The pay-cut threat, he said, “absolutely makes no sense,” he said.
“My issues have always been with the management of EMC, not with the employees of EMC. I’ve always felt it was very important for us to keep the employees happy as much as we can.”
He’s also no tree-hugger.
“I’m the farthest thing from that, actually. As I remind everybody, our lawsuit had nothing to do with the coal plant,” he said. “My concerns with Cobb EMC have nothing to do with environmental causes. My concerns are purely on the corruption that has existed and trying to put Cobb EMC into a position where we can move forward and get back to the basics of providing power to members at lowest possible cost. That’s the whole idea of a co-op. We’re supposed to be the cheapest source of power.”
The rank-and-file employees of Cobb EMC, he said, are some of the best in the business.
“Customer service has never been an issue with Cobb EMC, in the past or present,” Sharp said.
SHARP SAID the rumors remind him of the early days in the 2007 lawsuit, when then-CEO Dwight Brown tried to scare employees by insisting the plaintiffs only wanted control of the utility so they could sell it off.
“You know, we had a lot of choices in our lawsuit,” he said. “We were warned, just prior to settlement, that if we didn’t settle and put these things in place, Cobb Energy was going to be bankrupt and all the assets were going to go into bankruptcy, and our EMC as we know it would be gone, and that would affect the 500 employees of Cobb EMC. I put myself in those employees’ shoes. It’s not their fault that Dwight Brown made these decisions. It’s not their fault the management is running the company the way they are. I thought it was important for us to work out a plan that would allow the company to continue on, and protect those employees. They are good people. The employees that I know over there are some of the best people I’ve ever met.”
Sharp will face off against Charles Sevier in Saturday’s runoff to represent area 5. A second runoff will occur for the Area 4 seat between Jim Hudson and David McClellan. Voting will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Piedmont Church, 570 Piedmont Road.
Sharp and Hudson are backed by three of the plaintiffs (Dianne Brackin, Jim Gladstone and Skip Smith), while Sevier and McClellan are endorsed by the EMC Owners Association and plaintiffs Butch Thompson and Bo Pounds.
RETIRED Kennesaw State University President Dr. Betty Siegel was named this year’s recipient of the Eldridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award at the Georgia Board of Regents’ recent Salute to Education at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Dr. Siegel helmed KSU from 1981 to 2006 and was the first woman to head an institution in the 35-unit University System of Georgia. Past recipients of the award include Chic-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, Gov. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Gov. Zell Miller.
Also at the event, Dr. Thomas Pusateri, professor of psychology at KSU, was one of five educators named as Felton Jenkins Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award winners and one of two to receive the Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.
MEMBERS of the Marietta Tree Keepers and the Marietta Rotary Club planted a 14-foot elm tree on the western grounds of Marietta High School Wednesday in memory of Spencer Owens, son of Glenn and Elsie Owens. Digging for the new tree was performed by five members of the MHS wresting team, which Owens once captained. Among those present were Owens’ former coach/present Marietta Athletics Director Paul Hall, Rotary President Will Goodman, Rotarians Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs and Superior Court Judge Ruben Green, and Tree Keepers head Holly Walquist. …
DON’T FORGET the Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society’s annual Root House Spring Plant Sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 27 and 28. Proceeds will benefit the Society’s noted efforts to preserve the county’s historic heritage. Offerings will include a range of perennials and shrubs, hydrangeas and conifers. In addition to professionally grown plants, there will be “pass along plants” donated by members of Cobb Landmarks and the Cobb Master Gardeners.
“One group of plants that have been promised are off sets of camellias that have lived in a Marietta garden for at least 60 years,” reports the event’s publicity chair, Cathy Brown.
For more info, contact Sue Burgess at (770) 953-3309. …
DAVIS WALKER, who passed away Monday at age 87 of complications from a recent fall, was a true “O.M.” (“Old Mariettan”) in the best sense of the term. A graduate of Marietta High School, he and his late brother, Johnny, until their retirements owned and operated Johnny Walker’s, which for decades was the premier men’s clothing store in Cobb and was opened on the west side of Marietta Square in 1924 by their father.
Davis carved a reputation as one of the best golfers at the Marietta Country Club and remained active there and in the Marietta Kiwanis Club until the end. In fact, Walker had compiled 61 years of perfect attendance at the club. But he told the MDJ’s Bill Kinney after attending the club’s meeting two weeks ago that he did not plan to return because getting there had become such a strain.
Walker’s passing means that E.W. Chastain is now the lone World War II veteran in that club.
COBB SCHOOL BOARD member David Banks stole the limelight for nearly 30 minutes during Wednesday’s work session when he decided to go off on his second tangent of the year about how the district has more money than Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison says it has. Amid his rant about how the board should dip into the $99 million reserve to fix the FY13 $62.4 million deficit, Chair Scott Sweeney chimed in to try and let other board members ask questions, but Banks wasn’t having it.
“Mr. Chairman, I still have the floor and I have not finished my questions. I have the floor. You gave me the floor when I started. I’d appreciate you letting me finish. You’re monopolizing. I would like to finish making my points. I object on a parliamentary basis. I think you’re out of order. I’ll ask (board attorney) Mr. (Clem) Doyle if I am correct or not correct.”
In response, Doyle did in fact give the floor back to Banks, adding, “If that’s OK with the chair,” and Sweeney responded with a sarcastic, “Please proceed.”
After about seven more minutes of questions and assertions about the budget, Banks finally ended with, “I will relinquish my time, Mr. Sweeney.”
The board follows Robert’s Rules of Order regarding how they do business and according to www.robertsrules.org, board members must be recognized by the chair before speaking, so Sweeney technically had the authority to muffle Banks but didn’t.
POLITICS: Will and Michelle Goodman will host a “meet the candidate” from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at their home, “Oakton,” on Kennesaw Avenue, for Marietta Ward 4 City Council candidate Patti Pearlberg. … U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell) is back from leading a delegation of House members to the Middle East, where they met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Turkish President Abdullah Gül and King Abdullah II of Jordan
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I know for a fact that at least some of the employees at that particular event did not have the same things to say of you and yours, despite the fact that because of the mob created through those meetings they were afraid to tell people where they work. Some removed their parking tags the moment they left the parking lot. Others had to endure harassment both at the elections and at marketing events.
Sharp - I will be watching you. You've caught my attention most directly, and I will be glad to point out moments like this. Especially when I have the personal experience that knows otherwise.
The facts here: You called employees "the enemy" and now claim you had no problem with them. Either way, they've been worried about the mob progressing from the CEO, to the board, to management, to them. And you have an undeniable responsibility in this.
So I'll be watching, and I'll be happy to speak up when you contradict yourself. And if you want dialogue, I'll be glad to have that as well.
All I want is for Cobb EMC to regain pride as a company and the same for the employees. I hope you want the same, and that means no games.
You have a similar opportunity by getting out to vote for Hudson and Sharp tomorrow morning. No matter how you slice it, the corruption and malfeasance costs members on average of $200 a year. Ending it will put the money back in your pocket.
Vote for Hudson and Sharp!
Something is terribly amiss when even after a good portion of the Board has been replaced that Brown’s friends are still on the dole as high ranking employees, management committee members, and consultants. Something is awfully wrong when the CEOA’s candidate vetting process is dramatically changed, without any notice to long standing members, in what was essentially a hijacking of that organization’s democratic process. Something doesn’t smell right when the press changes its long standing positions last minute on issues such as run-off elections as well as Tripper Sharp’s intentions and the motivations of his support base. There is something more going on behind the scenes than the just plain, silly negative flyers and robo calls degrading Sharp and Hudson. And they have the nerve to call Sharp and Hudson negative!
But the democratic process will succumb to these and the other acts of chicanery by Cobb EMC officials only if we let it. Cobb EMC members have a precious right, the right to vote for their board. The act is simple; selecting a candidate on the ballot, but the result can be profoundly beneficial for Cobb EMC for many years to come. Voting is the only way that Cobb’s members can finally assure that Cobb EMC has a truly independent board that can clean house and put the corruption and cronyism behind us. Get out and vote!
Your back ground is Political Science --So what is really your interest in this board? Not the people!
But your own personal Gain!!!
Sam Kelly, is this you again?
Pat H., you can run,but you can't hide. Your comment gives you away. You have a distinct way of putting others down. Better changed your tactics.
Why is Sharp backed by three of the plaintiffs, if the plaintiffs don't want him to run? Also, for all the claims that Sharp promised not to run, it's simply not true. He has stated that the plaintiffs shouldn't benefit, but I find it hard to imagine that anyone who didn't cared deeply about the future of Cobb EMC would take on the task of reforming the place under the current compensation scheme. There is no personal benefit except for the reward of a job well done.
Secondly as a former Cobb Energy affiliate employee, now much happier in a much better job, who witnessed the corruption and bullying by Brown and his cronies firsthand; Sharp is true in his assessment of the strong armed tactics Brown used to force the civil suit settlement that was quite frankly too favorable to Brown. Anybody has to care more about Cobb EMC employees than Brown who threatened to use them as cannon fodder. Sharp cares much more about Cobb EMC employees than Brown ever did.
@ Around Town
It's simply wrong to state that Sevier and McClellan are endorsed by the EMC Owners Association. I'm a member and the long term members I know support Sharp and Hudson. It's more correct to state that the Cobb EMC employees who voted in block in the last CEOA vetting process as well as Thompson support Sevier and McClellan. I'm not sure if Pounds has come out in support of anyone.
Banks, meanwhile, belligerently insists the school board meetings are for his personal campaign. His behavior is a tremendous disservice to the community. It's an ongoing issue and the November elections won't be here soon enough.
* Resolution to raise sales tax
* Proposed paying out millions in vacation to administrators
* Suggested using 100% of reserve funds, an ill-advised measure by all accounts
The recent exchanges between Banks and Addison are an embarrassment to Cobb County. We deserve the best. The district's CFO. Addison is one of, if not the best at his trade. On the other hand, you have Banks. Banks acted like a school yard bully toward Addison while discussing the budget. Banks insisted his numbers were accurate, yet it was obvious he had no idea what he was talking about.
After the accounting professional Addison repeatedly told Banks he was mixing apples and oranges with his budget assumptions, Banks indignantly told Addison he was wrong.
Plenty of people are ready to support whomever declares their candidacy for Banks post.
Tripper Sharp is a liar - a bold faced liar. I find it humorous that he claims in a video the lawsuit wasn't for personal gain, and then runs for office against the agreements among the plaintiffs that they will not be candidates for the Board of Directors.
Once again, I repeat. Tripper Sharp = liar. Bold. Faced. Liar.
The facts are that the management is supporting the other candidates instead of Hudson and Sharp, who received the lion's share of the original votes.
The corrupt Board appointed management wants the other candidates, and put out a flyer that called them the "swing votes". What is that supposed to mean?