Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 26, 2021

On August 26, 1864, having withdrawn from trenches and fortifications outside Atlanta the previous day, U.S. General Sherman sent most of his forces westward around Atlanta and toward the south of the city. Sherman’s forces tore up 12 miles of railroad between Red Oak and Fairburn on August 29, 1864.

On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted. Ratification took place on August 18, 1920, as the Tennessee House of Representatives adopted it, but adoption became official on August 26, when United States Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the Amendment. It reads:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

On August 26, 1939, the first televised major league baseball game aired, as the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds split a doubleheader in Ebbets Field.

On August 26, 1961, the 718th Engineer Light Equipment Company of Fort Valley and the 210th Signal Base Depot Company of Augusta were called up to take part in the American response to the crisis in Berlin.

President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for President by the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey on August 26, 1964.

On August 26, 1965, Sonny & Cher were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Got You Babe’, the duo’s only UK No.1. Sonny Bono was inspired to write the song to capitalize on the popularity of the term “babe,” as heard in Bob Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe.’

On August 26, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill, called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit challenging a fee charged to strip clubs, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.

Georgia’s 1% tax on strip clubs to raise funds to combat child sex trafficking unfairly punishes businesses with no connection to the sexual exploitation of children, a lawyer for the clubs said Wednesday.

But a lawyer for the state told the Georgia Supreme Court studies have shown strip clubs are frequented by child sex traffickers to lure customers, and taxing them is less harmful to those businesses than banning them altogether.

The General Assembly passed the Safe Harbor Act, also known as Rachel’s Law, in 2015 to create a source of tax revenue to support rehabilitative care and other social services for sexually exploited children. The following year, Georgia voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum adding the act to the state Constitution.

On Wednesday, Alexander Volokh, a lawyer representing GACE, argued the tax unfairly targets strip clubs to raise money to combat criminal activity for which they are not responsible.

But Georgia Deputy Solicitor General Ross Bergethon said members of the General Assembly, in passing the law, relied on studies showing that both adult and child prostitution often occur inside strip clubs.

Courts have routinely upheld the right of governments to ban clubs that combine nude dancing with the sale of alcohol from their jurisdictions, Bergethon said.

“There’s no reason to treat this minimal tax on the same combination any differently,” he said.

But Georgia Chief Justice David Nahmias told Volokh the case doesn’t just involve nude dancing because the clubs are engaged in a combination of nude dancing and the commercial sale of alcohol.

“There’s not a direct limitation on speech,” Nahmias said. “There’s a limitation on speech associated with the consumption of alcohol in a commercial setting.”

The Georgia Supreme Court also heard arguments on the legality of booting parked vehicles, according to the AJC.

The state high court is considering a class-action lawsuit filed by Forrest Allen, whose tractor-trailer was booted after he parked it at the Wesley Chapel Crossing Shopping Center in Decatur in February 2018. He had to pay a $650 fee to have the boot removed.

So far, a Clayton County judge and the state Court of Appeals have allowed Allen’s case to go forward. Wesley Chapel Crossing is appealing that latest decision. The state Supreme Court’s decision is expected in the coming months.

The shopping center is supported in court filings by several local vehicle immobilization companies that note there are similar lawsuits pending in the lower courts and contend an adverse ruling could destroy their businesses.

Interestingly, the outcome of the case might turn on centuries-old common law that said landowners could seize trespassing livestock on their property to secure compensation for any damage the animals may have caused. And that precedent presented big problems for Marietta lawyer David Conley, who argued the case on behalf of Wesley Chapel Crossing.

“It is a crazy thing to say the normal cure for an unauthorized entry on your property is to insist that the trespasser remain on your property,” the chief justice said. “I mean, that’s nutso under any conception of the law. … Where in the world can you say a cure for trespass is to continue the trespass?”

Governor Brian Kemp yesterday signed Executive Order #08.25.21.01, calling up to active duty 900 members of the Georgia National Guard, to respond to the State of Emergency for continuing COVID-19 economic relief.

Governor Kemp spoke to 11Alive about the continuing vaccination program.

Gov. Brian Kemp believes the state’s vaccination rate could receive a boost after Pfizer’s vaccine recently received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Opinion polling out there of the folks that are unvaccinated, three in 10 of them are saying if there was full approval they would get the vaccine, so I hope that is the case,” Kemp said. “We are ready to administer it.”

“And there have just been some tragic losses of school teachers, principals, sheriff’s deputies, community and family leaders that have fallen to the virus, and unfortunately they were unvaccinated,” the governor said.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed, we are starting to see a few bright spots in places around the state around the state where they may be peaking,” Kemp said. ”So we are hopeful things will turn relatively soon, but regardless of what happens we are going to be in the fight.”

“If you’re in one of those hospitals that needs the help, even if you’re getting two or three more people, it is making a big difference, especially in our smaller more rural hospitals and that is where we are focusing,” Kemp said.

Tuesday he announced 105 medically trained National Guard personnel will also be assisting and would focus on the high volume of incoming patients.

“These guard folks are going to help with the logistics of getting people into the hospital so we can turn the ambulances around quicker, so they can go to the next call,” Kemp said. “That is specifically what we are doing with the guardsmen.”

Gov. Kemp also spoke to Fox5Atlanta.

“We’re seeing early indications that there’s some areas of the state that are starting to peak and hopefully go the other way. So, I hope that happens sooner rather than later,” said Kemp.

Earlier this week, the governor announced he would deploy more than 100 members of the Georgia National Guard to help supplement staffing in 10 hospitals around the state.

“What the guard specifically is going to do is to get folks and really help speed the process of getting people checked into the hospital that are coming in, especially the emergency room,” Kemp explained. ““One of the things that I’d been hearing from our EMS and ambulance folks is they were having to wait at the facilities for people to get the patients out of the ambulances and get them into the emergency room, get them through the check-in process. So, they were having to hold the ambulance a long time. That prevents them from, obviously, going to the next call.”

“I hope that’s the case [that full FDA approval will help Georgia’s vaccination rate]. I know it’s very frustrating for people in the hospitals. I’ve been hearing from them that you know, 90 to 95% of the COVID patients that are in the hospital are unvaccinated. I’ve had some gut-wrenching calls with sheriffs and school superintendents that have lost deputies and educators to COVID that weren’t vaccinated. So, my message continues to be the same. Talk to you doctor. Talk to you local pharmacist. The vaccine–all three of them–are widely available. Make a good healthcare choice and consider getting vaccinated,” said Kemp.

“I agree with them. I mean, people need to put their guns down. They don’t need to be shooting at people because they get road rage and other crazy things that are going on. But the people that are not doing that, we need to go after them and that’s exactly what we’re doing with our crime suppression unit. I am fearful for my three daughters when they’re in Atlanta. I’m not going to let them go pump gas. We’re not letting them go to the mall and that’s just like every other family that’s living or working in Atlanta. People are scared to death right now and they want something done about it,” said Gov. Kemp.

“Herschel has always brought a lot when he’s on the playing field, whether it’s in football and now in politics, but we’ve got a lot of great Republicans for the U.S. Senate that are running including him now. It’s my hope that they’re going to stay focused on things that I am and that’s posting up against the disastrous policies of the Biden Administration,” said Kemp.

From News4Jax:

At Southeast Georgia Health System in Brunswick, there were 135 COVID-19 patients, 48 of whom were in critical care units, as of Wednesday. Fourteen of those receiving treatment were vaccinated.

“Right now, we are having an unprecedented COVID surge in our community, and our staff is taxed in terms of caring for the record number of patients that we’ve had,” said Ryan Kerr, corporate council with Southeast Georgia Health System. “But also we’ve had a number of staff, just like any employer, that are out due to their own COVID infections.”

One doctor describes the conditions they’re dealing with like a war zone. The National Guard will be helping the hospital with the surge in COVID for the next few months. Yet Southeast Georgia Health System Chief Medical Officer Alan Brown said they wish they could have more National Guard members because they’re so short-staffed.

“Our ER times, or the wait times, are tremendous, probably the highest I’ve ever seen, and it’s inhibiting our ability to help the patients who don’t have COVID,” said Brown.

News4Jax was told the hospital’s emergency room handles 15 to 20 COVID-19 patients a day, decreasing the ability to help other patients. The hospital has had to cancel surgeries, turn surgery rooms into intensive care units and reallocate staff.

Dalton will become the first Georgia municipality to provide the Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

[City Council member Annalee] Harlan, Mayor David Pennington and officials from the local healthcare community gathered at the Dalton Convention Center to announce Dalton will be the first city in Georgia to provide the Regeneron treatment. The treatment is free.

“I can definitely recommend that people with COVID-19 take advantage of this,” said Harlan, who spearheaded the effort, after the press conference.

“This treatment has been shown to significantly reduce a person’s chances of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 if administered within the first seven days of infection,” said Dr. Zachary Taylor, interim director of North Georgia Health District 1-2, which is based in Dalton.

Local officials said they will begin providing the Regeneron shots Friday. They will be given in the gravel parking lot of the Dalton Convention Center. Those who receive the shot must remain at the site for an hour to be observed for any adverse side effects.

The shots will be by appointment only. City officials said they planned to have the registration form on the city website (daltonga.gov) on Thursday. Because the treatment is provided by the state through a federal program, people do not have to be residents of Dalton or even of the state of Georgia to sign up. Officials said their goal is to provide the treatment seven days a week so if someone gets a positive test result they can get the treatment quickly.

Liberty County public schools are going virtual for two weeks, resuming in-person September 13, due to COVID, according to WTOC.

Bryan County public schools will close September 3d for deep cleaning, according to WTOC.

Governor Brian Kemp announced all state employees will be given September 3 off for the purpose of encouraging individuals to get vaccinated.

The school district says while this declaration does not apply to school staff, Bryan County Schools will be closed to deep clean our facilities and buses as well as support Governor Kemp’s encouragement given to all state employees.

Henry County has gone to virtual classes for six schools, according to the AJC.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is experiencing staffing shortages, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is far from being fully staffed, and that has caused an increase in overtime for deputies and had a slightimpact on response times. Officials attribute compensation and a negative perception of police as contributing factors for the close to 100 open positions at the department.

Currently, there are over 90 open positions, the average is usually 40 to 60. The sheriff’s office currently has between 630 to 640 positions filled.

Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton said the department began noticing an increase in open positions six months after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.

”It isn’t at the critical stage. It is one of those things I could always use double the size agency for an area like Richmond County, but I’m not going to get that,” he said. “[Shortage of staff] does impact overtime. We have seen an increase in the deputies having to work overtime.”

United States Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) spoke about federal broadband funding in Tifton, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

In a press briefing at Matt Wilson Elementary School this week, Sen. Jon Ossoff touted the recent passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the Senate.

The full initiative will put significant amounts of money toward multiple projects both in Georgia, such as implementing electric vehicle charging stations and repairing bridges, and nationwide in programs to repair roads and highways and remove lead piping from buildings.

During his Tifton stop, Ossoff focused on the expected allotment of $100 million toward providing more than 650,000 Georgians with reliable broadband Internet access.

“There are more than a million Georgians who lack access to broadband Internet access,” Ossoff said. “And these resources that we’ve passed in the Senate with this bipartisan infrastructure bill will go a long way towards making high speed Internet access universal in the state of Georgia.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is being debated in the House. Should it be passed there, it will move onto approval from President Joe Biden.

Judge Jesse Stone heard a lawsuit against the City of Augusta claiming an Open Records Act violation, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The city of Augusta’s legal team argued Wednesday against paying  the legal bills of news organizations that successfully sued the city this year to report on the top candidates for the fire chief’s job.

According to the city’s arguments Wednesday, while the state’s Open Records Act may allow anyone to sue a government entity, it’s only the attorney general of the state who can properly bring a case on behalf of the people; since the matter is now closed there can be no request for attorney fees; and/or there is no proof of any injury so there’s no right to compensation.

Georgia Press Association attorney David Hudson responded that the city is trying to argue that no citizen can seek to enforce the Open Records Act, which specifically gives every person the right to access public records. It runs counter to 40 years of case law in Georgia, Hudson said.

“That would be quite a precedent, wouldn’t it?” said Judge Jesse Stone who issued the May 5 Richmond County Superior Court order finding the city had violated the Open Records law.

The Georgia General Assembly Joint Study Committee for the Georgia Commission on E-Commerce and Freight Infrastructure Funding met, according to the Center Square.

Georgia’s growing population and the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the state’s demand for e-commerce and freight loads.

“Georgia will have the fifth-largest population in the nation, with over 12 million people,” former state Rep. Kevin Tanner said Monday during a presentation in front of the committee. “With 84% of freight moving on trucks, it is vital that we plan now to keep everyday motorists moving safely while also ensuring Georgia remains the number one state in which to do business. A critical piece of the transportation puzzle is the utilization of freight to move goods.”

Lawmakers estimate Georgia would need more than $887 million over the next 25 years to support its rail system in addition to maintenance costs. Georgia has 4,765 miles of active rails, according to a Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) report.

In a freight and logistics study, lawmakers found that trucking companies had a hard time finding and retaining drivers because of pay, hours of work and the state’s lack of truck parking.

“We’re seeing that today across the spectrum with delays and getting product shipped, as a fact, we just don’t have enough drivers to do the deliveries,” said Tanner, who co-chaired of the joint Georgia Commission on Freight and Logistics.

Tanner said the state needs to take “the leadership role” in creating more parking spaces by forming partnerships in the private sector. He also believes public-private partnerships may be the solution to funding the rail system’s unmet needs over the next 30 years.

E-Commerce and Freight Infrastructure Funding Chair Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, said it would take the commission “a couple of years” to develop a funding strategy and recommendations. The commission has employed the help of a consulting firm.

United States Representative Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) endorsed Herschel Walker’s campaign for United States Senate, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“I’m proud to join President Trump and endorse my friend Herschel Walker for United States Senate,” said Carter in a press release. “Georgians need a fighter who will take on Raphael Warnock, the radical Left, Big Tech, woke corporations and their socialist agenda. Herschel supports the America First agenda and has my complete endorsement, and I’ll do everything I can to ensure he has the opportunity to fight for our Georgia values in the United States Senate.”

“I urge you to join me in supporting Herschel and ensuring Radical Raphael Warnock is no longer in the Senate.”

The endorsement means Carter will likely look to hold onto his 1st District seat come the 2022 midterms. Carter’s endorsement came from his campaign organization, Buddy Carter for Congress.

One other candidate, Savannah Democrat Wade Herring, has formally announced a run for the 1st District post as well.

Albany City Commissioners voted to stop streaming meetings on Facebook, according to the Albany Herald.

The Facebook social media platform has drawn comments from commissioners concerned about the, well, comments that users have been posting.

The only solution to eliminating erroneous, vulgar and negative comments would be having city information technology staff monitor the comments prior to their posting, according to city staff.

In a 5-2 vote, the commission went with a recommendation to instead continue broadcasting meetings on local access Channel 16 and to use the BoxCast service to provide live streaming of city meetings.

The public will be able to access the meetings directly from the city’s website.

Commissioner Demetrius Young, who voted against the change along with Commissioner Jon Howard, said the public has grown used to accessing meetings through Facebook.

Lake Park City Council voted to retain the prior year property tax millage rate, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

That means the city’s rate will stay at 7.392 mills. There had been a proposal to change the rate to 7.504 mills. The vote to keep the rate unchanged was unanimous.

The council also voted to pursue a grant for COVID-19 recovery funds to help plug a shortfall for another project.

Tuesday’s meeting was the council’s first since the death of Mayor Keith Sandlin. Mayor Pro Tem Ronald Carter presided over the meeting.

At the council meeting, Fowler said the earliest a special mayoral election could be held would be in March. The winner would serve out the rest of Sandlin’s term, which ends in December 2022.

Tybee Island City Council is considering a moratorium on new short term vacation rentals, according to WTOC.

The moratorium would stop any future property owners from registering their homes as a vacation rental.

Just last week, Tybee Island leaders added the STVR moratorium resolution to their agenda. A broker with the Jenny Rutherford Real Estate team says not only did residents have short notice about it, but a moratorium is not something the town even needs.

“We’ve got over 34 properties on Tybee under contract that are in the middle of going to closing that are at jeopardy. A lot of these buyers are planning to use their property as a vacation rental,” Rutherford said

The moratorium would prevent people from registering their property as an STVR for at least six months. The idea is that it’ll give the city time to resolve issues some residents feel STVR’s cause, like an excess of garbage.

White County Commissioners approved the hiring of Joseph “Joey” Cason as County Manager, according to AccessWDUN.

Newnan City Council adopted an ordinance to regulate liquor stores that will become effective if voters approve a referendum, according to the Newnan Times Herald.

Under the ordinance, a maximum of three licenses will be issued within the Newnan city limits. This had originally been four, but was reduced with city manager Cleatus Phillips expressing concern about potentially oversaturating the market.

Each store must be, at a minimum, 5,000 square feet, in addition to other square footage requirements.

The ordinance will be dependent on the voters approving the package sale of distilled spirits on Nov. 2 and the election being certified by the Coweta County Election Superintendent.

Currently, the city of Newnan prohibits the package sale of distilled spirits within city limits, which means a store that sells spirits such as whiskey, vodka, rum and other liquors cannot be opened within the Newnan city limits.

The referendum will be on the ballot in November, alongside the regular election where voters will be able to vote on their choice for mayor, as well as who will hold the two council seats from District Two.

The referendum vote is made possible by Georgia House Bill 273, which passed during the 2021 Georgia General Assembly session. Before the law change, a vote on liquor stores could only come after a petition drive.