COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County’s newest city is set to go back to court as five county residents are suing to dissolve its incorporated government.
The City of Mableton was incorporated by ballot referendum in November. Mayor Michael Owens and the six city council members were elected between March and April, with Owens and four of the council member chosen last month.
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Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was at the city’s first transitional council meeting last week, after the newly elected mayor and council discussed the city’s formation.
“Right now and for the last few weeks, it has just been an incredible amount of work to get us where we are tonight to have our first meeting, “ Owens told Channel 2 Action News.
Just days later, Cobb County residents Deidre White, Ronnie Blue, Judy King, Tanya Leake and Robert Swarthout filed a lawsuit in Cobb County Superior Court to cancel the city’s incorporation and dissolve it.
The petitioners claim that the bill approved by referendum, House Bill 839, was “unconstitutional and fatally defective,” due to its inclusion of both a city formation and the creation of community improvement districts with separate units of local government.
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By holding both the City of Mableton’s incorporation and the CIDs’ formations on a singular vote, the five Cobb County residents allege that the referendum violates Georgia’s Constitution, and now seek to void its formation.
Now that the complaint was filed, the City of Mableton will have 30 days to submit a response to the petitioners, with court proceedings to continue.
While the court process is underway, the City of Mableton will retain its municipal rights, pending the end of litigation.
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Channel 2 Action News received a response to the litigation by Mayor Owens.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re bring sued as a city for a bill that was created in the Georgia legislature and signed into law by Governor Kemp. I can’t comment on the lawsuit directly besides to say that we will hire council to defend ourselves. We’d rather be spending tax payer money on delivering services to our citizens instead of having to defend lawsuits,” Owens said.
An attorney for the petitioners explained the lawsuit’s main point more simply, and ties it to taxing powers at the local level.
“The Georgia Constitution’s Single Subject Rule means that you cannot create two legally independent and separate units of government in the same bill. Just like you cannot create two cities in the same bill, you cannot create a city and a community improvement district in the same bill. These are wholly separate entities with different powers and authority to tax,” Allen Lightcap said. “HB 839 creates two separate units of government (Mableton and one or more CIDs) in the same bill and same ballot question, and that’s unconstitutional.”
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