Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 26, 2024

On July 26, 1775, the United States Postal Service was created by the Second Continental Congress, may God have mercy on their souls. Benjamin Franklin served as the first Postmaster.

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.

On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was founded.

On July 26, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, structuring the military-intelligence industrial complex for many years to come.

The National Security Act had three main parts.

First, it streamlined and unified the nation’s military establishment by bringing together the Navy Department and War Department and establishing the Department of the Air Force all under a new Department of Defense. The DoD would facilitate control and utilization of the nation’s growing military.

Second, the act established the National Security Council (NSC). Based in the White House, the NSC was supposed to serve as a coordinating agency, sifting through the increasing flow of diplomatic and intelligence information in order to provide the president with brief but detailed reports.

Finally, the act set up the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA replaced the Central Intelligence Group, which had been established in 1946 to coordinate the intelligence-gathering activities of the various military branches and the Department of State. The CIA, however, was to be much more–it was a separate agency, designed not only to gather intelligence but also to carry out covert operations in foreign nations.

On July 27, 1974, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the first impeachment article against President Richard M. Nixon.

The first such impeachment recommendation in more than a century, it charge[d] President Nixon with unlawful activities that formed a “course of conduct or plan” to obstruct the investigation of the Watergate break-in and to cover up other unlawful activities.

The vote was 27 to 11, with 6 of the committee’s 17 Republicans joining all 21 Democrats in voting to send the article to the House.

The majority included three conservative Southern Democrats and three conservative Republicans.

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.

On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush (41) signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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.

A bomb exploded at a free concert in Centennial Park in Atlanta on July 27, 1996.

Police were warned of the bombing in advance, but the bomb exploded before the anonymous caller said it would, leading authorities to suspect that the law enforcement officers who descended on the park were indirectly targeted.

Within a few days, Richard Jewell, a security guard at the concert, was charged with the crime. However, evidence against him was dubious at best, and in October he was fully cleared of all responsibility in the bombing.

Former Georgia Governor Zell Miller took the oath of office as United States Senator on July 27, 2000. Miller would go on to win a special election for the remainder of the term in November 2000.

On July 27, 2014, former Braves manager Bobby Cox and pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former White Sox player Frank Thomas, who was born in Columbus, Georgia.

On July 26, 2015, former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first pitcher inducted who had undergone Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.

Smoltz won the 1996 Cy Young award and reached the playoffs 14 times with Atlanta. The Braves won five pennants and the 1995 World Series with Smoltz on the roster. He’s the first pitcher to win more than 200 games and save at least 150 games. He’s also the first player inducted with Tommy John surgery on his resume.

Smoltz understood his debt to John.

“I’m a miracle. I’m a medical miracle,” Smoltz said. “I never took one day for granted.”

Smoltz also heaped praise on former manager Bobby Cox and teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, who were inducted a year ago, and delivered a message to parents of the players of tomorrow as the number of Tommy John surgeries continues to escalate.

“Understand that this is not normal to have a surgery at 14 or 15 years old,” Smoltz said to warm applause. “Baseball is not a year-round sport. They’re competing too hard, too early. That’s why we’re having these problems.”

On July 28, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female Presidential nominee for a major party.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in Atlanta next week, according to Atlanta News First via WTOC.

As part of her burgeoning presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Atlanta next Tuesday, according to CBS.

Harris is taking over the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race. An Associated Press survey found that she has enough support from delegates to win the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August.

Harris has visited Atlanta five times this year, previously appearing at events focused on topics like gun safety and economic opportunity. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has endorsed Harris, as have all Georgia Democrats in the state House and Senate.

It is unclear what her plans are — or the timing — once she touches down in the state’s capitol.

“I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” the former California attorney general said. “Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Current polls show a toss-up between the two candidates. A new NPR/PBS News Marist Poll shows Trump leading Harris 46% to 45%, while a Reuters poll sees Harris leading 44% to 42%.

A new survey of Georgia voters shows former President Donald Trump with a slim lead within the margin of error over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to The Hill via WSAV.

The most recent Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey in Georgia finds 47.7% of residents plan to vote for former president Donald Trump in 2024, while 45.5% would vote for Kamala Harris. 6.8% remain undecided.

Numbers from June showed 40.7% support for President Joe Biden, who has since dropped from the ballot. Trump saw 45.4% support at that time.

When undecided voters were asked who they favor, 50.1% said Trump and 49.9% said Harris. As for party affiliation, 38% of Georgians identified as republicans while 33.8% considered themselves democrats. The remaining 28.2% consisted of independent voters.

Harris has yet to be formally nominated, but 43.7% Georgians say she is the preferred candidate, with 27.3% preferring a different candidate and the remaining 29% being unsure or having no opinion.

When asked about the recent assassination attempt on Trump, 26% said they were now more likely to vote for him, 13.9% said less, and 60.1% said it made no difference in their vote.

The poll also asked whether Georgia voters approve of the job Governor Brian Kemp is doing — 49% said yes, while 28.8% disapproved and 22.2% remained neutral.

As for the issues, many Georgians (40.7%) say the economy is their primary concern. This is how the other issues ranked:

Healthcare: 8.3%
Education: 4.8%
Crime: 7.8%
Immigration: 10.1%
Housing affordability: 9.5%
Abortion access: 7.6%
Threats to democracy: 8.5%
Something else: 2.5%

In terms of whether Georgians intend to vote in this election, the majority say they are highly likely to (85.1%) while the remaining consider themselves somewhat likely (5.8%), fifty-fifty (6.8%), or not likely at all (2.3%).

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill threw out the primary election results in two Cobb County Commission seats, ordering a redo and postponing the General Election for those seats, according to the AJC.

Cobb County’s electoral map is unconstitutional, the primary elections conducted in May for County Commission Districts 2 and 4 will have to be redone, and the November general election for those seats must be postponed, a judge ruled Thursday.

The sweeping and historic ruling is a direct consequence of the majority Democratic Cobb County Commission deciding in 2022 to redraw electoral lines to their own liking, after state legislators drew sitting Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her district mid-term. The state constitution vests redistricting power with the state Legislature, but Cobb officials argued they could wrest that jurisdiction power away under the Home Rule provision.

Residents of Districts 2 and 4 who just voted in the May primary election, and in the District 2 runoff, will have to do it all over again — likely in 2025. An election do-over, while extremely rare in Georgia, will allow individuals to run for office who were unable to qualify for this year’s election because they lived outside the district lines in the county-passed map.

The order is the second case out of Cobb Superior Court tossing out the county’s unprecedented, self-passed map. The first case, filed by voters and a sitting commissioner, was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court and then dismissed on procedural grounds.

Judge Kellie Hill ruled in favor of plaintiff Alicia Adams, a candidate who was disqualified from running for office because she did not live in District 2 under the county map.

One of the court’s rulings reverses the Board of Elections’ decision to disqualify Adams and rules the map is unconstitutional. That case includes Mindy Seger, who originally challenged Adams’ qualification and could potentially appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. When reached for comment Thursday, Seger said she and her attorney are reviewing next steps.

The other ruling requires the Cobb Board of Elections to postpone the upcoming general election for Districts 2 and 4 in November, and to call a special primary election for the affected districts. Hill ruled that the county’s move to pass its own map was “outside of the authority granted to the Cobb County Commission” in the Georgia Constitution’s home rule provision, and Adams has a “clear legal right to seek qualification as a candidate” under the state-drawn map.

Cobb Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said in a statement she “respects Judge Hill’s ruling, and we will assess now how to move forward.”

When the primary elections are redone, Republican candidate Adams will be allowed to run. But Pamela Reardon, the sole GOP contender on the primary ballot in May, will not live in District 2 under the state-passed map and said she will instead run for District 3 in 2026.

Reardon said the taxpayers will bear the burden for the county’s move to draw its own map: “All the money that has been wasted on a primary and a runoff primary, and now they have to redo it,” she said.

Candidate Jaha Howard won the Democratic primary for District 2 after facing four other candidates and a runoff election. He said he is disappointed by the ruling but plans to run again.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker rejected a request to temporarily enjoin the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, according to the Associated Press via the Valdosta Daily Times.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker on Tuesday rejected the request for an injunction against Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which Republican lawmakers revived this year after creating it in 2023.

Democrats fear the commission has one primary goal: derailing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ‘ prosecution of former President Donald Trump. Republicans, though, say it is needed to discipline so-called rogue prosecutors who are refusing to enforce laws.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation last year creating the commission, but it couldn’t begin operating because the state Supreme Court refused to approve rules governing its conduct. The justices said they had “grave doubts” about the high court’s ability to regulate the decisions made by district attorneys.

Lawmakers then removed the requirement for court approval, a change Kemp signed into law. The commission began operating April 1.

The Georgia challenge was filed by Sherry Boston, the district attorney in the Atlanta suburb of DeKalb County; Jared Williams of Augusta and neighboring Burke County; and Jonathan Adams of Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties south of Atlanta. Adams is a Republican, the others are Democrats.

Although the underlying lawsuit is still pending before Whitaker, she expressed grave doubts about its arguments that the law violates prosecutorial discretion, a fundamental of the American judicial system through which prosecutors decide what charges to bring and how severe of a sentence to seek.

She was also skeptical of the claim that state lawmakers are improperly intruding on the judicial branch by regulating prosecutors.

“Because the Georgia Constitution expressly authorizes the General Assembly to impose statutory duties on district attorneys and to create the grounds and process to discipline or remove district attorneys, there is no violation of the state Constitution’s separation of powers clause,” Whitaker wrote.

Whitaker also rejected the district attorneys’ claim that the law violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech by restricting what matters of public concern district attorneys can talk about when running for office. She said the law doesn’t cover such political speech. She also said there’s no proof that the commission is to blame for already chilling prosecutors’ speech, as the district attorneys have claimed. The judge said there was no evidence the commission has started investigating any prosecutor, much less started disciplinary proceedings against any.

Whitaker also said she was likely to reject a claim that the commission had improperly adopted its rules.

State Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy, a Macon Republican who has supported the law, called on the district attorneys to drop the case after their preliminary loss.

“To continue this challenge is an injustice to crime victims in our communities as well as to Georgia taxpayers having to shoulder the expense of this frivolous case,” Kennedy said in a statement. “This is the second time these plaintiff-prosecutors have failed in court to block the law. Maybe it’s time to realize that they have a losing argument.”

State Sen. Randy Robertson, a Cataula Republican who sponsored the law, rejected claims that the law improperly curbs prosecutorial discretion.

“I understand how important it is for officials to exercise discretion but that does not mean they can simply ignore the law and allow crime to run rampant,” Robertson said in a statement.

Georgia State School Superintendent Richard Woods (R) reversed his earlier decision to prevent local school boards from using state funds for Advanced Placement African-American Studies courses, according to the Associated Press via 13WMAZ.

Georgia state Superintendent Richard Woods said Wednesday that the state will pay for districts to teach a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, a day after he said districts could only teach the course using local funds.

In the face of blossoming outrage, the Georgia Department of Education now says districts are free to teach the course and the state will pay for it as long as districts use a code linked to an existing state-approved course in African American studies.

“Districts can choose to use that course code and teach some or all of the standards in the AP course, and students may take the associated AP exam,” Meghan Frick, a spokesperson for the state department, wrote in response to Associated Press questions.

That reversal did little to stem the pushback to Woods’ earlier refusal. In a rally at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, 15 mostly Democratic speakers attacked the elected Republican, saying he was trying to keep students from learning about Georgia’s history.

“We are gathered here today in solidarity, standing firm with our students and teachers who have been blindsided by an abrupt and unjust decision to remove AP African American Studies reports from our state curriculum,” said state Sen. Nikki Merritt, a Democrat from suburban Lawrenceville. “This decision strips away a vital opportunity for our students to engage with and understand a significant part of our shared history.”

Woods also faced pointed questions from Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who sent a letter asking why and how Woods arrived at his original decision to block state funding. In that letter, Kemp described himself as “a longtime believer that families should ultimately make the decisions which best meet their child’s academic needs and futures”

“As you know, the wellbeing of Georgia’s children and their education opportunities is one of my top priorities,” wrote Kemp, who is currently on an economic recruiting trip in Italy.

Woods hasn’t explained his refusal in any depth, saying only in a Wednesday statement that “I had concerns about the state endorsing the totality of the course.”

Sara Sympson, a spokesperson for the College Board, said 33 Georgia schools piloted the African American Studies course in the 2023-2024 academic year. Many schools assumed they would be offering the finalized version of the course this year.

In 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools, prohibiting claims that the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist,” and mandating that no student “should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race.”

It is unclear if Georgia’s law influenced Woods’ decision.

Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard filed a motion to dismiss seven charges against her arguing the statute of limitations ran out, according to AccessWDUN.

Hall County court documents show that attorney Noah Pines filed the motion on Wednesday. It claims that the charges in question occurred more than four years ago, meaning the state of Georgia has to prove that it had no knowledge of the alleged crimes prior to the expiration of the statute.

The prosecution claims it was not made aware of the crimes until October 27, 2022. Woodard’s defense is requesting a hearing to force the prosecution to prove that claim.

The charges represent less than a third of the total felonies the embattled solicitor general is facing. All 24 charges are for either theft by taking or making false statements. They allege she cumulatively stole thousands of dollars of public money for personal use between July 2018 and September 2022.

Republican candidate for State House District 162 Keith Padgett is under fire for a fundraising letter, according to The Current.

The south Savannah Republican, the party’s candidate for the District 162 state House seat held by Democrat Carl Gilliard, ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the school board two years ago.

Yet in a recent fundraising letter to local Republicans, the 38-year-old Padgett misstates both state and federal campaign finance laws or flouts them altogether.

In addition, an examination of the data collected by Georgia’s campaign finance watchdog Padgett failed during his 2022 school board race to file required paperwork. He has missed deadlines this year to file those reports for his current District 162 race as well.

Padgett’s infractions mirror those of Gilliard, who from 2020 to 2023 failed repeatedly to file paperwork concerning his campaign donations and expenditures and personal financial disclosure statements as required by law. The Current previously covered those missteps uncovered by the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission.

For what the commission called his “egregious” misuse of campaign contributions, Gilliard agreed last month to pay a $17,000 fine and reimburse his campaign committee $30,000.

Padgett rejects any comparison with Gilliard.

“I haven’t been fined $17,000” and dined out on campaign contributions, he told The Current.

In his July 3 fundraising letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Current, Padgett falsely told potential donors that their contributions to his campaign committee, Padgett for GA, would be “100% tax deductible.” He also wrote, again falsely, that contributions can be made anonymously.

He also stated that cash donations could be made using Zelle, a digital payments network. These contributions would be “only for personal expenses not covered under the political campaign,” according to the letter. He didn’t specify what those “personal expenses” might be.

Marc Hershovitz, an elections law attorney in Atlanta, described Padgett’s pitch for campaign contributions as “contrary to law and grotesquely illegal,” adding that Padgett’s assurance to donors that their political contributions are tax deductible is “wildly dishonest information.”

Anyone who followed Padgett’s advice and deducted their contribution to him on their taxes would, Hershovitz said, “be committing a crime.”

In response to questions from The Current about the letter, Padgett said there was “some verbiage, some documentation that was in there that shouldn’t have been in there” and acknowledged that his advice on tax deductions was a “mistake.”

He said that at the time he wrote the letter, he had no campaign manager and Washington, D.C.-area political consultant was out of the country. Since then, he has contacted the recipients of the fundraising letter and discussed it, he said.

He refused to identify either his political consultant or his campaign manager who, he said, didn’t want to be “publicly known.”

Padgett’s letter and other campaign fundraising also appears to disregard another state law: the obligation for political candidates to create a campaign committee and register it with the state’s campaign finance watchdog before raising and spending any money electioneering.

In early March, Padgett formally registered his candidacy for the District 162 House seat with the secretary of state’s office and paid the $400 filing fee.

Several weeks later, he incorporated “Padgett for GA LLC,” describing it as a “legislative body” and listing himself as the company’s organizer and registered agent.

To date, however, there’s no record of Padgett registering a campaign committee with the Campaign Finance Commission — a first step before collecting donations or spending money on campaign-related activities. There’s also no record of him having done so in his unsuccessful 2022 school board bid.

Also, to date there’s no record of Padgett submitting records of his campaign-related donations and expenditures, either in 2022 or in his current race against Gilliard. Win or lose, candidates for elected office in Georgia are obliged to file such records at regularly prescribed intervals, even if their campaigns are self-financed.

Former Douglas City Commissioner Kentaiwon Carter-Durham is speaking after pleading guilty to fraud charges, according to WALB.

Former Commissioner Kentaiwon Carter-Durham is currently awaiting sentencing where he faces up to 20 years in prison plus three years supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture of assets. Court records show he pleaded guilty to submitting a PPP loan application that contained false statements about a sole proprietorship.

Now, for the first time since entering a guilty plea, he’s speaking out to the residents of his former district, Ward 2.

“I have done a lot in my district. From homelessness to utility bills, to projects we’ve done. I’m very vital to this community,” Carter-Durham said. “Everyone makes mistakes, everyone goes through things, but you can always rebuild. After this, I will be returning back, and I will be sitting in my seat.”

A special election will be held in November to fill the Ward 2 vacant seats. Qualifying for the special election is happening until noon Friday, July 26.

Carter-Durham hasn’t announced who he will be endorsing to replace him as of yet.

Not sure how much that endorsement will be worth. Although, I’ll hand it to the reporter if they managed to keep a straight face him who he’s going to endorse.

Slow your roll entering the cities of Warwick or Poulan. Those cities lead most other Georgia municipalities in speeding fines per capita, according to WALB.

As WALB previously reported, data shows more people are fined per capita in Warwick and Poulan for traffic citations than in most other cities in the state.

“Traffic law is traffic law. People a lot of time just drive and don’t pay attention to the speed limit,” says Worth County Sheriff, Don Whitaker.

For cities like Poulan and Warwick, the local industry is mostly agricultural-based, and there’s not much other business being conducted outside of Sylvester.

“There really is no industrial base. They have limited sources of income,” says Worth County administrator, Carl Rowland.

So, does that make them ‘speed traps’?

Georgia code says that if a city police department generates more than 35% of its budget from speeding tickets alone, it could indicate a ‘speed trap’. However, an investigation would not be launched unless a formal complaint is filed to the Georgia Commissioner of Public Safety’s Office.

According to the city attorney for Warwick, in the years 2023-2024, speeding ticket revenue has only made up 22% of the police budget.

“Which is well below the 35% requirement. We don’t operate a court in Warwick or anywhere else to produce revenue. People aren’t going to believe this, but is to enforce the law and to do justice. There’s not much debate really when somebody’s caught on the radar. And so if somebody wants to challenge that, or they have a complaint, they can launch that, and then there will be an investigation,” says [Warwick city attorney] Tommy Coleman.

“Our revenue sources are declining. Our tax base is declining. And so a police department in a small city can do what they’ve done for the past 10 years and it is an increasingly larger part of the city budget, just because other sources of revenue are less and less and drying up. I would not be in favor of that. I trust the General Assembly will refrain from putting further restrictions on cities and counties,” Coleman told WALB.

Now, Worth County is working on a different type of speed to bring more money to the area, internet speed.

“The advent of fiber to the home which we’re about to have in all of Worth county is a blessing. The work-from-home trend is increasing and I see people migrating into Worth County now as we speak from larger metropolitan areas. They will be able to buy some acreage and they are very satisfied with life.”, says Coleman.

Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts appointed Sandy Springs attorney Sherri Allen as Chair of the Fulton County Board of Elections, according to the AJC.

Allen would become the board’s third chair this year, if her nomination is approved Monday during a special meeting of the county commission. Neither Allen nor Pitts responded to requests for comment, but other county commissioners confirmed Pitts’ intention to nominate her.

The rapid turnover on Fulton’s election board comes as the county’s electoral system is under close scrutiny by the state and others. Following long-running disputes over Fulton County results and election management from 2020 and 2022, Georgia is likely to be a pivotal swing state in the 2024 presidential election as well.

State records show Allen has voted regularly since at least 2012. She voted in Democratic primaries eight times during that period, but voted in the 2022 Republican primary. Georgia is an open primary state that allows voters of any affiliation to vote in partisan primaries.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Allen donated $400 to Obama for America in 2012; and in 2016 gave $27 to ActBlue, earmarked for the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. State campaign finance records show a $101 donation in 2016 to Angela Brown, superior court judge in Cobb County, a nonpartisan position.

Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools is considering alternatives to traditional school buses for student transportation, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“It’s not that big yellow school bus anymore that can solve all the problems,” Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools (SCCPSS) Executive Director of Transportation Lanetta Mills said. She made the statement while presenting her Multi-Faceted Transportation Plan update during the school board’s July 10 Informal Session.

The main reason the yellow bus falls short is because SCCPSS (as well as districts across the country) still faces a driver shortage.

One action taken by the district and school board to alleviate that shortage has been the purchase of 16 microbuses to invite more applicants, because these Type A buses do not require commercial drivers licenses (CDLs). Another effort was the board’s recent approval of the district’s 2025 fiscal year budget, which included increasing drivers’ pay for the upcoming school year.

While SCCPSS students’ transportation options for this year remain the same as last year, Mills’s introduced transportation diversification options such as reevaluating a hub system, the possibility of parent carpooling apps and “alternative vehicle” use. Alternate vehicles are essentially rideshare companies that had been approved via Georgia House Bill 51 to transport five to eight students in passenger vans or SUVs.

Dougherty County Commissioners voted to place a Sunday alcohol sales referendum on the ballot but the election date is not yet set, according to WALB.

On Tuesday night, city commissioners voted to move forward with this ordinance. Now, the Dougherty County Board of Elections will decide if this issue will appear on the ballot in November.

If voted into effect, retailers will be able to sell malt beverages, wine and distilled spirits on Sundays between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Because Albany residents are unable to purchase alcohol from package stores on Sundays, they travel to surrounding counties like Lee, Worth, and Baker counties.

Some Albany residents are against the sale of alcohol on Sundays because they say it’s not what the community needs at the moment.

Columbia County Board of Education members voted unanimously to lower the property tax millage rate, according to WRDW.

The rate will be reduced from 17.20 to the new rate of 17.10, for the FY2025 budget, officials say.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Board of Education has approved a reduction for our community, while continuing to provide a high-quality education for each student, officials state.

Each year the Columbia County Board of Education sets the millage rate which will determine how much more or how much less you’ll have to pay in property taxes.

But it’s not really a tax cut, according to an earlier story from WRDW.

Some locals are unhappy after the Columbia County Board of Commissioners tentatively proposed a millage rate that will increase taxes by almost 5%.

Millage rates are used in tax calculations to determine the total value you pay in taxes on your bill.

The higher the millage rate, the more you will pay in taxes.

This also applies to overall property value.

The more property values increase, the more you will pay in taxes, as well.

With the millage rate the commission is proposing, a home with a value of $225,000 will see a $20.43 increase from the tentative millage rate.

The reporting is unclear on what’s actually happening, but here’s what I think: if property taxes increased enough so that even the lower millage rate will produce more revenue, it’s considered a property tax increase, and must be advertised as such by the governing authority. So if the BOE lowered the millage rate, but a higher overall net property tax valuation, called the Tax Digest, is sufficient to produce more property tax dollars, it is a tax increase despite the lower millage rate.

Savannah City Council hosted their third and final public hearing on a proposed property tax millage rate, according to WTOC.

Council is considering adopting a rate of 12.20 mills, which will cause a 9% increase in property taxes for Savannah property owners.

This is the third and final hearing of the millage rate, which would remain the same as last year’s.

Through the revenue from the millage rate, the city would add an additional $7 million to its upcoming budget. That money would go toward multiple funds, is improving stormwater infrastructure that has caused headaches for residents throughout the week.

Keeping the millage rate of 12.20 would mean around a 9 percent increase in property taxes.

Council says the millage rate would bring an additional 7 million dollars in revenue to the city’s budget. That money comes from rising property values. Council has multiple projects they plan to use the additional funds for. Those include public safety investments and drainage projects.

City Council is set to meet at 2 p.m.

Albany City Commissioners will meet the public to discuss a proposed property tax millage rate increase, according to the Albany Herald.

The Albany City Commission has announced plans to increase the property tax millage rate and is also anticipating an overall increase in the city’s tax digest for the current budget year that began on July 1.

Because the budget tentatively adopted by the commission requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate, state law requires holding the hearings in order to give the public the chance to comment.

Oakwood City Council will hold public meetings about a proposed property tax millage rate increase, according to AccessWDUN.

The City of Oakwood is preparing to vote on its Fiscal Year 2025 budget and it announced Thursday that it includes a nearly 6% property tax increase for city residents.

The announcement from the city did not cite the exact millage rate change, but said it would increase taxes by 5.8% over the full rollback rate.

Per Georgia law, Oakwood will hold three public hearings on the millage rate before the city council votes on the new budget.

Forsyth County will hold meetings to discuss a proposed extension of their Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), according to AccessWDUN.

Forsyth County’s residents are encouraged to review and provide their feedback to a list of proposed projects that could be funded by the proposed SPLOST program continuation, if approved by the voters in November.

The county will host a series of public information open house meetings for residents to meet with officials regarding SPLOST and proposed strategic capital improvements for the future. Representatives from the Fire Department, Sheriff’s Office, Parks & Recreation, Department of Water & Sewer, Engineering, Capital Projects and the Department of Finance will be on hand at the meetings to speak with residents.

Tybee Beach City Council was scheduled to vote Thursday on an agreement to hire Bret Bell as new City Manager, according to WTOC.

The council will vote to finalize an agreement with Bret Bell, who currently works for the City of Savannah Public Affairs Office.

Bell was chosen over two other candidates, one of which was Michelle Owens, who has served as Interim City Manager since last September.

She assumed that role after the previous City Manager, Shawn Gillen, resigned.

The agreement between Bell and the City of Tybee shows that he will start the job on September 3rd and will be paid $165,000 a year with potential for merit-based raises on a yearly basis.

The Tybee City Council will vote on the terms of Bell’s contract at their meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Some Hahira residents want changes to the city’s food truck ordinance, according to WALB.

A popular food truck vendor has stirred up some of his customers after announcing he would end up having to stop serving food in a South Georgia community. Now, other business owners and community members are pushing to rewrite city ordinances.

However, an ordinance passed in 2018 by the city of Hahira has forced some food vendors to stop operations.

The ordinance says: “You may set up at the approved location for seven (7) consecutive days. Following seven (7) days of food service, you will not be permitted to vend for 30 days. You must resubmit for the free “Administrative Permit” to be able to return to Hahira and serve.”

Kona Ice of Lowndes remembers when it was put into place and how it affected their business.

“We don’t have time to do that as owners. You spend all our time trying to fight for a permit in one town when we’re mobile…we can go elsewhere,” Russell Hassenstab, owner of Kona Ice Lowndes, said.

WALB called the city of Valdosta zoning office and they explained that food truck operators must apply for the same permit but they are able to operate for at least 60 calendar days at the approved location after they can not operate at that same location for 60 days.

Rico’s Tacos has started a petition to have Hahira review their ordinance and operate as surrounding cities — the goal is to reach 500 signatures by Friday, July 25.