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Vote at the Cobb County Commission meeting last evening to approve moving forward with “Home Run” Braves deal.  After a whopping two weeks of digestion.

Commissioner Cupid votes her conscience against the deal, this was her statement.

“Tonight’s vote is not just about the substance of bringing the Braves here. It’s about how we’re going to do it. We have an MOU involved with a lot of details that have come out in a week. As much as I try to go through this document, as diligently as I can – read it twice, pulled stadium deals from across the nation, compared them for pros and cons on every side, talk to our county attorney….

“Some of my concerns still linger. We speak about a public-private partnership and the spirit of cooperation. I want to be that partner. Under these conditions I can’t be that partner. Not without adequate time to make sure that I am diligently protecting the best interest of the county. I cannot do it within seven days, even with a legal background.

“And I certainly can understand why the public has issue with their own tax dollars being committed for 30 years, binding this generation and the generation to follow. And how dare they have questions and want to be a part of this process. I believe this could have been a win-win for so many more people today, if we only took more time to get that win. So many people have asked us to wait…

“It frightens me, the number of threats I’ve received. If you wanted a 5-0 vote, you could have gotten it. It could have been easy. But I will not ever be bullied into sacrificing my commitment to the people who put me in this position….

“For too long, the persons who live in my district have felt left out of the process. It was incumbent upon me, no matter how hard I had to work – even if we didn’t get all that we saw the rest of Cobb County get – to just give us a voice. I’m working hard to give us a voice….

“I was scared that if I did not vote for this, that I would not have a seat at the table. That my district would not have a seat at the table. That we would be left out. But then I realized, I was scared to lose something that we will not lose. We will not lose our seat at the table, because we are citizens of Cobb County. I’m a commissioner. I’m always at the table.”