The Chronicles of Cupid

So, we begin this week’s Chronicles of Cupid with the Chair having declared October as ‘Anti Bullying Month’, however, who is going to tell the Chair that she should practice what she is trying to preach. During the commission meeting this week, Cobb’s ‘Bully in Chief’ allowed her ‘mean girl’ persona to come out when she allowed one Commission member to ask a question during the meeting, while totally rejecting the request from another. The Commissioners in question are JoAnn Burrell and Kelli Gambrill. Both represent a swath of constituents in Cobb County, and both deserve to be treated fairly by the Chair, but Cupid doesn’t think so. The two had questions to ask, but Cupid only allowed Burrell to ask her question, while denying the same to Gambrill. What is also telling is Gambrill requested to be allowed to ask a question of staff during a time of the meeting when commissioners are allowed to speak and ask questions. Burrell was allowed to ask her question during a period when questions were not allowed, during the public speaking section of the meeting. This was all captured on film, shown by Cobb County communications, and viewed by residents who watched the meeting and saw Cupid in action for themselves. Maybe Gambrills constituents should contact Cupid and ask what is going on with the rules of engagement among commissioners. Gambrill seems to be a target of Cupid’s wrath, but Cupid should know rhat shutting Gambrill down is the same as shutting down the people she represents. Some say shame on you Cupid for displaying this bad behavior during the very month that you claimed for anti-bullying. While some call her a hateful and spiteful person, others just say Cupid is a walking contradiction and is showing the public now what others knew was occurring all along. 

Another story this week is about a group of county citizens that were selected to serve on the Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission that was launched last year. Since taking office in January, Cupid has refused to even acknowledge the existence of the group or the nine citizens who comprise it. The group was approved during a commission meeting in September 2020 by a 3 to 2 vote of the commissioners, with Cupid and Gambrell voting against it. Two outstanding South Cobb citizens, Sally Riddle and Dr. Ben Williams, is among the nine members. Cupid is stiff-arming them as she refuses to sanction their work. In her petty fashion, Cobb’s Chair is refusing to embrace or act on anything that was passed under former Chair Mike Boyce. The persons being punished are the citizens in Cobb who could benefit from the work of this committee. All Cupid needs to do is officially acknowledge them and let the public know that they are off and running. Despite Cupid blocking them, the group is sincere on their cause and has been meeting to discuss their charge. Being a commissioner that has a great future in Cobb, maybe Commissioner Jerica Richardson can see the benefits and purpose of this group and champion their work. This commission is juxtaposed to a new youth committee Cupid launched with no purpose, which seems to be the only thing Cupid is willing to embrace. Some say what Cupid is doing to this group is discriminatory. The public should be talking about this, and we will keep it on their radar as the ultimate judge to hold Cupid accountable will be the voters of Cobb.    

Where is Cupid from 9 to 5 each weekday? Many have raised this question, saying she does not come to the office to fulfill her responsibilities for the six figures she is receiving as Cobb Chair. In addition to that, some working within the county offices say Cupid’s staff seldom shows up to work. They and their bosses’ offices are often dark because no one is in. Some in the community say try getting a meeting with Cupid before 4 p.m. It is impossible. Many companies have had staff working from home during the height of the pandemic, but what is Cupid and her staff’s excuse? If other county staff are coming into the office, so should Cupid and her staff. Also being flagged is that Cupid homeschools her children, which is why she is not in. This is admirable, but the taxpayers should not be financing it. Along with her bodyguards that accompany her to every meeting. Some say if she could not fulfill the requirements of the job or was afraid of something in the community, why did she run for the office? To get to the bottom of this often-heard complaint on Cupid’s time in the office, we did an open records request for her schedule. Unfortunately, we were forced to wait beyond the three days by which the County must respond. Nearly seven days later, we received a schedule that had almost every hour and day of the week filled with meetings. We asked several people who previously or currently work in county government to look at the schedule to tell us what they saw. We are continuing to break it down, but what was blaring was the number of cancelled meetings Cupid has on her schedule involving Dr. Jackie McMorris, the County Manager. There is a story behind that, which we will get to soon.   

Top county staff are still leaving the county government in droves since Cupid took over. The latest is Parks Commissioner William Tanks, who is leaving to take a similar job with the City of Powder Springs and Jason Grimes in Community Development who is leaving for the City of Roswell. The interesting comment about Tanks’ departure is that he will be taking on a diversity and inclusion role in addition to overseeing Parks for Powder Springs. The question many are asking is why Cupid did not offer this role to Tanks, especially since Tanks has always been a highly respected, effective, and liked county executive. With many names floating around, some say that Cupid has someone handpicked for this role and Tanks was not it.   

SPOTLIGHT South Cobb News was created to tell our stories and share information with our community in hopes of keeping the people that reside here informed on what is going on in Cobb County. Since we began operations, we have received news and tips from the public on various topics. One topic that continues to flood our office from various sources across Cobb is Chair Lisa Cupid and her management, or lack there is, of Cobb County government. Sometimes, we receive more stories than we can report on at one time. To ensure that we are not creating a newsletter dedicated to one subject – Cupid – we have created the Chronicles of Cupid, a section of the newsletter that will capture the multiple goings on with our Chair and her handling of county government, which has seen the good, bad and ugly side of Lisa Cupid. 

There are more Cupid stories to share, so look for them next week.