Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 15, 2015

On April 15, 1741, the Georgia colony was divided into two counties – Savannah County and Frederica County.

On April 15, 1776, the Georgia Provincial Congress issued “Rules and Regulations,” which would serve as an interim state Constitution until the Constitution of 1777 was adopted.

On April 15, 1783, the United States Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty with Great Britain, which was signed in November 1782.

President Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865 of a gunshot suffered the previous evening.

The Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association was formed on April 15, 1966 to assist and honor Confederate veterans. One of its most well-known projects was the “Lion of the Confederacy” memorial in Oakland Cemetery.

RMS Titanic sunk at 2:20 AM on April 15,1912.

Jackie Robinson, born in Cairo, Georgia, became the first African-American professional baseball player in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1947, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves. Robinson scored the winning run in that game.

On April 15, 1989, Chinese students and intellectuals in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, mourned the death of Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaoban, considered a liberal reformer.

DeForest Kelley, born in Atlanta and known for playing Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on the original Star Trek series, was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame on April 15, 1992.

Two years ago today, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon killing three people and wounding more than 260 others.

Georgia Public Broadcasting has an interesting piece on the first female Presidential candidate. Hint: it’s not Hillary Clinton.

Sic Semper Tuition

The Georgia Board of Regents approved tuition increases ranging from 2.5 percent to 9 percent for all Georgia colleges and universities, according to WMAZ in Macon.

In-state students at Georgia Tech will see the biggest increase, up $405 per semester. That’s a 9 percent increase.

University of Georgia tuition is going up by the same rate, an additional $387 per semester.

Georgia State University and Georgia Regents University will see a 5.5 percent increase, around $220.

Tuition has gone up each year since at least 2002.

The Year of Political Socks

Perhaps ultimate blame credit goes to former President George H.W. Bush (R-41) for the current trend of politicos wearing silly socks. When I’m 90, God-willing I make it that long, I’ll wear what I please too.

Anyway, next to fall was Georgia State Senator Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), whose GOP socks made the Macon Telegraph’s print edition.

Now, State Rep. Trey Kelley (R-Cedartown) is getting some local press for his goofy colorful footwear.

Kelley, who worked this year on the deputy whip team at the state house, wore a pair of colorful, and sometimes mismatched, socks, last session while going about his stately duties. He said the little joke helped him break the ice with house members on both sides of the aisle.

“I started doing it a bit before the legislative session started this year, and just about every day I had a new pair on at the capitol,” he said.

The idea behind the socks was not just to be a conversation starter among members hanging out in the house anteroom. It also served as a daily reminder to members of both parties to not take themselves too seriously on a personal level.

“Several people do wear socks like I do, but I do it because I think it’s important to remember we have a serious job to do up there, but that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously,” he said.

In an anecdote, Kelley said an unnamed committee chair also keeps up the practice of wearing colorful socks, and during a break in the debate sat next to him on the couch and noticed Kelley’s socks.

“We got a big laugh out of it, and our relationship was closer the entire session,” he said.

His colorful socks turned out to be a great way of putting the right foot foward as part of the deputy whip team as state lawmakers dealt with important ranging from transportation spending and motor fuel tax to working toward criminal justice reform. Out of all the bills passed this session, the one Kelley feels will be a big step forward for Georgia in the coming years, even decades, was the passage of House Bill 1.

Some folks say that attention-getting socks are the new power tie, others that socks are so 2012.

State Government

The Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission has narrowed the applicants for Executive Director to four, according to Aaron Gould Sheinin at the Atlanta newspaper. Perhaps the interviews weren’t held at the Commission office, where the staff entrance has a sign reading, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter.”

State agencies have been working on implementing House Bill 1, the “Haleigh’s Hope” medical marijuana bill, but what’s interesting is the estimate from the Department of Public Health of how widespread eligibility may be.

Soon, Georgia patients who qualify will be able to possess medical marijuana cards once Deal signs the bill into law.

Ryan said doctors will have to sign off and submit the required forms.

“The doctors will be the ones submitting it to us. We’re envisioning a system where they will be able to do that electronically. We want it to be as seamless as possible,” Ryan said.

The Department of Public Health will be working with law enforcement to make sure the system is secure and that officers know what to look for when they come across a patient possessing the oil.

“We need to make sure the system is fraud proof, that only the families and individuals who qualified for the program are able to possess this oil in Georgia,” Ryan said.

The Department of Public Health said it expects to have the system up and running in the next 30 to 60 days.

They say they have no idea how many patients to expect, but as many as 500,000 could qualify.

Stop the presses, there’s a positive story about the Georgia Department of Driver Services. From Walter Jones with Morris News,

Wait times to get driver’s licenses have shrunk each of the past 13 months, according to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, and executives said Monday that further improvements are likely to result from a system-wide training program.

Called DDS University, the 2-year-old program focuses initially on front-line, customer-service managers to help them be better at communications and supervision. So far, 17 of the 20 people who signed up for the two initial classes have completed them. And another 90 managers are eligible.

Driver Services Commissioner Rob Mikell said the reason he wanted to start the courses is because there was no formalized training for advancement.

“Over the years, in a lot of cases, if you managed a field office, it was kind of like, ‘Hey, you’ve done a great job issuing driver’s licenses, and the manager position is open. Tomorrow morning, you need to unlock the door. Here are the keys,’” he said. “We feel like we’ve moved a long way since then.”

Since an entry-level job at DDS only requires a high school diploma or GED, some workers who have risen to management posts have little or no advanced training. So Mikell assigned Reggie Smith, the department’s training coordinator, to develop some courses.

Smith tapped Georgia Piedmont Technical College to design the curriculum and provide on-site instructors for the two, 10-hour courses on business writing and time management. Working with the college kept the costs to just $62 per student or even less for online courses.

Excellent work, Commissioner Mikell.

Bryan Tyson, who has started his new job as Executive Director of the Georgia Public Standards Council received congratulations and best wishes from the President of the Georgia State Bar,

On behalf of the State Bar of Georgia, I would like to offer congratulations to Attorney Bryan Tyson on his appointment by Governor Nathan Deal to serve as the new executive director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.

Attorney Tyson’s acceptance of this important responsibility is evidence of his dedication to the cause of justice through service to the public. We wish him well in this new capacity of statewide leadership.

But another letter-writer called Tyson’s appointment “political patronage at its worst,” writing,

The qualifications for being a good public defender are more than simply having a law degree and a law license. Being a public defender is hard work with few rewards, and to be successful requires a dedication and commitment to clients and to justice for the poor.

Tyson’s appointment shows a lack of regard for the African-American community in particular, whose members make up a disproportionate amount of GPDSC’s clients, who are being processed through Georgia’s criminal justice system. Given the importance of this agency to the African-American community, racial diversity and perspective on issues affecting minority communities are relevant and important factors to consider when selecting attorneys for leadership and management positions at GPDSC, including the director position.

We need only look at the current debate and controversy surrounding police practices to appreciate the need for a public defender agency to have attorneys, investigators and management that, in some measure, reflects and understands the racial and cultural demographics of their clients. The problem with Tyson is that there is nothing in his background to suggest he has any awareness or sensitivity to the issues affecting poor and minority communities.

I’ve made the point before that heading a state agency doesn’t necessarily require expertise of the subject matter, but rather of management and of how state government works.

An apt metaphor is the election of Sam Olens as Attorney General of Georgia in 2010. There was little in Sam’s professional background to suggest that he’d thrive as the head of what many people incorrectly view as the chief prosecutor or head litigator of the state. Instead, Sam offered professionalism and management expertise, including leading a major metro county commission. Being Attorney General requires more political finesse than courtroom theatrics, and I for one am happy with the way Sam Olens has conducted the office of Attorney General, whether he’s been in court since his election or not.

I don’t anticipate Bryan Tyson taking to the courtroom to try indigent defense cases. With one of the major issues being complaints that public defenders are underfunded and severely understaffed, I’d anticipate him spending more time working with legislators, specifically appropriators, and more time in room 341 of the State Capitol than in court. At this he will excel, having earned the trust of legislators for his work on redistricting, his appointment ensures that the concerns of public defenders and their clients will be heard in the State Capitol.

His reputation among appellate lawyers, which led to his selection as Section Chair of the Appellate Practice Division of the Georgia State Bar will surely benefit the appellate practice of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.

Frankly, I’d say this is the result of political patronage at its best. In today’s world, people who are interested in improving the lives of their fellow citizens have two paths – one is the professional bureaucracy, and the other is political leadership through appointed or elected office. Either path has its upside and downside, and good people can be found on both. You can call those who choose the path of professional advancement through exclusively working in the public sector “unaccountable bureaucrats,” and political appointees “cronies,” but I think we’re better served assessing each on his or her individual merits.

Career-wise, Bryan Tyson is probably taking a risk accepting appointment to the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council. While that worked out well for his predecessor, there’s probably less high-paying private sector demand for a former head of this type of state agency than for someone who works with one of the higher-profile agencies overseeing an industry like healthcare, insurance, or energy.

I think Georgians got a fine deal with someone who will provide able and professional leadership to an agency in need. In fact, we probably got a bargain price too.

Additionally, I’ve known Bryan Tyson for years, and always found him to be gracious, professional, diligent, and knowledgeable. He’s earned the highest professional recommendation I can give – while in private practice, he was the first lawyer I suggested my clients consult on issues of election law.

As for whether his ethnicity reflects that of the clients of public defenders, if you think race should be a determining factor in hiring, I disagree. If I were to find myself in need of a public defender and given the choice between a lawyer with my skin color and the best lawyer available, I’d choose the better attorney.

Finally, as for the issue of this being a “political appointment,” I’d argue that Governor Deal’s politics show a greater concern with reforming the criminal justice system at every level to produce greater outcomes for the public and for those who find themselves subject to the criminal jurisdication of the state. In this respect, the appointment of a seasoned, well-regarded professional is wholly in keeping with Deal’s policy and politics of improving our state justice system.

From GeorgiaHealthNews.com, we learn that the Georgia Department of Community Health will not move forward with plans to “coordinate care” for elderly and disabled Medicaid recipients.

The aged, blind and disabled population, consisting of about 450,000 Medicaid beneficiaries, represents roughly 28 percent of Medicaid enrollees in Georgia but accounts for 60 percent of the overall costs of the program.

The switch to care coordination was seen as an attempt to improve these people’s care while reducing spending. Among areas that had interested state officials was decreasing the frequent use of hospital emergency rooms by some beneficiaries.

Election Results

Congratulations and condolences to Sean Frantom, who won the special election runoff for Augusta Commission District Seven yesterday.

Frantom garnered 1,288, or 62.77 percent, of votes over Harris’ 764, or 37.23 percent, and won all eight of the Washington Road-area district’s precincts, which vote at six polling places.

“I’m excited to join the team,” a tearful Frantom told supporters after his win, which places him in resigned commissioner Donnie Smith’s seat through the end of 2016.

“This is not about Sean Frantom; this is about the people of District 7,” Frantom, 36, said.

Turnout was slightly higher at 14.12 percent of the district’s 14,551 registered voters than it was in the March 17 special election.

Good to see the newly-elected Frantom has mastered the art of referring to himself in the third person.