Saturday Voting in South Cobb

By Rich Pellegrino - I am pleased to share that Saturday voting has been secured in South Cobb on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive in Mableton. South Cobb now joins East and West Cobb in this unique Saturday voting option. 

1) IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING:  this Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 pm, Lakeside Church (which meets at Nativity Lutheran Church,  2450 Clay Rd, Austell, GA 30106 (corner of Flint Hill).

This is the third meeting of the new and growing “Court Watch” assembly, which originally convened due to reported irregularities in the trial of the four young black men accused (and now three convicted) of killing a man on Mableton Parkway. We have confirmed that there were enough irregularities and inequities in the trial to request a new trial. Each meeting has included families of the accused ,church and community members of all ages, civil rights attorneys, and representatives of the NAACP, the SCLC, the CIA, the Cobb Coalition and other organizations, and it has been growing in both number and commitment, the seedling of a justice movement in Cobb, ready to include all concerned about unequal justice and application of the law for communities of color, and the poor. For more info feel free to contact this writer at 404-573-1199).

2) Georgia Community Coalition Get Out the Vote Fall Festival: October 25, 2014 10:00 a. m.- 3 p.m., Austell Hicks Shopping Center/DJ Diva Beauty Outlet, 2561 Austell Rd, Marietta.

3) CopWatch/Youth Protection & Empowerment/Hands Up: Don’t Shoot: group has been meeting at the South Cobb Recreation Center, recently met with the Austell Task Force, and is planning to hold meetings with the community at each Six Flags area apartment complex to train youth and parents on how to interact with the police and avoid a Ferguson/Mike Brown tragedy. Time and date for first apartment/community meeting to be announced.  (Note: another group is meeting with the Cobb County Police Department on this issue.) 

4) Cobb Citizens for Governmental Transparency (CGT),  broad based coalition, including right and left, Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/Socialist, liberals and conservatives, holding elected representatives accountable and ethical, will meet either this Wednesday or the following Wednesday. (Contact this writer for update.)

5) South Cobb Gets Saturday Voting (after a community outcry regarding voter suppression issues)

From Commissioner Lisa Cupid: South Cobb gets Saturday voting

I am pleased to share that Saturday voting has been secured in South Cobb on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive in Mableton. South Cobb now joins East and West Cobb in this unique Saturday voting option. 

Extended Advance Voting will occur as planned Monday, Oct. 27, through Friday Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Due to the tremendous amount of effort taken to secure Saturday voting, and the fact that it is only two weeks away, I am asking for your help in:

Voting on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the South Cobb Community Center.

Encouraging  your family members, neighbors and customers to vote on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the South Cobb Community Center.

Helping others actually get to the South Cobb Community Center on Oct. 25 to vote.

For businesses: placing on your marquee a message for people to vote Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Community Center on Lions Club Drive. 

A strong turnout will help communicate to our leadership in Elections that communities in South Cobb value close access to extended early voting.

I cannot express enough how critical strong voter turnout numbers are for individual communities. 

Oftentimes candidates and elected officials will choose to reach out or not reach out to communities based on voter turnout. This ultimately helps to shape their platforms and sensitivities to certain areas during campaigning and even while in office. 

We need to show that communities in South Cobb are an active and integral part of not only Cobb’s landscape, but Georgia’s.

Please know that obtaining Saturday voting has not been without cost. Community and business leaders to date have contributed $4,300 towards the estimated $5,500 cost of moving a large event that was planned to be held at the South Cobb Community Center on Oct. 25 to a private event facility.  

If you or your organization is willing to contribute, please reach out to my assistant Bianca Keaton at Bianca.Keaton@cobbcounty.org or (770) 528-3311.

To find out where your election poll is on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, and other voting information, please visit www.cobbelections.org.

6) Commissioner Cupid’s Upcoming Town Hall Meetings:

• District Four town hall meeting, 7 p.m., Oct. 13. South Cobb High School, 1920 Clay Road, Austell.

• District Four town hall meeting, 7 p.m., Oct. 30. Ron Anderson Community Center 

3820 Macedonia Road, Powder Springs.