Cobb Approves More DA Staff, But Not Before A Public Tiff

COBB COUNTY, GA — Cobb County commissioners approved Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady's $275,000 request for seven new positions in his office at Tuesday's Board of Commissioners meeting. But it didn't come easy.

At last month's commissioners meeting, Broady asked commissioners for six new positions to deal with a backlog of criminal cases. They told him no — so Broady came back again and asked for seven new positions: two assistant district attorneys; two legal administrative specialists; two investigators; and one criminal intelligence analyst.

The board approved Broady's request Tuesday in a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Keli Gambrill dissenting. Broady and Gambrill got into a contentious exchange prior to the vote over the positions, mostly related to the funding mechanism for those new roles.

The positions are being partially funded on a temporary basis through CARES Act money. Broady will have to return to the board this summer during budget negotiations to request the positions be added to the fiscal year 2022 budget permanently.

Gambrill — and the county legal department — argued that this request is ineligible for CARES funding because it includes expenses that will become permanent, and is for positions that are not considered public safety.

“Essentially this board is setting us up for another $30, $60, $90 million dollar deficit … [with] the shell game that this board likes to play to now essentially spend more money that we technically don’t have … and I cannot support it,” Gambrill said Tuesday.

The 2020 CARES Act money is intended to be used to alleviate hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as funding additional public safety payroll expenses. Cobb County limited eligibility further to just first responders, Cobb Finance Director Bill Volckmann said.

When the county received the CARES Act money, it was used to essentially reimburse the county for money it already spent on first responders' salaries — therefore meeting the public safety criteria and leaving extra money in the current fiscal year's budget for Broady's request, according to Volckmann.

"We've already met that criteria, and these funds are now unobligated and no strings attached to these," Volckmann said. "This is not creating a deficit in any way, shape or form."

Gambrill called the fiscal maneuvering of the CARES Act money a "shell game" at Monday's work session, the MDJ reported, and Tuesday's debate was similar.

Broady proceeded to read off the names of four inmates who died in Cobb County Jail custody: Kevil Wingo, Steven Davis, Bradley Emory and Jessie Myles. The inmates died from a drug overdose, suicide, natural causes and complications from a perforated gastric ulcer, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Three were taken in on drug possession charges, and another was arrested for driving with a suspended driver's license. Broady said adding these new positions will allow the system to move faster — and therefore help prevent more deaths at the county jail.

“The programs that we are trying to put in place, doing the things the right way, would have eliminated those deaths in our jail, because those individuals would have been placed back in the community, back to their jobs, back to their homes, where they could have sought proper medical care,” Broady said while staring down Gambrill during the meeting. “What we are trying to do is take two to three years and reduce it down to 90 days, the stay people have in our criminal justice system.”

The extensive backlog in the court system is putting off the day victims of crime can see justice and get closure, Broady said. He directed the comment at Gambrill.

“We have over 3,000 victims awaiting their day in court, but without the resources to provide that opportunity … they will live over and over the trauma of their case. The money that we’re asking for for these positions is to help us to reduce that timeframe, to make sure that everyone is restored back to the community … especially our victims, many of whom live in your district, Commissioner Gambrill.”

Broady said he expects the seven positions will be filled by May 17.

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