Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for January 17, 2018

On January 17, 1733, Georgia’s Trustees in London voted to ban Jews from the colony.

Martin Luther King, Jr. began the Chicago civil rights campaign on January 17, 1966.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for 83 counties beginning last night.

This line extends from Columbus to Macon to Augusta and northward. State government will be closed tomorrow in the impacted areas for non-essential personnel.

“Following the latest update from the National Weather Service, and acting upon the recommendation from the state’s Emergency Operations Command, I’ve issued an executive order closing state government for non-essential personnel tomorrow,” said Deal. “The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) will continue treating our roads and interstates. To ensure people’s safety and to allow GDOT to do its job, I urge people to remain home and off the roads. We will continue monitoring the weather and will provide updates as necessary.”

Read the emergency declaration here.

The Georgia General Assembly‘s Joint Appropriations Committee Budget Hearing (Day 2) scheduled for 9 AM today is cancelled.

Gwinnett County Public Schools is holding a “Digital Learning Day” in lieu of opening schools today.

Gwinnett County is opting for another Digital Learning Day following an announcement by the school system to cancel classes.

GCPS made the announcement earlier Tuesday that it would be concluding all school related activities by 8 p.m. to avoid any winter weather.

This is the second systemwide Digital Learning Day in as many weeks after school was also canceled on Jan. 8 due to the threat of ice.

The “Digital Learning Day” apparently assumes most students will have working broadband internet and a computer at home.

On the day that school has been canceled, teachers will post assignments on their eCLASS C&I course pages. Middle school assignments will be posted by 10 a.m.

Students will use the My eCLASS student portal to log in to their eCLASS C&I course pages where they will access assignments, resources, and other materials. If the power is out, a student may access the teacher’s course page when power returns. If a student does not have access to a computer or device (tablet, smartphone, etc.), the student can get the assignment once school resumes.

Student work will be expected to be turned in to the teacher (either digitally or in person), using a school’s process for turning in work following an absence. For example, if your school allows students to turn in work two days after a missed day the Digital Learning Day assignments would be due two days after classes resume.

Former Secretary of Health & Human Services and Georgia Congressman Tom Price has a new gig.

Jackson Healthcare, a Georgia-based provider of health-care staffing and technology services, said on Tuesday that the former cabinet secretary and Georgia congressman had joined the company’s advisory board.

Jackson Healthcare counts former Florida Governor Jeb Bush among its advisory board members. Price will bring unparalleled knowledge of the U.S. health-care system to the new post, Jackson Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Richard Jackson said in a press release.

Price will “provide feedback on our business plan and advice on business strategy overall,” according to Jackson Healthcare’s director of corporate communications, Jessica Lacy. She declined to provide information about Price’s compensation.

The Georgia Public Service Commission ordered Georgia Power to refund excess revenue to customers.

State regulators have ordered Georgia Power to refund its customers $43.2 million, which the company earned above the approved limits set by the commission in 2013.

In a statement, the commissioners unanimously ordered the utility company to return to its customers two thirds of its earnings for 2016 that were above the set 10.95% Return on Equity (ROE). The company would retain the other third.

The regulators have also ordered the company to provide to the commission by February 20th, the amount the company will save following the recent tax cuts signed into law by president Trump. According to the new law, corporate taxes were slashed from 35% to 21%.

The order by the commission for dollar amounts of the savings the utility expects to make following the tax cuts that came into effect on January 1, follows recent decisions by utility companies in Maryland and Illinois to cut rates for its customers.

Public Service Commission Chair Stan Wise (R-Marietta) will resign from the Commission effective February 20, 2018.

Stan Wise, chairman of the state Public Service Commission, sent word to Gov. Nathan Deal this morning that he’ll resign effective Feb. 20.

Wise, a strong advocate for nuclear power, announced his decision late last year, but said he would only depart after the utlility board had approved Georgia Power’s decision to continue construction on two new nuclear power reactors at Plant Vogtle.

The timing of Wise’ announcement is far from accidental. Qualifying for the May primaries is in March. Also, like other statewide elected officials and state lawmakers, office-holders are barred from raising campaign cash during the session.

Look for Governor Deal to quickly announce a replacement to fill out Wise’ term and gain some advantage from incumbency. Our money is on Tricia Pridemore of Marietta, whom Deal once backed – unsuccessfully – for state GOP chairman.

From the Marietta Daily Journal:

Wise said he’s glad Deal will be responsible for filling his seat on the commission.

“I think a great deal of the governor, and I am confident that he will place a person in that position that is exceptional,” Wise said. “The reason that I like that the governor will appoint is I believe we’re on the same page on energy policy and that I am comfortable that he’ll name someone that is exceptional.”

Tricia Pridemore, of Marietta, has already announced her intention to run for Wise’s seat and has connections to Deal, having previously served as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development and co-chair of Deal’s inauguration team after his 2014 re-election.

Wise praised Pridemore but stopped short of an official endorsement.

“I think Tricia is a very good candidate and would be a very good public service commissioner,” Wise said, adding, “The thing is that the governor has always let us do our job, and I think this is in his realm. And I believe it’s appropriate that the governor makes the appointment. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

As for Wise’s next act, he says he doesn’t know what he’ll do next.

“I really wanted to stay and not really get out and start to look for other options until we got through these important votes. It was something that I felt was appropriate, and so I really haven’t reached out to see what my next step is,” he said. “I’m hopeful. I believe I have value to add to people on the national stage. I just don’t know who it is or when it will be.”

However, Wise said he will not work for a utility he has worked to regulate during his time on the PSC.

Republican Tricia Pridemore will run for a full-term on the Commission this year, listed on the ballot as an incumbent, assuming Gov. Deal appoints her. The last PSC member to run for election after being appointed by the Governor was David Burgess (D), who lost his seat in a runoff election in 2006.

Democrat Stacey Abrams will open 18 offices across Georgia in her bid for her party’s gubernatorial nomination.

The former House minority leader on Wednesday announced plans to open a Savannah office on Jan. 27. Her campaign will be opening other offices in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Cobb, Hinesville, Rome, Stockbridge and Sumter County in the next few weeks.

The campaign, which currently has its main operations in DeKalb, said the office space is donated by local supporters. She hopes early outreach to voters, particularly liberal-leaning minorities who rarely cast ballots, will help propel her to victory.

Republican Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle announced his campaign for Governor has raised nearly $7 million dollars.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle reported raising about $6.7 million in donations since he jumped in the race eight months ago, and his campaign will have all but $1 million of that in the bank in the runup to May’s GOP primary.

Cagle reported raising more than $4 million in the disclosure period that will end on Jan. 31 and he has about $5.75 million in cash on hand. He’s likely to set the high bar in the frenzied fundraising race for governor, with help from many well-connected lobbyists and other Capitol veterans.

The reports aren’t due until the end of the month, but Cagle unveiled his figures early for two reasons: He and other sitting state office-holders are restricted from raising cash during the legislative session that started last week. And he wanted to amp up the pressure on his GOP rivals, including several who will spend the next few months raising cash while he’s in the Legislature.

The Hall County Board of Elections voted to rescind a 2017 decision to provide bilingual ballots.

Board members voted Tuesday to rescind an April vote to adopt the new ballots for county and state elections amid heavy opposition from the public.

At the same meeting, the board voted to establish a committee to study the costs, but that committee wouldn’t report its findings until January 2019.

The vote to rescind the ballots was 3-2, with the board’s two Democrats against rescinding, its Republicans in favor and nonpartisan Chairman Tom Smiley also voting in favor of rescinding the 2017 vote.

Craig Lutz, the member of the Elections Board who requested the bilingual ballot issue be reconsidered by the board, said the county didn’t know the cost of bilingual ballots and said having English-only ballots wouldn’t disenfranchise voters.

Lutz also offered the motion to create the committee to study the costs of providing ballots in Spanish. That motion was unanimously approved.

House District 175, vacated by Rep. Amy Carter (R-Valdosta) drew four candidates in a special election to be held February 13, 2018.

The candidates are competing to replace former Rep. Amy Carter, R-Valdosta, who resigned from House District 175 in November to take a position with the Technical College System of Georgia. Candidate qualifying for the race ended Friday.

The candidates are Bruce Phelps, a Republican emergency medical technician; Coy Reaves, a Republican who is self-employed; John LaHood, a Republican and CEO of Fellowship Senior Living; and Teva Gear, a Democrat and educator.

Marietta City Council voted to expand Sunday sales by breweries and distillies.

Augusta Commissioners voted to put non-binding referenda on a new James Brown Arena location on the May 22, 2018 Democratic and Republican Primary ballots.

After heated discussion Tuesday and prior to a third Augusta Commission vote on whether to build at the privately owned Regency Mall, commissioners agreed to instead ask voters where they prefer the arena to be built.

Commissioner Sammie Sias’ motion – to ask both political parties to place a nonbinding yes-or-no question about building at Regency, and building at the current James Brown Arena site – passed 9-0 with Commissioner Andrew Jefferson out.

Sias made the motion after Commissioner Ben Hasan withdrew an earlier substitute motion to reject the Regency site outright and ask Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority to look elsewhere.

The ballot questions – which will not appear on the nonpartisan version of the May 22 ballot – will show voters’ preference of a site but won’t require the arena to be built. The May elections include Mayor Hardie Davis’ seat, four commission races and several judgeships and state party primaries.

Savannah City Council is considering an ordinance to regulate shopping carts.

Alderman Julian Miller said abandoned carts can impact the morale and aesthetics of the communities where they are left behind, and residents have been calling for the city to address the problem.

The issue has been one city officials have been trying to resolve for years without success, but Mayor Eddie DeLoach told industry representatives the council is determined to get something done this time.

“We’re not looking for kicking it down the road,” DeLoach said. “So you all have to get with staff and come up with something that satisfies you or we’ll come up with something that might not satisfy you.”

The proposed ordinance requires businesses to submit a shopping cart theft prevention and retrieval plan and establishes a fine of up to $500 for violating the requirements. A $375 retrieval fee would also be assessed if the city has to collect a discarded cart and return it to the business.

To translate for some of my friends, a “shopping cart” is the same thing as a “buggy.”

The Muscogee County Board of Education elected a new Chair and Vice Chair.

After only one round of voting, and without anyone explaining their votes, board chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1 handed the gavel during Tuesday night’s meeting to Kia Chambers, the nine-member board’s lone countywide representative, and Mark Cantrell of District 6 became vice chairman.

The Berrien High School Future Farmers of America sent representatives to the Georgia National Fair Goat Show. This particular event demonstrates why FFA-alumni run the state government – they have the most experience in goat rodeos.

The Jekyll Island Industrial Authority is moving forward toward building a solar farm.

the island authority’s board voted Tuesday to continue down a path that could lead to a 5-6 acre solar farm on the northern end of the island.

The site would be between Bond and Magee avenues, off Old Plantation Road, just northeast of the airport. The solar farm would sit atop a capped landfill, and provide about 1 megawatt of electricity. That would be enough to supply 20-25 residences for a year, but the project is meant more as a supplemental source that would decrease outage times and perhaps help during widespread outages.

The board has not been provided with financial specifics yet, but the company responsible — Radiance Solar — is to work with JIA staff to develop a Georgia Power interconnectivity study, an environmental review, geotechnical assessment and a lease agreement that would be put before the board sometime in late spring or early summer of this year, according to a JIA memo.

Should the board agree to a contract with Radiance, it is anticipated to result in $500,000 in income to the JIA over 25 years, $730,000 over 30 years and $855,000 over 35 years. Those numbers are based on $20,000 in rent through the first four years, and $25,000 in rent per year through the next 30-35 years.

Right whales have not yet made an appearance off the Georgia coast this calving season.

“I went back and looked at that, and this appears to be the longest time that I’m aware of,” said Clay George, who leads right whale efforts for the state Department of Natural Resources. “I was able to look back at the data to 1989, which is when the surveys started down here, systematically, with New England Aquarium doing their surveys in ’89. And since then, the latest date that a calf was seen, actually, was Jan. 1, which was last year.”

“We don’t know if it’s just there aren’t any here, or if they’re somewhere else, or given how poor the weather’s been, that we just have not had a sufficient survey effort yet,” George said.

Whale-spotting flights were underway as of press time Tuesday, by Sea to Shore Alliance — a nonprofit working with DNR — and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Researchers estimate there are roughly 450 right whales in existence. About 100 of those are breeding females, scientists believe. There were 17 right whale deaths recorded in 2017.

“No one’s flown for about a week, because as you know, the weather’s been pretty poor — it’s either been windy or overcast or icy, or what have you,” George said.

Glenn Patterson announced he will run for Fannin County Commission District 2.

Speaking of the incumbent and possible challenger for the Republican nomination, Larry Joe Sosebee, Patterson stated, “I know the incumbent. We went to school together, and I think he is a good man, but I want to offer my services to the county.”

Margaret Williamson will run against Georgia House Speaker David Ralston in the May 22d Republican Primary.

Already having begun the process of running for the House District 7 seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, Williamson acknowledged in her statement that she has mailed the “Declaration to Accept Campaign Contributions” form to the Georgia State Transparency & Campaign Finance Committee.

After approval of this form, Williamson’s next step will be to complete the qualifying process held in March of this year. The qualifying will officially make Williamson a candidate in the Republican Primary for Georgia State House Representative, District 7.

Two Aldermen in Guyton must apologize to a resident in a spat over campaign signage.

Magistrate Rhonda Sexton on Jan. 10 denied applications for warrants by Aldermen Michael Johnson and Joseph Lee against Pat McCall.

McCall lives on Central Boulevard, across from the elementary school.

Sexton ordered Johnson and Lee to apologize to McCall in writing by Feb. 13 and apologize to her at the Feb. 13 city council meeting. If they do not apologize, the matter will return to the Magistrate Court docket at 8:45 a.m. Feb. 21.

“Those two guys came into that hearing pretty arrogant and they walked out pretty humble,” said Dennis Dozier, McCall’s attorney.

McCall said she doesn’t understand why Johnson and Lee pursued the case, particularly after the election. She was angry that she had to spend time, effort and about $2,000 to defend herself.

“I was charged with trespassing on my own property,” she said. “It’s like the Twilight Zone.”

She said she would have to go to small claims court to try to collect legal fees from the aldermen, and that would cost her more money.

Johnson and Lee asked that McCall be charged with “removing campaign signs,” which the magistrate construed as asking for a criminal trespass charge that can lead to arrest, Dozier said.

McCall said Johnson and Lee maintained that there is a law in all 50 states that prevents anyone other than candidates from removing campaign signs.

Dozier said he knows of no such laws but he does know of a state law that prevents people from putting signs on someone else’s property without their permission.

The Rome-Floyd County Development Authority is asking local legislators for legislation to forgive debt attached to property of the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital.

Coweta County legislators met with local leaders to discuss fighting opioid addiction.

Local lawmakers met with representatives of Coweta’s business, government, medical, law enforcement, addiction recovery and education community on Tuesday to discuss the need for an advisory council to address the alarming rise in drug abuse locally.

“We can fight it with legislation at the federal level, we can fight it with legislation from the state level, but we’re truly not going to fix the problem unless we start at the local level and work from the ground up,” State Sen. Matt Brass told the more than 70 people who attended a breakfast meeting for the Coweta County Opioid Substance Abuse Project at Newnan Utilities. “That’s why we’re here.”

Coweta is one of a group of Georgia counties targeted for drug crisis intervention funded by a $13 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, according to Brass. The State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grant will support DBHDD and other community providers combatting opioid addiction through prevention, treatment, and recovery services, according to the DBHDD website.

Coweta County averaged 14 overdose deaths per year from 2012-16, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health, which was three times the number from 15 years before. Brass, who co-sponsored the meeting with State Rep. Josh Bonner, said that’s unacceptable.

“This is my home, our home,” Brass said. “I grew up here. I’ve seen families torn apart, friends who have lost wives, children – some of the stories you hear will tear your heart apart.”