July 30th could be celebrated as the birthday of democracy in America, as the Virginia House of Burgesses became the first legislative body in the New World on July 30, 1619.
Its first law, which, like all of its laws, would have to be approved by the London Company, required tobacco to be sold for at least three shillings per pound. Other laws passed during its first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory.
On July 28, 1868, United States Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified and was now part of the Constitution. The first section of the 14th Amendment often forms the basis for litigation and reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Georgia initially rejected the 14th Amendment in 1866, later ratifying it on July 21, 1868 as a condition for readmission.
Vincent Van Gogh died of a gunshot wound on July 29, 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his eighth visit to Warm Springs, Georgia on July 29, 1927.
On July 30, 1931, Georgia Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. signed legislation merging Milton and Fulton Counties if voters in each county approved a referendum. Fulton had earlier merged with Campbell County, to the south.
Congress passed legislation establishing the National Aeronautic and Space Admininistration (NASA) on July 29, 1958.
Actor Laurence Fishburn was born in Augusta, Georgia on July 30, 1961.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed legislation creating Medicare, for seniors, and Medicaid for some low-income people on July 30, 1965.
The Doors’ “Light My Fire” became their first #1 hit on July 29, 1967.
On July 28, 1978, Animal House was released, instantly becoming one of the greatest films of all time. In case you’ve never seen the film, there is a tiny little bit of adult language in the following clip.
Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981.
On July 28, 1994, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating “The General” locomotive, which was stolen in 1862 during the Great Locomotive Chase. Today, The General may be viewed at The Southern Museum in Kennesaw.
Carl Lewis won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the long jump at the Atlanta Olympics on July 29, 1996.
On July 28, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female Presidential nominee for a major party.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Congratulations to Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum, who was named Sheriff of the Year by the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, according to AccessWDUN.
In an interview with AccessWDUN, Mangum said she was in disbelief when she was told she would be receiving the award.
“I’m very humbled and blessed,” Mangum said. “I was very emotional about it because it’s big. There’s 159 counties and there’s so many great sheriffs, and so to be chosen by your peers, it just meant so much to me.”
Mangum has been with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for 35 years and is currently in her 11th year as sheriff of the agency. She previously announced in 2022 she would not be running for another term and will retire in Dec. 2024.
“What a way to retire, to receive an honor such as this,” Mangum said.
“I’ve lived in Jackson County my entire life, it’s my home, and to me to be the sheriff you’re just serving the people, you’ve got to have a servant’s heart,” Mangum said. “It takes a lot. There’s a lot of sacrifice of your personal time, your family, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”
From the Athens Banner-Herald:
“I was so humbled,” Mangum said Thursday by phone as she traveled back to Jefferson.
Mangum, who was elected sheriff in 2012, said she learned of the award a couple of weeks ago.
“I cried all afternoon because I was so overwhelmed and felt so blessed. You have 159 sheriffs and you don’t think about receiving something like this, especially when you’re going to retire next year,” she said.
“Thank you to all the people that have supported me and have stood by me for the last 11 years as I have served as the sheriff and 35 years total at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. It’s been some … journey,” she wrote.
My father lives in Jefferson and I remember him telling me a number of years ago about meeting Sheriff Mangum as she campaigned and knocked on his front door.
State Representative Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville) was given the 2023 David Levine Legislative Award from the Georgia Gerontology Society for improving the quality of life enjoyed by older Georgians, according to AccessWDUN.
Through a press release, Rep. Hawkins said, “I was honored to receive the 2023 Georgia Gerontology Society David Levine Legislative Award. Though elected by the people of House District 27, as a member of the General Assembly, I have the privilege of helping address the needs of all the citizens across our great state. Adults age 60 and over represent the fastest growing segment of our population. As a legislator, I am committed to doing what I can for those who have helped to make Georgia a great place to live throughout their lives.”
Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order 07.26.23.01, appointing T. Joshua R. Archer as Special Counsel to represent Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney in a case filed by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers.
The Georgia Public Service Commission’s Director of Utility Finance criticized the new reactors at Plant Vogtle, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
“Vogtle’s ratepayers will be paying significantly more for the power generated by Vogtle 3 and 4 than they would pay if [natural gas-fired] units had been built instead,” [Tom] Newsome testified during one of the PSC’s semi-annual progress updates on the nuclear project. “Vogtle 3 and 4 are not an economic benefit to ratepayers.”
Newsome said the cost of Georgia Power’s 45% share of the project has soared to $15.2 billion, $9 billion more than the Atlanta-based utility forecast when the PSC approved the nuclear expansion in 2009. As a result, the average residential customer’s bill will increase $14.10 per month during the first five years after the work is completed, up from the $9.60 hit on monthly bills estimated 14 years ago.
The other 55% of the project’s costs are being picked up by three utility partners: Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power, and Dalton Utilities.
Units 3 and 4 originally were expected to go into service in 2016 and 2017.
Steven Prenovitz of the consumer advocacy group Concerned Ratepayers of Georgia said the commission should not allow Georgia Power to recover Plant Vogtle’s cost overruns from customers.
That decision won’t be made after the Unit 4 reactor goes into service and the PSC holds a “prudency” hearing on the cost issue.
On Thursday, 77-year-old Annie Stephens, a resident of Shell Bluff, an unincorporated community near Vogtle, asked commissioners how they thought the residents of Burke County would be able to absorb the expensive project. The hearing for Vogtle’s 28th monitoring report updated costs and progress between June 2022 and December 2022.
“How do y’all think that we are going to be able to pay the light bills?” Stephens said.
Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald responded that the power produced by the Unit 3 and 4 reactors will be among the cheapest and cleanest in the state and compared Vogtle to buying a new car for better mileage.
“You’re going to be saving on the fuel costs but you still have to pay for the car,” he said.
Meanwhile, the operating company received federal regulatory approval to begin fuel loading with reactor 4, according to WRDW.
The so-called 103(g) finding was confirmed in an official letter received by Southern Nuclear and signifies that the new unit has been constructed and will be operated in conformance with regulations.
No further NRC findings are necessary in order for Southern Nuclear to load fuel or begin the startup sequence for the new unit.
The issuance of the finding follows years of work by the team at the site to submit documentation that Unit 4 has satisfied 364 required inspections, tests, analyses and acceptance criteria, according to Georgia Power.
The Georgia Lottery provided more than 1.5 billion dollars for education in the most recent Fiscal Year, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Fiscal 2023 marked the eighth consecutive year the lottery surpassed the $1 billion mark in profits for education – specifically the HOPE Scholarships and statewide pre-kindergarten programs – and brought the total transferred to education since the lottery began 30 years ago to more than $26.8 billion.
“With all Georgia Lottery profits benefitting HOPE and Pre-K, these strong results ensure that Georgia’s students and families in every county remain our biggest winners,” said Gretchen Corbin, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery Corp.
More than 2.1 million students have received lottery-funded HOPE scholarships since the program’s inception, while more than 2 million 4-year-olds have attended voluntary pre-kindergarten classes.
Milestone testing shows show mixed results for student achievement post-pandemic, according to the AJC.
New Milestones test results indicate that some scores are recovering after the academic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the gains are not equally distributed.
Younger students tended to score better on their 2023 tests than their peers did a year earlier. But older students didn’t do so well, particularly in high school, where as a whole they actually lost ground.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr approved the merger of Augusta University Health into Wellstar, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
“The report concluded the pending transaction is consistent with the purposes set out in the law, including that the community will receive an enforceable commitment for fair and reasonable community benefits, there are no impermissible conflicts of interest and that there are sufficient safeguards to assure access to affordable care moving forward, including Wellstar’s commitment to provide care to the uninsured and to improve healthcare for Georgians,” read the joint statement released [by AU Health, the University System of Georgia, and Wellstar] late Thursday.
While the transaction is not final, the positive report of findings is an important step toward completing the deal. The joint statement says that the parties hope to finalize the deal this summer, and are working on a smooth transition for patient care and insurance coverage.
Most speakers at the hearing were in favor of the deal, although some written comments submitted as part of the record were more critical. Several state elected officials and activists expressed concern over Wellstar taking on another hospital system after they had closed the Atlanta Medical Center last year. Sen. Raphael Warnock also submitted a letter with a number of suggestions on additional safeguards.
Advocates for the deal have said the merger will provide benefits to patients throughout the Augusta area and across the state, including through expanded opportunities for students at the Medical College of Georgia.
“Wellstar, AUHS and Augusta University share a mission to create a healthcare future for Georgians and solve healthcare challenges across the state,” Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of Wellstar, said at the hearing.
“It’s important to say during the selection process the board realized that the board and Wellstar Health Systems shared a proactive vision, and the proactive delivery of healthcare for the patients and the community we serve,” Dr. Brooks Keel, acting CEO of AU Health System, said in a hearing in June.
Keel said Wellstar would take over as the controlling legal entity of the health system, which will now be known as Wellstar MCG Health, referring to the university’s Medical College of Georgia.
In addition to AU Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Georgia, AU Health runs the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta and Roosevelt Warm Springs Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospitals and owns physician practices.
Proponents have touted the pact as a way to inject financial support into the health system, which has an outstanding debt of roughly $234 million, as well as boost health care access and increase physician training opportunities at the Medical College of Georgia.
Federal regulators also must review the deal. In June, Wellstar said it had submitted its filing to the Federal Trade Commission for antitrust review.
State Rep. Rick Townsend (R-St. Simons Island) and some local citizens want more Kratom regulations, according to The Brunswick News.
They are now asking the Glynn County Commission to take action to make Kratom more difficult for youth to get and are hoping a bill introduced in February by state Rep. Rick Townsend, R-St. Simons Island, will help to regulate it statewide.
[Nora Lott] Haynes hopes the local government will consider an ordinance that will at the least make local merchants keep Kratom behind the counter to cut down on potential underage sales.
She represented the interests of several other local people at the Glynn County Commission meeting on July 20 where she told the commission that Kratom use is on the rise and that it can easily escalate into addiction.
The motive is similar for Rep. Townsend. His House Bill 181 seeks to make statewide rules for Kratom. The bill was introduced in February and did not make it through the state Senate in the 2023 session but is set to be considered by the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee in the 2024 session.
If it passes, it would make the legal age to purchase Kratom 21 years old, prohibit using a vaporizer to ingest it, require merchants to keep it behind the counter and for manufacturers to register with the state, and would require certain labels and warnings on all packaging. The law also includes enforcement measures to allow the state to come down on violators.
Like Haynes, Townsend urged the county commission at a July 18 special-called work session to consider local measures governing Kratom.
He said in a recent interview with The News that he is not trying to outlaw Kratom statewide, but that he does believe it needs to be regulated more carefully, especially when it comes to labeling and how it’s sold.
Savannah City Council voted to increase property tax revenues by adopting a millage rate higher than the rollback rate, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Savannah City Council voted Thursday night to maintain the current property tax millage rate for 2024 in order to fund three stormwater drainage capital improvements.
More than a dozen community members, including several who have declared their candidacy for council in the November election, voiced objections to the millage rate proposal in a pair of public hearings held earlier Thursday. Those residents advocated for the adoption of a rollback rate, which would have meant tax savings for property owners.
The rollback rate is the millage required to generate the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year. Savannah’s property tax digest grew by approximately $7.8 million in 2023, meaning that by keeping the rate at 12.2 mills, the city will collect that much more in revenue. Meanwhile, adopting the rollback rate would have lowered property tax bills by $43.24 per $100,000 of fair market value. A property with a fair market value assessment of $500,000 would have seen a $216.20 reduction in their tax bill.
“We are in a growth period in our community and we still have unfunded and unmet needs, especially around stormwater,” said City Manager Jay Melder. “We are a coastal city. We are almost surrounded on three sides by water and wetlands. We have communities in our city that have not received the investment to prevent flooding.”
At-Large Councilwoman Alicia Miller Blakley pushed back on Melder’s recommendation to keep the millage rate as is, instead favoring a tax break to help financially struggling residents.
“Residents want to maintain their history and lineage,” said Blakely. “If we do that increase, we are pricing people out of their homes. I will not support keeping the millage rate where it is. I am voting for a rollback.”
Maintaining the millage rate at 12.2 mills had support from Mayor Van Johnson, too.
“Some of my colleagues here talk about cutting taxes but then you are always asking for stuff,” said Johnson. “Mr. Melder has more than enough requests from you all wanting stuff. I get it, the citizens deserve it but governing says if citizens want it, you have to have a way to pay for it.”
On paper, the 12.20 millage rate is the lowest that have had in decades. However with property values continuing to rise in Savannah, residents that live and pay taxes are worried that they are eventually going to be run out because they can no longer afford the taxes.
Frustrated taxpayers filled city hall Thursday night as a vote to increase property taxes came before council.
“We are here once again talking about this millage rate, that stays the same, even though, we know that property values have gone up.”
“Before long, the people who were born here, raised here, graduated high school here, got married here, even those who retired here will no longer be able to afford to live here,” said Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter.
Houston County Commissioners are also considering raising more property tax revenue, according to 13WMAZ.
The Houston County Board of Commissioners announced they are planning to raise additional revenue from county property owners, but residents have a chance to provide their input on the changes to the county’s millage rate before the rate goes into effect.
The average home in Houston County has gone up in value, according to a press release from the county.
When that happens, the Board of Commissioners is required by law to calculate what millage rate is required to keep property tax income the same for the county. But the county is planning on making the millage rate 5.46% above the “rollback rate.”
One millage [sic] is a tax of $1 per $1,000 in a property’s value, but it is applied typically to only 40% of a property’s value. While the current millage rate is 9.810 mills and the millage rate proposed by the county is 9.56 mills. That means the average property owner is likely to have a higher tax bill.
Because the county will raise more money from property owners, they are required by law to call the change a property tax increase.
To keep the county’s property tax revenue the same, the county could roll back the millage rate to 9.066 mills and maintain the same amount of property tax revenue.
Meanwhile, Richmond County property owners are beating a path to the Tax Assessor’s door to appeal their valuations, according to WJBF.
“To date, we’ve had about 450 appeals. Looking back at prior years, it is probably 50% more than we typically get during the appeal period,” said Scott Roundtree, the Chief Appraiser for Richmond County.
For the second year in a row, it’s sticker shock for thousands of property owners.
75% of owners are seeing an increase by an average of 24%, but many of those appealing are seeing a much bigger jump.
“I don’t think it’s fair that our price has tripled from last year, and that’s just not right. Our house is not worth almost 200-thousand dollars,” said Michele Meeham, a Richmond County resident.
The City of Rome and Floyd County have both set their millage rates for the new Fiscal Year, according to the Rome News Tribune.
Floyd County commissioners added the final rate Tuesday night, lowering the county maintenance and operations millage rate by 0.75 mills, to 8.664 from 9.414. Bills are expected to go by the end of next month.
Property owners in the unincorporated area also will be taxed 1.650 mills for fire protection and 0.656 mills for solid waste services, for a total of 10.960 mills — plus the county school system’s newly adopted 17.70 mills.
Rome property owners don’t pay the fire or solid waste tax. Instead, they’ll pay the city’s 9.6 mills covering services at a higher level, for a total of 18.264 mills, along with 16.85 mills for the city school system.
The proposed T-SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) for Hall County cratered after municipalities didn’t agree to the allocation, according to AccessWDUN.
The Hall Board of Commissioners Thursday was forced to scrap a transportation special purpose local option sales tax initiative after negotiations with Buford and Rest Haven broke down.
In April, local officials began the process of detailing a potential TSPLOST initiative they hoped would be added to the ballot during this next voting cycle. Now, after receiving agreements from most of the municipalities within Hall County, the commissioners were forced to scrap this year’s initiative due to a breakdown in negotiations with the cities of Buford and Rest Haven.
“Their [Buford’s] city manager sat through all the meetings, I assume his board was in on the negotiations,” Hall County Commissioner Jeff Stowe said. “Up until a month and a half ago, we had a firm agreement that everybody was going to be voting on and Buford heard changed its mind and decided they didn’t want to vote on it.”
Stowe cited a major reason Buford chose not to agree to the TSPLOST was due to property annexation issues between the city’s school board and the county.
“There was some legislation that was passed in this past year that allowed Hall County to keep the revenue from property that was annexed into the city of Buford, instead of it going to their school board,” Stowe said. “There’s a couple of pieces of property that they are currently wanting to annex into Buford, that they wanted exempt from that agreement. And that’s not our fight. So they’ve held us hostage and wanted that to be included, and it’s a lot of tax revenue that would have come out of our road projects to go to their government school system.”
Specifically, Stowe noted the dual interests of Phillip Beard, who sits on both the Buford City School Board and the Buford City Board of Commissioners. Stowe believes Buford’s decision on the TSPLOST belongs solely to that municipality’s commissioners, without having the interests of Buford’s school board involved.
Slow your roll in Bibb County as school zone speed cameras come back online, according to 13WMAZ.
With school out of session, these cameras have gone on their own summer vacation.
But now, with the Bibb County School District starting back up on Aug. 1, the county says automatic traffic cameras will start fully enforcing speed limits at their schools.
“We definitely saw a reduction in speed around schools last year, whether there were cameras at the school or not,” Mayor Lester Miller said in a news release, “and we are looking to add them to even more schools this year.”
According to the release from Macon-Bibb County, the cameras only actively enforce the speed limits on school days when classes are in session. They start ticketing an hour before the school day starts, and they end one hour after the school dismisses for the day.
“With the camera enforcement, we are able to begin changing people’s behavior, improve everyone’s safety in these areas, and allow our deputies to focus on other issues,” Miller said. “Driving slower around school is so important and can save lives, and that’s why we’re making sure people obey the speed limit.”
Some other private and charter schools — who also have school zone speed limits — have agreed to let the county enforce speed limits with the cameras.
I’d also watch my behavior in LaGrange, as the police there are using a nonlethal BolaWrap system to subdue people, according to WTVM.
A local police department is using non lethal technology to avoid unnecessary use of force.
Over 900 agencies in the US have adopted the use of BolaWrap. This remote restraint device is a tool the LaGrange Police Department has been using since 2020. The department says it’s used on uncooperative suspects or nonresponsive persons in crisis.
“Law enforcement is kind of limited, you know, with their resources, with the tools that they have on their tool belt. SO oftentimes, officers would have to go hands-on with folks, and then either the officer or the individual, or both, were injured, or they would have to go to a different device like a Taser. And unfortunately, sometimes, even a gun.” Captain Eric Lohr said.
When needed by an officer, the BolaWrap is pointed like a TV remote at someone to restrain them. It then releases a Kevlar rope with the anchors. Officer Hassan Harb has used the technology on his shift various times.
“It was really effective. First of all, it scares everyone. So you’re kind of not ready for it when it first goes off, and just imagine if we were ready for it and still scares us.” Officer Hassan Harb said
I’m not sure what it says about a community when a new Coroner’s van is big news. From WTVM:
In Muscogee County, after months of having to transport bodies in U-Haul vans to Atlanta for autopsies, Coroner Buddy Bryan has received his new state of the art vehicle, which will serve your tax dollars more efficiently and give closure to grieving families faster.
Additionally, due to an increase in crime in the past few years, you may remember we previously told you about the coroner’s office struggling to have enough space to fit bodies in the van, resulting in them having to rent U-Hauls to transport the bodies to Atlanta for autopsies.
The new van, costing roughly $111,000, can fit double the number of bodies… four. This, saving tax payer money plus several other features that help preserve bodies from decomposing as fast.
As for crime labs in the Peach State, the number has lowered from five to three in recent years due to budget cuts.
Bryan explained the backlog that was so severe in 20-22 has gotten better, but he still has hopes one opens in the Fountain City: “We had five specific crime labs but now we have three. In fact, right next store to the morgue is the GBI building. The intention there was to have a crime lab there, and have the autopsies back and forth, but due to budge cuts and lack of forensic pathologists in the state, we’re having to go back and forth to Decatur.”
Overall, Bryan thanks the Columbus mayor and city council for approving this purchase and said it will definitely cut down costs in their budget and give families faster answers and closure when it comes to their loved ones being put to rest.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office spoke to the Augusta Homeless Task Force, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton discussed his office’s new initiatives, like the PORT team. Sheriff Richard Roundtree introduced the PORT plan to the public this month.
PORT will obtain written authorization for the sheriff’s office to act on behalf of property owners. That will enable deputies to remove homeless individuals from encampments and remove anyone from quasi-public parking areas when deputies determine the person is not on the property for business purposes. The program will begin in the Washington Road corridor between Center West Parkway and Furys Ferry Road.
“Most of these homeless, they reside on properties that don’t belong to them; they belong to private individuals,” Clayton said. “And so we have to do something about that, because they go into these areas … when they go into it, they just totally destroy it.”
At least 30 businesses had signed PORT contracts, according to information the city provided this week. The sheriff’s office is working with local judges to divert folks into mental health, alcohol or substance abuse treatments and other jail alternatives. Those who do not comply with judicial orders can be banned from the county.
[Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton] said his agency has received about $275,000 in grant money to hire social workers for a “co-responder” program.
“Law enforcement we’re not equipped to deal with these kind of things, but we’ll get these social workers that will work with us. We’ll start putting these people under case management and tracking them and getting them the resources and getting them- because a lot of these are from other areas..getting them back home to where they came from,” he said.
The social workers will provide case management for the homeless – something that’s important because poverty is just one of the problems afflicting many homeless people. They may also be dealing with psychological, emotional or health issues.
“I’m excited to know that our community has taken the initiative to step up and apply for funding because co-responder is a significant need in this community. I’m concerned about how it’s going to be implemented,” said attendee Celina Keys.
Greg Sikes, a Bulloch County farmer, was named to the Georgia Cotton Commission Board of Directors, according to the Statesboro Herald.
The Commodity Commission Ex-Officio Committee made the announcement and Sikes replaces Lee Cromley, of Cromley Farms in Brooklet, who had served on the board since 2011. The Georgia Cotton Commission was founded in 1965 and is funded by state cotton producers. The group invests in programs of research, promotion and education on behalf of all cotton producers in Georgia. More information about the Commission is available at www.georgiacotton.org.
“I am honored to be selected to represent Georgia’s cotton farmers in this role and look forward to using my unique perspective as a first-generation farmer to find new ways to promote cotton consumption and to help improve cotton production here in Georgia,” Sikes said.
Sikes regularly conducts trials on his operation with UGA Cooperative Extension and private industry. He is also invested in several agribusinesses that complement his farming operation.
Gordon Police Chief Mike Hall and his Deputy Chief were suspended, according to 13WMAZ.
Chief Mike Hall says he got the official news he was suspended with pay around 9:15 p.m. in a private meeting with the mayor.
He says there will also be a GBI investigation to determine whether he and Deputy Chief Andy Hester violated a court order related to a lawsuit at New Corinth Green Grove Baptist Church.
Chief Hall says he was told he allegedly violated a court order related to the suit. Now, he’s on paid leave.
Most people left before the news became official, but the church says they stand behind the Gordon Police.
“Corinth will continue to stand by these two officers for standing up and doing their job,” Ross said.
Clarkston City Council member Susan Hood resigned, according to the AJC.
She was one of three council members who has advocated for the removal of City Manager Shawanna Qawiy, Channel 2 Action News reports. Qawiy has been embroiled in controversy involving the city’s police chief and allegations she has created a toxic work environment.
“The only thing that should matter, but no one cares about, is competence and accountability,” Hood said, according to Channel 2. “I leave it to y’all. I have better things to do with my time. Oh, I’m out. This is done.”
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner Denise Mitchell announced she will run for reelection in 2024, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Although Mitchell is currently serving as tax commissioner, this will be her first time running for election to the office. She has worked in the office for 25 years and had been the chief deputy tax commissioner under her predecessor, Tiffany Porter, and became the county’s top tax official after Porter’s death last year.
Mitchell will run for the office next year as a Democrat.
“As your Gwinnett Tax Commissioner, I am driven by three core commitments to our county and community: Exceptional Fiscal Management, Innovation-Focused, and Superior Ethical Standards Driven by Service,” Mitchell said in a statement. ”I look forward to earning Gwinnett voters’ support in next year’s elections.”
Retired teacher Kirk Buis announced he will run for the Gwinnett County Board of Education District Three seat currently held by Mary Kay Murphy, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Kirk Buis, who taught high school students for 30 years and has worked as a substitute teacher since retiring, plans to run for the District 3 seat currently held by Board Member Mary Kay Murphy in the 2024 nonpartisan election. He’s a familiar face at Gwinnett school board meetings, having addressed board on a few occasions on various topics ranging from discipline and teacher retainment to support for educators and raising literacy levels.
“I believe our School Board needs a person with the experience of actually being in the schools on a day-to-day basis,” Buis said. “I understand the challenges our schools face because I’ve been there and witnessed them first-hand.”
Domonique Cooper recently announced she too will run for the seat. As a nonpartisan race, the seat will appear only on the ballot for Georgia’s 2024 general primary election, which is expected to be in the spring of next year. School board districts 1 and 5 will also be up for election next year.
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