AROUND TOWN: Bishop should have fought harder, congregants say

On Saturday's front page you’ll find coverage of a Tuesday night Q&A between congregants of Mt. Bethel church and Sue Haupert-Johnson, the bishop of the North Georgia Conference of the UMC.

Haupert-Johnson took questions from Mt. Bethel members, many of whom were dismayed that the conference, in the words of one attendee, “caved” by agreeing to a settlement that allows Mt. Bethel to leave the denomination without a vote by its members.

The attending crowd are not fans of how Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s lead preacher, and his top laypersons, have conducted themselves. But many were also upset with the bishop and the conference, who they felt should have fought harder to “save” Mt. Bethel.

“Why didn't we just go ahead and evict Joey immediately?” asked one man. “He was trespassing. … You march the sheriff with a 16-gauge shotgun down and tell him, ‘You gotta leave.’”

Haupert-Johnson said the goal of the conference’s legal team was to transfer Mt. Bethel’s assets to the conference. And the back-and-forth was already getting pretty ugly.

“So, our lawyer insisted that we do it legally. And he also added that self-help in Georgia is really frowned upon. That's what that's called — going in with a shotgun and saying, get out of here. … I really don't think the United Methodist Church wanted to go in with a shotgun and evict somebody,” she said.

MADAME CHAIR'S TOWN HALLS: Cobb Chairwoman Lisa Cupid will hit the road this summer with a series of town halls around the county, addressing the theme of ‘All-In-Cobb.’

The four-stop tour was hinted at a few weeks back in the aftermath of the three failed cityhood votes, when the county said, “Tuesday’s vote does not end the discussion, but should start new conversations.”

The four whistle stops will be as follows:

• Thursday, June 23 at the West Cobb Senior Center
• Thursday, June 30 at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center
• Tuesday, July 12 at the South Cobb Community Center
• Wednesday, July 20 at the Sewell Mill Library

All of the town halls are from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

JUNETEENTH JONQUIL-STYLE:  Following the city of Marietta’s move earlier this year to add Juneteenth and Veterans Day as paid staff holidays, the city of Smyrna announced Friday that its mayor and council “will retroactively approve Juneteenth as a City of Smyrna holiday to be observed in 2022 on Monday, June 20, 2022,” and will also add Veterans Day as a city-observed holiday.

“The City of Smyrna is a place where everyone is welcome and appreciated, and I’m pleased that this administration will add both Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and Veterans Day as official holidays in our city going forward,” Mayor Derek Norton said in a statement.

On Monday, city offices will close to observe Juneteenth, and most departments — save essential services such as police and fire — will have the day off.

In light of the Juneteenth holiday, the city has adjusted next week’s garbage pickup schedule:

• Monday routes will be collected on Tues., June 21
• Tuesday routes will be collected on Wed., June 22
• Thursday and Friday routes remain unchanged
• No Yard Waste or Large Item collection on Wednesday

In other Smyrna news, it’s time for citizens to weigh in on the city’s next comprehensive plan, which cities in Georgia are legally required to update every five years.

Input can be given through the end of July by taking a survey at publicinput.com/GuideSmyrna2040Update.

ELECTED: Cobb County's Tricia Pridemore, chair of Georgia’s Public Service Commission, has been unanimously elected by member states of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to serve on the board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

In November, Pridemore will become the 2nd vice president of NARUC. In November 2023, she will advance to 1st vice president, before taking over as NARUC president in November 2024, for a one-year term.

NARUC is a nonprofit that describes itself as “dedicated to representing the state public service commissions who regulate the utilities that provide essential services such as energy, telecommunications, power, water, and transportation. NARUC's members include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.”

“Representing Georgia and the Southeastern United States as President of NARUC will be an honor,” Pridemore said. “I will represent Public Service Commissions across the nation through hard work, a listening ear and with a heart to serve. I am grateful and humble for the confidence the Southeastern region has placed in me.”

OFF TO GREENER PASTURES: Marietta police are saying so long and farewell to a longtime trusted friend.

It’s pension-collecting time for K9 Atos, an 80-pound Belgian Malinois who has served MPD since March 2015.

Born in 2013, Atos is a dual purpose canine trained in narcotics detection, tracking, evidence recovery, and criminal apprehension. In his seven years of service he has worked with two handlers — Officer (now Sgt.) Ray Gigueroa and Officer Aaron Johnson.

“Atos finished his last day on shift last week and officially retired to Officer Johnson where he will enjoy ample time chasing frisbees, and mentoring his replacement, K9 Mozes,” the police said.

Cops describe Atos as “loyal, dedicated, hardworking and an all-around awesome member of our team.” Over the years he has been deployed more than 500 times, sniffing out and seizing drugs. Atos also enabled police to “locate fleeing suspects and make a myriad of felony arrests,” and many times was called to help other jurisdictions with their police work.

“On behalf of the entire Marietta Police Department, we thank Atos for his service and wish him plenty of rest and belly rubs in his retirement,” police said.

SPEAKER CIRCUIT: Marietta attorney Lance LoRusso, known for his defense work on behalf of police officers, is the keynote speaker at the Force Science Conference in Orlando next week. The gathering is a conference on police use-of-force tactics, where LoRusso will deliver a talk titled, “Serve Others, Live Without Fear.”’

RECOGNITION: This week, the Cobb Chamber's Cobb Executive Women program named Shari Martin, president & CEO of the Cobb Community Foundation, winner of the 2022 Woman of Distinction Award.

The award is given annually to recognize a woman who has demonstrated exceptional leadership through her professional endeavors, community involvement and social responsibility in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion thereby supporting and advancing her community and her field.

After five years on its board including one as board chair, Martin stepped into the role of executive director of the Cobb Community Foundation in 2017 and was named president and chief executive officer in 2019.

In 2019, she championed and commissioned the Cobb Human Services Needs Assessment which resulted in launching the online resource, Cobb Community Connection. In 2020, Cobb non-profits were hit hard by the pandemic as the need for their services grew exponentially. Martin served on the Cobb Chamber's economic recovery task force to support local non-profits and meet the greatest needs in the community. She established a Cobb COVID-19 Community Response Fund to serve client’s impacted by the pandemic and also helped create Operation Meal Plan, which brought together restaurants and non-profits to feed the community and keep restaurants open.

Martin brought together several corporate partners and numerous Cobb County non-profits to ensure that the USDA Farmers to Families food would help Cobb citizens in need. She identified organizations such as the Atlanta Braves to help with food storage until local non-profits could come pick up what they needed to distribute throughout the county.

She is also a member of Marietta Kiwanis, Cobb Executive Women, the Cobb Chamber’s DE&I Council, among many other organizations. She recently received the Cobb Collaborative’s 2021 Bill Hanson Collaboration Award and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid’s 2022 All In award for her constant dedication to our community.

“The love, care and service that Shari Martin gives to the Cobb County community is immeasurable and unending, “ said Secret Holland, Cobb Executive Women chairwoman. “Her collaboration with businesses, organizations and non-profits makes a difference in the lives in our community every day. I am honored to work with her and call her my friend.”