Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 27, 2024

Advertising in the rights of way of state roads and placing signs on private property without the owner’s approval were prohibited in the first Georgia law regulating outdoor advertising, which was signed by Governor Richard Russell on August 27, 1931. Over the years, both practices would become enshrined in Peach State political strategy.

Former Georgia Governor Lester Maddox was nominated for President on the American Independent Party ticket on August 27, 1976, making the race probably the only one to ever feature two former Georgia governors. During the campaign, Maddox described Jimmy Carter as “the most dishonest man I ever met.”

On August 27, 1982, Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson broke the record for stolen bases in a season, nabbing number 119 against the Milwaukee Brewers and breaking the record held by Lou Brock.

Georgia Governor Zell Miller addressed the Democratic National Convention on August 27, 1996. In 2004, Miller would address the Republican National Convention, likely becoming the first Georgian to address both major parties’ national conventions. Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney also addressed the ’96 DNC. That day, President Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill, called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

On August 27, 2008, Barack Obama became the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, the first African-American nominee of a major United States political party.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Hall County schools dedicated the new Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School with Governor Nathan Deal, Mrs. Deal’s widower, in attendance, according to the AJC.

The building sits in Gainesville, just across the road from Lanier Technical College, where a building on campus is named for her husband.

Sandra Deal died of breast cancer in 2022. She notably read to students in each of Georgia’s 159 counties when she was first lady and facilitated donation of thousands of books to children and schools.

Nathan Deal said it was special for his wife’s school to be in the district that was such a big part of her life.

“Education is important to all of us, and we are fortunate when we find good teachers, we find good academic leaders and when we find a community that embraces the importance of education. And this community has done that,” he said.

Nathan Deal shared stories of his wife’s quirks, saying she would have insisted everyone help clean up the chairs lining the gymnasium before they left the dedication. He also said that she used to scold him because his career limited her time as a classroom teacher to 15 years. But that didn’t stop her: even with four kids at home she substituted in the schools so much that she may as well have been working full time.

The former governor became emotional describing a portrait of his wife that was also unveiled Monday and will hang at the school’s entrance.

The portrait doesn’t just depict Sandra Deal. It shows students in a classroom, listening eagerly as she reads to them from “Veto, The Governor’s Cat,” which Nathan Deal penned in his wife’s honor.

Keri Smith, principal of the new school, said Sandra Deal’s legacy will inspire students for generations.

“Her kindness, modesty and tireless work have set a shining example of what it means to truly serve others,” Smith said.

McIntosh County voters head to the polls October 1, 2024 for a referendum to overturn action by their County Commissioners, according to The Current GA.

McIntosh County residents are scheduled to head to the polls Oct. 1 to vote on a single issue. The question on the ballot will be: “Shall the Action of the Board of Commissioners of McIntosh County, Georgia, amending the McIntosh County Code of Ordinances Appendix C Sec. 219 HH Hog Hammock District of the McIntosh County Ordinance be repealed?”

Against the stated concerns of scores of residents who packed its meeting, the county commission voted in September, 2023, to rezone Hog Hammock, also known as Hogg Hummock, to allow larger and taller houses in the last remaining Gullah-Geechee settlement on a Georgia barrier island. Black residents fear the rezoning will result in rising property values and higher taxes that will force them off the land their ancestors once worked as enslaved people brought there from West Africa.

“We are the last Gullah-Geechee community on the Georgia coast of our kind,” said Josiah “Jazz” Watts, a Sapelo descendant who works on environmental justice issues for One Hundred Miles. “They should be finding more ways to protect us than to help facilitate zoning that would result in our removal.”

Shortly after the new zoning was enacted, a consortium of nonprofits called “Keep Sapelo Geechee” launched the effort to retract it. Using the home rule provision of the Georgia Constitution they collected enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue.

McIntosh County Probate Judge Harold Webster approved the petition in July. He set the vote for Oct. 1. Early voting will begin Sept. 9.

In late July the county commission filed a request to stop the election, challenging its own probate judge and citizens. The circuit of five judges set to hear the case then recused themselves. Superior Court Senior Judge Gary C. McCorvey of the Tifton Circuit has been assigned to hear it.

The McIntosh Board of Elections joined the probate judge as a defendant in the case. Attorney Jason Nix said doing so will provide direction from the superior court as to how the board should proceed.

Board of Elections Supervisor Elenore “Doll” Gale estimated the referendum will cost between $20,000 and $30,000.

It’s and expenditure that could’ve been avoided, Watts said.

“McIntosh County is probably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars when residents simply are asking to be heard,” he said. “They have continued to refuse to hear our voices. And so we have to keep going until we can get our commissioners to work with us and not against us.”

Georgia Democrats say they want Governor Brian Kemp to remove three appointed members of the Georgia State Election Board, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

The board has adopted rules changes in recent weeks that, among other things, would empower local election officials to delay or refuse to certify election results. Democrats say that could sow chaos and uncertainty following the Nov. 5 elections and pave the way for former President Donald Trump to capture Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, even if Vice President Kamala Harris has won more votes.

“What is unfolding in Georgia is nothing less than an effort to subvert democracy and move us backward,” U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, said Monday during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We must not allow our State Election Board to be taken over by Donald Trump.”

“This is not just unethical. It’s illegal,” added state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, who filed a formal complaint last week asking that board members Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King be removed from the board. “Their actions undermine the will of the people.”

Democrats are asking Kemp to refer the complaint to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which would appoint an administrative law judge to hear the case for removal.

A spokesman for Kemp said Monday the governor has received letters calling for removing the three board members.

“Due to uncertainty regarding whether this office has authority to act under Code Section 45-10-4 in response to these complaints, we have sought the attorney general’s advice regarding the application of the statute to the letters,” Garrison Douglas wrote in an email. “We will respond following receipt of this advice and further evaluation of the letters.”

Democrats also filed a lawsuit seeking to block the new rules, according to the Associated Press via the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

The state and national Democratic parties sued Monday to block two recent rules adopted by Georgia’s State Election Board that could be used by county officials who want to refuse to certify an election, potentially causing delays in finalizing the state’s results.

The lawsuit, filed before a state judge in Atlanta, argues the rules violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty. The suit asks the judge to find the rules are invalid because the State Election Board, now dominated by allies of former President Donald Trump, is exceeding its legal authority.

The lawsuit says the rules invite post-election chaos, that the board is defying state law that says county officials “shall certify” results, and that more than a century of court precedent in Georgia finds county officials have no wiggle room.

“According to their drafters, these rules rest on the assumption that certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to free-ranging inquiry that may delay certification or foreclose it entirely. But that is not the law in Georgia” states the lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

“These common-sense changes will benefit all Georgians, regardless of political affiliation as they are all designed to increase transparency and public confidence regarding our elections,” state Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said in a statement defending the rule changes earlier Monday, before the lawsuit was made public.

A trio of Republican partisans aligned with Trump took control of the five-member regulatory board earlier this year. It has no direct role in determining election results, but writes rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.

“The Georgia state elections board is becoming an equal co-conspirator in this effort to suppress our votes,” Democratic U.S. Rep Lucy McBath charged Monday in a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “With passing this new rule, they are creating barriers to counting votes and certifying the election so Donald Trump can once again attempt to throw our country into chaos.”

A Democratic state senator and the former chair of the Fulton County elections board have both sent letters demanding that Kemp remove the three Trump-aligned members for violating state ethics laws. Kemp on Monday asked Republican Attorney General Chris Carr to determine whether Kemp has legal jurisdiction to consider the demands.

The Democratic lawsuit specifically cites language added by one rule to require county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results. It also takes aim at a second rule that allows county election officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

The lawsuit was filed by county election board members from counties in metro Atlanta, most chosen by the local Democratic Party, as well voters who support Democrats, two Democratic state lawmakers running for reelection and the state and national Democratic parties.

Georgia Administrative Law Judge Michael Malihi ruled against independent and third-party candidates seeking slots on the November ballot, according to the Associated Press via WALB.

A judge ruled Monday that four independent and third-party candidates are ineligible to appear on Georgia’s presidential ballot, although the final decision will be up to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The rulings by Michael Malihi, an administrative law judge, would block the qualifications of independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, as well as the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Claudia De la Cruz.

Kennedy on Friday had said he would seek to withdraw his name in Georgia and some other closely contested states as he endorsed Republican Donald Trump.

Democrats legally challenged whether all four qualify for the ballot, seeking to block candidates who could siphon votes from Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris after Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.

Raffensperger must make a decision before Georgia mails out military and overseas ballots starting Sept. 17. Spokesperson Mike Hassinger said Raffensperger’s office is reviewing the decisions and will decide each as soon as possible.

If affirmed by Raffensperger, the rulings mean that Georgia voters will choose only among Harris, Trump and Libertarian Chase Oliver in the presidential race.

In the Kennedy, West and De la Cruz cases, Malihi agreed with arguments made by the state Democratic Party that petitions for independent candidates must be filed in the name of the 16 presidential electors, and not the candidates themselves, citing a change made to Georgia law in 2017.

“In Georgia, independent candidates do not themselves qualify for the office of president and vice president of the United States of America for the ballot,” Malihi wrote. “Rather, individuals seeking the office of presidential elector qualify for the ballot to have their candidate for president or vice president placed on the ballot.”

Lawyers for Kennedy, West and De la Cruz had all argued that was the wrong interpretation of the law, in part because Raffensperger’s office had accepted the petition without protest. Counties later concluded that Kennedy, West and De law Cruz had each collected the required 7,500 signatures to qualify. The campaigns say it would be unduly burdensome to collect 7,500 signatures on 16 different petitions, for a total of 120,000 signatures.

The Green Party has hoped to use a new Georgia law awarding a ballot place to candidates of a party that qualifies in at least 20 other states to put Jill Stein’s name before Georgia voters. But Malihi ruled it was impossible for the party to prove it has qualified in at least 20 other states before Georgia’s deadline to print ballots, saying the party doesn’t qualify.

From Georgia Recorder:

Chief Judge Michael Malihi also determined that former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not include his real residential address on his nomination petitions, which mirrors a recent ruling by a New York court. Kennedy announced Friday that he was leaving the race and backing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Kennedy has not formally withdrawn in Georgia.

But the final decision rests with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. His spokesman, Mike Hassinger, said Monday that the judge’s decisions were being reviewed.

“You can expect a decision from the SOS office as soon as possible,” Hassinger said.

State Democrats formally objected to these third-party candidates appearing on the ballot in Georgia, where President Joe Biden narrowly won by less than 12,000 votes in 2020.

Without these candidates, the choices awaiting Georgia voters this fall will be Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump or Libertarian Chase Oliver.

Cobb County Commissioners will vote on whether to accept the federal court ruling in litigation over competing redistricting plans for the Cobb County Commission, according to the AJC.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners plans to vote Tuesday on whether to accept the latest court ruling deeming its electoral map unconstitutional — a vote that could end its yearslong fight over local redistricting power.

But the process to revert to the state legislative drawn map, abandoning a map drawn by the county, and to give Commissioner Jerica Richardson notice to vacate her seat has the board once again divided along party lines.

Commissioners held a contentious meeting on the issue Monday, and it is possible that the item will be pulled from Tuesday’s agenda for more discussion.
In 2022, rebuking state lawmakers who passed a map that drew Richardson, a Democrat, out of her seat mid term, the County Commission tried to pass its own map under a novel legal argument that it had the authority to do so using Home Rule powers — a move heavily criticized by government officials including the boards two Republicans, legal experts and constituents.

After two lengthy legal disputes, a judge struck down the county-passed map as unconstitutional in July, and county officials do not plan to continue fighting after the judge rejected their last-ditch legal effort to defend the map.

“The judge has said that the map is unconstitutional, so you’ll just be adopting the findings of that unconstitutionality, and then you’d be instructing, at that point in time, the staff to adopt back over to the state map that’s already in place,” said county attorney Bill Rowling.

Birrell said formally repealing the county-passed map is the only way to lawfully remove it. She and Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill both urged the board to hire outside counsel.

“This is strictly political at this point,” Gambrill said. “We need outside counsel, because it is hard to determine if our legal counsel is truly going by the law or if they are following the political will of the board.”

The Harris-Walz campaign event in Savannah now has a waiting list, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Mobilize.us, a Democratic website that organizes events and petitions, posted a waitlist online for those interested in attending the rally. It asks for your name, email address, phone number, and zip code.

Few details are known about the rally at this time, except that it’s scheduled for 2-8 p.m. The campaign initially planned to be in Savannah earlier this month, but that event was canceled because of Tropical Storm Debby.

Momentum for the Harris-Walz campaign is high following the Democratic National Convention. Georgia’s battleground-state status is proven by recent polling giving Republican nominee Donald Trump just a 0.5% advantage over Harris in the Peach State, according to fivethirtyeight.com.

From WTOC:

Kamala’s campaign said Kamala and Walz will be making stops around Savannah area on Wednesday.

They have not announced where those stops will be but they will be together for these stops before Walz departs.

Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris will do a solo event. The time and location of this event has not been released.

“I think you can see momentum build on the issues she talked about, moving to unite and heal our country in a way that we haven’t seen since President Barack Obama ran for president in 2008,” State Sen. Derek Mallow said. Sen. Mallow represents Georgia’s second district.

“It is a very important moment for us, we have been working to make sure that the Biden-Harris administration, now the Harris-Walz administration understands how strategic Georgia is and how important Savannah and Coastal Georgia is,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.

“Just to have the vice president come down to little old Savannah means so much to me and many of my constituents, to welcome her here with this excitement and it is not her first time being here,” Sen. Mallow explained.

“A lot of people want to see her want to see history in the making. Certainly we want to hear about her vision for America under her leadership. Then of course there are policy questions and things that she wants to answer for the American people and she will allot time to be able to do that,” Mayor Johnson explained.

The mayor says the city is well prepared to handle the crowd that will come with the VP’s visit.

“For us it has been about coordinating with her campaign, the secret service, law enforcement, logistic folks. This has been a long planning process to do this, to accommodate their visit, to make sure every need is taken care of and that people are safe. We believe we can do all of that,” Mayor Johnson added.

“I’m part of this mission to elect Kamala Harris the president of the United States of America because I believe in an America that represents everyone,” Sen. Mallow said.

More from WTOC:

“This tour maybe will be the first time we’ve seen anything like that since 1960,” said UGA Political Science Professor, Charles Bullock.

He said democratic candidates like Harris wouldn’t consider Georgia before 2012, and afterward they’ve tended to just visit Atlanta.

What he’s referencing in 1960 was Lyndon B Johnson, who at the time was running for Vice President, had his wife do a railroad tour in rural parts of North Georgia.

So Harris, who was here in February, returning to our area as a Presidential nominee is basically unprecedented.

“One of the reasons we’re getting so much attention is because we’re a big win and the other reason is we’re a toss up state,” said Bullock.

In 2016 Trump and the Republicans won Georgia, then in 2020 Biden flipped our state blue. For 2024, as Dr. Bullock says, it’s 16 electoral college votes are up in the air.

For perspective, there are only seven states with more electors than Georgia, those being California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois – making your vote even more important.

“Democrats have to run up their totals in the few urban areas where they do well because they – Democrats – probably will lose 130 of the 159 counties,” said Bullock.

In 2020, the only two counties Democrats won in Southeast Georgia were Chatham and Liberty – but the margin of victory there was 30,000 votes.

Compared to the 15 Georgia counties in the WTOC viewing area won by Republicans where the margin was 55,000 votes.

Dr. Bullock said Harris is looking to duplicate that in November and a stop in Savannah shows it.

That last story is awarded “Political Story of the Week.”

From Greg Bluestein of the AJC:

Democratic state Sen. Derek Mallow of Savannah called the bus tour “monumental.” Former state Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus called it a “big deal.” And Melissa Clink, a veteran liberal activist in the exurbs, declared herself “overjoyed.”

“Winning Georgia means understanding Georgia is much larger than just Atlanta,” she said. “It includes our rural areas as well as our larger cities outside the perimeter who are anxious for attention.”

For Republican presidential contenders, visits outside metro Atlanta are the norm. Former President Donald Trump regularly holds rallies at airports, racetracks and fairgrounds in places like Commerce, Dalton, Perry, Rome and Valdosta.

But Harris’ partially-disclosed campaign itinerary, which officials said includes stops with running-mate Tim Walz in South Georgia before a Thursday rally in Savannah, deviates from long-standing strategy.

Democratic White House candidates are far more likely to stick to the friendly confines of metro Atlanta, a vast left-leaning area that makes up more than half Georgia’s population.

Consider Savannah’s Chatham County, where Democrats netted 10,000 more votes in 2020 than they did in 2016. Or tiny Liberty County, where Democrats picked up another 1,745 votes over the last two cycles.

“These margins matter,” said Democratic state Rep. Al Williams, whose entire House district encompasses Liberty County.

“No matter what they do in metro Atlanta — and hopefully it goes deep blue — we can’t just win with those votes. We have to maximize every place we can.”

Quentin Fulks, one of Harris’ top deputies, noted the Harris operation has opened offices in places like Cordele and Valdosta where Republicans regularly run up the score.

“These are the types of places where you might not be able to go from losing 90-10 to winning them, but you can absolutely stave off” a bigger defeat, said Fulks. “It’s really important. And beyond that, the reason we’re investing there is because we have a message to talk to voters about.”

Republicans say it’s about time national Democrats paid more attention to rural Georgia. Cody Hall is a top adviser to Gov. Brian Kemp, whose rural-focused approach helped him defeat Stacey Abrams in the last two elections.

He praised Harris’ focus on reaching voters outside of metro Atlanta as “smart” before pummeling the White House’s policies, which Republicans blame for fueling an inflationary economy.

“She communicates often in a way that’s positive and has a rosier picture of the future. But the problem for them is the American people do not feel joyful right now. They’re paying more for everyday goods,” said Hall.

“That’s the potential pitfall for the Harris campaign — you can be optimistic but you have to be empathetic and understand where people are. And that’s been a huge miss for the Biden Administration overall.”

“[United States Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Atanta)] has won more statewide elections in Georgia in the last five years than all other Democrats put together so it makes sense to listen to him,” said [Pete Fuller, chair of the Jackson County Democrats in rural northeast Georgia].

“Putting up big numbers in metro Atlanta is super impressive, but what puts a Democrat over the top is getting a few extra percentage points out of these rural counties.”

From WSAV:

Team Harris-Walz is running the largest in-state operation of any Democratic presidential campaign cycle ever in Georgia, with more than 170 Democratic campaign staffers in 24 coordinated campaign offices across the state.

Campaigning in this part of the Peach State is critical as it represents a diverse coalition of voters, including rural, suburban and urban Georgians – with a large proportion of Black voters and working-class families.

This campaign swing comes after the Harris-Walz campaign released a new TV ad on Friday, airing across media markets in 8 states including Georgia, focusing on the Vice President’s economic vision and belief in building up the middle class, lowering costs, and creating an opportunity economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

Effingham County Commissioner Reggie Loper pled guilty to simple battery and other charges were dropped, according to WTOC.

According to Court Clerk Jason Bragg, Loper pleaded guilty to simple battery– a misdemeanor– and all other charges against him were dismissed by the prosecutor.

Back in 2023, Reggie Loper was charged with both sexual battery and sexual battery against a child under 16.

His defense team filed for the Sexual Battery Against a Child Under 16 to be thrown out back in July of this year.

Loper’s camp argued that the alleged victim was 16 years old – not under 16 years old.

Georgia law says that sexual battery of a child under 16 is a felony but it’s a misdemeanor offense if the victim is older than that.

State Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome) today chairs the first meeting of the House Study Committee on Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Management beginning at 10 AM in Room 606 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Click here for more information, including the meeting Agenda, and a livestream of the meeting.

The Georgia Department of Education is working to implement the Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB 538 from 2023), according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The state Department of Education (DOE) laid the groundwork for the Georgia Early Literacy Act during the past school year.

Now, it’s time to implement legislation the General Assembly passed last year aimed at improving the quality of early reading instruction, Amy Denty, the DOE’s literacy director, told members of the Georgia Council on Literacy Monday.

The work got underway this summer with a requirement that all Georgia students in kindergarten through the third grade be screened for reading proficiency by Aug. 1, Denty said during the council’s meeting on the campus of Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.

Under House Bill 538, which the legislature passed with only one “no” vote, students who are identified as falling behind in reading will receive an individual reading improvement plan within 30 days of being identified followed by intensive reading intervention until they catch up.

“The more quickly we can determine a child’s deficit, the quicker we can intervene,” Denty said.

The legislation also contains a teacher training component. By next July, the bill requires all K-3 teachers to complete a state-approved literacy training program. The emphasis will be on “the science of reading” – a method of literacy instruction that draws on evidence from psychology and neuroscience and includes phonics.

“Teaching reading is the most complex thing we do in our schools,” Denty said. “We are placing a lot on the plates of our teachers. (But) I believe our teachers can step up to this.”

Legislative Republicans made improving literacy in Georgia a major priority of their agenda for the 2023 General Assembly session, citing statistics showing not a single school district in the state had an acceptable percentage of third-grade students reading on level.

Monroe County Commissioners want to move some books from the children and young adults sections, according to the Macon Telegraph.

A Monroe County commissioner says he wants to defund the Monroe County Library if it doesn’t move LGBTQ+ themed books out of its children and young adult sections, and the issue prompted about 100 people to show up at the county’s commission meeting last week.

District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose told The Telegraph he is willing to defund the public library in early 2025 if the books aren’t moved by the time new county chairman-elect Alan Gibbs takes office, who supports the notion.

“I’m hoping they’ll move them, but if they don’t, I’m prepared to do what’s necessary, and I won’t change my mind,” Ambrose said over the phone. “All I’m asking is that they take any book that is not age appropriate, and get it out of the kids section.”

District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, who requested that the library discussion be added to the Aug. 20 agenda, underlined the importance of community input in moving LGBTQ+ literature from the library’s children’s and young adult sections to the adult section, according to the county’s board commission’s summarized post of the meeting.

The meeting followed concerns about county officials’ past threats to defund the public library if relocation changes were not made. Rowland said the discussions have been going on since October 2023.

Ambrose said that if the books are not in the right section by Jan. 1, the county officials will temporarily close the library, reorganize the material and convert the building into a private library.

Marisha Crowder, assistant branch manager at the Monroe County Library, said it’s heartbreaking that the library could potentially be closed in less than five months.

“I think as a public library, it is necessary for us to carry these books. Libraries serve the community that includes many demographics,” Crowder said in an email. “It is important that all members of society, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, be able to come to the library and find a book that relates to them emotionally, mentally, physically, etc.”

Based on community feedback, Rowland said he believes about 10 to 15% of Monroe County residents want all LGBTQ+ books removed from the library and are willing to support the library’s funding elimination in an effort to do so, while about 60 to 70% are in favor of moving the controversial books to an alternate location that is not accessible to young children.

Rowland said he doesn’t want to lose the library as a community service, but “if there is a lawful comprise to move those books to their own section, then I think that would be a good idea to do.”

District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis said defunding the library is not simple and would impact the state and federal funding of the other eight counties that are part of the Flint River Regional Library, according to the Facebook post.

Davis said it would also cost Monroe County $750,000 per year for a number of years to reenter the regional library system in the future if it exits the Flint River system.

Rowland said the board has to find out what can lawfully be done regarding library closure and the books’ relocation. If the board can lawfully move the books to another location, then it has to determine who can qualify if a book is age-appropriate, pornographic or if it just has LGBTQ overtones, he added.

Crowder said the closure of the library would have a huge impact on the community.

“We are the only library in Monroe County,” she said. “The library isn’t just a place to check out books, we also provide computers and Wi-Fi for patrons to be able to apply for jobs and do schoolwork. If they close us down, patrons lose access to these resources.”