Advocacy Group Shines Spotlight On Carolyn Cosby's Finances

A group formed to promote ethics in government is raising questions about the financial history of Carolyn Cosby, the independent candidate in the county commission chair race for the Nov. 4 general election, and whether that would negatively impact her ability to manage the county’s ledger.

Cherokee-based Conservatives For Ethical Government on Friday held a press conference in downtown Canton calling into question Cosby’s ethical standards as well as her financial history.

Bernie Tokarz, chairman of the group, led the press conference, outlining the group’s list of concerns regarding Cosby, a local Tea Party activist who publicly denounced Cherokee County’s parks bond program and the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture.

Tokarz, who lives in Atlanta, managed the 2013 campaign of State Senator Brandon Beach in Cherokee County.

Documents provided by the group show that in 2007, Carolyn and David Cosby obtained a mortgage for $820,000 and a home equity loan for $350,000.

In 2009, the Cosbys filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. On the voluntary petition, the Cosbys listed an annual income of $16,584 in 2007 — all of which stemmed from husband David’s government pension, social security and unemployment benefits.

Documents provided by the group also show David and Carolyn Cosby later defaulted on the mortgage and lost their home to foreclosure.

Stating that it’s “not possible” to obtain a loan of that amount with the income the couple reported, Tokarz said the organization is calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the district attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit and the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office to investigate the Cosbys for possible mortgage fraud.

According to the bankruptcy documents, Tokars noted Cosby “ran up” a hospital bill of $2,352.28, a cell phone bill totaling $11,400 and $145,200 in credit card bills.

“Cosby preaches to our governments about independence, self-reliance and personal responsibility and then she builds a million dollar house that she couldn’t pay for,” Tokarz stated. “Cosby spends much of her time telling our governments how to be fiscally conservative and she give the impression she practices what she preaches. However, the facts do not support that notion.”

The Chapter 7 bankruptcy was later discharged, and the Cosbys were not legally obligated to pay most of the debts.

Tokarz also pointed out Cosby has been the subject of numerous complaints to governing authorities and commissions.

Along with violating United States Postal Service rules three times in the last two years, Cosby has also been the subject of several ethics complaints from local residents to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.

Before coming to Cherokee, Cosby led campaigns in Maine to deny its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents legal protection from discrimination in areas such as housing, public accommodations and employment. Her organization, Concerned Maine Families, also backed referendums that would have nullified local ordinances providing legal protections to those aforementioned groups.

The organization came under heavy scrutiny by the state ethics commission, which later determined Cosby was using funds raised for those ballot initiatives to pay household expenses and to cover her utility bills. Specifically, conservative activist and LL Bean heiress Linda Bean Folkers told Maine’s State Ethics Commission that Cosby intentionally misrepresented how much she donated to Concerned Maine Families.

Additionally, it was later determined the Cosbys failed to pay property taxes on their home in Portland, Maine, resulting in the city placing numerous tax liens on their property.

“Carolyn Cosby has shown that she can’t be trusted to tell the truth, she has no ethics and she shows a total disregard for following the laws,” Tokarz added. “The citizens of Cherokee County deserve better, we deserve answers. We need the truth and Cosby refuses to answer questions regarding her bankruptcy, foreclosure and possible fraud.”

Cosby early Saturday morning responded to the organization’s assertion. In 2009, “with great sadness, we joined the ranks of millions of our fellow Americans and thousands in Cherokee County losing their businesses, their homes and their very lives caught in the Great Recession,” Cosby said in a prepared statement.

“Only God knows how much our families suffered as did we,” she added. “At one time, nearly every family on our little street was affected. As a neighborhood, we met and prayed for one another seeking ways to encourage each other and help.”

Cosby, who lives in unincorporated Ball Ground, did not directly address the allegations of mortgage fraud, however.

The candidate said she and her husband became active in Cherokee County politics “to serve our families, to challenge the system of government policies that are destroying business opportunities and the very futures (sic) of our young families.”

“We were appalled to find that the same corruption, mismanagement and wasteful spending in Washington were going on right here in our own county,” she added.

Cosby noted her 2009 bankruptcy filing was “not due to mismanagement or irresponsibility.”

“I want to assure the families of Cherokee County that our bankruptcy was responsible, legal and carefully reviewed and approved by a federal judge,” she said. “There is not the slightest impropriety on the part of ourselves, the bank or the courts. While our decision to file bankruptcy was deemed absolutely necessary, it destroyed our dreams of our family business that had just been expanded to provide jobs for our young adults and their children.”

Cosby went on to say that while she has not held elected office, she added she believes she can “apply the same common sense” that made her family business viable until the Great Recession.

She attributed the scrutiny from residents to her status as a “political outsider.”

“Ethics charges and nuisance complaints are the expected outcome from challenging the status quo,” she stated. “It’s the political attacks one must bear for not joining the party clubs.”

Earlier this year, Cosby mounted a campaign to collect enough petition signatures to gain placement on the Nov. 4 general election ballot to challenge incumbent Republican Buzz Ahrens for the commission seat. She launched her campaign after Ahrens on May 20 defeated Republican primary challenger Jackie Archer.

(Photo: Bernie Tokarz, foreground, lists the concerns Cherokee County-based Conservatives For Ethical Government has regarding Carolyn Cosby, the independent candidate for the commission chair race, as supporters look on. Credit: Kristal Dixon)