Georgia Political News for April 13, 2012

“23235” is a black lab-mix puppy who is playful and friendly; she is available for adoption from Gwinnett County Animal Services today. Adoption costs $30 plus a $60 vet fee. People 55 or older may adopt free and pay only $30 vet fee, while county government employees pay only the $60 vet fee and no adoption fee.

An article in the Augusta Chronicle discusses the bond between Aiken County, SC K9 police officers and their handlers.

The Gwinnett County Animal Task Force will issue a report on how the county’s shelter can increase adoptions, decrease euthanasia and operate more efficiently.

The number of animals euthanized fell from 7,850 in 2009 to 4,128 in 2011. But the number of animals adopted fell from 2,093 to 1,856 during that same time.

Here are my recommendations: (1) better photography will help increase adoptions; (2) social media appears to be making a difference in saving dogs and cats.

Republican District Conventions Saturday

First District
Glynn Academy Auditorium, 1001 Mansfield Street, Brunswick, GA 31520

Second District

Third District
FDR Conference Center, Georgia Hall, Warm Springs, Georgia

Fourth District

Fifth District
Atlanta Masonic Center, 1690 Peachtree Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30309

Sixth District
Dunwoody High School Auditorium, 5035 Vermack Road, Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
Bye-bye Obama Barbecue immediately following the convention

Seventh District
North Gwinnett High School, 20 Level Creek Rd, Suwanee, Georgia 30024

Eighth District

Ninth District
Jefferson Civic Center, 65 Kissam Street, Jefferson, GA 30549
Banquet tonight featuring Gov. Nathan Deal, Chair Sue Everhart, SOS Brian Kemp, Public Service Commissioner Chuck Eaton

Tenth District
Spotlight Theater, 1050 Parkside Main, Greensboro, GA 30642

Eleventh District
Roswell Street Baptist Church, 774 Roswell Street, Marietta, GA 30060

Twelfth District
Southeastern Technical College, Toombs Auditorium, 3001 East First Street, Vidalia, GA 30436
Lunch afterwards at Chatter’s Restaurant, 64 N.W. Broad Street, Vidalia, GA 30436

Thirteenth District
Collar Community Center, 2625 Joe Jerkins Blvd., Austell, GA 30106

Fourteenth District
Dalton State College, Bandy Gymnasium, 650 College Drive, Dalton, GA

If your district information is not listed, please contact your district or county chair. In any case, you should probably double-check the location and time.

Elections for GOP National Committee

Frank Strickland has announced his candidacy for National Committeeman. Randy Evans has continued to rollout endorsements via facebook. At least one endorser we heard of was not aware that Randy had opposition when they decided to endorse, but we don’t know if it would have made a difference.

Linda Herren has also sent out an email asking for support for her reelection. I will say for Linda that I think I’ve seen her at more events over the years in various counties and party meetings than anyone else from the GOP.

Ron Paul and Personality Types

Bill Simon has written an interesting piece about the Meyers-Briggs personality types and Ron Paul supporters, arguing that Paul appears to attract a high number of INTJ personalities, and that aspects of that personality type may explain both (a) part of Ron Paul’s appeal to some people; and (b) why so many of the Ron Paul supporters run into issues when dealing with “Establishment” Republicans.

I believe that if we all try to keep in mind that anyone who gets out of bed early enough on a Saturday to work to defeat President Obama’s reelection is our friend, and practice a little tolerance, we’ll all get along better and become a stronger party for it. Let’s not hear about any scuffles at any GOP events tomorrow, please.

Altercation in Athens

Several people have emailed me to note that no charges have been filed in the alleged altercation in Athens at the County convention, and several eyewitnesses wrote to suggest that the Ron Paul supporter was aggressive and hostile toward guests at the convention. So we have a he said/he said compounded by the distrust between Ron Paul supporters and the GOP establishment. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail around the state on all sides.

Campaigns and Politics

The Atlanta Tea Party has joined to chorus claiming that the T-SPLOST “educational” campaign is misusing public funds.

Debbie Dooley of the Atlanta Tea Party has seen the ads and she says they cross a line.

“They are not educating, they are taking a position, they have bias, they are advocating on behalf of the T-SPLOST.”

Since MAVEN is a 501(c)3 nonprofit barred from campaigning for political causes, Dooley and other Tea Party activists are filing complaints with the IRS.

MAVEN spokesman Burt Brantley denies the bias claim.

“Every minute they can have people talking about ‘what’s advocacy, what’s education who’s MAVEN’ it’s time people aren’t focusing on what this referendum will do, when the vote is, what the projects are.”

State Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine) may have lost legislation in the past session because he voted against the Charter Schools Amendment, according to a story by Walter Jones. Spencer’s opponent in the GOP Primary, Adam Jacobson, calls it “ineffective representation.”

Hall County Commission Chair Tom Oliver is seeking reelection to a third term against former Sheriff Richard “Dick” Mecum in the Republican primary.

“Ultimately, I want to create a Hall County that encourages our children and grandchildren to stay here, where there are ample job opportunities, a world class educational system, and a quality of life that you can’t find anywhere else,” Oliver said in a statement issued Thursday.

Hall County Commissioners are discussing asking Gainesville to open discussions on consolidating the city and county governments, though a motion to write a letter to Gainesville asking for their cooperation was defeated 3-2. The Commission will approach the city informally under a motion by Chair Oliver that was passed.

Ashley Fielding, writing for the Gainesville Times has a good story on the upcoming political season in Hall County and the new Ninth District. We expect to see a lot of candidates at tonight’s Ninth District banquet in Jefferson.

Carrollton Mayor Wayne Garner (“W-The Mayor”) received recognition for his strong work in suppressing free speech protecting the people of Carrollton from offensive theater. Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression awarded Garner its’ coveted infamous “Muzzle” award for stopping produciton of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” play in a city-owned venue.

Energy News

The proposed Plant Ben Hill coal-fired power plant has been cancelled by its developer, Power4Georgians. Power4Georgians is represented by Dean Alford, who was appointed by Gov. Deal to the Board of Regents.

“The cancellation of Plant Ben Hill is just one more sign that coal is dead,” said Justine Thompson, an attorney for GreenLaw, which has fought the project.

Power4Georgians will also reduce pollution from its Plant Washington, if the unit is built. The Georgia PSC recently approved the retirement of two coal-fired units operated by Georgia Power at Plant Branch.

Hailo USA, a German producer of wind turbines, will hold a grand opening for its manufacturing facility in Elberton in two weeks.

The company expects to invest $10 million and create 200 new jobs during the next five years.

The company already has hired employees and has started producing materials, said Anna Grant Jones, the director of the Development Authority of Elbert County, Elberton and Bowman.

Eco-Energy Holdings will open a bio-fuel transfer and storage facility in Cartersville, which will be served by CSX unit trains carrying ethanol.

“They’re going to be utilizing the rail to bring in the corn-based ethanol from out west. So they really needed a rail-service site in the Atlanta market,” [Cartersville-Bartow County Department of Economic Development Executive Director Melinda] Lemmon said. “It’s basically a transfer of the ethanol from train to truck. … It will go into gasoline mixtures in the Atlanta market. They’re not mixing it at this facility but this is a transfer station to get the ethanol to the locations that will mix it for the traditional gasoline as we use it.”

Southern Company has applied for a amendment to its license to operate the two reactors being built at Plant Vogtle to accomodate issues that have arisen in grading the area below the nuclear buildings. Any deviations from approved plans on file with the Feds requires an amendment to the license.

Jacoby Development and Smart Energy Capital are building a 10 megawatt solar farm in Davidsboro that will go online in 2015 and provide power to CobbEMC through a power purchase agreement. Jacoby developed Atlantic Station in midtown Atlanta.