On the eve of the State of the County Address, Commission Candidates Shelia Edwards and Yashica Marshall demand return of million-dollar slush fund

Mableton, GA – Shelia Edwards and Yashica Marshall, candidates for Cobb’s next Chairperson and Commission seat 4 respectively, have jointly issued a press statement urging their opponents, Lisa Cupid and Monique Sheffield, to return back to citizens the hefty sum of one million dollars they voted to allocate to themselves and other commissioners.

In making this demand, Edwards emphasized, “Each member of the commission already benefits from a salary, an office, staff funding, and county resources to fulfill their duties. Adding an extra million dollars of taxpayer money is unnecessary and fiscally reckless. These types of frivolous expenditures in county government must cease once and for all.”

Marshall shared similar sentiments saying, “This discretionary use of taxpayers’ dollars continues to erode public trust and highlights the blatant disregard for transparency in spending and fiscal responsibility.”

The two issued this demand on the eve of Cupid’s State of the County address and said if Cupid really cared about the county and its citizens, she and Sheffield would lead the charge to return these dollars back to the general fund instead of keeping it for their own use. 

The million-dollar fund Cupid and Sheffield awarded themselves was discussed earlier this year. During a Cobb Board of Commissioners’ planning meeting in January, Commissioner Keli Gambrill criticized the plan to award each commissioner a $200,000 contingency fund, describing it as an “open checkbook” to taxpayer money.

During that meeting, Cupid proposed moving her $200,000 allotment into her office’s operating budget to cover expenses such as travel, office supplies, and support services. Gambrill objected, noting that each commissioner already receives a $12,200 operating budget for those exact expenditures. Questions also arose as to how and why Cupid’s operating costs have risen ten-fold since becoming Chair. In her usual fashion, Cupid claimed to be “picked on” when challenged on this slush fund allocation.

As they call on Cupid and Sheffield to return these funds to the citizens pocketbook, Edwards and Marshall highlighted the frustration of homeowners who received shocking tax assessments last week. They correlated citizen anger over their taxes with their opponents’ use of a backdoor method to siphon off taxpayer money into a slush fund to use how they see fit, without any accountability to citizens.

Said Edwards, “We urge homeowners to take their tax assessments with them to the polls and vote for candidates who are ready to tighten the county’s belt before asking citizens to do more. That is Yashica and me.” 

May 21 is Primary Election Day with early voting concluding on Friday, May 17. Cobb citizens are encouraged to exercise their rights and vote. 

For more information on Shelia Edwards, go to: electshelia.com

For more information on Yashica Marshall, go to: yashicamarshall4cobb.com