Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 18, 2017

The greatest political journalist to ever put pen to paper, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, was born on July 18, 1929. That makes today “Gonzo Day.” You have been warned.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a third term at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 18, 1940.

President Harry S. Truman signed the second Presidential Succession Act on July 18, 1947

The original succession act designated the Senate president pro tempore as the first in line to succeed the president should he and the vice president die unexpectedly while in office. If he for some reason could not take over the duties, the speaker of the house was placed next in the line of succession. In 1886, during Grover Cleveland‘s administration, Congress removed both the Senate president and the speaker of the house from the line of succession. From that time until 1947, two cabinet officials, (their order in line depended on the order in which the agencies were created) became the next in line to succeed a president should the vice president also become incapacitated or die. The decision was controversial. Many members of Congress felt that those in a position to succeed the president should be elected officials and not, as cabinet members were, political appointees, thereby giving both Republican and Democratic parties a chance at controlling the White House.

In 1945, then-Vice President Truman assumed the presidency after Franklin Roosevelt died of a stroke during his fourth term. As president, Truman advanced the view that the speaker of the house, as an elected official, should be next in line to be president after the vice president. On July 18, 1947, he signed an act that resurrected the original 1792 law, but placed the speaker ahead of the Senate president pro tempore in the hierarchy.

On July 18, 1988, the Democratic National Convention opened at the Omni in Atlanta. That night, actor Rob Lowe would shoot a videotape in a hotel with two hairdressers, one 22 and one 16. Several weeks later, the era of the celebrity sex tape began.

On July 18, 2000, United States Senator Paul Coverdell died of a cerebral hemorrhage. I remember where I was when I heard the news.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced yesterday that he will not run for reelection in 2018. I first heard about it from Tim Bryant on Twitter.

And from BusinessInsurance.com:

Mr. Hudgens, a Republican who served in the Georgia House of Representatives and state Senate, said in a statement that “after much thought, prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided not to seek a third term” as Georgia’s insurance commissioner.

“I am immensely grateful for the opportunity that the people of this State have given me to serve in this capacity,” the statement continued, “but I look forward to retiring from elected office to spend more time with my wife Suzanne, my four kids, and 12 grandchildren.”

“While I am retiring from elected political office, I intend to stay involved in politics,” Mr. Hudgens said.

Likely Republican candidates to succeed Hudgens include Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence, former Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck, former State Senator Judson Hill, and Mark Shane Mobley of Macon.

On the Democratic side, Georgians for a Healthy Future Executive Director Cindy Zeldin will run, as will Tomeka Marie Kimbrough.

Gwinnett County property owners took both sides on a proposal to increase the property tax millage rate.

On top of growth in the county’s property value-based tax digest, county officials want to increase the general operations millage rate from 6.826 to 7.4 mills. The millage rate is one of the factors that determines how much a person has to pay in property taxes from year-to-year.

An increase in the rate means taxes will go up, but the exact amount per home varies depending on the fair market and taxable values, as well as whether the homeowner has homestead and value offset exemptions.

“We’ve got to tighten up on y’all’s spending on what we’re doing in the county,” Dacula resident Ralph Williams said. “We want this hometown feeling, but we’re spending it just like it’s the City of Atlanta. Now, you can’t have both because it doesn’t work.”

Meanwhile, Peachtree Corner resident Teddy Murphy said, “If this is a millage rate increase to help pay police officers more and support what they do in the community, then I think it’s 100 percent absolutely worth it.”

[Commissioners] are scheduled to take up the issue at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, as part of their business meeting at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, which is located at 75 Langley Drive, in Lawrenceville.

Cobb County Commissioners also began public hearings on raising the property tax millage rate.

Cobb Chairman Mike Boyce faced a packed room of community members Monday night, but only a handful expressed open opposition to his plan to raise property taxes.

Among the few who did so was Trish Hay of south Cobb, who questioned Boyce on his reasoning for the tax increase. The county chairman has contended that the proposed rate increase of 0.13 mills is needed even amid growth in the county’s tax digest in order to pay for services that were furloughed or cut out during the recession, as well as covering ongoing costs.

Hay asked Boyce why the county was not looking at potential cuts in services in order to find areas to save money.

“Why don’t they cut instead of always raising our taxes? They’re always talking about raising — (but) when do they ever stop? They never cut,” Hay said after Monday’s meeting. “I felt this was deja vu, with the Braves all over again — we’re just going to get it rammed down our throat.”

Part of the county’s general fund millage rate goes to cover the bonds on SunTrust Park in Cumberland, but Boyce’s proposed increase of 0.13 mills in the total county-assessed millage is the result of the Board of Commissioners’ decision earlier this year to fund a portion of the 2008 parks bonds.

Grayson City Council kept the millage rate unchanged for a third year in a row.

Elected officials in Augusta are discussing whether to tear down a currently-unused jail.

Work requirements for food-stamp recipients in Georgia appear to be reducing the numbers on the rolls.

Work requirements have halved the number of single adults receiving food stamps in Hall County and in 23 other counties.

The number of able-bodied adults without dependents getting food stamps in Hall County fell from 529 people in 2016 to 264 at the start of 2017, according to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.

Single adults earning less than $1,287 a month are eligible for a maximum $194 in food assistance each month.

In January 2016, a federal waiver from work requirements that were created for federal welfare programs in the 1990s was removed from Hall, Gwinnett and Cobb counties because of their strong economies and low unemployment.

Augusta University held a forum on the new “campus carry” laws in effect.

Carrying a concealed weapon on the Augusta University campus is now generally permitted but a series of places where it is not left faculty and staff with a number of questions and concerns.

AU officials held a forum Monday afternoon for faculty and staff at its Summerville Campus and will have another on July 28 on the Health Sciences Campus, with more coming in August, said AU Chief of Police James C. Lyon. The university is operating under edicts promulgated by the University System of Georgia, which opposed the bill before it became law and went into effect July 1. It permits concealed weapon holders to carry a handgun in a concealed manner on campus but with a number of notable places where it is not permitted:

It is that last exemption [classrooms in which a high school student is enrolled] that created many of the questions. It is the responsibility of the permit holder seeking to carry a gun on campus to check with the Registrar to find out if any high school students are enrolled in the class, Lyon said. It is also the ongoing responsibility of the permit holder to find out if a high school student adds the class later, officials said.

Some of the exemptions created a kind of Catch-22 for faculty. For instance, faculty can carry a concealed weapon into a classroom that does not have a high school student but because offices are exempt, it is forbidden there.

“They cannot bring it into their own office,” said AU General Counsel Chris Melcher. “We are following the law.”

Flooring manufacturer Beaulieu Group filed bankruptcy on Monday, and say it will not likely affect its 2500 employees.

Dalton-based Beaulieu Group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Rome. Chapter 11 is often called reorganization bankruptcy because it allows a firm to reorganize its debt, as opposed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in which a company is typically liquidated. In most Chapter 11 cases, the court does not appoint a trustee but allows the debtor to continue to run the business.

“Beaulieu family members and our board of managers believe pursuing a restructuring through chapter 11 is the best path forward at this time,” said Michael Pollard, president of Beaulieu Group, in a press release.

It has some 2,500 employees in 12 locations, mostly in northwest Georgia, including corporate headquarters in Dalton and three plants and a distribution center in Whitfield County. As a privately owned company, it does not report revenues.

Warner Robins City Council approved a charter amendment to require at least 4 months reserve funding at all times.

The city currently requires two and half months of a reserve fund, which has been used in recent years to balance the budget.

The council approved the amendment 5-1, with Councilman Mike Davis casting the lone vote against it.

Violent crime in Savannah dipped slightly for the first six months of 2017, according to the Savannah Morning News.

In recent years, violent crime in Savannah has been as high as it’s been since the early 1990s, when the Ricky Jivens Gang terrorized the streets. In 2015, metro investigated 53 homicides. In 2016, the number dropped slightly to 50. The most ever recorded in the city was 60, back in 1991.

So far in 2017, there have been 25 homicides in the Savannah-Chatham police jurisdiction. At this point in 2016, there were 30.

Earlier this year, Savannah saw the longest stretch without a homicide in three years. From March 6 to April 24, metro tallied no killings. The last time the city went 49 days without a homicide was April 2014.

[Mayor Eddie] DeLoach said any decrease in violent crime numbers is a welcome one.

“The numbers, whether (the public) feel they’re moving fast enough or quick enough, they’re moving in the right direction from one year to the next,” DeLoach said. “They’ve headed down, and that’s what we promised we would get done.”

According to numbers from Savannah-Chatham police at the start of July, overall violent crime — which includes homicide, rape, commercial, street and residential robberies, aggravated assault with a gun and aggravated assault without a gun — is down by 6 percent compared to the same time last year. The largest dip in violent crime was in street robbery; on July 1, there had been 117 robberies in 2017, compared to the 180 in 2016.

Muscogee County School Board members appointed a committee to supervise projects funded by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) approved by voters in March 2015.

Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren held the annual Corn Boilin’ fundraiser yesterday.

Among those in attendance were several gubernatorial hopefuls: state Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Smyrna, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

The charity gathering was started by former Cobb Sheriff Bill Hutson in 1990 as a campaign event, but over the years has evolved into something much greater: a community gathering where Cobb residents can mingle with elected officials on both sides of the aisle, a place where folks can catch up with each other before diving into plates of delicious food.

What began as an event for about 50 or 60 people quickly grew and now boasts crowds of closer to 2,000, organizers said. Proceeds from admission prices go toward funding the Cobb County Youth Museum, which teaches local youngsters about historical events that helped shape the world.

State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-west Cobb, who spent all afternoon cooking in the hot sun, spoke with the MDJ after pausing to take a seat and enjoy a chocolate covered ice cream bar.

Tippins has volunteered for the event each of the last 28 years. The Corn Boilin’, he said, began with them cooking around an old wash pot they heated with burning wood.

2017 Elections

Sandy Springs City Council members Andy Bauman and John Paulson will both seek reelection in November’s municipal elections.

Andy Bauman, who represents District 6, and John Paulson of District 1 said Monday they are both running for additional four-year terms on the council. Both men made their announcements separately.

The city’s general election is slated for Nov. 7, and the office of mayor as well as the six City Council seats are up for grabs. Qualifying for the elections will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21 through Thursday, Aug. 24 and from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, Aug. 25. The qualifying fees for mayor is $1,000 and $540 for the city council seats.

Flowery Branch City Council member Joe Anglin announced he will run for reelection.

2018 Elections

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle announced that 58 Sheriffs from across Georgia have endorsed his 2018 campaign for Governor.

Casey Cagle, the leading conservative Republican for governor, announced today that 58 sheriffs across Georgia have endorsed him. The announcement of this statewide network of respected and trusted leaders follows Cagle’s unmatched fundraising haul of $2.7 million in just two months, and the endorsements of 64 elected officials in Northwest Georgia alone.

“You simply don’t receive such widespread support without being a proven leader,” said Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle. “Casey’s unwavering commitment to the law enforcement community is most impressive. In fact, his first stop as a candidate for governor was a visit with our law enforcement officers.”

“Casey is our go-to guy,” said Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway. “He is a proven leader that always delivers for the law enforcement community. He has also led to protect Georgians by eliminating sanctuary cities in our state, and I fully support Casey Cagle’s candidacy for governor.”

“The sheriffs are among the most respected and trusted leaders in communities all across our state,” said Cagle. “I am humbled to have the support of these selfless public servants. We are all indebted to the brave men and women that wear the badge and put their lives on the line for us. When I am governor, I will continue to fight tirelessly to support our law enforcement heroes.”

Cagle has pledged to cut taxes by $100 million in his first 100 days, deliver a comprehensive 10-year infrastructure plan, and create 500,000 new jobs in the first four years of his administration. He has also made workforce development a top priority, and will continue to lead on developing a world-class education system in Georgia.

Georgia Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer spoke about his campaign for Lt. Governor in Hall County.

First elected in 2002, Shafer is now running to replace Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle as Georgia’s next lieutenant governor in the 2018 election — a step up in his leadership of the Senate. He’s raised about $900,000 in his race against Rep. Geoff Duncan, R-Cumming, and Sen. Rick Jeffares, R-McDonough, for the second-most powerful seat in the state.

Shafer had an introduction and endorsement from Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, who introduced and praised the Duluth senator and said he’ll “make a terrific lieutenant governor.”

On policy fronts — beyond reducing the welfare state “in a very serious way” — Shafer touted his work capping the state income tax at 6 percent and moving the Georgia General Assembly to a zero-based budgeting system, in which one-eighth of the budget is rebuilt “from scratch” each year, forcing department heads to justify their spending requests.

He criticized state spending on “soft” programs and said the legislature’s recent changes on motor fuel taxes have set the state up well to pay for new roads and bridges. He noted that he does not support expanding MARTA northward and thinks Gov. Nathan Deal was right to refuse Medicaid expansion.

Shafer also noted that he supports the lieutenant governor’s current scope of power in the capital.

“If I become lieutenant governor, I don’t want to change the rules at all,” he said. “I don’t want to try to take more power for the (position). I don’t want to see any power taken away.”