Carolyn Cosby Faces 3rd Ethics Complaint From Resident

Cherokee County Commission chair candidate Carolyn Cosby has been hit with a third ethics complaint filed against her in the last two years.

The latest complaint comes from Canton resident Jeff Wilbur, who has submitted two complaints to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission alleging Cosby, whose petition garnered enough signatures to be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot, is not reporting expenses related to signs she created during the May 20 Republican primary.

Those signs denounced both incumbent Republican Cherokee County Commission Chair Buzz Ahrens and incumbent Republican District 1 Commissioner Harry Johnston. Cosby backed the opponents of Ahrens and Johnston, Jackie Archer and Steve West, respectively.

Another complaint filed by Wilbur accuses Cosby of not registering Citizens Opposed to Spiraling Taxation as an independent committee.

In the first complaint, Wilbur states Cosby registered “Expose Bobo Boon Dogge Now!” (sic) on April 29 as an independent committee and filed the required contribution and expenditure report that was due two weeks before the May 20 primary.

Wilbur includes in his packet campaign mailers and photos of signs that indicate Cosby and the organization were allegedly behind the creation of the literature and signs. However, Cosby did not list any expenses or contributions in the report, Wilbur said in his complaint.

If the mailer and signs he provided as evidence were paid for by the committee, Wilbur states the expenses exceed the minimum the state requires committees to report.

“If this mailer was paid for by Carolyn Cosby as she stated on the mailer, then Mrs. Cosby had several options available to her,” he added, noting she could have given an in-kind donation to the candidate benefiting from her services.

Independent committees are organizations that receive donations and spends that money “for the purpose of affecting the outcome of an election of any elected office or to advocate the election or defeat of any particular candidate,” according to state rules.

These committees also have their own filing schedule. Specifically, if a committee receives or spends more than $1,000 after filing the two-week report but before the election, it is required to disclose this within two business days on a Two Business Day Report.

In the second complaint, Wilbur provides a copy of a campaign flier, which states its creation was ”paid for by Citizens Opposed to Spiraling Taxation,” a group that is not registered with the state’s office.

On Friday, Cosby addressed what she called the ”baseless” ethics complaints.

These “flurry of complaints is designed to provide cover” for her opponent, incumbent Republican Commission Chair Buzz Ahrens, and hide his ”responsibility” in the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture.

Cosby is also facing another ethics complaint from Canton resident Garrett Jamieson, who alleges she failed to register Canton T.E.A. Party and Georgians For Healthcare Freedom Ltd. as independent committees, political action committees or ballot committees.

In 2012, Cosby and the Canton T.E.A. Party launched campaigns and backed candidates to unseat incumbent District 2 County Commission Jim Hubbard. The material Cosby circulated eventually was used as evidence against her in an ethic complaint filed with the state.

Cosby was accused by former County Commissioner Karen Bosch of raising money to influence voters on which candidates to support in the July 31 primary. The case was eventually turned over to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office for “probable case” where it remains undecided.

(Photo credit: Carolyn Cosby)