Mableton, Georgia, could soon become one of America’s newest cities, but even before its first election, some residents already want to split, a mayoral candidate told Fox News.
Residents of unincorporated southern Cobb County near Atlanta voted in November to form the city of Mableton, giving it its own mayor and city council after an election later this month. But some residents at the time didn’t understand the ballot question’s phrasing and are now pushing to be excluded before the local government is even formed.
“On the November election, we had it on the ballot for forming the city of Mableton, and it did pass by a slim margin,” Aaron Carman, a longtime resident and mayoral candidate for the city, told Fox News. “There was just a lot of confusion around the ballot and the way it was worded.”
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The ballot question asked if residents supported the creation of Mableton but it didn’t indicate which unincorporated parts of Cobb County would be included in the new city.
“That election was stolen! All the people who voted yes but didn’t know what the heck they were voting for,” a woman yelled at a town hall discussing the new city in February.
Some residents called for an election do-over to vote on cityhood again.
“It didn’t say ‘you are a part of the proposed boundaries of the city of Mableton. Do you support this, yes or no?'” Carman, who faces three mayoral challengers, told Fox News. “It could have been a lot simpler and clearer in the communication to the residents.”
“There’s people that have no idea that they were even included in the city of Mableton because of their addresses being neighboring cities,” he said.
Cobb County will continue to provide some services for the new city, though Mableton, population 42,000, will be responsible for others.
Cityhood supporters wanted to ensure their tax dollars were spent locally and rather than throughout Cobb…
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