In 2008, voters in Cobb County, Georgia, approved a $40 million bond issue to acquire and build new public parks. The money still hasn’t been spent yet, though, because at first it was delayed by the Great Recession (are we still calling it that?) and now by certain other spending priorities:

County officials say only $20 million will be available to buy park land. Many of those public speakers at the commissioners’ meetings have wondered why the full amount could not be made available through the debt service fund, requiring no tax increase, since the commissioners were able to fund nearly $400 million for the Atlanta Braves to move to Cobb… Commission Chairman Tim Lee has said a tax increase would now be needed to pay for the $40 million Park Bond 2008.

This guy is really trying hard to lose the election, isn’t he?

It’s worthwhile to note that this isn’t just a case of the county spending general revenue on the stadium and having none left over for parks, which would be bad enough; rather, the county actually redirected tax revenue that had been earmarked for public parks to pay for the stadium bonds, even though the park project was approved by voters, and the stadium never was. I’d say something snarky here about Cobb County’s attitude toward democracy, but Lee has already managed that quite nicely himself.