Former county chairman Bill Byrne, who is running to get his old seat back in the July 31 primary against Republicans Mike Boyce, Larry Savage and incumbent Tim Lee, reports raising $16,373 in cash and $4,500 in in-kind contributions for the period, which brings his total contributions to date of $55,649 cash and $10,300 in in-kind contributions.

He reports having a balance of $11,740.

Contributors include Cobb Superior Court Judge George Kreeger, who donated $250; Development Authority of Cobb County board member Donna Rowe, who donated $200; Chris Waldman of Acworth, Peter Quinones of Kennesaw and Steve McGuire of Kennesaw, who each donated $1,000; Marietta attorney Mary Sterns donated $500; Marietta attorney Michael Kramer donated $200; “Around About Local Media” of Woodstock donated $1,918; Elizabeth Manning of Kennesaw donated $200; and Marietta attorney L. Davis Wolfe donated $500.

But hot on his heels is Boyce, who raised $20,501 this quarter, which brings Boyce’s total to $52,499 as of June 30 with a balance of $12,259.

Boyce received $1,000 each from real estate businessman Thomas Cannon of Marietta, from Gary Young of Marietta of Young Contracting, from retiree Shafer Moe of Marietta, from Michael Voegtle of Atlanta, an architect with DVA Architecture, and from retiree Bill Bechtel of Marietta.

Former Cobb school board member John Abraham gave him $100; Wayne Beacham of Marietta, CEO of SP Richards Co, gave $500; retiree Thomas Bennett of Marietta gave $500; CPA John Thombley of Thombley and Simmons gave $500; general contractor Trey Sanders of Brasfield and Gorrie gave $500; former Lockheed chief Bob Ormsby gave $500 and Paul Paulson of Marietta gave $100.

Lee and Savage have yet to file, according to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, although the deadline is July 9.

While Lee hasn’t yet filed, his campaign war chest should be just fine, judging from the 100 or so people listed as the host committee for his recent fundraiser at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest on June 28.

Among those listed were former Cobb EMC board members Johnny Gresham and RJ Patel, lobbyists and TSPLOST cheerleaders Michael Paris and Chuck Clay, ARC Chairman Tad Leithead, Cumberland CID board member Connie Engel, Cobb Chamber CEO David Connell, Chamber Chairman Tony Britton, former Chamber chairmen Rob Garcia and Fred Bentley, Jim Croy of Croy Engineering, Mary Lou Stephens of the Town Center CID, Six Flags President Melinda Ashcraft, James Hudgins, of ARCADIS, bankers Clark Hungerford and Ron Francis, attorney John Moore, the mayors of Cobb’s six cities, and Marietta Housing Authority director Ray Buday, to name but a few.

Lee told Around Town on Friday he had raised $62,725 for the period running from April 1 to June 30 and would likely file his report over the weekend.

***The Cobb GOP’s Independence Day Barbecue Celebration at Jim Miller Park, as expected, led to a few sparring matches between candidates in this year’s elections, and the biggest haymaker was delivered by a lady.

JoEllen Smith, who is vying to unseat state Rep. Don Parsons (R-northeast Cobb) in the July 31 Republican Primary, took to the stage and ripped her opponent.

“I’m running against an 18-year incumbent, and if you go on my website you’ll see that I have a lot of endorsements,” Smith told the crowd, which Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy estimated was around 1,000.

Among the list of supporters on her website are Debbie Dooley, national coordinator of the Georgia Tea Party Patriots; Peggy Henderson, vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party; Frank Wigington, president of the North East Cobb Business Association; Superior Plumbing owner Jay Cunningham; former Cobb school board chairman John Abraham; Cobb Parks and Recreation board member Debbie D’Aurelio; and Frank Butler, the former interim dean for the College of Education at Kennesaw State University, to name a few.

“Lot of people ask ‘why do endorsements matter?’” Smith said. “Well, I’ll tell you this much, lack of endorsements mean a lot. I’m running against a former Democrat who is now a Republican and still votes liberal, but he doesn’t have one endorsement or one donation from any elected official. I have a lot of local endorsements because I’m a strong member of the local community.”

She referenced the July 4 MDJ column by Dick Yarbrough, titled “We the Unwashed don’t find lobbying reform ‘silly.’”

“A lot of us, actually a hundred of us, are just asking for a $100 dollar cap on lobbyist expenditures, and if you saw the forum that the Cobb Republican Women put on, my opponent called it ‘silly,’” Smith said. “I don’t think ethics are silly, and I think most of the people in this room don’t think ethics are silly.”

Parsons took to the stage after Smith, saying that he does indeed have a conservative record.

“Anybody who would even begin to doubt that all you have to do is look at the endorsements I have: the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Americans for Prosperity, and the list goes on and on,” he said.

***COBB SCHOOLS’ new chief financial officer Brad R. Johnson is on tap to earn the same amount of money as his outgoing former co-worker Mike Addison, $132,000 annually. He’ll take the reins from the 29-year Cobb veteran Oct. 1.

The school board approved Cobb Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa’s recommendation to hire Johnson at the June 28 board meeting.

However, it didn’t announce at the meeting how much Johnson would be paid, but the HR Chief Dr. Michael Shanahan told the Journal this past week in a phone interview.

He is coming to Cobb from Atlanta Public Schools, where he earned $129,599 in 2011 as the district’s deputy chief financial officer, according to open.ga.gov.

Addison’s salary for this past school year, and what will now be Johnson’s salary when he starts in the fall, was upped from $128,199 annually last September after Hinojosa reorganized his executive cabinet, giving raises to five of the six members.

Hinojosa said Johnson was among of 15 applicants who applied for the position. Before working for Atlanta, he worked in Cobb under Addison for 21 years.

Addison announced on June 5 that he would be retiring, effective Sept. 30. This announcement coincidentally came just a few weeks after the district and school board struggled to figure out how to deal with a $60 million deficit in next school year’s budget.

We will see how well Johnson will do with his nearly 30 years of experience in accounting when the district faces what they expect to be a similar deficit for the 2013-14 school year

***The Cobb County Civic Coalition will host a Cobb Commission Chairman candidate forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Commissioners Meeting Room, located at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.

The forum can also be viewed on TV23 and online through TV23 LiveStream at www.CobbCounty.org/tv23.

***And back to the Cobb GOP’s Independence Day Barbecue ...

Dendy, the GOP chairman, received applause from the audience in delivering a brief lecture.

“The food stamp program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever,” Dendy said, reading from his Blackberry. “Meanwhile, the National Park Service administered by the U.S. Department of Interior asks us please do not feed the animals. Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on the handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves. This ends today’s lesson,” Dendy told the amused crowd.