Cobb County’s Board of Commissioners left campus for a retreat designed to help them look at the big picture of governance and how to make decisions based upon a large and diverse perspective.

Former Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairman Sam Olens kicked off the day by urging commissioners to look past their differences with

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the goal of serving not just people in their own districts, but the entire county.

A research analyst from the ARC gave commissioners a briefing on demographic trends in the county, and facilitators David Hooker and Clara Axam led them through exercises in decision making and governance.  One of many topics was the challenge of making decisions outside of the current election cycle that could benefit residents for decades to come.

Commissioner Jerica Richardson took the message to heart, at one point saying her viewpoint in board meetings is; “my vote is for District 2, but my voice is for the county.”

District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield echoed those sentiments saying despite differences on the board “we can go farther together than we can apart.”

“We’re not always going to agree, but we can learn to respect one another,” said Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.  “We have a lot of big challenges ahead, but we can do our best to vote our conscience and do so in the best interests of the entire county.”

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid organized the event and said the day left her with a “better perspective and appreciation that the work we do is complex.  We can value what each of us brings to the table to add to those complex issues and gain a better idea of what impact our policy decisions have on our districts and the county as a whole.”

The retreat continues through Friday and is being live-streamed on CobbTV’s YouTube channel.