Two more challengers jump into commission races

District 1, District 3 each now has four candidates running.

Two additional candidates have joined the races for two Cobb County Commission seats in contests that will likely turn on voter concerns over the county budget, transportation and development.

Forrest Shealy qualified as a Republican in the District 1 race representing West Cobb, while Caroline Holko qualified as a Democrat to run in District 3, representing East Cobb.

Shealy’s entry into the race brings the total number of candidates in District 1 to four, including incumbent Bob Weatherford, Melissa O’Brien and Keli Gambrill. All four are running as Republicans, with the primary scheduled for May 22.

Holko will compete as a Democrat in the primary against retired Cobb County Water System employee Jim Smith. There are also two Republicans running for the seat: incumbent JoAnn Birell and local businessman Tom Cheek.

Shealy, an attorney in private practice, is an Air Force veteran and former Cobb County assistant district attorney.

He said he’s running because “West Cobb needs a new voice,” especially given the way the Atlanta Braves were brought to Cobb.

“Government has to be open; government has to be accessible; government has to be public,” Shealy said.

Shealy said as a defense attorney and former prosecutor, fostering positive community-police relations is among the top priorities of his campaign.

Shealy said he was also looking to lead on the issue of zoning and land use.

“We really have to have disciplined growth and that means the land use plan and land use management,” Shealy said.

Finally, Shealy said that transportation would be a bis issue in the race.

“For too long, Cobb County has held out of regional transportation,” said Shealy. “I cannot take public transportation nine miles to the new stadium.”

In East Cobb, Holko is a former nonprofit administrator and union organizer, and currently a home school educator to her two children.

“The sheer volume of uncontested seats in the metro Atlanta area was really bothering me,” she said of her decision to run. “Now, in particular, is the time when women in our community can really make a difference.”

Holko said as homeschoolers, she and her family are “heavy users” of the library and have been personally affected since the increase in fees to use facilities like the library community room. The county has also implemented fees for the senior centers and proposed shuttering or consolidating up to eight libraries to make up a $30 million deficit.

Holko called it “unimaginable” that seniors on fixed incomes should have to pay to use the facilities their tax dollars built.

Holko said she also holds a degree in political science and is heavily involved in her community.

“There are a lot of benefits that other communities have that there is no reason why we shouldn’t have those things too,” she said. “I really think that we can do better.”