There were three calls to the Smyrna Police at "his" business last night and at least two were arrested. While it may not have been "inside his business" when the cops showed up, it was because of his business. Maybe he needs some security (off duty cops not rent a cops that just watch).

They definitely need security with 480 teens hanging out in one place in that area of town on a Saturday night.

I was listening to the police scanner.

Thanks P.F. Guess I need to invest in one as well:-)

These are all wonderful points.That's why, with all this wisdom and constant community involvement that i'm noticing here,with our combined efforts,I'm positive and confident, these youth will have NO choice,but to flourish and become the model citizens our community needs. I'm overjoyed at the thought of people joining in and becoming part of the solution,rather than the problem. I can be a tad bit over the top with my hopes and dreams when it comes to EGAS,but what else is there? Should I strive for mediocrity?I THINK NOT!!!! These are OUR kids and I WILL NOT take anything EGAS do lightly and I WILL Trust in God and our community will serve as Pilots and I'm the Co-Pilot!! I NEED YOU GUYS TO HELP ME!

Is that building rated for almost 500?
With today's social media frenzy, a small gathering can turn into a huge party very quickly. A huge party can turn into a riot and so on...
Does EGAS plan to have security for events?
Will the police be informed of scheduled events that might draw large crowds?
Are there plans in place for when things get out of control.
Teens are wonderful, they are full of hormones and do not have the maturity to know how to control them. So it might be good to have more adult and community involvement.
I am just a couple of blocks away from EGAS and well, as much as I don't like to admit it - we live in and near some rough communities. Teens, kids and adults who might not have the best home environments. So EGAS is needed, and that is probably the perfect location.
I was so excited when I read the first article about the pending opening. And after reading this, and the fact that the police report lists EGAS as the location of the fights/arrests and then reports that the owner of the club "MC"? states that it was across the street?
In our community, honesty is very important. If you want support - be honest. Something along the lines of "we were not prepared for the crowd, it got out of hand - and the fights (or whatever actually happened) did spur from our party"... "we need your help"

I look forward to meeting you MC!

Thank You Kamma. I appreciate your feedback and receive it! I realize this is a community project and community involvement is a must. I am in the process of forming a board to be a part of the implementation of functions for the Smyrna Youth. Based on your feedback, I would like to meet with you and discuss your willingness or interest in being involved. Please let me know if you are open to this idea. MC

We knew about this party somewhere in the middle of last week when someone invited our daughter to "a party at the old Piccadilly" that all the students at CHS were going to too. For 3 days we looked for info on this and found nothing and the only information getting to us was it was hosted by some seniors.

I am all for community groups but from what I have read, this looks awfully suspicious. Turning over a group to a Board of Directors that are all teens, no additional adults appear to be involved and quite honestly it's run by someone who no one in this town seems to know.

Sidney, here are some questions I'd like to see answers for:
1. Who is Mr. Catholic, where did he come from, when did he move to Smyrna?
2. What adults are involved with this organization?
3. Does this organization have regular "stake-holders" if you will meeting for parents?
4. What services other than block parties is he planning to offer?
5. Were the police made aware of an event this size prior to it?
6. Is Mr Catholic a teacher, preacher, counselor, parent, husband? Why such an interest in "troubled" kids in our community?

With all due respect to Mr. Catholic, I imagine I can speak for the parents of a lot of teenagers in Smyrna, when I say we hope your intentions are honorable, but we need you to talk to us before you throw a bash and invite our kids.

Good luck, Sydney, on finding information on Catholic. I did extensive research and all I found were three Articles of Incorporation for nonprofits in MS. They were: The Lottie S. Catholic Library-Music Foundation Corp. Inc. 1998(Registered Agent - Rev. Melvin Catholic Sr.), Women Entrepreners (sic) of Tomorrow 1999 (Registered Agent - Marilyn Cathey, Incorporator - Melvin Catholic Sr.), and Gardner AG-Grow-Cultural Economic Inc. 1994 (Incorporator - Melvin Catholic Sr.) All are registered in the state of MS (Greenville, Itta Bena). His web site www.egasinternational.com is bare bones and doesn't give much information.

The Marietta Daily Journal would like any information anyone has about EGAS. Email Kim Isaza www.kisaza@mdjonline.com

Sorry folks but my teenaged granddaughters will not be going to that place! Too many kids in one place and without the proper amount of supervision, no way in ....!One function and this happens! What will the future at this place be like?
I think they should have hired off duty SPD officers and limit the number of people in the space. 480 kids are way too many for any location. Crowding them in spells trouble!

Okay.....REALLY??? I cannot believe you people are giving this man a hard time. He is trying to do positive things in our community and with our kids. I am appauled at some of the things you are saying. I have a child that is involved with EGAS. She has a 4.0 and is very active in the community and her school. All the kids that are involved in this are positive role models. Mr. Catholic has no control over who shows up to these parties. Your child or mine may be a gang member and you don't know it. I do agree with one thing and that is he should have some sort of security or off duty officer. We just need to give this a chance for our kids sake. This is a work in progress. I commend you Mr. Catholic and if you need any kind of help or support please don't hesitate to give me a call. I am one parent that is going to support you 110% all the way!!

Really, you place the security of your child with a man who has not established his background to the community. He very well be the salt of the earth but we have not established that. A person comes into the community and leases a large building and invites the youth in. I for one wiould not allow any of my children to attend a function with a person that I do not know anything about. We know nothing in regards to any employees or volunteers he has at thios location nor do we know if he has performed any background checks. Is he working with any other groups ? As a parent it is my responsibility to know who my child is with at all times. Even as I rode by this week, there were youth on the property skateboarding with not one adult in sight. Is this business carrying insurance ? The unknowns are way too many for me. He has the Patch as an open forum to answer our questions and ease our concerns. I do not like the way he has jumped straight into the community and invited our youth to visit. It smells bad no matter how you look at it, REALLY.

Well, I have to chime in here. I am an educator, parent of a young adult, Cobb and a concerned Cobb citizen. I was somewhat puzzled when I read the article about this youth enrichment center occupying this establishment. Like many concerned posters here, I went looking for information about this organization and nothing was found. I have to agree with many of the concerned posters here in that there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Mr. MC, maybe, you need to have some "community chats" and effectively give the community the "who, what, when, where and why". I am sure that many of the citizens agree that there needs to be some type of constructive and positive activities for the youth but it seems this entity has gotten off to a bad start. Even though I have a full schedule most of the time, I am willing to learn more about this organization called EGAS which will help me make a decision if I can a resource of not. I am very involved in the Cobb community so I do have access to various resources, organizations and individuals. I will definitely follow this story and be optimistic that there will be some positive outcomes for the Cobb community.

Realtor frustrated after mentoring group goes AWOL
By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
03/11/12
SMYRNA – A little known mentoring group has disappeared, as quickly as it was set up in Smyrna.
Very little is publically known about EGAS Inc., a mentoring group that was housed in the former Piccadilly
‘He’s not paying the rent and he’s not doing anything with the property. It’s frustrating because I turned away people to give him the opportunity.’ — Jim Hutcherson, Louisville, Ky.-based Realtor
Cafeteria building at 2781 South Cobb Drive north of Church Street. A recent inspection of the property by the Journal revealed what seemed to be a seldom used facility.

The property’s Realtor informed the Journal that he plans to put the restaurant back on the real estate market, after having many of his messages to the founder of EGAS, Mel Catholic, unreturned. He said reports of a recent fight at the location only made him wearier about the operation.
Catholic did not respond to the Journal’s request for an interview.
Jim Hutcherson is a Louisville, Ky.-based Realtor who said he leased the former Piccadilly facility to Catholic upon hearing of his plans to establish an outreach organization for disadvantaged youth in Cobb County. He said the building is privately owned by a Miami resident and that the restaurant continues to lease it.
Hutcherson said Catholic told him that he wanted to operate an afterschool organization, similar to the Boys & Girls Club, where students could receive training in culinary arts, fine arts and other fields. They would also have car washes to help raise money, but the operation would at least be initially funded by present or former professional athletes he knew in Texas, Hutcherson said he was told.
“Everything that he said, I bought into it whole hog,” Hutcherson said. “I loved the concept, as ambiguous as it was.”
“He had told me previously that he had spoken with a lot of city people and they were really behind this, supporting this.”

Hutcherson, who works to lease Piccadilly’s excess properties, said Catholic signed a lease for the former Piccadilly restaurant in October. He said he agreed to allow Catholic’s organization to use the facility rent free until January. He hoped to have Catholic eventually pay at least half of what Piccadilly was leasing it for.
“Piccadilly has got a lease that runs through May 1, 2013,” Hutcherson said.

“They’re paying rent, taxes, insurance, everything ... they probably pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,100 or $1,200 a month.”
In the meantime, problems surrounding EGAS began to arise.
Hutcherson said Tuesday that he had not been in communication with Catholic for about two or three weeks. He said he last heard that Catholic was having health issues.
The Journal was with Hutcherson when he drove to Smyrna, down from Louisville, to check things out for himself at the former Piccadilly location and seek answers from city officials. Peaking through the facility’s dark windows, Hutcherson — who was without keys to the building — said the property looked uninhabited with the exception of a few sofas and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.
“He’s not paying the rent and he’s not doing anything with the property.
It’s frustrating because I turned away people to give him the opportunity,” said Hutcherson. “We’re here treading water doing nothing. Piccadilly is asking me, ‘What’s going? How come we’re not receiving rent?’ They want to start legal proceedings.”

It didn't sound right from the very beginning.

I appreciate the few people that post factual information on this site. We are very aware that Sean Murphy , Chris Long, Michelle & others are simply helping cover up the cities lack of honesty & transparency. Thanks for being on top of things, kdavis!

I've tried sending MDJ links to people and if they didn't have a subscription they couldn't open it. Maybe L Davis posted the whole article for that reason.

It looks like Mr. Catholic's whereabouts are unknown. He sounded like a suspicious character to me.

K. Davis, you clearly have very strong feelings about your elected officials. I'll extend the invitation again - please don't hesitate to call me at 404-931-8374 so we can set up a meeting to discuss your concerns.

Its funny - one day people are complaining the city interferes too much in businesses that try to open here, today its that the city doesn't interfere enough.

I am not at all surprised at this outcome, unfortunately.

Here we go again with the MK machine propoganda. Next verse same as the first. She was arrested a public meeting, in a public building for cussing at the Mayor. Everyone at this meeting saw what happened and they also know why. This was a public town hall meeting open to both adults and children of all ages. She wanted to get arrested for publicity. She wasn't going to stop until she reached that level. As most have noticed by now only two or three detractors show up at nearly every meeting, with this " Smyrna is so terrible " rant. One keeps ranting that he wants town hall meetings. Why ? Just so we can hear the same old garbage about how we don't have an open government. The citizens who voted in th elast election voted Mayor Bacon in yet again. Now Alex still can't believe he lost again, especially by such a large amount. This man couldn't even cut it as the dog catcher, how in the World did he think he was gonna be the mayor. I rode down Concord road today and looked at the vacant properties, with the buildings knocked down. There are still quite a few trees left. If you want more trees then go out and buy them. I don't want to pay for them. If you want some benches then go buy them. I don't want to pay for them and I wouldn't want to buy them for my neighborhood either. One person continues to yell about all the wrongdoing with the SPLOST funds. Either take facts to the Grand jury for indictment or let it go. Enough is enough.

Anyone have proof of these so called back door meetings and deals ? I didn't think so. If you did then you would have reported those to the Grand Jury as well. All city services are put out to bid and the low bidder wins. Thats the way it works. Now those that lose can jump up and down all they want to, but that is just the way the process works. To quote from an earlier comment "Neither the mayor nor city council answers questions or concerns at the council meetings. They must answer to the citizens who voted them into office." They do. Maybe there is a legitimate reason they don't answer you. The majority of the voters in Smyrna showed who they have faith in and voted that way.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that only two or three are concerned with the amount of trees that are planted or how many benches Brookhaven may have. The majority that voted made Max Bacon their choice for leadership. It's always the same old people that bring up the same old diatribe. One of them has been carrying around her notes so long that the paper has started to turn brown. Either you take action or just continue to beat the same old drum. It gets boring. Those who "know" the truth but do nothing with it. Why you may ask, it is because they have nothing. Those who did not vote got exactly what the people who voted wanted. Way to make a point, to not vote. That makes as much sense as the same old garbage we continue to hear about. As vocal as some of these folks are you think they would do something. But no, they just continue to come to the meetings and ramble for their 3 minutes of fame. I wish I did work for the City, but wouldn't take the cut in pay.As long as the vocal continue to rant about how bad we have it, I will defend what they can not prove and what I know is the truth. Slinging lies that they have all this secret documentation and knowledge of but yet do nothing with. If you just stand by and yell fire, and do nothing about it then what have you really done ? Nothing.

Word had gotten out about the monosynaptic Smyrnites on Patch. It didn't take long to flush you all out. It's pathetic how you have to defend your deteriorating
city and it's crooked leaders. They can't even speak for themselves and have to depend on yahoos to do their job.. BTW all of you would lose a debate with a doorknob.

Well for one thing, it makes her someone who can spell.
If anyone here is under the slightest impression that this site or the posters on it reflect any majority of Smyrna, they need to buy a clue.
It's a good thing too that the 10 people regularly here don't represent all of Smyrna either!
Opinions, opinions, opinions. For all the links & blustering, that's all ANYONE is offering up.
This whole "you're wrong, so there!" mentality smacks of elementary school.
Nobody here has proven a thing. Not S.J.M. not his wife, Michelle, not Mike H., not the Davis or Andersons..nobody. You're not "right" just because you're nastier. I personally think there's a problem with the way the city gov't runs things, but that doesn't make me wrong.

Nothing like trying to bully people into your POV. Or worse. Give it a rest.

Umm No Michelle. Technicaly, the "we" you're refering to hasn't Proven anything. Stating an opinion or a belief is not lying or misleading, btw, anymore than it's the gospel truth. Opinions are not "right or wrong"..the black and white you seem to want to paint every scenario with are not applicable here.
Only a great fool would deny that where there is smoke, there's fire. So voicing a suspicion or the perception of impropriety is utterly warranted. It is OUR city and OUR government and OUR elected officials. Not just yours or the people you've apparently aligned yourself with.

If you do not agree with the sentiment of others, you need not even engage in a dialogue. Because as sure as I will never change the minds of those of you who believe yourselves to know something more than I do, I rest quite comfortably in the knowledge that you cannot snow this snowman.
Agree to disagree, but don't think your smug condescention is going to win this debate for you.
And you know, if you all would quit trying to tell everyone else how wrong, stupid, paranoid we are, you might find there are very valid concerns being voiced. Listen to us..we are your neighbors. Like it or not, we're in this just like you.

Umm actually "we" have, but trying to convince you otherwise is pointless and illogical. So you keep doing what you're doing and "we" will keeping doing what we're doing.....can't wait to see how it turns out for you and the "people you've apparently aligned yourself with". BTW...where there is smoke and fire...usually you can find water to put it out.

The Hallelujah Chorus got pranked. They remind me of a bird that kept pecking at its reflection in a car mirror. It couldn't figure out it was pecking its own image.

While they're pecking http://www.vccaga.org/

And what does all this posturing have to do with the arrests that were made?
Why don't you guys just have a public debate amongst yourselves at the coffee shop and stop cluttering up these threads with your apparent need to one up each other?

We get it.
You're right, they're wrong. Blah Blah Blah.

Where's the editor in all this? Why is this kind of garbage even allowed to stay posted? How about some useful information that doesn't reek of Personalities above Principles?

I have no idea who this "we" is that you're refering to Michelle, but what I'm seeing here, right now, are 4 posters who are attacking almost every other poster on this board.
I read through this garbage in hopes of some useful information. What I read instead is like some FaceBook high school page. The only thing you're all proving is how divided this city is. Like it or not Michelle, Mike, Chris, whomever, you are a part of the problem. Not the solution.
I suggest that ALL of you who feel so strongly about Smyrna set a time a place and have a debate. And that Miss Busbey close this thread.
This public display is just disgraceful.

This is truly sad. You honestly don't see where your commentary is gas on the fire. If not another fire in and of itself. I have only seen where Chris and SJM have used the words "Smyrna sux". Not the others.
You want people to respect you and take you seriously? Then lead by example.
I for one am tired of the endless bickering. You either need to meet and discuss your issues in person like adults, or shut up about it.
Pick a time, pick a place, go there. And leave this place out of your power struggles.

How ridiculous.
Your assumptions are incorrect. I've been reading for months, but have recently decided to put 2 cents in because the level of childishness has escalated to embarrassing.

I addressed the forum, not indiviuals, unless spoken to. It takes 2 to tango and no one is innocent in this mockery.

Put your egos and personalities aside and work for the betterment of the city.

Methinks they doth protest too much!

Solutions people! Not schoolhouse attitudes and antics!

CL, the reason I deleted that post was because I realized it wasn't what needed to be stated about the issue. It is quite disturbing that you attack, attack, attack any and everyone who doesn't share your opinions. And I repeat, you are the only one claiming "Smyrna Sux."
There are issues facing Smyrna that will not be resolved on this or any other forum. Knowing that my neighbors have such volitile responses on the internet makes me leery to sit down in person w/any of you. The Truth will out Mr. Long. And I don't think anyone will be pleased when it does.