Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 10, 2021

On August 10, 1774, a group calling itself the “Sons of Liberty” met at Tondee’s Tavern in Savannah, the first move in Georgia toward what would become the Revolutionary War. The Sons of Liberty adopted eight resolutions, among those one that reads,

Resolved, nemine contradicente, That we apprehend the Parliament of Great Britain hath not, nor ever had, any right to tax his Majesty’s American subjects; for it is evident beyond contradiction, the constitution admits of no taxation without representation; that they are coeval and inseparable; and every demand for the support of government should be by requisition made to the several houses of representatives.

Resolved, nemine contradicente, That we concur with our sister colonies in every constitutional measure to obtain redress of American grievances, and will by every lawful means in our power, maintain those inestimable blessings for which we are indebted to God and the Constitution of our country–a Constitution founded upon reason and justice, and the indelible rights of mankind.

The first copy in Georgia of the Declaration of Independence was read publicly in Savannah on August 10, 1776.

On August 10, 1787, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”

Missouri was admitted as the 24th State, and the first entirely west of the Mississippi River, on August 10, 1821.

On August 10, 1864, the bombardment of Atlanta by Union force continued, with Sherman writing, “Let us destroy Atlanta and make it a desolation.”

The first Georgia state Motor Fuel Tax was enacted on August 10, 1921, when Governor Thomas Hardwick signed legislation imposing a one-cent per gallon tax.

Japan accepted unconditional surrender on August 10, 1945, one day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Red Dawn, the first movie rated PG-13 was released on August 10, 1984.

Wolverines!

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the legal challenge to the legislative split of the Augusta Judicial Circuit, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The attorneys for Willie Saunders requested oral arguments in their appeal of a ruling July 12 that found the new law that carved Columbia County out of the Augusta Judicial Circuit to form its own judicial circuit is constitutional. Saunders lawsuit is consolidated by a second lawsuit filed by the Black Voters Matter Fund.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 9 into law March 25. It called for the creation of the Columbia County Judicial Circuit on July 1. That start date was pushed back until last month when the Georgia Supreme Court lifted its ruling that had put the law on hold.

Saunders and Black Voters Matter Fund contend the split of the Augusta Judicial Circuit that followed the election of the first Black district attorney for the counties of Richmond, Columbia and Burke violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Saunders, a Black resident and attorney who lives in Columbia County, testified at the July hearing that the circuit split effectively nullified his vote for Jared Williams as district attorney.

Saunders’ brief asks the Supreme Court to consider the history of official discrimination in Georgia and the extent of racial polarization. The state had a poll tax from 1877 to 1945, and literacy tests until the 1965 Voting Rights Act struck it down. Changing the geographic boundaries of electoral circuits is just a new means of voiding Black votes, according to the brief.

Georgia State Senator Burt Jones (R-Jackson) will run for Lieutenant Governor, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Jones, R-Jackson, filed paperwork Friday to seek the post being vacated by GOP Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who announced in May he would not run for a second term.

Jones has been a key player during the last couple of years in the fight to legalize sports betting in Georgia, serving as chief sponsor of sports betting legislation introduced in the Senate last year.

More recently, he was among a group of Senate Republicans who asked Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the General Assembly shortly after the November elections to consider changes to Georgia’s election laws.

In January, Jones was stripped of a committee chairmanship by [Lieutenant Governor Geoff] Duncan, who repeatedly pushed for the group to drop its election fraud claims and accept the election results as legitimate.

Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, a Duncan ally, declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor in May and has gotten a head start on fundraising. Miller raised more than $2 million during the five weeks between entering the contest and the June 30 second-quarter reporting deadline.

The third candidate in the race is Republican activist Jeanne Seaver of Savannah. She had raised $17,432 through the end of June, according to a report filed with the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission.

From the AJC:

Jones, a Jackson Republican, said in a statement that Georgians need a “proven business leader, consistent conservative and champion for Georgia families.”

“I look forward to sharing my conservative vision with folks all across the state as we build a statewide grassroots movement and secure a strong win for the people of Georgia as their next lieutenant governor,” Jones said.

Though Trump hasn’t formally endorsed Jones, he earlier this summer ruled out supporting state Senate Pro Tem Butch Miller, a Republican also running for lieutenant governor. Trump called on “strong and effective” challengers to enter the Republican primary.

Miller has leaned on his close ties to the state’s GOP establishment, and his roots in the Republican stronghold of Gainesville, to secure broad financial support for his candidacy. He reported raising nearly $2 million in the five weeks after entering the race, a lofty sum for a down-ticket contest.

Here’s my twenty-five cent take: if you’re looking for the ultimate Trump-supporting candidate in the LG’s race, Burt Jones is it. He was, by my count, the first or second Georgia legislator to publicly support Donald Trump for President, at the October 2015 Trump Rally. I was there and I have photographic evidence.

Governor Brian Kemp said a new shutdown won’t be necessary, speaking to the Georgia Municipal Association in Savannah, according to WRDW.

“The delta variant is something that we haven’t seen before, spreading very fast,” Kemp said Monday in Savannah after speaking at the Georgia Municipal Association convention. “My message to local health districts, to local leaders … to our citizens … is look, we’ve got a lifesaving vaccine that was created through Operation Warp Speed during the Trump administration. We’ve got to continue to get the vaccine out.”

“What my message is, talk to your local doctor, talk to your local pharmacist and make a good health care decision for you and your family,” Kemp said.

Kemp said that when the state implemented a shutdown during the start of that pandemic, that was before vaccines were available. So a shutdown won’t happen again.

Kemp also is speaking out about masks in schools and potential vaccine incentives.

Kemp says he’s seen those programs in other states and does not think government incentives will make people who are hesitant get vaccinated.

As far as mandating masks in schools, he says he does not believe making a statewide decision is what’s best for Georgia.

From WTVM:

In addition to discussing COVIDs impacts on GMA member cities and counties, Gov. Kemp spoke about the billions of dollars in one-time federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act coming to the state to help local economies rebound.

“I believe that these bi-partisan Georgia jobs and infrastructure committees that I’ve set up here in our state, working with members of the general assembly, will make sure this new funding is targeted in a way that makes smart long-term investments in every region of our state,” Gov. Kemp said.

Gwinnett County public schools have identified more than 250 COVID-19 cases, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

District spokeswoman Sloan Roach said the number includes several students who have not yet come to school during this school year. These are students whose parents informed school officials that their children had COVID before the kids were set to report to school for in-person learning.

“If (parents called and said) their child was going to be out and miss those first few days of school, they were included in there,” Roach said. “Much like we did last year, we are continuing to monitor those numbers at every school and working with our health partners to make sure that we’re doing all that we can to minimize the spread in our schools.”

About 97% of the district’s nearly 180,000 students are set to do in-person learning this fall, with Monday being the first day where all grade levels were back in school. At the same time, COVID-19 cases that had been declining through the spring and early summer began spiking again in July because of the spread of the Delta variant, and now the Delta Plus variant.

Gwinnett County has seen 2,156 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last two weeks as of Monday, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. A week earlier, the state reported Gwinnett had seen 1,458 new cases in the preceding two weeks.

“We’ll watch the numbers and see what happens, but our schools are continuing to adjust,” Roach said. “When you look, overall, the numbers are still very small (with) 180,000 students. However, we do take these things very seriously and continue to report them.”

Effingham County will require masks in county buildings, according to WTOC.

Newton County public schools will require masks, according to the Covington News.

A total of 80 students confirmed as infected with COVID-19 in the first week of the school year led Newton County’s school superintendent to order a temporary mask mandate beginning this week for students and staff.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 9, the Newton County School System began requiring all students and staff to wear masks in school buildings and on school buses.

“We tried the mask-optional status but now must revert to requiring mask usage due to the considerable spike in cases,” Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey said in a news release.

She said more than 200 students were sent home to quarantine in the first five days of the 2021-22 school year that began Aug. 2 — in addition to the 80 confirmed positive cases of student infection, Fuhrey said.

“I know this will not be a popular decision among many of our families, but it is the best course of action to protect our students and staff,” Fuhrey said. “It is my sincere hope we can move back to the mask-optional status once the numbers trend downward, and we see a reduction in the rate of transmission of COVID-19.”

Talbot County public schools are going virtual due to COVID, according to WTVM.

On its website, the district says Central Elementary – High School transitioned to remote learning on Monday, August 9. Food will be delivered on Tuesday, August 10, according to the school system.

The district plans to return to in-person learning on Thursday, August 12.

Randolph County public schools are closing for a week due to COVID, according to WTVM.

The Randolph County School System is closing its schools for a week due to COVID-19 concerns. Superintendent Dr. Tangela Madge said, in a post on the district’s website, five students have tested positive for COVID-19.

The positive cases promoted officials to close schools until Monday, August 16. The district is planning to disinfect all school buildings and buses. Currently, no faculty or staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

The school system’s food and nutrition department will be delivering meals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Glascock and Taliaferro Counties both canceled some school days because of COVID, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Glascock County on Friday became the second school district, after tiny Taliaferro County, to call off in-person school temporarily because of high COVID-19 rates. The 566-student district said nine students and four staff members tested positive for the virus in the first week of school, with 99 students and 11 staff members ordered to quarantine.

Glascock said it would teach virtually for two weeks beginning Monday. The district said it would enhance mitigation and return to a part-time at-home model for the rest of the fall semester.

I count six school systems – the four immediately above, plus Evans County and Echols County – that have either delayed reopening or shutdown temporaraily because of COVID.

Hall County is considering incentive payments for employee vaccinations, according to AccessWDUN.

Details need to be ironed out, but the Hall County Commission is prepared to vote this week on a resolution to give incentives to any county employee who gets a COVID vaccine.

“Between now and Thursday, we’ll be looking at what amount of money we will do for the incentive, eligibility requirements, deadlines, that type of thing,” [county spokesperson Katie] Crumley said.

Hospitals in Coastal Georgia are reaching the point of being overwhelmed by COVID cases, according to The Brunswick News.

Southeast Georgia Health System may be rapidly approaching the point of being overwhelmed as more and more COVID-19 cases requiring hospital care pour into its facilities in Brunswick and St. Marys.

The number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization jumped to 122 on Monday, one day after the health system announced it had already surpassed its previous daily caseload.

The availability of beds and a fatigued staff are serious daily issues for the health system.

In Camden County, the percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated has risen to 29%. The percentage for Glynn County is 40.3%. Health officials say a 75% vaccination rate is needed to achieve herd immunity.

“Our emergency room wait times have surpassed anything I’ve ever experienced in my medical career,” said Dr. Mohsen Akhlaghi, chief of the health system’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “Our hospitalized COVID-19 patient census exceeds the number of beds we have available and, as a result, we have inpatients being cared for in the Emergency Care Center, resulting in an increase in the wait times for people with emergencies. It’s a traffic jam at its worst.”

From the Savannah Morning News:

Some Georgia hospitals say they are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients amid rising infections across the state, while health officials pleaded with people to wear masks and get vaccinated.

Clinical leaders from four coastal Georgia hospitals said at a news conference Monday that their institutions are rapidly running out of beds for new patients. The region has been on the front line of an infection wave that has spread north out of Florida over the past month.

“We’re tired; we’re at wit’s end,” [Liberty Regional Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Donna] Cochrane said, noting that 18 staff members, all vaccinated, have tested positive for COVID-19. “The staff is overwhelmed taking care of your community, taking care of your family, possibly watching them die. This is something we’ve never seen before.”

Dr. Alan Brown, the chief medical officer of Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System, said the system’s two hospitals are “completely overwhelmed,” treating more COVID-19 patients than they ever have before. Brown said intensive care units are at about twice their capacity and the hospital has canceled elective surgeries.

The AJC continues its opposition research of Herschel Walker. From the AJC:

Potential U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and his wife live in Texas, but she voted in Georgia’s election for president last fall.

The absentee ballot cast by Julie Blanchard raises questions about whether she was allowed to vote in Georgia while living in Texas. It’s illegal for nonresidents to vote in Georgia in most circumstances.

Meanwhile, her husband was calling for prosecutions of voter fraud.

Election records show that Blanchard used her Atlanta address to return an absentee ballot, which she mailed in October from the couple’s residence in Westlake, Texas. Blanchard also owns a home near Buckhead.

Cordele City Commissioner Royce Reeves, Sr. has been indicted in Crisp County, according to the AJC.

Reeves is indicted for felony obstruction of law enforcement and felony violation of his oath as a public official. He’s also indicted for misdemeanor obstruction of law enforcement, misdemeanor criminal trespass and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Officials said Reeves made three separate attempts to cross police lines to reach a fatal crash involving a motorcycle and a car. The motorcyclist, Adonis Smith, died when a car tried to change lanes into Smith’s path.

A state trooper said Reeves pushed him. A Cordele police officer said Reeves didn’t obey instructions.

“He felt like he knew this person and he wanted to get to the scene. According to the state patrol, he used his position to say, ‘You have to listen to me, I’m a city commissioner.’ And, of course, they don’t,” [Cordele City Attorney Tommy] Coleman said.

The Atlanta board of education voted to keep the same millage rate as the previous year, which will result in higher tax revenue, according to the AJC.

The board on Monday unanimously voted to maintain the current tax rate of 20.74 mills. Even though the rate will not change, it’s legally considered a tax increase since APS would have had to reduce the rate to 19.715 mills to offset tax increases because of higher property valuations.

Lisa Bracken, the district’s chief financial officer, estimated the district would lose out on $8 to $12 million in tax revenue should the district roll back the rate to that lower level.

She said that additional funding is needed to help cover salary increases for teachers and other employees plus other initiatives.

An Albany City Commissioner called dollar stores “predatory,” according to the Albany Herald.

A request for rezoning for a dollar store had one Dougherty County Commissioner broaching the “M-word” — as in moratorium — for a class of retailer that has also drawn the ire of Albany City Commission members.

“Data shows dollar stores tend to be predatory” and locate in areas where potential nearby customers are low-income, Commissioner Russell Gray said. “When you look at the big picture, they tend to downgrade the viability of your grocery stores in the area.”

Commissioner Gloria Gaines suggested separating the two — considering the rezoning request “on its merits” and leaving the question of how to control the number of dollar stores as a separate issue.

While he supports economic development, Gray said he is not convinced dollar stores provide positive benefits, when all factors are considered. There also is a Family Dollar store in close proximity to the proposed location.

Macon-Bibb County Commissioners are considering raising the minimum wage for county employees, according to 13WMAZ.

Miller says there’s been talk of raising the minimum wage for county employees before, but now, Miller says the county is in a safe spot financially to make the jump.  The Mayor wants to bump it up gradually– $14 an hour by this January and $15 by the beginning of 2023.

“The reasons we’re doing that is as a compression piece. For those who are making $15 at that point, putting a distance between them and the ones you just moved up, so we think we’ll be financially secure enough at that point to do that,” Miller said.

Miller says the minimum wage for county employees is around $12.33 an hour right now.

“Right now, that’s just not sufficient enough,” Miller said.

Mayor Miller hopes the increase will help retain employees and bring in new ones– particularly after what the county saw during the pandemic.

“What we saw is that we had to shut down a large part of our government. Part of it COVID-related. Part of it not having enough staff,” Miller said.

The state and a local economic development authority closed on the purchase of a $61 million dollar “megasite,” in Bryan County, according to the Savannah Morning News.

A total of $61 million went into the purchase and was made possible by the state reinvesting proceeds from the sale of a Chatham County Economic Development Site to Amazon. Bryan and Chatham County also contributed $9 million each and will be reimbursed later.

The state’s purchase of the 2,284-acre economic development site was made in partnership with the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority (JDA), which consists of Chatham, Bryan, Bulloch and Effingham County.

“We are working with the state to develop some thresholds for jobs, wages, investments, that type of thing, in order to provide some focus on the types of projects we’ll pursue,” said  Anna Chafin of the Bryan County Development Authority.

“It is very encouraging to see a new, fully prepared mega-site come online that will create more high-quality jobs for hardworking Georgians,” said Governor Brian P. Kemp at the initial announcement in Atlanta, “The regional approach between local governments – in coordination with the Georgia Ports Authority and the Department of Economic Development – continues to make doing business in the Peach State easier and more attractive to companies around the world.”

Columbus City Council will consider changes to the trash pickup program, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Over the past nine months, the city has made a few multi-million dollar purchases for the departments. A lack of prison inmate labor due to COVID-19 caused issues with pickups into the summer, and now, driver shortages are delaying bulk waste pickup.

“The Public Works Department is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of drivers which has drastically impacted bulk waste pick up,” a portion of the council proposal reads. “This process will assist the Department with quickly addressing any backlog until drivers can be hired and/or for future ongoing services.”

Sea turtles are hatching on Tybee Island, according to WTOC.

The turtle hatching season is officially underway on Tybee Island. Over the last week, two of the 17 nests have hatched.

Even though hatching season has started, it doesn’t mean that nesting season is over. So keeping the beach dark, litter-free and removing any obstacles on the beach when you leave is very important.

Smith says about 20 years ago they had an average of three nests on the island, so she says they’ve come a long way with conservation efforts with DNR, the lights out campaign and bringing awareness to people.