Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 21, 2017

James Oglethorpe and the Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Coweta Town, delineating geographic areas open to British settlement, on August 21, 1739.

On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led the largest slave rebellion in American history; Turner was later hanged in Jerusalem, VA.

The first of the Lincoln-Douglass series of seven debates was held in Ottawa, Illinois, on August 21, 1858, pitting Democrat Stephen Douglass against Republican Abraham for the United States Senate seat held by Douglass. Expansion of slavery in the United States was the topic for the debates.

On August 21, 1907, Georgia Governor Hoke Smith signed legislation to place a Constitutional Amendment designed to disenfranchise African-Americans by requiring passage of a literacy test to vote. A number of exceptions allowed local officials to exempt white voters whom they wished to allow to vote; one exemption was for anyone descended from a U.S. or Confederate wartime veteran – the so-called “grandfather clause.”

On the same day, Gov. Smith also signed legislation prohibiting fishing on Sunday, subject to misdemeanor prosecution.

On August 21, 1935, Benny Goodman and his orchestra began a seven-night stand at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, beginning the Swing Era.

Happy 55th birthday to Hawaii, which became the 50th State on August 21, 1959; they’ve undoubtedly been receiving AARP literature in the mail for ten years.

The 1968 Democratic National Convention began in Chicago on August 21, 1968.

The name of Julian Bond of Georgia, then-27 and too young to serve, was placed in nomination for Vice President during the 1968 DNC.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Heard on NPR this morning:

Heard on NPR: Experience from past eclipses suggests that it has been younger people who are more likely to ignore safety warnings, says Chou.

“It does tend to be young males,” he says. “Teens to early 20s — the ones who don’t think about any protection for a number of different circumstances.”

No kidding?

Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols had an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal on Plant Vogtle.

Georgia’s decision to continue building two new nuclear reactors—the only commercial ones now in development in the U.S.—means my state stands alone. Vermont’s Yankee nuclear plant went offline in 2014, and Massachusetts’ Pilgrim Station is scheduled to close in 2019. The company behind two half-finished reactors in South Carolina began publicly considering last month whether to abandon the project.

Georgia has been down this road before. The first two nuclear reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Augusta were completed in 1987 and 1989, in the aftermath of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. What was supposed to be a $1 billion project turned into $8 billion. Still, it was a great deal for ratepayers in the end, delivering low-cost power for decades.

Today, finishing the Vogtle plant’s two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors is the right call—for their owners, including Southern Co., as well as for Georgia and the U.S. There are four reasons:

Diversifying the energy supply makes sense, because no one knows what the future holds. The U.S. could institute a carbon tax, as President Obama envisioned, or even regulate frackers out of a job. No matter what happens, nuclear reactors will ensure Georgia’s electric rates stay competitive.

They also will keep the U.S. from completely forfeiting its nuclear leadership. As other states have decommissioned reactors without replacing them, the world has begun looking to nations like China and Russia. The World Nuclear Association reports that China is increasing its nuclear generation capacity 70% by 2020-21 and will surpass U.S. output by 2030. The only way for America to continue setting international standards for nuclear safety and security is to invest in reactors and technology.

Don’t forget, too, with all the talk of health care in the news, that nuclear reactors produce isotopes needed for medical imaging and cancer treatment.

Last week a Canadian electric company, Bruce Power, announced a partnership to expand isotope production using its reactors.

Finally, reactor technology gives American naval vessels a distinct advantage. The U.S. has 10 aircraft carriers and dozens of submarines powered by nuclear fuel. These vessels can go years without refueling. But the Navy program relies on a strong commercial nuclear industry to provide steady employment and training and keep the supply chain humming.

While Georgia’s two new reactors are moving forward, I understand the angst surrounding such massive construction projects, as well as the concern over their costs. I know that Yucca Mountain, where the nuclear waste would ultimately be stored, is only now emerging from limbo. And I do value renewables like solar.

But the job of a state utility commission is to plan for the future. Georgia is pressing ahead—despite fears fanned by the 2011 tsunami in Fukushima, Japan, and despite the financial meltdown that put the reactor designer, Westinghouse, in bankruptcy this year. Against great challenges Georgia and Southern Co. persist. With vision, perseverance and God’s help we will make the Vogtle reactors America’s next nuclear energy flagship.

VEEP worthy. The eight-page memo detailing how to drive Congressman Todd Rokita (R-Indiana) has leaked.

Demanding, high-maintenance bosses are notorious on Capitol Hill. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s staff had to walk his dog, poop pick-up and all. Former Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison made her male aides carry her purse.

Who knew it could take eight pages of instructions on how to properly escort a member of Congress around his district? Yet there it is, laid out in mind-blowing detail, in a memo obtained by POLITICO that’s sure to make any young, eager-beaver political aide shudder.

Tasks listed in the document, entitled “Instructions on Staffing and Driving — District Version,” include handing Rokita a cup of black coffee upon picking him up at his home, acting as a physical barrier between him and trackers looking to capture embarrassing footage of the congressman, and “avoid[ing] sudden acceleration or braking” while driving.

“The goal is to provide as smooth a ride as possible,” reads the instruction manual, co-authored by a former chief of staff to the congressman and Tim Edson, Rokita’s ex-communications director-turned-campaign spokesman.

Drivers are expected to transport not only Rokita’s toothbrush and toothpaste but also stock and tote around the district a nearly 20-item supply box that Rokita’s staffers call “the football.” The contents include gum, hand sanitizer, business cards, bottled water, napkins and Kleenex, lozenges, a stapler and stapler remover, Post-it notes and Shout wipes, among other items.

Rokita needs a hanger in the car for his jacket. Never allow him to be photographed with a drink in his hand. And never forget, the memo states multiple times in boldface, underlined letters, to remind the 47-year-old to bring the essentials.

“When TER enters the car, check to ensure he has his phone and wallet,” the instructions say, referring to Rokita by his initials.

“When you arrive at the event, get Todd a non-alcoholic drink that he can carry with him as he visits (water, diet soda, and coffee are best),” the manual reads.

Pro-tip: if you work for an elected official who wears reading glasses, always keep an eye on the glasses; when they set them down and start heading in a different direction, grab the glasses.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is receiving an education in diplomacy at the State Department’s “spouse school.”

Last week, Newt Gingrich sat in a classroom surrounded by 11 women and one other man, furiously jotting notes.

In the weeklong intensive, where classes ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with only a short cafeteria lunch break in between, the former House speaker and onetime presidential candidate received a crash course in a new role: invisible spouse.

In a series of back-to-back 75-minute lectures he described as “tiring,” Gingrich and the 12 other spouses of waiting-to-be-confirmed ambassadors were educated on some basic rules of the road. “You always have two fridges,” Gingrich marveled in an interview with POLITICO, “one for personal food, one for entertaining, so you’re not eating out of the taxpayer refrigerator. I didn’t know that.”

The group was instructed on ground rules for entertaining. “If you invite eight or 10 ambassadors over for dinner,” Gingrich said, “there’s protocol for who sits where. A protocol officer who helps you think through everything.”

“I’ll be the person at the front door saying, ‘Hi, I’m Newt Gingrich. The ambassador will be down shortly,’” he laughed. “It’s a great new role. Callista supported me in ’12 when I ran for president; I get to support her now. And I get to join the spouse organization.”

“I sat through a couple of hours on how to do interviews,” Gingrich said. “The first point they make over and over is, you are not the principal. I’m wearing my spouse hat. I’ve got to be very circumspect. We don’t want to confuse people about who speaks for the United States. Callista speaks for the United States. I just speak for Newt Gingrich.”

Macon-Bibb County Commissioners voted by a 5-3 margin to raise property tax rates by about 20 percent.

The millage rate will increase by 3 mils, from 14.652 to 17.652.

Commissioners Larry Schlesinger, Gary Bechtel, Al Tillman, Scotty Shepherd and Virgil Watkins voted for the increase. Commissioners Elaine Lucas, Joe Allen and Mallory Jones voted against it. Commissioner Bert Bivins was absent.

The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $125,000 is approximately $129 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $125,000 is approximately $150.

The extra revenue will be used to pay for recreation staff and raises for the sheriff’s and fire departments.

Muscogee County Jail has become overcrowded again.

The facility, which can accommodate a maximum of 1,065 people, had about 1,077 inmates as of Friday, said Muscogee County Sheriff Donna Tompkins.

“I just met with judges and we’re sending information to the DA and the Public Defender and the Chief of Probation about all the people we have in the jail,” the sheriff said Thursday. “We’re trying to get everybody to work toward moving some of these people somehow, somewhere, some way.”

The numbers continue to climb two years after the city implemented a Rapid Resolution initiative to more efficiently move people through the legal system and relieve jail overcrowding.

Earlier this year, the issue of jail expansion surfaced at a meeting concerning the future of the Government Center. Mayor Teresa Tomlinson told members of the Mayor’s Commission on the Government Center and Judicial Building that about $33 million of OLOST funds had been slated for jail expansion. However, the expansion was not needed at the time, she said, and she wondered if that money could be used to build a judicial center instead.

On Friday, Tomlinson said the jail numbers have been as high as 1,200 during her tenure, and she doesn’t see the current statistics as an alarming, irreversible trend. She said the jail population tends to go up and down based on a variety of factors, including time of year, judges’ schedules and the pace of state probation cases.

“Certainly, for the vast majority of my awareness, during the prior Sheriff’s administration, there were around 1,100 (to) 1,130 —those are the numbers we’re very used to seeing,” Tomlinson said. “So, it wasn’t until we started Rapid Resolution, and also the criminal justice reform that the state did, that a lot of things began to adjust that.

A survey of butterflies in Coastal Georgia netted strong results.

Around mid-afternoon we are chased by a storm and decide to call it a day. And what a day. We have recorded 439 individual butterflies of 35 different species. An observation of the uncommon Dion Skipper is nominated for sighting of the day. Mike is disappointed that we didn’t document Little Metalmarks, a declining species that has previously been recorded at Harris Neck.

I learned that butterfly surveys are non-invasive and don’t involve netting or collecting your quarry — identification can be determined using close-focusing binoculars. Upon my return home, I dive into my increasingly dog-eared copy of “Butterflies of the East Coast” by Rick Cech and Guy Tudor (Princeton University Press, 2005), with the ardor of a thirsty Palamedes Swallowtail nectaring at a buttonbush blossom.

Founders

Ryan Gravel, whose Georgia Tech thesis led to creation of the Atlanta Belt Line, wants to turn his sights to Buford Highway.

“I love Buford Highway,” said Ryan Gravel in a recent interview in his office on the eighth story of Ponce City Market. “Buford Highway has this amazing spirit, culture and vibrancy, [and it] would be inspiring to see the next chapter of that story.”

Home to more than 1,000 immigrant-owned businesses, Buford Highway is a regional attraction in large part because of its ethnic and cultural diversity that many know because of its numerous restaurants.

Korean, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Central American, Somali and Ethiopian goods and services are part of the fabric of Buford Highway’s “International Corridor.” But as metro Atlanta grows by an expected 2.5 million people in the next 20 years, the property values along the road will continue to increase. Gentrification and redevelopment threaten to change the nature of the corridor.

Gravel’s Generator is partnering with another nonprofit, We Love BuHi, founded by Brookhaven resident Marian Liou to preserve and promote Buford Highway’s cultural diversity. The ideas they hope to be generated by Georgia Tech students will be ways to acknowledge the growth of the region while also finding ways to celebrate and preserve the diversity of the people who live and work on Buford Highway.

A major issue facing Buford Highway is affordable housing as people, many of whom are immigrants, are being displaced from inexpensive apartment complexes to make way for luxury housing. Affordable housing along the Atlanta BeltLine is currently a hot and controversial topic. Gravel resigned last year from the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership over concerns of not enough emphasis on equity and affordability.

“If our only aspiration for the BeltLine was new housing and jobs and green space, then we succeeded,” he said. But the vision created for the BeltLine included the people already living there and ensuring their success as well — and “the jury is out if we’ve been successful or not” on that, he acknowledged.

Mary Rose Taylor helped found the Emory Brain Health Center after her husband died from Alzheimer’s; now she is a patient at the ALS Clinic there.

She was diagnosed that October [2014] with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. She became a patient at Emory’s Brain Health Center, a place that she had championed. Soon she would lose the ability to walk, to speak, to swallow and, eventually, to breathe. In January, she made the difficult decision to undergo a tracheostomy as her muscles weakened.

But with her mobility reduced to the use of a single finger, her determination to assist the Brain Health Center never flagged. The center is a unique organization that puts under one roof treatment of — and research into — the major neurodegenerative diseases.

“There would not be a Brain Health Center today if Mary had not been a founding partner, a co-conspirator, an inspiration and an instigator,” said Levey. “She came up with the name.”

Back in the 1990s, that personality came to the fore during her long campaign to rescue the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Atlanta’s most famous book, “Gone with the Wind.”

Burned by arsonists, threatened by the wrecking ball, the Midtown apartment house was a shambles when Taylor arranged financing and lined up allies in 1994. The house museum was fully renovated and ready to open its doors in time for the 1996 Olympics — Atlanta’s big coming out party — when arsonists burned it again.

Taylor dusted herself off and started over. Rebuilt a second time, the house opened to the public a year later. Only one part of the building was truly historic, the ground-floor rooms where Mitchell did her writing, and that’s the part that, miraculously, was unscathed in the multiple fires.

Daren Wang, founding Executive Director of the Decatur Book Festival, has resigned effective at the end of the year.

Wang, whose debut novel, “The Hidden Light of Northern Fires,” launches at this year’s festival, has announced his resignation, effective at the end of year.

“With the book coming out at this point, it feels like a natural break for me,” said Wang, 51. “As much as I love the festival and what we’ve accomplished, I’ve become the guy who says, ‘That’s not the way we do things,’ as opposed to the guy who says, ‘Hey, what a great idea Let’s do that.’ And I think that’s not what the festival needs in leadership.”

Festival director Julie Wilson said she’s excited for Wang and hopes to continue fostering what he helped establish.

“He has built this amazing event that this city loves and that has brought attention to the literary community in Atlanta, and we want to continue to build on that,” she said.

Qualifying

Qualifying for Mayor and City Council in most Georgia cities that have odd-year elections will run today through Wednesday, though some differ.

Qualifying for council seats up for election this year in Dallas and Hiram is set to begin Monday, Aug. 21, at each city hall. Dallas will end its qualifying period Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 4:30 p.m. while Hiram will keep its qualifying period open through Friday, Aug. 25, at 4:30 p.m.

Both elections are set for Nov. 7.

Dallas voters will choose members for the Ward 1 and 3 seats and one of two At-Large seats. Incumbents in those seats include Nancy Arnold, Griffin White and Chris Carter.

All three incumbents said they planned to qualify for re-election.

Hiram voters will select members for four-year terms for the Post 3, 4 and 5 council seats. Current council members in those seats include Derrick Battle, Jeff Cole and Mayor Pro-Tem Kathy Carter.

Cole and Kathy Carter said they plan to seek re-election this year. Battle did not return an emailed request for comment.

Check with your local government if you’re considering running.

John Creek City Council member Cori Davenport will not run for reelection this year.

With a “heavy heart,” Cori Davenport announced she will not be running for re-election to the Post 3 seat.

Davenport said she has been thinking about this option for some time, and decided it would be best to allow other residents to vie for the votes of citizens.

“My intent four years ago was to serve my community well and to lend my business knowledge, common sense judgment and a no-agenda approach to our city government,” she said. “I have kept that promise to the citizens and to myself.”

John Bradberry, founder of Preserve Johns Creek had previously announced he would run for the seat currently held by Davenport. Vicki Horton also announced for the District 3 seat.

Roswell City Council member Don Horton will run for Mayor.

Post 3 City Councilman Don Horton on Thursday said he will run for the seat held by incumbent Jere Wood, the longtime leader who announced he is not seeking re-election after a court ruling determined he was unqualified to run for the office in 2013.

Horton, who was first elected to the Council in 2015, outlined a list of accomplishments have taken place over the last two years. Some of those positive outcomes have been changing the city’s Unified Development Code to protect established neighborhoods, creating term limits for elected officials and working with the Roswell Downtown Development Authority to redevelop old shopping centers such as the old Southern Skillet property.

Along with Horton, candidates Michael Litten and Sandra Sidhom are also in the running for the seat.

In Milledgeville, Mayor and all six council members are up for election.

Every four years, city elections are held in Milledgeville. It’s also time for candidates interested in seeking a seat on the Georgia Military College Board of Trustees to qualify.

Candidates interested in qualifying for city council or mayor, as well as a seat on the Georgia Military College Board of Trustees, are reminded that qualifying for a position begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday and runs through 4:30 p.m. Friday, according to Milledgeville City Clerk Bo Danuser, who this year also is serving as city qualifying officer

Several incumbent members of city council have indicated they plan to seek re-election, as has the mayor.

Qualifying will be held in the clerk’s office located in City Hall, 119 E. Hancock St.

The Gwinnett Daily Post has a helpful review of city council elections for municipalities within Gwinnett County.

The Savannah Morning News reviews local elections qualifying this week.

The Marietta Daily Journal also highlights local election qualifying.

Today is the first day to qualify to get your name on the ballot for Nov. 7 elections in Acworth, Kennesaw and Marietta. Qualification begins Wednesday in Austell and Powder Springs.

Positions in all of Cobb’s cities except Smyrna will be up for a vote. No county or state offices will be on the ballot.

Thomasville is holding qualifying for City Council and Board of Education seats.

Seats open are:

• District 1, Post 2

• District 2, Post 2

• At-Large

Mayor Greg Hobbs currently serves District 1, Post 2, Council member Max Beverly currently serves District 2, Post 2, and mayor pro tem Don Sims currently serves as the at-large council member.

The second general election is for three seats on the Thomasville City School Board.

Seats open are:

• District 1, one seat

• District 2, two seats

Board member Dr. Hazel Jones currently serves District 1 and board members David Cone and John Everett currently serve in District 2.

Qualifying begins Aug. 21 and lasts until Aug. 25. Qualifying times are from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Cairo voters will elect the Mayor and two City Council members.

The mayor’s seat and two council member seats are up for election on the Cairo City Council.

District 2 and District 4 seats are up in the election. Council members Ernest Cloud and James Douglas currently serve Districts 2 and 4, respectively. Robert Burns currently serves as the mayor.

All seats are up in the election for Whigham City Council.

The Whigham mayor and council members serve at-large.

The elections’ qualifying period begins Aug. 21 and lasts until Aug. 25, 4:30 p.m.