Advance voting begins today for the November 6th, 2012 General Election. Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s early voting page has links to dates, times and places for your county’s advance voting. Remember to bring your Photo ID to vote; here’s complete information on which forms of Photo ID are acceptable.
Dog Rescue
Sonny is a 50 pound, approximately two year old yellow lab who is available for adoption from Walton County Animal Services.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns & Elections
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about a poll they conducted between October 8th and 11th, which shows Gov. Mitt Romney with a 51-43 lead over President Obama among Georgia voters; more information about the poll is on another page. Unfortunately, details that would allow a reader to assess the poll are missing, including how they determined “likely voters” and any weighting that was applied to the sample. Also missing, any rationale for omitting Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President, from the ballot question.
The poll, conducted last week by Abt SRBI Inc., found Romney leading Obama among likely voters 51 percent to 43 percent, with 5 percent undecided.
In Fayette County, local races include a seat on the Board of Education.
incumbent Fayette County Board of Education member Terri Smith, who switched this past spring from the Republican to the Democrat Party, faces a challenge from Republican Mary Kay Bacallao, who ran unsuccessfully against Smith four years ago. Smith has served three terms as a Republican, beginning in 2000. Although the winner will take the Post 2 seat on the board, all county voters may cast a ballot in this race.
Also on the Fayette County ballot are renewal of the SPLOST penny sales tax for education.
The bigger local question, however, is likely to be whether voters will extend the 1 percent sales tax for education, commonly known as E-SPLOST, for another five years.
E-SPLOST funds have been used to add technology improvements to schools, purchase textbooks and school buses, and also to pay down the school’s bonded debt, which has resulted in a lowering of the school debt service millage rate over the past several years.
Voters in the Macon Judicial Circuit, which comprises Bibb, Crawford, and Peach Counties, will vote in a rematch between Republican District Attorney Greg Winters and Democratic candidate David Cooke.
Winters, a Republican, won the 2010 runoff by about 2,500 votes. The circuit includes Bibb, Crawford and Peach counties.
Cooke, a Democrat and Houston County prosecutor, said he’s making a second run for district attorney because he wants to help protect families and he’s more experienced than Winters.
Cooke, a Democrat and Houston County prosecutor, said he’s making a second run for district attorney because he wants to help protect families and he’s more experienced than Winters.
“Obviously if I thought that they were being well protected now, I wouldn’t be running,” he said. “I know that I can do a better job.”
Winters said he wants a four-year term to continue the progress he’s made during his two-year stint and to continue moving forward.
“We still have more to do,” he said.
From that story in the Macon Telegraph comes our quote of the day from David Cooke:
“Major balls are being dropped right here,” [Cooke] said.
Patch.com has a voter guide on early voting times and locations for Cobb County, as well as short summaries of the contested elections.
In Chatham County, Democratic District Attorney Larry Chisholm faces a serious threat from Republican Meg Daly Heap.
As of Oct. 9, Meg Daly Heap, the Republican who’s running against Chisolm after serving 15 years as an assistant in the district attorney’s office, including two as Chisolm’s chief assistant, had raised just over $104,000 compared to almost $45,000 for Chisolm.
But a series of issues have dogged his administration almost from the beginning, including harassment and bias claims and the flight of key senior prosecutors and program administrators from his office.
[R]ecently, a jury ordered Chisolm to pay $270,000 to a former staffer who said Chisolm retaliated against her for filing a discrimination complaint against him.
Apart from staffing issues, Chisolm and his staff have suffered high-profile setbacks in the courtroom, including a judge’s dismissal of a long-standing murder case because of a speedy trial violation and a contempt of court finding against an assistant prosecutor for failing to provide a defense attorney with discovery material.
At least 50 people out of a staff of about 80 have left the office since Chisolm took his oath of office, leaving less experienced assistants to handle the caseload.
The loss of prosecutors became an issue in the murder case against Bobby Lavon Buckner, who was accused of the 2003 kidnapping and slaying of 12-year-old Ashleigh Moore. The case was dismissed on speedy trial grounds, and Chisolm’s office has appealed the dismissal to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Internally, staffers have accused Chisolm of harassment and discrimination.
Bourbon and water will be on the ballot for Walton County voters: water is a major issue in the election for Commission Chair as Monroe County Commission Chairman James Vaughn takes on his Republican challenger, former Commissioner Mike Bilderback; a referendum to allow Sunday sales of alcohol in Walton County also appears on the ballot.
Richmond County Board of Education incumbent Marion Barnes faces challenger Lucien Williams.
Barnes, 78, was elected to the Board in 2000 after more than 30 years in education. He taught at various schools in Augusta before serving as the principal of T.W. Josey Comprehensive High School for 18 years.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” said Barnes, who chose a career in education after growing up in poverty and seeing adults around him who couldn’t read or write.
In his time on the board, Barnes has worked with three superintendents and dealt with $113 million in state funding cuts over the last 10 years.
Barnes said he has played a role in hiring effective teachers and finding federal funds to support faculty and students. Going forward, Barnes said he’d like one more term to oversee construction projects that are a result of the special purpose local option sales tax passed during his tenure.
Like Barnes, Williams, 57, was born and raised in Augusta. He went to the University of Wyoming to study history but returned to Augusta after graduation and opened his tax business.
After he sent one of his sons to Academy of Richmond County and the other to the private Augusta Preparatory Day School, Williams realized “by far, the one that went to Prep got a better education.”
Williams saw an injustice with that and has since followed public education.
He is now walking neighborhoods and setting up signs to sell his ideas to the public.
He is learning how to speak in front of crowds and to convince people his first stint as an elected official would help the community.
Williams said the change he has planned won’t happen overnight. Over the course of his term, he’d like to advocate for more magnet and vocational programs.
He said the school system is responsible for producing graduates that will contribute to the local economy and industry.
On Tuesday, voters in Rome and Floyd County will have two opportunities to see local candidates discuss the issues.
First up on Tuesday is a 5 p.m. forum at the Rome Civic Center on Jackson Hill. The free event is sponsored by The Rome/Floyd County NAACP, The 100 Black Men of Rome/Northwest Georgia and the MLK Commission.
Organizer Alvin Jackson said the forum will start off with a meet-and-greet period; an opportunity talk individually with the candidates. Refreshments will be served.
The formal proceedings will include candidate statements and responses to questions formulated by a panel of volunteers. Attendees also will be able to submit questions in writing at the door.
At 6:30 p.m., some of the candidates will start heading toward the forum sponsored by the Floyd County Republican Women. The free event is at the Charles C. Parker Center in Etowah Park.
Elaine Watson, president of the FCRW, said neither organization knew of the other’s plans when they made their arrangements.
“It wasn’t done on purpose. This was the date available at the Etowah center,” she said.
Still, most of the candidates have said they’ll try to make both events and Watson has scheduled the matchups to accommodate those who asked.
“I haven’t heard from the two Democratic county commission candidates, so we’ve put that one first,” she said.
Incumbent Republicans Garry Fricks and Irwin Bagwell are being challenged for their county commission posts by Democrats Gary D. Harrell and Rick Garrett.
Attendees will then hear from the sheriff candidates, incumbent Democrat Tim Burkhalter and his Republican opponent Cary Cooper.
Voters in the new Ninth District may attend a debate tomorrow night at 7:30 PM at the Gainesville Civic Center.
Sumter County voters will cast ballots for Chief Magistrate Judge, District 3 County Commissioner, and District 5 County Commissioner.
Lowndes County voters will decide whether to renew the local SPLOST.
Ends & Pieces
Deepening the channel from its present 45 feet would involve extending the entrance channel three miles farther out to sea. The research will also give an indication of what sort of rocks or sediments might be encountered in an area the corps has never dredged.
“It’s to get a good idea of where we might encounter rock,” Chamberlayne said last week while on the survey boat to get a first-hand look at the work of the researchers. “If that’s going to happen, we want to know how that will affect our cost estimates because dredging rock is a lot more expensive than dredging silt.”
The South Carolina State Ports Authority wants the channel deepened from its current 45 feet to 50 feet so the Port of Charleston can handle the larger container ships that routinely will be calling when the Panama Canal expansion is opened to shipping traffic in 2015.
Phillips explained that the survey boat drags along both sidescan sonar and a magnetometer. The sonar sends out a signal that is returned and, with the use of the computer, creates a profile of the bottom. The magnetometer records anything containing iron on the bottom.
Marshall showed a survey map of the upper shipping channel. One area showed a black abnormality that he said will later be examined closely, perhaps by divers. It could be nothing more than an old anchor, he said.
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