Cupid talks diversity, county wages, transit tax in chamber address

CUMBERLAND — Lisa Cupid, chair of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, addressed multiple topics and promises as the keynote speaker at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Marquee Monday breakfast.

From a proposed budget that would raise the hourly minimum wage for county employees to a prospective transportation sales tax to growing diversity, Cupid spoke on a number of initiatives happening throughout the county during her talk to local business leaders.

“I appreciate the partnership of the chamber for having me as part of this address... I want to thank all of our residents for all that you do day in and day out. It truly takes all of us to make Cobb County the best that it can be,” Cupid said at the beginning of her speech.

Cupid took time to applaud the chamber’s SelectCobb program, a public-private partnership that has attracted and retained 1,700 jobs in Cobb and a number of headquarters to the tune of more than $317 million in business.

“Even just this past year, we are surpassing the amount of revenue that we’re bringing in for business licenses and we’re only three-fourths of the way through,” she said. “Not only are businesses selecting Cobb, but so are our visitors. Our hotel motel tax dollars are rivaling our numbers prior to our pandemic, and not only our businesses and visitors coming to Cobb... Our census has shown that over the past 10 years we have added 80,000 new residents to Cobb County, solidifying Cobb County as the third most populous county within our state.”

Not only is the county growing in population size, Cupid said, but Cobb is quickly becoming more diverse. Census numbers show the county will soon become a minority-majority county, she said. (Cobb County School District became a “minority-majority” system for the first time in the 2005-2006 school year, when its enrollment of white students fell below 50%, according to previous MDJ reports.)

“It has not always been easy to talk about matters of race and equity,” she said. “And we’re here in June, celebrating Juneteenth. And I’m grateful for the commissioners for making that a holiday. We are in the throes of Pride Month... Diversity is with us. And I appreciate the leadership of those who have been able to have those tough conversations help us and leading our efforts so that Cobb County isn’t left behind, and so our people in Cobb County aren’t left behind.”

Cupid applauded the chamber for becoming more diverse among its members and staff.

“They’ve diversified its programming and they’re diversifying its membership,” she said. “They’ve also been able to open its doors to have us kickoff our conversations about racial equity here in the county... And it’s good to see our business leaders step up and say this is something that we have to address if we want all people, all employees, all businesses, all residents to feel welcome here.”

For the county, the commission has created a diversity, equity and inclusion officer position to address diversity within local government, as well as witnessing the “greatest number of applicants of color” for the county’s fire department, Cupid said.

“We’ve had a tough time being able to feel like we have a seat at the table when it comes to business investment in Cobb County, and you’ve listened,” she said. “They listened and they got to work, modified our policies to make sure that we are doing better to make Cobb County open for business for everyone.”

Cupid also addressed the diversity of the Cobb Board of Commissioners; she said the community was fortunate to have its first all-women board, most of whom are minority and Democratic.

“Each one of them deserves to lead,” she said. “They were elected by the citizens to do so. And I would like to say we get to look nice in front of you and talk about our accomplishments without talking about some of the challenges that we’ve had... We’ve been able to step up and lead. I know for each and every one of the commissioners on this board.”

Despite the progressive board, Cupid said during the last year and a half, she had seen issues she thought she never would have seen in her near-decade experience with the county.

“We’ve seen citizen movements move forward to incorporate more than 50% of our residents,” she said, in reference to the movements to create new cities in east Cobb, west Cobb, Vinings and Mableton.

Cupid also took time to voice her disapproval of the Republican-sponsored redrawing of the Cobb County commission board map signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in March. The controversial redistricting set to take effect Jan. 1, 2023, draws sitting Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her district.

“During the legislative session this year, we’ve actually seen one of our commissioners completely drawn out of her district that her citizens elected her to lead in,” Cupid said. “I can’t understand how women who worked hard like every other man to get on that Board of Commissioners are being left out and being undermined in a way that they have been. But I know when they come here and they show up and they smile in front of you, not only are they showing up as leaders, they’re show up as overcomers. Because they’re overcoming battles for this county every day. And why? Because they care. Why do I show up? Because I care.”

Thanks to an increase in the county’s tax digest, Cupid said the county has been able to propose a new budget that — if approved — will bring all county employees to market-level pay. Despite raises for police officers and other merit increases, she said there are still county employees who make less than $10 an hour.

“That’s not acceptable,” she said.

Though Cupid did not share the numbers behind the proposed budget, she said if approved, it would bring minimum hourly wages for county employees to $17 an hour. Speaking of budgets, Cupid said the county had received $147 million from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which the county plans to use to address “tough issues” such as homelessness and mental health.

“And reality is that we have a lot of citizens who are in need right now,” she said. “But I believe that there’s no issue that’s too difficult for us to address then if we come together. And I’m seeing that improving day in and day out.”

Cupid also touched on her plan to place a 30-year sales tax for transit on the ballot in 2024. She characterized the work sessions between commissioners about the proposed T-SPLOST as “tough conversations.”

“We are a mobile region and just in Cobb, over 60% of our residents travel to work outside of the county. And guess what? For our employers, over 60% of our employees that work here coming from outside the county,” she said. “So it just makes business sense for us to be able to strengthen our transportation network here in the county, as we have great places for people to live primarily in Cobb, but all over the region.”

Cupid said advances made in local transportation would address the rising cost of living in Cobb for commuting workers who cannot afford to live in the area, as well as sustainability. She said she hoped to see the environment sustained as well as the county.

“We deserve it. We deserve leaders who think about not only today but tomorrow. Why? Because to me, in Cobb County, we win,” she said. “We are a winning county. We’re the third most populous county in the state of Georgia. We are a winning county.”

Advertised as her 2022 State of the County address, in fact, Cupid already gave that address in March at Jim Miller Park in a departure from her predecessors, who traditionally gave it at the chamber’s breakfast meetings. Cupid said at the time she did so in her desire to be more inclusive.