Dear Editor,
Majority Cobb County Board of Commissioners (BoC),
We don’t trust you! County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris made that statement, and we agree.
The most recent atrocity in your “shell game” of distorting data/facts is your determination to approve (6/11/24) the ancient, highly unpopular, excessively expensive 2011 SPLOST Lower Roswell Road (LRR) project, much expanded from the project approved by voters in 2011. It is a project so unpopular that former commissioners would not allow it to go forward in their (in one case) twelve (12) years in office. There is an expiration date on SPLOST projects. This one is past that date, contrary to comments by the county attorney.
The majority of the community and over thirty (30) area businesses on that route STRONGLY OPPOSE the project. This disaster will take over two years to construct. During that time, businesses will be harmed and neighborhoods endangered when drivers most certainly will re-route to avoid the area and use a planned U-Turn in the major intersection, potentially increasing accidents. The county is determined to install a raised median and confiscate property for what they say is “safety”. The professional engineers/consultants on the project even resorted to telling businesses that certain business owners support the project when they most definitely DO NOT.
A similar project on Windy Hill Road has harmed one of Smyrna’s oldest restaurants, Old South BBQ. (MDJ 5/31/24)
A recent Open Records Request (ORR) uncovered the details of the so-called crashes along the proposed raised median route by McDonalds and Parkaire Kroger. We requested randomized addresses and dates of crashes. ALL of the crashes requested in the ORR represented by the county as being on Lower Roswell Road were actually in business PARKING LOTS, not in the road. The citizens repeatedly asked for detailed crash information but were denied. Now, we know why.
If this LRR project is so justified, why is the county misleading the citizens and the business owners who will be harmed? If the Professional Engineer (PE) ethics require PE’s to always look after the public welfare, rather than clients, why the deception and why the almost certain harm?
Why should we trust you on the 30-year Mobility SPLOST? The bottom line is…..
We DON’T TRUST YOU!