is the god, and all the more the god, because it proclaims aloud in accents of thunder, like every other god worth worshipping, the one essential commandment: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods but me!’ “ —G.K. Chesterton

Unlike Christianity and other theologies, Woke-ism’s standard of morality isn’t found in any allegedly inspired holy book. It also is not consistent, since many of the proponents of woke beliefs also adhere to post-modernism and maintain that “what’s true for you, is true for you. What’s true for me, is true for me.” 

We maintain, like our founding fathers, that the laws of the United States ought to be based upon a transcendent moral standard: “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” This is a much more consistent standard that protects both the interests of the individual and of the community. A standard of morality based on God’s revealed Law and the laws discovered in nature is anything but neutral and yet provides the greatest liberty and justice the world has ever seen. 

When the Cobb County School System strives for “neutrality” in education, they want what never has been, and what never will be.

Transgenderism in the public school system is just one reason why the 2021 Georgia Republican Assembly convention passed a resolution urging all Republican families to remove their children from these harmful institutions and the 14th District GOP passed a similar resolution at their convention earlier this year.

If you would like to encourage the Cobb School Board to uphold the decision to protect children, send them an email saying “Thank you for protecting minor children from transgender indoctrination.”

Cobb RA Activists Oppose Tax Increase to Deaf Democrat Ears

Cobb RA Activists Oppose Tax Increase to Deaf Democrat Ears

Marietta, GA—Cobb RA members & other concerned citizens packed the room at the Cobb County Commissioners Meeting on July 25th to speak against the proposed tax increase. Roughly 30 citizens spoke, the overwhelming majority opposing the proposed property tax increase.

Many of the homeowners demonstrated how significantly their property tax bill has increased and explained how higher taxes harms their family. One gentleman asked the board, “What should we cut from our budgets? Should we turn off the AC in Summer and our heat in Winter? Should people turn their pets in to the County shelter because they can no longer afford it? Should we drive on bald tires? Should we stop buying presents for our children and grandchildren? Please let me and the thousands of other homeowners know what we should cut in order to pay for this tax increase.”

The vote did not occur until after 9:30pm. Cobb County Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill (previously endorsed by the Cobb RA and victorious in a contested primary) made a motion to substitute the proposed Democrat budget with a decrease from 8.46 mills to 7.168 mills for the general fund. Cobb Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell seconded the motion.

Sadly, Gambrill’s motion failed and the original proposal for the tax increase just passed along party lines. The Democrats on the Commission voted to raise our property taxes and increase the County budget for next year by $19 Million!

The Commissioners indicated that the increased budget was to offset inflation for County employees, and the additional funds would go to provide salaries, pensions, healthcare, etc. But why should government employees be shielded from the effects of inflation, at the expense of non-government employees?

GOP activist and Cobb Republican Assembly member Pam Reardon said, “We’re going in to a big recession and we are all hurting, but you’re not, because you have our money!”

“We are all feeling the effects of inflation, but our Commissioners are like Marie Antoinette who said, ‘the people don’t have bread, so let them eat cake’, said Cobb RA Member Jan Barton from the podium.

As partisan as the results were last night, many of the activists in the room still remember when it was Republican Commissioners in Cobb County as late as 2017 leading the charge to raise taxes rather than to cut spending. The results of that disastrous policy had much to do with what led to the county commission fliping Democrat in recent years. It is a reminder that is not enough for a candidate for county commission to call themselves a “Republican.” They must be committed to small-government, fiscally-responsible, and low-tax policy as the Republican platform has historically committed.

People line up to speak in protest

Likewise the School Board has increased their budget to unbelievable proportions, despite the fact that since 2019, the number of students enrolled in Cobb schools has diminished by 4,000-6,000 students. This departure is a national trend since the Covid lockdowns, as more and more families are choosing alternative education for their children.

“My question is this, why do you need more money to teach fewer students?” asked Abigail Darnell during her public comment. She went on to show that the Fiscal Year 2024 budget for Cobb Schools is more than $1.4 Billion. When that number is divided by the 106,703 students enrolled, it shows Cobb County is spending a whopping $13,579 per student, per year. This amount is far more than what is spent by most homeschool families in the private sector, who are also not given any relief from the school tax that pays for the bloated government education system that they do not use.

One of the many tax reforms needed includes an exemption from the school tax for all families who choose alternative education for their children, or who are empty-nesters without school-aged children.

Special thanks to Cobb RA member Christine Rozman for helping to get the word out about this hearing through her Government Accountability Task Force newsletter, and to the folks at CobbTaxRevolt.com for helping to create awareness as well.

Cobb GRA Member Debbie Fisher Sworn-In to the Cobb County Board of Elections

Cobb GRA Member Debbie Fisher Sworn-In to the Cobb County Board of Elections

Marietta—This afternoon Debbie Fisher of East Cobb was sworn-in as the new member of the Cobb County Board of Elections representing the Republican Party. She was appointed to that position by Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, who is also a Cobb GRA member. Debbie Fisher has been a tireless activist for election integrity in the county since the 2020 election.

Debbie Fisher (center) with GRA NFRA Director Nathaniel Darnell (right) & GRA 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell (left) & baby Patience

A previous President for the Cobb chapter of the GRA, Debbie Fisher also served with Salleigh Grubbs on her Executive Committee in the Cobb GOP during the last term, and she has been active on the Government Accountability Task Force with Christine Rozman. Not afraid of uphill battles, Debbie campaigned hard in the primary for the Cobb RA’s endorsed candidate Larry Savage when he ran against Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chairman after Boyce pushed through a plan to raise taxes in Cobb County. She has frequently monitored the activities of both the Cobb County Commission and Board of Elections and helped to keep her other local Republicans aware of the details on what was going on.

We expect that Debbie Fisher will apply herself with the same level of dedication and scrutiny that she has applied to all of her previous endeavors. She will be an ever-vigilant proponent for honest elections and will do her utmost to expose any suspicious activity and bring accountability where appropriate.

Debbie Fisher is succeeding another Cobb GRA member Pat Gartland on the Cobb Board of Elections. Gartland has served on the board for the last few years, and had served before under previous administrations. Fisher will officially assume her duties at the next meeting of the Cobb Board of Elections in July.

Currently, Cobb County still allows each of the local political parties to appoint a seat to the county Board of Elections. The Democrat appointee was also sworn in today. There are rumors that State Senator Ed Setzler (R-37) is looking to put forward legislation next year that would take this power away from the local parties and give it to the county commissioners, similar to what was recently done in Cherokee County. We believe this would be a terrible mis-step, and hope local Republican activists would make an outcry against such an effort at the state capitol next year.

Gov. Ron DeSantis Defends Former President Trump in His Visit to Cobb County

Gov. Ron DeSantis Defends Former President Trump in His Visit to Cobb County

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited Cobb County last Thursday at the Adventures Outdoors off South Cobb Drive to give a presentation called “the Florida Blueprint.” Many Cobb Republican activists attended.

Although several members of the liberal news media (and some Establishment people) have been eager to pit Governor DeSantis against former President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, Governor DeSantis instead publicly voiced his opposition that day to the mistreatment and harassment Trump has received by his recent New York indictment and now arraignment. DeSantis said he would not cooperate with any extradition of Trump from Florida.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking in Cobb County

Both former President Trump and Governor DeSantis have been popular with the grassroots for being willing to aggressively take the fight to the liberal onslaught in different ways. It appears that many members of the Georgia political Establishment are eager to get behind a DeSantis presidential candidacy — not because, we suspect, they agree strongly with his staunch conservative positions — but because they want to get behind any candidate who they believe has the best chance of beating Trump for the Republican presidential nomination next year. Indeed, the Atlanta political Establishment has opposed implementing staunch DeSantis-type policies here in Georgia even though they praise him. DeSantis, however, has not yet announced for sure whether he will run for President.

The NFRA (National Federation of Republican Assemblies) will be hosting a national Endorsement Convention in Florida in October. Stay tuned for more details on that event to be announced soon!