Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 22, 2019

The sale of Coca-Cola Company from the Candlers was announced in the Atlanta Constitution on August 22, 1919.

N/S Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, visited the Port of Savannah on August 22, 1962. Savannah was named after S.S. Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. N/S Savannah is moored at the Port of Baltimore and designated a national historic landmark.

More than 3000 demonstrators disrupted the Democratic National Convention on August 22, 1968.

In 1972, it was the Republicans’ turn, as demonstrators struck outside the Republican National Convention.

Nolan Ryan recorded his 5000th career strikeout against Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s on August 22, 1989.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Elected officials met to elect a new member to the Atlanta Regional Transit Link Board, but disbanded due to loss of a quorum, according to the AJC.

State legislators, county commission chairmen and mayors from parts of Fulton, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties met Monday in Duluth to fill a post on the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority. The post was vacated when board member Marsha Anderson Bomar, who resigned recently to take a post at MARTA.

But a procedural dispute derailed the election, prompting most Republicans present to walk out in protest.

Several Republican public officials did not attend the meeting, but they planned to vote by phone. However, Democrats objected, and a motion to allow those absent to vote by phone failed.

State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, was one of those who did not attend the meeting. She said she was called to the hospital for a family emergency at the last minute, but she phoned in to cast her vote. She said phone voting was allowed at the original district election last year.

When Republicans walked out in protest, the group did not have a quorum, and the election was postponed. Another election date has not been scheduled.

“When you have a meeting and people say they can’t make it, to have a maximum voice you need to let them vote by phone,” said state Rep. Chuck Martin, an Alpharetta Republican who was there.

State Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-Suwanee) posted on Facebook about the issue.

Interestingly, yesterday every elected Democrat in the room worked hard to disenfranchise the voters from northern Gwinnett County, northern Fulton County, and Forsyth County. Thanks to the Republicans in the room, however, they were not successful.

House District 97 sits in District 2 of the ATL, along with more southern portions of Gwinnett County, part of Fulton County and part of Forsyth County. As the House District 97 Representative, I am one of the Electors designated to vote on the person to represent District 2 on the ATL Board. The person originally elected recently stepped down, so a special election was to be held yesterday to replace her.

The ATL provided a conference call-in number to allow the Electors unable to physically attend the meeting to participate telephonically. Many of these elections have been held for the various ATL districts. In EVERY case where the Electors were unable to attend in person, including our previous District 2 election, they were allowed to call in and vote telephonically, through a system devised and monitored by the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

… EXCEPT YESTERDAY when 12 of the Electors voted to block the votes of the 4 Electors who were participating telephonically. All four of the call-in Electors were Republican, and 11 of the 12 who tried to block their vote were Democratic.

It is extremely challenging outside of Legislative Session to get part-time citizen legislators, most of whom work full-time in the private sector, into one place at one time to vote. It is for this reason telephonic votes have been utilized in the past, and the 4 Electors on the telephone line had relied upon that. Indeed, representatives from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government were present and ready to facilitate the telephonic vote.

In order to allow the voices of our entire District to be heard at this election, 8 of us, all Republican, left the meeting. The result was that there were not enough Electors present to form a quorum, and consequently, the ill-founded vote could not be held.

Another opportunity to vote will be scheduled in the future. It is my hope that all Electors will have the opportunity to vote, because all constituents of the ATL District 2 deserve to have a voice.

State Rep. Sheri Gilligan (R-Cumming) also posted on Facebook about the issue:

Yesterday I went to Duluth to vote on the representative for the District 2 ATL member. We elected someone last fall. The person we elected recently stepped down so a special election was held today to replace her. This date was selected merely because the majority of the voting members could fit it into their schedules.

Six voting members were unable to physically make the meeting but 4 of them called in on a phone number provided to us by the ATL. Many of these elections have been held for the different ATL districts. In EVERY case where members were unable to attend in person, they were allowed to vote by phone.

EXCEPT YESTERDAY!

12 of my colleagues decided that they did not want every vote to count. They voted to suppress the vote of the 4 members who were on the phone listening live to the meeting. One of these members was in England. One was on a business trip. Another was called to the hospital suddenly because her brother is in ICU. Another member or two were about to call in as well.

Because votes were being suppressed by 7 State Reps, 4 State Senators and 1 County Commissioner, 8 of us decided to leave the meeting which left them short of a quorum and thus the ability to vote. I guess another opportunity to vote will be scheduled in the future. I will not vote unless every member who is eligible to vote and actively participating is allowed to vote!

The Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission heard allegations against 2010 Gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine, according to the AJC.

State ethics commission staffers say former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a one-time frontrunner for governor, illegally spent campaign donations on luxury car leases, child care bills, an athletic club membership and a down payment on a $965,000 house.

They said the expenditures came after Oxendine’s campaign transferred money to his law firm. His lawyer said the “loan” was legal, but the commission on Wednesday voted to move ahead with prosecuting the former commissioner, who has battled ethics complaints for a decade.

The commission also voted to move ahead with a complaint that he took $120,000 — far above the legal limit — from two Georgia insurance companies through affiliated political action committees.

“What was witnessed today was an elaborate charade on the part of the staff of what is probably the most troubled and disorganized state agency in modern history attempting to justify its squandering of hundreds of thousands of dollars of state resources pursuing a personal vendetta over the past 10 years,” Oxendine said in a statement.

“The commission staff does not understand the law, so it decided to ignore the law and fabricate slanderous statements that are contrary to the actual facts.”

Oxendine’s lawyer, Doug Chalmers, argued that Oxendine’s campaign didn’t break the law.

“Some of the characterizations of the facts are completely inaccurate,” Chalmers said. “It is a lot of speculation.

“The contention that a campaign may not make a loan just flatly mistakes the law.”

WSAV writes about qualifying Mayoral candidates in Savannah.

With qualifying week in full swing, a list of high-profile, familiar candidates are officially in the running to be the next Mayor of Savannah.

Incumbent Mayor Eddie DeLoach, District 1 Alderman Van Johnson and former Georgia State Senator Regina Thomas have all announced their intentions to run and this week, they’ve made it official.

Rome‘s weird commission races became competitive, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Two more candidates qualified Wednesday, setting up contested races in both Rome City Commission wards — and Cave Spring’s Nov. 5 election is canceled.

Cave Spring City Clerk Judy Dickinson said just three candidates had filed to run for the three open seats by the time the qualifying period ended at 4:30 p.m.

Incumbent Craig McDaniel qualified Wednesday to seek a second term in Ward 3.

He’s the fourth to file for the three open seats, joining incumbent Bill Collins, retiree Bonny Askew and attorney J.J. Walker Seifert. The third Ward 3 commissioner, Evie McNiece, has not said if she intends to run.

Charles Love, a co-founder of the North Rome Community Action Committee, qualified Wednesday to run for one of the three Ward 1 seats.

Three other candidates are also qualified to run for a Ward 1 seat: incumbents Milton Slack and Bill Irmscher and architect Mark Cochran. The third incumbent, Sundai Stevenson, has not said yet if she will seek reelection.

Varnell City Council will have a contested election, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

The Varnell City Council will have at least one contested race after the city’s first day of qualifying on Wednesday.

Incumbent David Owens will face at least one challenger for Seat 3, Sandy Pangle, a manufacturing engineer in the textile industry. Seat 4 incumbent Clyde Williams qualified on Wednesday as well; no one qualified for the Seat 5 post currently held by Bob Roche.

Qualifying in Varnell continues through Friday at City Hall from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The qualifying fee is $35.

Qualifying for municipal elections in Dalton, Eton and Tunnel Hill began on Monday. Qualifying for Chatsworth and Varnell elections opened on Wednesday, and qualifying for two posts on the Cohutta City Council will begin on Monday, Aug. 26.

The Whitfield County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax advisory committee will accept public comments, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Citizens and groups looking to propose projects that would be funded from a future Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) have until Sept. 30 to apply to make presentations to the SPLOST citizen advisory committee.

The committee that will make recommendations on the projects and terms for the next SPLOST agreed Wednesday night to set a deadline for citizen proposals and to schedule those presentations no later than Oct. 15.

County Administrator Mark Gibson said an application form will be available in county administrative offices and on the county website (www.whitfieldcountyga.com). The application form asks for a brief description of the project, its estimated cost, the projected funding from the SPLOST and any anticipated funding from other sources.

[County Attorney Robert] Smalley said that if commissioners want to place a SPLOST referendum on the May 2020 general primary ballot they would have vote to do so in January 2020.

The Statesboro Herald covers candidates qualifying in four local municipalities.

The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension will administer the “Great Georgia Pollinator Census” on Friday and Saturday, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The census has three basic purposes, said census organizer Becky Griffin, community and school garden coordinator with the Extension’s Center for Urban Agriculture.

One goal is simply to get a statewide snapshot of the bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths and other insects that are crucial in plants’ life cycles by spreading pollen.

But Griffin also hopes to encourage the creation of sustainable habitats for pollinators and to increase public entomological literacy. Too many people see a wasp and just want to squash it, when in fact they are valuable allies, both as pollinators and predators of pest insects in gardens, she said.

There’s no need to sign up in advance, and participants can count individually or as part of a group. There’s a downloadable form to use at ggapc.org, where there’s also more information on the pollinator census. Participants can then upload their counts at the same website.

The Glynn County Board of Education heard plans for enhanced gifted programs, according to The Brunswick News.

Charles Peeler, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, warned parents and educators about online threats, according to the Albany Herald.

As Georgia children begin a new school year and some take on new social media habits, Middle District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Charles Peeler and Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Special Agent in Charge Debbie Garner are warning parents and educators about sextortion.

Sextortion is when an adult predator coerces or entices a child to produce a sexually explicit image and send it over the internet. The predator will often use that image to extort the child to produce more sexually explicit images under threats of sending that image to friends and parents. The young victims often report feeling there was no way out and that they were going to get into trouble.

“Sextortion is a rapidly growing, insidious cyber crime targeting children. Parents are the first line of defense against these predators,” Peeler said. “I promise that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will do its part and prosecute child predators to the fullest extent of the law. But we need parents and guardians to educate themselves and the children in their care about the threats online, take the proper precautions to protect their families, and report suspected crimes to the authorities.

“Sextortion causes grave and lasting harm to young victims. Together, we can protect vulnerable children from evil, manipulative predators.”

The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center hosted a summit on mental health for veterans, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Northside Hospital will merge Gwinnett Health System on August 28, according to AccessWDUN.

According to a press release from Northside Hospital, the new system will expand Northside by 1,623 inpatient beds, more than 250 outpatient locations and will have 21,000 employees and 3,500 physicians on staff.

The change will come with a new president and CEO. Phil Wolfe, who served as president and CEO of Gwinnett Health for 13 years, outed his retirement effective Aug. 28. Debbie Mitcham, who has worked for Northside Hospital for 25 years, will take over Wolfe’s position as the new CEO and president of Northside’s Gwinnett health care system.

“Other important leadership changes are occurring – all with the single goal of seamlessly integrating operations to strengthen this new, expanded system,” Katherine Watson with Northside Hospital said in a press release.

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority approved a $500k loan to Tybee Island to finance a solar system to support the water treatment plant, according to the Savannah Morning News.

This project aims to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and to lower the overall cost for electricity to operate the plant, GEFA reported. The city will pay 0.94% interest on the 20-year loan, which is eligible for a reduced interest rate because Tybee Island is a WaterFirst Community, a designation that recognizes the city practices prudent management and protection of water resources.

Mayor Jason Buelterman said the wastewater treatment plant is the number one energy consumer for the municipality.

“It will significantly lower our energy costs,” he said.

Buelterman pointed to the city of Baxley, which installed solar at its wastewater treatment facility and saw savings that exceeded the debt service within a year.

“Having a low interest rate makes that easier to achieve,” he said. “And after that’s paid off, it’s essentially gravy.”

GEFA spokesman Shane Hix said Tybee is the latest in an increasing number of Georgia municipalities seeking to add solar power to their wastewater treatment facilities, always an energy-intense operation.

The City of Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta reached their goal of raising $50 million dollars to fight homelessness, according to the AJC.

About $25 million came from private donations that range from a few thousand dollars to $15 million. The United Way of Greater Atlanta partnered with the city to raise the money.

The other half is from the Homeless Opportunity Bond sale that began under former Mayor Kasim Reed. Bottoms was on the city council when the plan was approved in 2017.

The city’s approach to addressing homelessness is based on the concept of rapid rehousing — a philosophy that recognizes most homeless people are forced to the streets after a financial crisis. The idea is to quickly provide a temporary home, which allows them to focus on rebuilding instead of where they will sleep.

Under the rapid rehousing model, the belief is that the faster someone gets back in a home, the more likely they are to avoid becoming homeless again.

“It is a miss-perception that many people have: that homelessness is represented entirely by the people they see on the streets,” said Jack Hardin, Co-Chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission on Homelessness. “A far larger proportion of people experiencing homelessness have incomes and function at very high levels, but live on the margins of the economics of our society and any hardship can derail.”

The Jeff Davis County Board of Elections voted to reopen a polling place in Hazlehurst that was closed in 2019, according to the AJC.

The Jeff Davis County Board of Elections voted 2-1 on Tuesday to restore the polling place, located in a building next to an office supply store.

The Hazlehurst precinct had been closed two years ago, but voters and voting rights organizations convinced their local government to reverse itself, said John Powers, an attorney for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which uses the legal system to oppose racial discrimination.

Since the Hazlehurst precinct closed, some voters couldn’t walk to the polls anymore. If they didn’t have cars, they had to find rides to vote. Elderly voters had a harder time getting to the polls, he said.

County election officials closed 214 precincts across Georgia between 2012 and 2018, according to an analysis last year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On Monday, the Randolph County Board of Elections in southwest Georgia voted to close three precincts.