Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 24, 2017

General Charles Lee of the Continental Army told Congress that Georgia’s value to the young nation required more forces to defend against the British on August 24, 1776.

On August 24, 1931, the Georgia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution appointing a committee to work with the Governor in planning a bicentennial celebration to be held in 1933.

On August 24, 1945, the United States Postal Service held a first day of issue ceremony in Warm Springs, Georgia for the release of a stamp bearing the images of Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Little White House.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Nathan Deal said he expects legislators to address issues related to Confederate monuments and street names in 2018.

“I think they will do a pretty in depth look into whether or not we should continue to restrict local jurisdictions – counties and cities – in terms of what they may want to consider in their areas,” he told [AJC reporter] Rhonda Cook. “It’s an issue I’m sure is going to be before the General Assembly in January.”

He’s referring to a compromise struck during the debate to remove the Rebel emblem from the Georgia flag that makes it illegal for anyone to “deface, defile, abuse contemptuously, relocate, remove, conceal or obscure” any Confederate memorial without authority.

Deal wouldn’t say where he stood on the debate.

“There are many facets of it,” said the governor. “The one that’s got the most attention lately has been the prohibition on local governments being able to make independent decisions about monuments and flags within their jurisdictions. I think they will give it a serious look.”

Gwinnett Technical College has begun training technicians for Mercedes-Benz.

When Mercedes-Benz began moving its headquarters to Sandy Springs in 2015, it was logical to test out a college program at Gwinnett Tech.

So Mercedes-Benz USA began investing in everything the school would need to educate promising technicians. It created opportunities for each student to intern with a local dealership. The company also helped create the cohort’s own MBUSA classroom, complete with dealerships signature emblem on its back wall.

The students also have their own garage, stuffed full with Mercedes-Benz vehicles they can use to get hands-on practice.

Because of Mercedes-Benz’s need for qualified technicians, all 25 of them are virtually guaranteed jobs upon graduation. Their starting salaries could be about $50,000. And [MBUSA supervisor of technician recruitment Robert] Tomlin said there’s room for more training and to move up.

Congressman Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) toured the Chatham County jail to learn about the number of mental health patients housed there.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, got an “eye-opening ” look at one of Chatham County’s largest health mental institutions this week as he toured the Chatham County jail.

“I really want to thank the sheriff and his staff for this very sobering experience,” he said. “I can tell you that this is real life, and we are doing a disservice to those who are mentally ill that we are throwing in our jails and that’s not where they need to be.”

At the heart of the issue is the costly and ineffective cycle of arresting mentally ill patients who commit minor crimes, treating and releasing them, only to arrest them again for the same crime, Wilcher said at a news conference Wednesday.

“We need a facility in this county that we can take people and offer them medications if they are arrested on misdemeanor charges,” he said. “I know the police department has a job to do — every police department in this county does. But they arrested a girl Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday for criminal trespassing. She is a mental health person. We let her out of jail and she goes back to that same house (where she’s trespassing) because she thinks she lives there.”

Wilcher and Carter are looking for alternatives to cut costs while safely housing inmates with mental illness. It costs taxpayers about $70 per day per inmate, according to the sheriff. And with the help of Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, and County Commissioner Helen Stone, Wilcher said he thinks progress is finally being made.

“I’ve been trying to get this done for over 30 years and I think that it’s finally coming to head with the help of these people,” he said. “Are we going to get it all done in a day? No. Are we going to try? Yes.”

Carter said he is co-sponsoring a bill with Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., to address mental health-related issues including funding for necessary facilities.

State Rep. Christian Coomer (R-Cartersville) was named 2017 Policy Maker of the Year by the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education (GACTE).

“Career, technical and agricultural education (CTAE) programs are all essential in thoroughly preparing Georgia’s students for future success,” said Rep. Coomer. “GACTE is a tremendous organization that advocates for the advancement of these programs, which are critical in equipping Georgia’s next generation of workers. I’m honored to receive this prestigious recognition, and I look forward to continuing my work in furthering educational and career opportunities for all Georgians.”

The Policy Maker of the Year Award is given annually to legislators who have made a significant contribution to career, technical, and agricultural education (CTAE).

“Representative Coomer was selected to receive this award because of his strong support of our CTAE programs as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives,” said GACTE Executive Director Matthew Gambill. “He has contributed to the success of CTAE programs during his time serving as a member of the Georgia House.”

Forsyth County Commissioners voted against a proposal to raise their pay by 25 percent.

The board voted 3-0 Aug. 17, with Chairman Todd Levent absent and the newly vacated District 2 seat open, to deny a resolution approved last month that would give board members an increase in compensation.

The proposed compensation was for an annual salary for the chair of $49,500 and an annual salary for other board members at $48,000.

It would have represented a $10,000 increase from the base salary for board members, with the chair receiving a slightly higher salary due to added duties.

Elections

Republican candidates for 2018 statewide elections are paying attention to rural Georgia.

With the vote more than a year away, candidates have already crisscrossed the plains of South Georgia and the mountains of the north with a pledge to deliver the goods: more reliable Internet connectivity, new economic development initiatives, better infrastructure and improved access to health care.

In the opening months of the race, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp have made the bulk of their campaign stops far from metro Atlanta, from tours jotting through small towns near the Tennessee line to fish fries in farming communities.

They are using President Donald Trump as something of a muse. The Republican won a comfortable 5-point victory in Georgia despite losing much of Atlanta’s suburbs, including the GOP strongholds of Cobb and Gwinnett counties, because he notched huge margins in smaller, rural counties.

“The precedent has been set and they’re all here,” said Clint Hood, an agricultural banker in Milledgeville. “I feel like our needs are really getting heard. Atlanta has always been the spoke of the wheel, but rural Georgia has put our state on the map. And the candidates are showing they realize that.”

With the collapse of the GOP health care overhaul, rural leaders are also pushing gubernatorial candidates to consider changes that could open the spigots for more federal dollars. Several officials talked about seeking waivers to implement what could be vast changes to the state’s Medicaid program but wouldn’t involve a formal expansion of the program.

All four GOP candidates signaled they were open to waivers, and at an event Tuesday with small businessmen on the outskirts of Tifton, Kemp spoke about finding new ways to prevent rural towns from “drying up” without sparking a city-vs.-farms divide.

“If we can help focus attention on rural areas, it’s going to be good for the whole state — the ports, the airport, Home Depot,” he said. “It’s not us against them.”

“As places like Cobb and Gwinnett turn purple, metro Atlanta becomes break-even or even a loss for GOP nominees,” said Bryce Johnson, a Tifton attorney and Republican organizer. “Rural Georgia is where the GOP has to win statewide elections now and these candidates realize they have to build the ground game here early.”

Democratic candidates for Governor Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans both appeared at an event in Columbus.

The goal for the meet and greet was to get citizens in Muscogee County involved in the democratic process.

“It’s important so that the Muscogee County Democrats can get on board early, can get ready for the election that’s coming up in 2018. We’ve got the elected Governor and we want to paint the state blue,” said Saundra Ellison, Chairman of the Muscogee County Democratic Party.

Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves resigned his office to run for Mayor of Atlanta, setting up a countywide special election.

Eaves, who has led the county since 2007, left office with a year and four months remaining in his third term. In a letter to Vice Chairman Bob Ellis announcing his resignation, Eaves said he was saddened to close that chapter in his life but excited about the prospect of becoming mayor.

Two people — former County Commissioner Robb Pitts and Sandy Springs City Councilman Gabriel Sterling — have already announced they intend to run for Eaves’ seat, which will be on the ballot in November. Pitts said he thinks the county needs a stronger leader who is proactive, while Sterling said the county’s next leader needs to “right-size” government to respond to the number of new cities.

State Senator Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) also qualified for Mayor and a special election will be held to fill his Senate seat.

State Rep. Regina Quick (R-Athens) is expected to be nominated for a Superior Court seat in the Western Judicial Circuit. Houston Gaines and Doug McKillip have both announced they will run for Quick’s state house seat.

The Forsyth County Board of Elections and Registrations scheduled a Special Election for Commission District 2 for November 7th, the same day as municipal election.

Rick Swope announced his resignation from the post last week, having accepted a position with E*TRADE that has strict limits on public service, according to the county.

Qualifying for the special election begins next Wednesday, August 30 and runs through Friday, September 1, according to Luth.  The hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 9:00 a.m. to noon on Friday.

The runoff date, if needed, is Tuesday, December 5.

Canton will host two contested City Council elections in November.

Incumbents Bill Grant of Ward 2, Sandy McGrew of Ward 1 and John Rust of Ward 3 all qualified to seek another four-year term on the City Council. Grant will be challenged by former City Clerk Susan Stanton while Rust will face off against resident Nick Estes.

Stanton was Canton’s city clerk for about five years until April when the City Council voted to terminate her employment.

Along with the city’s election, voters countywide will consider renewing the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST. If approved, Cherokee County and each of its cities will get funding to carry out various capital improvement projects.

An Alpharetta City Council open seat drew two candidates.

The qualifying period for the municipal elections ended late Wednesday afternoon, and only one seat on the City Council will result in a race. Incumbent Mike Kennedy did not qualify to seek re-election, so contenders Ben Burnett and Ben Easterling will duke it out for the Post 2 seat.

Incumbents Don Mitchell of Post 1 and Chris Owens of Post 3 will not face challengers this year.

Burnett, a member of the city’s Planning Commission, said he’s running to give Alpharetta homeowners a “stronger voice in the future of their community.”

“My biggest concern is that Alpharetta is on course to become the next victim of uncontrolled density and urbanization,” he added. “Our city is at a critical juncture. If we don’t make an adjustment now it will be too late in four years.”

Milton City Council member Karen Thurman is not seeking reelection.

Thurman’s District 1, Post 1 seat is being sought by Peyton Jamison.

Qualifying for the Nov. 7 municipal election will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21 through Friday, Aug. 25 in the office of city clerk at Milton City Hall, which is at 2006 Heritage Walk. Qualifying fees are $390 for Council seats District 1, Post 1; District 2, Post 1; and District 3, Post 1; and $690 for the office of mayor.

Keith Goeke is running for the Roswell City Council Post 5 seat currently held by Jerry Orlans.

Northwest Georgia has a number of contested municipal elections.

The City Council will have two contested races, and both seats up for election on the Board of Education will have opposition as qualifying came to an end on Wednesday in Dalton. Councilman Gary Crews, who qualified for re-election for Ward 4 on Monday, will be challenged by Edgar Rincon, who qualified on Wednesday. Annalee Harlan and Aaron Marcelli will meet for the Ward 2 spot held by Tate O’Gwin, who is not running for re-election. Matt Evans and incumbent Steve Laird each qualified for the school board seat held by Laird. John Conley joined the race Wednesday with Robert Palmer Griffin Jr. for the school board seat held by Sherwood Jones III, who is running for re-election.

Cohutta: Qualifying concluded on Wednesday with Sandra Claiborne and Greg Fowler qualifying for re-election to their Town Council seats with Wanda Manis qualifying as well. The two top vote getters in the general election will win the two seats. Mayor Ron Shinnick, who qualified on Monday, will be unopposed on the ballot.

Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker has drawn an opponent, Alex Marchetti.

For Post 1 on the city council, incumbent Leonard Zaprowski will face a challenger in Issure Chen Yang.

City council member Cori Davenport is not seeking re-election for Post 3, so that race is wide open. Residents Vicki Horton, Richard Holladay, John Bradberry and Mark Venco will be vying for that seat.

For Post 5 on the city council, incumbent Stephanie Endres will face a challenger in Chris Jackson. Endres was elected to the position in 2015 to serve out the unexpired term of Kelly Stewart, who left to launch a bid for the state House of Representatives.

Woodstock will host contested elections for Mayor and two City Council seats.

Mayor Donnie Henriques is seeking his fourth consecutive term in the upcoming election and now has a former council member vying for his seat.

Elizabeth “Liz” Baxter has served three terms on the Woodstock City Council and qualified Wednesday to run against Henriques on Nov. 7.

The Ward I seat held by incumbent Councilman Warren Johnson is being challenged by Dennis Conway, who has served on the Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors for 19 years.

Longtime incumbent for the Ward III seat, Bob Mueller has two vying for his seat. Former Planning and Zoning member Colin Ake and Judy Davila.

Cobb County voters will choose municipal leaders in at least nine contested elections.

Kennesaw’s qualifying had perhaps the most volatility in its final day of qualifying, with current Post 5 Councilman Jim Sebastian qualifying not for re-election to his seat, but rather for the Post 4 position held by Jimmy Dickens, who qualified Monday. Also seeking the Post 4 seat is Chris Henderson, a senior research engineer for Georgia Tech Research Institute, according to his campaign website.

Kennesaw will see another three-way race on the Nov. 7 ballot, as Antonio “Tony” Jones was joined on the final day of qualifying by Pat Ferris and Jeffrey Oparnica. The seat is currently occupied by Councilman Nimesh Patel who is not seeking re-election.

Healthcare

Cherokee County will host a forum on how the state can respond to the opioid crisis.

The forum will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2 in the Building A Chapel at First Baptist Church of Woodstock. The forum, which is free and open to the public, is being organized by Tony Black, a Woodstock resident working closely with State Senator Renee Unterman.

Unterman, the chair of the Health & Human Services Committee, has also been on the forefront in introducing legislation that will lead to advances in heroin and opioid awareness, education and any necessary policy reforms to address addiction to these drugs.

Black is the organizer with the Cherokee County chapter of Georgia Connects, an organization connecting state law, local government agencies, private organizations and citizens to discuss how “we can help create solutions to drug addiction, opioid abuse and overdoses, and mental health disorders,” he said.

Speakers at the event will include Georgia legislators and officials and state and local law enforcement officers.

Black said he and other organizers are specifically targeting communities in counties in north metro Atlanta “that have particularly been hit hard by the increased incidence of illegal synthetic opioids.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr‘s office approved the proposed sale of Oconee Regional Medical Center in Milledgeville to Navicent Health Oconee, LLC in Macon.

Still pending, though, is an actual property closing, as well as transfers of certain state-issued licenses and permits.

“Oconee proposes to sell substantially all of the assets associated with the healthcare services to Navicent Health Oconee, LLC, a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of Navicent Health, Inc., according to a copy of the approval of the hospital sale by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office. “Navicent owns the Medical Center, Navicent Health in (Macon)-Bibb County, formerly known as the Medical Center of Central Georgia and leases and will ultimately wholly control the Medical Center of Peach County and Navicent Health in Peach County.”

In the document, a copy of which was obtained by The Union-Recorder, the approval by the AG’s office of the sale of the local hospital includes substantially all of its assets, including those owned by the Baldwin County Hospital Authority, as well as Oconee Regional Health Systems, Inc. and any affiliates of ORHS.

Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Health System will merge to create one of the state’s largest healthcare networks.

The agreement, if approved by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, would create a system with 1,479 beds, nearly 21,000 employees and 3,500 physicians on staff.

Northside is by far the larger and most financially sound of the two.

It has $1.7 billion in annual revenue through its three hospitals and various care facilities, according to Dun & Bradstreet.

Gwinnett has revenues of $735 million through its two hospitals and other care facilities.

Anchored by Northside Hospital in Sandy Springs and Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, this latest merger will include hospitals in Canton, Cumming and Duluth, as well as cancer treatment centers, imaging centers, urgent care centers and other outpatient locations throughout the state.

The merger adds to a growing trend in Georgia and the nation where hospitals pool resources to save on costs and expand their footprints.

Last year, Marietta-based WellStar acquired Tenet Healthcare’s five Georgia-based hospitals, including Roswell’s North Fulton Hospital, and formed a new partnership with West Georgia Health in LaGrange, to make it the largest health system in the state with 11 hospitals.