Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 24, 2023

On July 24, 1778, Georgia ratified the Articles of Confederation.

Georgia’s John Walton was present on July 9, 1778, and signed the document then. Georgia’s other two delegates – Edward Telfair and Edward Langworthy – did not sign until July 24, 1778, which is the date most often used for Georgia’s ratification of the Articles.

An interesting sidenote is that John Walton‘s brother, George Walton, signed the Declaration of Independence on Georgia’s behalf.

At 12:51 EDT, we mark the safe return from the moon of Apollo 11.

The number one song in America on July 24, 1982 was “Eye of the Tiger,” by Survivor, from the Rocky III soundtrack.

On July 24, 2000, former Georgia Governor Zell Miller was appointed to the United States Senate to serve in the seat vacated on the death of Senator Paul Coverdell.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Protestors on the St Simons Island causeway held signs advocating for paper ballots in Georgia elections, according to The Brunswick News.

Members of Georgians for Truth.org stood in near 100 degree heat on the side of the St. Simons Island causeway Friday with banners and handheld signs advocating for hand-counted paper ballots in next year’s election.

The organization has no trust in the electronic voting machines, counts and recounts that deprive Georgians of their right to witness the process, said Rebekah Bennett who came from Stephens County.

“We have got to take back our state,’’ she said. “We’ve let them run roughshod over us.”

Although they were seen by a lot of motorists, their goal was to catch the eyes of the Georgia Republican House caucus which is meeting on St. Simons this weekend. Bennett said they’ll take their message to the beach Saturday so the legislators can see them from the King & Prince Beach Resort where they are meeting.

Bay Cable of Gwinnett County said the group wants accountability. She and Bennett are both members of Women for American First. The organization’s founder, Amy Kremer, said they want a special legislative session called to adopt paper ballot voting before the 2024 election.

Field Searcy said he came from Cairo to stand by the road Friday.

“I’m here about the voting machines,” which use outdated software, he said. “We need to get rid of the ballot marking device and electronic scanners.”

The law should be changed to require voting with “security grade paper ballots hand-counted at the precinct,’’ Searcy said.

Governor Kemp announced the hiring of Donovan Head as Executive Director of the State Charter Schools Commission, according to a Press Release.

Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia has selected Donovan Head to serve as Executive Director of the Commission, following approval of his hiring by the Board of Commissioners at a called meeting this morning. Head will begin serving as Executive Director effective August 1.

“During his time at the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Donovan has distinguished himself as a leader who is deeply committed to the success of Georgia’s students,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “I look forward to his continued service at the State Charter Schools Commission, where he will further strengthen educational opportunities for families all across the state.”

“After an exhaustive nationwide search, we are pleased to have Donovan Head serve as our next Executive Director,” said Board of Commissioners Chair Buzz Brockway. “Donovan has the exact skills and experience we were looking for to take the State Charter School Commission to the next level. I look forward to working with him to carry out our mission of providing high quality charter schools to students in every Georgia community.”

Donovan Head currently serves as Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). Prior to joining GOSA, he served on Governor Kemp’s transition team as Deputy Campaign Manager for Kemp for Governor in 2018 and as a senior Congressional staffer for two members of Congress: former Congresswoman Karen Handel and Congressman Austin Scott. Donovan earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Valdosta State University, where he also serves on the Alumni Association Executive Board of Directors and where he met his wife, Jansen Balisi Head. Active members of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, they reside in Woodstock.

Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith contacted Governor Kemp’s office about Smith’s investigation into allegations about former President  Trump, according to the AJC.

Federal prosecutors recently contacted Gov. Brian Kemp about efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, part of a widening probe by special counsel Jack Smith into the former president’s attempt to reverse his defeat.

Kemp spokesman Andrew Isenhour confirmed Friday that the governor’s office was contacted by Smith’s investigators but declined further comment.

Southern Company divisions Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power submitted test results from Plant Vogtle’s new reactor #4 to feds, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Augusta Chronicle.

Southern Nuclear, like Georgia Power a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co., has submitted all 364 inspections, tests, and analyses that have been performed on Unit 4 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Georgia Power reported Friday. The step is designed to assure the NRC that the reactor meets all nuclear safety and quality standards.

Once the NRC declares that Southern Nuclear has met all license acceptance criteria, fuel loading can begin.

The second unit [number four] is scheduled to begin operating late this year or early next year.

Meanwhile, Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft said the first unit [number three] remains on schedule to go into service by the end of this month.

Gwinnett County Public Schools are expanding their use of the CrisisAlert badge system, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett County Public Schools piloted Centegix’s CrisisAlert badge system at Parkview and South Gwinnett High Schools last year, but every GCPS school will begin using the system when classes begin next month.

District officials say the addition of the system — which is already used in other metro Atlanta school systems such as Fulton County and Cobb County schools — will be a major step to improve safety in Gwinnett schools.

“It’s going to make schools safer from not just the hard lockdown component, but also from empowering faculty and staff (with) them being a more important role player,” GCPS Police Chief Tony Lockhart said.

The CrisisAlert system is designed so that, when an emergency happens, teachers and other school staff members can press a button a badge to summon assistance. The idea is that they can call for assistance quietly and quickly when an incident, such as an active shooter on campus, occurs.

With the CrisisAlert system, a teacher or other staff member will initiate a “Staff Alert” by pushing the button on their badge three times. That will alert administrators and other responders that an emergency, such as two students fighting or a medical emergency, is taking place.

The system will provide school officials with pinpoint information about where the alert was triggered, including what floor of the building and what classroom. It can even pinpoint where the staff member is if they are outside, but still on the school campus.

But, when there is a life threatening situation happening at a school, staff members can press the badge eight times and trigger an immediate lockdown of the school.

When that happens, an alarm rings and an automated message comes over the intercom system telling staff to clear all hallways at the school and secure students. Beacons in the ceiling also begin flashing a red light when a lockdown occurs.

Centegix Chief Marketing Officer Mary Ford said about 98% of times when the system is used, it’s for Staff Alerts because of a medical emergency or a disruptive student rather than to trigger a hard lockdown.

“Most often, it’s used for everyday emergencies,” Ford said. “Staff give us overwhelming feedback on the CrisisAlert badge because they tell us it helps them feel safer and more supported because, so often, without access to their badge, they don’t have other ways to get help when they need it.”

Floyd County Commissioners will consider setting the property tax millage rate for the new Fiscal Year, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Commissioners have said they intend to maintain their 2022 rate or lower it, although not likely enough to offset the full impact of increased property values. They’ll also set the street light assessments at that time.

Resolutions pertaining to the proposed 2023 special purpose, local option sales tax package also are planned: An approval of the intergovernmental agreement with Rome and Cave Spring on distribution of the revenue and a formal request that the Floyd County Board of Elections put it on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Bulloch County Commissioners will likely adopt a higher property tax millage rate, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Bulloch County officials have dialed back a proposed increase in the Board of Commissioners’ portion of the property rate by a half mill, to a 1.5-mill increase. Compounded with inflation in assessed property values, that will amount to a 28% increase in tax on average, but not the more than 30% implied by the originally suggested 1.75-mill hike.

Under the revised proposal, the county government’s new, general millage rate would be 12.58 mills, up from last year’s 11.35 mills.

Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson had told Board of Education members that he would like to roll back the millage rate, since the school system already has a large cash balance in its general fund.

But the same consideration that last year limited the school board to a smaller rollback than required to fully offset real estate price inflation and avoid the hearings actually demands a small increase in the rate this year, Wilson said Friday.

The school system, which receives all of the revenue from Bulloch County’s original 1% Local Option Sales Tax to use for operating revenue, is required to offset that revenue with a rollback of property taxes.

Increased Savannah Hotel Motel tax proceeds will fund the Tide-to-Town trail network, according to the Savannah Morning News.

On July 11, the City of Savannah awarded $10 million from the increased hotel-motel tax to the pedestrian and bike trail that will connect the southside to downtown, looping around the city from its current portion at the Truman Linear Trail.

The tax measure, passed by the Georgia General Assembly in March, levies an extra 2% tax on hotel stays within city limits and will be used to fund improvements to Rousakis Plaza on River Street and the restoration of the Historic Waterworks building in addition to segments of the Tide-to-Town trail network.

As Savannah Morning News previously reported, the former 6% rate generated $34.6 million in 2022, according to a city report on the fee. The same report anticipated the 2% increase to an 8% hotel/motel tax would have generated $46.2 million the same year.

“It’s one of the few things that a city can do or build that make you live longer and happier,” [City Council Member Nick] Palumbo joked.

Columbus Police Department Interim Chief Stoney Mathis wants to serve in the position permanently, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Interim Chief Stoney Mathis was appointed by Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson in May after the departure of former Chief Freddie Blackmon, who accepted a $400,000 severance package.

During his time as the Fairburn police chief from 2018 to 2022 the city saw a 52% decrease in its crime rate, Henderson said during his appointment.

Mathis ran as a Republican last year for Georgia House District 68, losing to Democrat Tish Naghise in the Nov. 8 General Election, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.

On July 13, Henderson told the Ledger-Enquirer the city expected to identify a permanent police chief by fall. In that interview Henderson said, “I couldn’t be more pleased with what Chief Mathis has done in the short time he’s been here.”

Henderson said at that time that if Mathis were to apply he would welcome the opportunity to review his credentials along with the credentials of other candidates that have applied for the position.

“We’ll follow the process, it’s the process we committed to from the very beginning. So we’re going to go through the entire process of doing a nationwide search,” Henderson said at that time.

Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry will receive another $100,000 per year raise, according t0 the AJC.

Georgia’s top transportation official will get his third $100,000 raise in recent years.

The State Transportation Board last week gave notice that it intends to raise Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry’s annual pay to $550,000. That’s a 22% increase from his current pay of $450,000.

Board Chairman Robert Brown cited McMurry’s leadership of GDOT since he became commissioner in 2015. That includes his management of major highway improvement projects such as the reconstruction of the I-285 interchange at Ga. 400 — originally expected to be finished three years ago, but now expected to continue into 2024. Among other things, GDOT has cited pandemic-related supply-chain and staffing problems for the delays.

That high profile has led to a series of huge raises. McMurry’s pay rose from $250,000 to $350,000 in 2017, then to $450,000 in 2021. The board intends to raise his pay another $100,000 in September — a move that also could boost his pension by tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Even at his new salary, McMurry isn’t even close to being the state’s top-paid state employee — a dozen earned more than $1 million last year. University of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart was the top-paid employee at nearly $8 million.

Former Savannah Board of Aldermen member Carol Bell is running for the at-large seat she previously held, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Bell served two terms on council as the Post 1 at-large alderwoman before losing her seat in the 2019 election to Kesha Gibson-Carter by 264 votes out of nearly 23,000 cast.

Gibson-Carter is challenging for mayor and cannot run for re-election to her current seat.  The post is one of three elected citywide, along with mayor and a second at-large post.

Bell will formally launch her campaign on July 27.

Bell worked for the City of Savannah for 38 years prior to retiring in 2011 in order to run for city council. Her final post with the city government was as director of central services.