Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 12, 2021

On August 12, 1492 by the current calendar, Christopher Columbus set sail from the port of Palos de la Frontera in southern Spain with the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Other accounts date his arrival at the Canary Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa on August 12, 1492.

Juan Ponce de Leon invaded Puerto Rico on August 12, 1508 and declared himself Governor.

On August 12, 1864, Confederate General John B. Hood prohibited Confederate soldiers from seizing civilian property.

The first Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line on August 12, 1908.

On August 12, 1908, Ford’s first “Model T” rolled off a Detroit, Michigan, factory floor. Within six years, the car, company and man were propelled to unprecedented success, thanks to the new Highland Park plant’s first-of-its-kind assembly line, which created the intricate product quickly and in large numbers.

“If it hadn’t been for Henry Ford’s drive to create a mass market for cars, America wouldn’t have a middle class today,” wrote [Lee] Iacocca.

Increased travel spurred appeals for better and more roads, the development of suburbs, the oil industry’s rise and a boom in gas stations, strip malls and motels.

But the assembly line itself had the biggest impact on American society, Hyde contended, in making possible the swift, mass production of everything from computers to “fast food.”

On August 12, 1910, Georgia Governor Joseph M. Brown signed legislation prohibiting the carrying of a pistol or revolver without a license.

East Germany began building the Berlin Wall on August 12, 1961.

[T]he government of East Germany, on the night of August 12, 1961, began to seal off all points of entrance into West Berlin from East Berlin by stringing barbed wire and posting sentries. In the days and weeks to come, construction of a concrete block wall began, complete with sentry towers and minefields around it. The Berlin Wall succeeded in completely sealing off the two sections of Berlin.

Three churches in Albany, Georgia first allowed African-Americans to attend their services on August 12, 1962.

On August 12, 1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time.

The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, made its first flight in the earth’s atmosphere on August 12, 1977.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

A new negative TV ad is taking the fight to Coca-Cola over remarks by the company’s CEO, according to the AJC.

“Just drink Coke, the road to obesity,” a singer croons as an overweight child pours himself a glass of dark soda.

The spot follows the catchy tune of the iconic 1971 “hilltop” ad in which scores of diverse young people gathered in Italy to sing about their desire to buy the world a Coke.

But its message, airing on Atlanta’s top four local television stations over the last week, is designed to be much more provocative. A choir slams “Woka-Cola” for its labor practices in China and for contributing to child obesity and diabetes as images flicker by of obese people giving themselves insulin injections and struggling to button shirts.

Over the last several months, right-leaning Consumers’ Research has embarked on a multi-million-dollar push to name and shame several large companies that have recently spoken out against major conservative priorities.

Not mentioned in the spot, bankrolled by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Consumers’ Research, is what provoked its rebuke of Coca-Cola: CEO James Quincey’s sharp criticism of Georgia’s new voting law passed by Republicans this spring.

For its part, Coca-Cola said it respects “everyone’s right to raise their concerns and express their views.”

“But we also believe the best way to make progress now is for us all to come together to listen, respectfully share concerns and collaborate on a path forward,” the company said in a written statement. “We remain open to productive conversations with groups who may have differing views.”

Coke also defended its human rights policy and highlighted its efforts to reduce added sugar in many of its products.

Governor Brian Kemp discussed Georgia’s progress on vaccination, according to Fox News.

“There’s been a lot of mixed messages coming out of the White House, ‘get vaccinated, take your mask off.’ Now they want you to wear your mask, and I think that’s been part of the issue, delay in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We were really geared up to get rolling on that when it was paused for a while. But despite all that, we are seeing our vaccination rates go up as the Delta variant continues to spread, not only here, but across the country.”

“I’m so thankful that we took the approach early on to vaccinate our seniors and the medically vulnerable because we’re seeing our fatalities in that age group and many other people fall in our state, but we’re fighting hard. My message to people is you need to talk to your doctor, talk to your local pharmacist. We’ve got a lifesaving vaccine that the Trump administration delivered to us in warp speed time with Operation Warp Speed, and that’s my message to folks because there’s so much distrust with the government right now.”

From Fox5Atlanta:

Vaccinations in Georgia this week surpassed 9 million doses with 46.5% of those eligible to receive the vaccine is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number lags behind the national average of 58.8%.

“But despite all that, we are seeing our vaccination rates go up as the Delta variant continues to spread, not only here, but across the country,” Kemp said.

The Delta variant now accounts for about 90% of new cases across the state, health officials said. The Georgia Department of Public Health on Wednesday afternoon said the number of hospitalizations has also jumped by 200 to 3,820.

A vaccine incentive program helped Colquitt County boost vaccination among employees, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Moultrie, the Colquitt County seat, which is in the top 15 areas with the largest increase in number of cases in Georgia, has been giving a $500 bonus to city employees who get vaccinated. Colquitt County has a 29.58% vaccination rate.

The vaccine incentive helped push the city employee vaccination rate from 25% to about 65% in just a couple of months, City Manager Peter Dillard said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the vaccine for everyone 12 years and older to help prevent hospitalizations and severe sickness from the COVID-19 virus.

“I don’t believe in mandates but I believe any incentive you can put out there to encourage people is well worth it,” he said. “… With this recent COVID outbreak, it’s shown indications that we could’ve gotten really hurt if we hadn’t done something. It was either do something or face the trend that was scary looking.”

Dillard said the decision came nearly a month and a half ago when the city was down six employees at one time due COVID.

“That’s what really set things in motion. All our people are essential service and we can’t shutdown,” Dillard said of the city’s estimated 200 employees. “That Monday morning, we put out a pretty strong encouragement to get people vaccinated; we had about 25 people respond immediately. A week later, we put the incentives in and it moved us pretty fast.”

Tift County Commissioner Melissa Hughes led a giveaway of 10 $20 gift cards as incentives.

In Murray County where just over 27% of the population have been fully vaccinated, the local health department is offering a $10 Walmart gift card for each dose of the COVID-19 vaccine administered at the Murray County Health Department; for the single dose J&J vaccine, two $10 gift cards will be given while supplies last, the health district stated.

Augusta Commissioners will consider paying a $100 incentive for full vaccination, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Augusta will pay residents $100 to get vaccinated as part of “Vax-Up Augusta,” approved by a city committee Wednesday.

“We’re in this pandemic and you’ve got so many people dying and so many people walking around who haven’t been vaccinated,” Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Williams said.

The goal is to vaccinate 9,000 to 10,000 residents this year with the American Rescue Plan covering the cost, city Administrator Odie Donald II said.

The measures must go before the full commission for final approval.

State data puts Augusta’s vaccination rate at just 32% fully vaccinated.

Savannah-Chatham County public schools has seen 230 COVID cases and quarantined more than 1000 students, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The numbers also list 72 staff (but doesn’t indicate whether teachers or support staff) who are quarantining.

“The 1,000 students who are now in quarantine represents only 3% of our student population,” [Superindent Ann] Levett said. “But what we’re doing is staying the course. Our goal is to keep students engaged in learning.”

“If I could make one plea,” [school district head nurse Lisa] Wilson said. “If students or staff are ill, or awaiting test results, it is imperative that you wait at home. We shoulder this weight together. We have to walk side by side, shouldering the responsibility.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wants to make it harder for non-residents to vote in Georgia, according to the Associated Press via AccessWDUN.

“Fortunately, Georgia code already makes clear that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Georgia, but we are seeing disturbing trends across the country that makes this issue too important to be left up to future legislatures,’” Raffensperger said.

Raffensperger also mentioned other jurisdictions that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections and several states where similar legislation has been proposed. He rejected arguments by proponents of such legislation who say noncitizens would only be allowed to vote in local elections.

“Allowing noncitizens to vote in some elections but not others will increase voter confusion and put additional burdens on election officials,”’ he said.

There is already a pending Republican-backed resolution in the Georgia House that proposes a state constitutional amendment to say only people who are citizens of the U.S. and residents of Georgia can vote in the state. It didn’t advance during this year’s legislative session but could be considered in next year’s session.

“The Secretary is urging the General Assembly to pass this constitutional amendment once and for all,’” Raffensperger spokesperson Walter Jones said.

No word on whether the CEO of Coca-Cola believes this is a targeted attempt to suppress his vote, as he is not a U.S. Citizen.

From WTVM:

“Only American citizens should be voting in our elections,” said Raffensperger. “Making sure only American citizens can vote was my top priority when I ran in 2018. That’s why I’m calling on the Georgia General Assembly to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next to clarify only American citizens can vote in Georgia elections.”

The Democratic Party of Georgia filed an ethics complaint against Congressman Buddy Carter, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The complaint centers around a statewide advertisement aired by Carter during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The commercial derides baseball’s “catering to cancel culture” by pulling the All-Star game out of Atlanta following the passage of Georgia’s controversial voting bill, S.B. 202.

The DPG complaint alleges that Carter spent campaign money for a statewide ad, but not yet announced his run for a statewide post, as is required 15 days after spending more than $5,000 to campaign for another seat.

Included in the DPG’s complaint are various exhibits, including details of the campaign’s spending on the advertisement. It shows $75,000 worth of spending on airtime for the advertisement, with over $50,000 spent in Atlanta, around $23,000 spent in Savannah and a little over $1,000 spent in Macon.

“According to public reports and his own admission, Representative Carter has spent significant sums of money to advance his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Georgia — hiring a campaign team, preparing a launch statement, and running a statewide television advertisement. Yet, he has failed to file any paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to alert the public of his candidacy as required by law,” the complaint reads.

From WTOC:

The Democratic Party of Georgia is arguing that Rep. Carter and his campaign’s expenditure of funds for a statewide television ad qualifies him as a candidate for U.S. Senate, though Rep. Carter has not announced his candidacy. In the complaint, the Party states, “the spending of over $50,000 on airtime in media markets outside of one’s congressional district is a clear demonstration of promotional, partisan spending that does not qualify as testing-the-waters” of a possible run.

If Rep. Carter were to formally announce a run for U.S. Senate, his campaign would be required to update their State of Organization with the FEC from a House campaign to a Senate campaign within ten days, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Rep. Carter’s office released the following statement in response to the complaint:

“This is a desperate attempt by Georgia Democrats to distract from Joe Biden, Raphael Warnock, and Nancy Pelosi’s reckless agenda that’s driving up prices on nearly everything, keeping our borders open to criminal gangs, bankrupting our children’s future, and taking away our health care choices. I’ll never back down when it comes to standing up to their sick new religion of cancel culture and inserting their divisive politics into every facet of life from our children’s school to the military to baseball.”

Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (R-Forsyth County) is working to build a post-Trump Republican Party, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Duncan hopes to push his message out to the public through a “movement” called GOP 2.0. At the tip of the spear is his book, bearing the namesake of the project: “GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way for America’s Conservative Party.”

The book doesn’t come out until September, but Duncan has been speaking publicly about GOP 2.0 all year. Spurred by Trump’s refusal to accept the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election and the name-calling and fruitless lawsuits that followed, he hopes to return to what he sees as the basics of the Republican Party: policy, empathy and tone.

Duncan pointed towards Trump’s rally in Rome on Nov. 1, two days before the election.

“In total, he spoke for like 46 minutes, three of those were spent talking about all the great things he had done, like really, really important great things like massively conservative Supreme Court justices, three different vaccines, an economy that had whipsawed, but really showed signs of coming back,” Duncan said.  “All of those things that you could literally have spent hours talking about, he spent three minutes on, and spent the balance of the time, 44 minutes, talking about all the things that everybody else was doing wrong.”

Duncan says he believes “there’s a shelf life on the Donald Trump clones out there,” and that it doesn’t matter if candidates are tough on conservative values, or Second Amendment rights or trying to lower taxes, there’s only one “litmus test” for Trump to endorse them.

Duncan does give Trump credit for proving an outsider can go to D.C. and change things very quickly. “Shaking the applecart,” as he put it. But he believes those conservative policies must be backed by strong leadership.

The Rome News Tribune notes two campaign announcements for state Senate seats.

Luke Martin, a former Rome Circuit assistant district attorney and chair of the Floyd County GOP, announced Wednesday he is running for the Georgia State Senate District 52 seat.

The seat is currently held by state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, who said he’s planning to seek reelection.

Martin took an aggressively conservative stance in his announcement promising to “stand up to the radical left and RINO Republicans.”

“Critical race theory, corrupt politicians, endless wars, devaluing our dollar, and trampling our Constitutional rights… enough is enough,” he said in a statement. “It’s time to defeat socialism and revive the free-market American dream. Join me as we stand firm for limiting government and empowering WE THE PEOPLE.”

Bartow County school board chair Derek Keeney, another Republican, has also launched a bid for the state Senate. He’s seeking the District 14 seat being vacated by Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, who’s running for Labor Commissioner.

That district covers half of Bartow, half of Cherokee and a tiny bit of Cobb County. Keeney lives north of Cartersville and just east of U.S. 41, which is close to the current line between the two districts.

I will note this: if you’re announcing that you’re going to run against an incumbent Republican legislator, remember that district lines will be redrawn this year, and your opponent now knows who to target to keep his or her seat safe.

Governor Brian Kemp was asked about Georgia’s burgeoning surplus, according to WTVM.

“Well I think it just goes to show that the national pundits, the national media and a lot of the activists were wrong that said we were doing a death experiment here in Georgia when I started to measuredly reopen the economy based on science and data and working with Dr. Toomey and her public health team and a lot of other people, private businesses, school systems and others as we reopened schools, reopened our economy,” said Gov. Kemp. “We cannot continue to sit in our basement while we’re fighting COVID.”

The governor was very deliberate in his remarks about the budget surplus correlating to his decision making with the pandemic.

He says that issues like teacher pay raises, lowering taxes in the state, and supporting law enforcement would be top priorities.

“You know, not defunding the police like the democrats want to do, but properly funding law enforcement at the state level so we can go after violent crime,” said Governor Kemp. “People are very worried about that. My wife and my daughters are, people I’ve talked to all over the state.”

The governor mentioned efforts at the state law enforcement level to help curb crime in Atlanta and how these new funds could help.

“We’ll work with any local governments to fight crime. That’s what I ran on, going after street gangs and drug cartels, and we created the Gang Task Force in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,” said Governor Kemp. “We continue to work with all of the locals that ask us for help, and we’ll certainly do that with Columbus and Muscogee County.”

Those billions of surplus dollars will have to be designated by the legislature first – regardless of any priorities from the governor’s office. That won’t happen until the first of the year.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has closed community precincts to the public due to rising COVID, according to AccessWDUN.

Crisp County High School will go all-virtual for nearly two weeks, according to 13WMAZ.

The Crisp County School System said in a post that the decision has been made due to a spike today in COVID-19 cases at the high school.

“While recognizing the importance of in-person learning we must also recognize when changes need to be made to mitigate the spread of COVID,” the school system posted.

Macon County is going completely virtual starting Monday, they also are requiring masks. At this time, several counties have mask mandates in schools, including: Baldwin, Bibb, Dooly, Dublin City, Hancock, Macon, Telfair, Twiggs, Wheeler and Wilcox.

That makes eight school systems that closed in-person learning. Crisp County, Macon County, Talbot County, Randolph County, Glascock County, Taliaferro County, Evans County, and Echols County that have had at least temporary closures due to COVID.

From WTOC:

The 1,100-student Macon County district on Wednesday became the fourth district to suspend in-person classes, following the smaller Taliaferro, Glascock and Talbot counties in recent days. The four districts combined serve a fraction of 1% of Georgia’s 1.7 million students.

“The difference now in this outbreak that we see than the outbreak that happened last school year is that this seems to be more centered on kids, rather than adults, so that scares me to death,” Talbot County Superintendent Jack Catrett told WTVM-TV.

Clayton County stopped in-person instruction at an elementary school because of COVID-19. In the Savannah-Chatham district, 230 of the district’s 36,000 students have tested positive, while more than 1,100 students have been quarantined because of exposure. Of roughly 5,000 employees, 36 have tested positive and another 72 are quarantined. Sumter County quarantined unvaccinated high school football players.

Catrett said it was necessary to close the entire district because all grades share the same building in the 500-student district. Talbot students are relying on paper packets to work remotely, while other districts have issued computers for students to take home.

At least 38 districts statewide are requiring masks, according to an Associated Press count, covering more than 766,000 students, or about 45% of public school students statewide.

Baldwin County schools began requiring masks yesterday, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Baldwin is the second Middle Georgia school district to require masks, following Bibb County Schools’ mask requirements, implemented before the start of the school year.

The Monroe County Board of Education reversed an earlier decision and will no longer require masks after parents complained, according to 13WMAZ.

The district’s new policy states masks are “highly recommended,” but not required.

For parents who would like to move their children to virtual learning, the application opened up for that Wednesday.

Some Cobb County parents are planning a rally today in support of a mask mandate, according to the AJC.

Parents are planning a rally today to ask the Cobb County School District to require masks for students and staff.

The event will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the district’s central office headquarters at 514 Glover Street in Marietta.

As of Friday, the Cobb district reported 185 known cases of COVID-19 in schools. Masks are optional in Cobb schools though “strongly encouraged.”

Troup County schools say shutting down because of COVID is not an option, according to WTVM.

Long County public schools ordered all students on a bus route to quarantine because of a COVID exposure, according to WTOC.

The assistant superintendent says that’s 49 students all in high school. Leaving families, like Fontaine, wondering how their child will continue with schoolwork.

“I called the school and asked if virtual was an option, and they told me virtual was not an option this year,” Fontaine said. “I’m going to have to pay out of pocket and homeschool my kids.”

The superintendent said quarantined students won’t have a virtual instructor, but will get their assignments through Google Classroom, Google Meet, or even paper packets.

But since that conversation, the school district released an update to parents saying it is looking at possibly offering a temporary learn-from-home option to allow parental flexibility. Schools will remain open for face-to-face learning as well.

Whitfield County Commissioners approved an outreach program to local Spanish speakers, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Commissioners voted 2-0 to approve $25,000 for the Coalition of Latino Leaders (CLILA) to send two Spanish-speaking healthcare educators, known as promotoras, into the community to provide information on vaccines for COVID-19 as well as testing for the virus.

The plan also calls for the group to set up two vaccination events each month in areas accessible to the Hispanic community. CLILA has set a goal of getting the vaccination rate for Hispanics in Whitfield County up to 55% by Dec. 31, 2021, from the current 31%. By comparison, 34.1% of white Whitfield County residents are fully vaccinated, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 32.1% of Blacks are vaccinated and 58.7% of Asians are vaccinated.

The funds would come from the $20.3 million the county will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill Congress passed in March. The city of Dalton is expected to provide another $25,000 for the program.

Chattahoochee County public schools are struggling with a teacher shortage, according to WTVM.

Dr. Brooks says, while COVID certainly accelerated teacher hardships, other things like lack of relative pay and emotional barriers are also a contributing factor to teachers leaving the industry altogether.

“They aren’t just doing their job they are carrying the emotions of those connections with children and families and it is easy to get burned out,” Brooks said.

The most important positions that need to be filled in Chattahoochee County are special education teachers, substitute teachers, and bus drivers.

Other local governments are also challenged by hiring needs, according to the AJC.

From police and sheriff’s deputies to garbage collectors and lifeguards keeping a watchful eye over pools, public agencies across metro Atlanta are struggling to find enough workers to get the job done.

Officials from a half dozen cities and counties interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution say staffing levels are down this year.

In Atlanta, vacancies in solid waste have for weeks left the city unable to collect yard waste from some curbsides. A city spokesperson said Aug. 4 it’s a conundrum affecting municipalities nationwide, one that has grown to historic levels both for public and private trash service providers.

Cobb County has 764 vacancies in its workforce of about 5,000 employees, according to Deputy County Manager Jimmy Gisi. The county typically has less than 500 open positions.

Economists say the shortages began earlier this year as COVID vaccines became more readily available and the economy started reopening. According to a May report from The Conference Board, a nonprofit research group, labor supply in the U.S. is constrained and shortages will likely last through most of 2021.

Jason Delaney, a professor of economics at Georgia Gwinnett College, said the job market seems to be in a transition period as potential employees try to “figure out what the new normal is going to look like.”

Hall County planning and development staff will ask Commissioners to continue a moratorium on some kinds of development, according to AccessWDUN.

The planning and development staff for Hall County likely will get another 90 days to complete a study on commercial kennels and agri-entertainment businesses.

Since May, there’s been a moratorium in place on applications for those two types of businesses, and County Attorney Van Stevens said the staff needs more time to complete its work.

“Both commercial kennels and agri-entertainment venues can be more intensive than other types of uses, and we’re just conducting a study to see what regulations need to be updated,” Stevens said after Monday afternoon’s commission work session.

Whitfield County Commissioners will interview candidates for County Administrator, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

The City of Brunswick hosted the first required public meetings to hear feedback on the proposed property tax millage rate, according to The Brunswick News.

City Manager Regina McDuffie said the millage rate of 13.219 is identical to the one approved the past five years. But the city did experience a 4.3 percent growth in the digest, forcing the city to hold two public hearings.

While the millage rate is unchanged, there will be some residents whose property has been assessed at a higher value who will get a higher tax bill. McDuffie said the owner of a $100,000 home could see a tax bill $10.45 higher than last year. The owner of a $300,000 house could see a bill $33 higher than last year, she said.

“Taxes will increase on properties where the value has increased,” she said.

Bulloch County Commissioners held the first public meeting to hear about the proposed property tax millage rate, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Tuesday at 6 p.m. the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners holds the first in a series of three legally required public hearings for a 2% “increase” in property taxes, despite rolling back the millage rate by a fraction of a mill.

A law called the Georgia Taxpayer Bill of Rights requires that local governments either roll back their millage rates to compensate for rising property values or announce the revenue gain as a tax increase. This year’s situation is somewhat unusual because the commissioners are proposing a rollback, but not enough of one to avoid the requirement for hearings.