Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 18, 2023

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

File Under: Bidenomics Success. Metro Atlanta has the second highest inflation rate in the nation, according to The Center Square.

“With costs coming down, wages rising, and unemployment at historic lows, Bidenomics is delivering real results for working Georgians,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson Ellie Schwartz said in a statement.

However, a new WalletHub analysis of the 23 major MSAs found inflation in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell Metropolitan Statistical Area is rising the second most in the nation.

“It registers a 4.60% increase in inflation compared to last year and a 1.20% spike in the last couple of months,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told The Center Square via email. “Fed rate hikes are slowly reducing inflation nationally, but the Atlanta metro area is still one of the most affected by the increase in prices. The housing and energy costs are barely budging, meaning the area is one of the slowest to recover from the pervasive inflation.”

Meanwhile, the new National Federation of Independent Business Index found small business optimism increased slightly last month. However, many Georgia small businesses remain concerned about inflation and labor quality.

“Small business optimism nationwide was up a bit in June, but it’s still not as strong as it should be,” NFIB State Director Hunter Loggins said in a statement. “Our members say inflation and labor quality are their biggest challenges right now, which is troubling. It means prices are high, and Main Street businesses can’t always find enough workers to provide the level of service their customers expect.”

United States Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona suggested more student debt relief might be coming, according to Atlanta News First via WRDW.

Sec. Cardona participated in an event at Agnes Scott College a few days after the Biden administration announced a plan to forgive the debts of around 800,000 borrowers totaling around $39 billion in relief. As part of that plan, many borrowers who have already been repaying their school loans for 20 to 25 years will see their debt disappear entirely.

“The goal is to be able to pay what you can afford,” said Cardona. “Right now people are falling into default because the college loan payments are too high for the salaries.”

Cardona didn’t go into detail about any of the administration’s future plans for debt forgiveness but said the U.S. Supreme Court “got it wrong” when they struck down Biden’s original plan. That plan would have forgiven around 40 million borrowers, far more than the 800,000 forgiven last week.

“Clearly, we’re not done fighting for the borrowers,” he said. “We’re not done fighting for accessible higher education and that’s something we’re going to be committed to.”

Governor Kemp reiterated that he’s not running for President, according to The Hill via WSAV.

“In politics, there’s always doors opening and closing. I got a great job right now. I personally feel like having more people in the race does not help us win and beat Joe Biden,” Kemp told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “So, you know, I’m certainly not running for president. But there’s always doors opening in politics depending on how things play out, and we’ll see what happens.”

As he has done repeatedly in the past, the governor called on current GOP front-runner and former President Trump to “be forward-thinking” and abandon his narrative of false claims surrounding the 2020 election.

“If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said, later adding, “There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia.”

Trump’s push there is currently the subject of a criminal investigation headed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that is expected to see final charging decisions next month.

Kemp said he’s “disappointed that it’s taken this long.”

“People are wondering, like, why has this taking so long?… Why haven’t we had resolution? So, I think I think that just sows distrust in the system, which is unfortunate. That’s not what people should be feeling, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. So, it is, you know, in my eyes, frustrating but we’ll see what she comes out with at the appropriate time,” he said.

“He was mad at me. I was not mad at him. I told him exactly what I could and couldn’t do when it came to the election and I followed the law and the Constitution. And as I’ve said before, that’s a lot bigger than Donald Trump. It’s a lot bigger than me. It’s a lot bigger than the Republican Party,” Kemp said Monday.

“But despite all of those things, I believe anybody running for president right now as a Republican, that would be better than what we’re seeing with the Biden-Harris administration.”

He said he would “certainly” back the eventual GOP nominee, even if it’s Trump.

“I think he can [win Georgia] because Joe Biden has been such a bad president. His approval ratings are just terrible in the state of Georgia right now. So I think he can,” he said. “I also think he can lose Georgia if he’s not doing what I said: telling people what he’s for, staying focused on the race, quit looking back at the 2020 election. I mean, for goodness sakes, it was two-and-a-half, three years ago now. The American people want to know: What are you gonna do for me to help me offset the bad policies of Joe Biden?”

The Georgia Supreme Court rejected a motion by former President Trump’s lawyers to prevent an indictment in Fulton County, according to CNN via the Albany Herald.

The Georgia Supreme Court has dismissed a longshot legal bid from former President Donald Trump to essentially shut down the Fulton County criminal probe into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

The court said in a five-page ruling issued Monday that its decision was unanimous.

From the Capitol Beat News Service:

Trump’s lawyers claimed the special purpose grand jury process was a violation of their client’s constitutional rights and that as a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, he would suffer “irremediable reputational harm” if he were forced to defend himself against a criminal indictment during the campaign.

While the Georgia Supreme Court has the authority to exercise original jurisdiction in “extremely rare situations,” the justices ruled Monday that Trump has not demonstrated a need for the court to pursue that route.

“The Court has made clear that a petitioner cannot invoke this Court’s original jurisdiction as a way to circumvent the ordinary channels for obtaining the relief he seeks without making some showing that he is being prevented fair access to those ordinary channels,” the justices wrote in a joint opinion.

“He makes no showing that he has been prevented fair access to the ordinary channels. Notably, Petitioner does not assert that the superior court has denied him the opportunity or ability to seek therein the relief he now requests from this Court.”

Fort Gordon will be officially renamed Fort Eisenhower at a ceremony on October 27, 2023, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The ceremony to rename the base after former President Dwight D. Eisenhower will be open to the public, but those without Department of Defense IDs will have to pre-register to get on post.

“Rising from second lieutenant to commander-in-chief, Eisenhower’s extensive, innovative, and effective military experience and leadership shaped our modern world,” Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton, commanding general for Fort Gordon and the Cyber Center, was quoted as saying in a news release. “His dedication to ensuring equal rights for soldiers and citizens alike continues to be an example and inspiration for the present and future soldiers of the Army he so faithfully served and decisively led.”

The City of Rincon Recreation Department is closed after all three employees left, according to WTOC.

According to the City Manager Jonathan Lynn, the three employees that make up the recreation department have all resigned from their positions.

Baker County Sheriff Dana Meade is having trouble hiring a new deputy, according to WALB.

In June, Baker County was awarded $226,244 for a new deputy and their benefits. Baker Co. Sheriff Dana Meade says he hasn’t received any applicants for the position.

“Law enforcement in general now has a bad name. You know not everybody is bad?” Meade said.

“I was elected to do a job, and in my opinion, I’m not doing that job the best it can be done,” Meade said.

“We have a very good relationship with the community. Very good. People don’t have issues with us because the way we treat them,” Meade said.

Meade said although they try to inspire the next generation, many kids in Baker County want to leave town or don’t want to be in law enforcement.

The sheriff said he can’t compete with other counties’ offers of insurance and a matched retirement plan. That’s the case even with the grant money.

“In my opinion, you’re never going to get people interested in coming to work if you have nothing to offer,” Meade said.

Below is a list of what local law enforcement agencies are offering:

• Albany Police Department is offering $50,000 for starting pay with a recent 13.5% pay bonus
• Crisp County nearly $47,000
• Leesburg police are offering between $42,720-$44,882
• Moultrie police and Tifton police about $41,500
• Cairo police are offering $37,000 to 40,000

Many of the departments listed above also have benefits like insurance and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).

Staffing issues continue to be an issue across South Georgia. Tom Gieryic is hosting a 5k race to help the issue in Dougherty County and Lee County. Albany is short 40 officers. The race is in two weeks, on Saturday, July 29. All proceeds will go towards community outreach events for first responders, including the department fire and EMS. He hopes this makes kids want to be in law enforcement when growing up.

Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department will provide School Resource Officers at more local schools, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Under contracts the county commissioners were set to approve Tuesday, July 18, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office will provide a deputy as school resource officer at private Bulloch Academy and will also expand SRO service in the public school system to include a deputy assigned to Brooklet Elementary School.

Bulloch Academy, with more than 700 students the largest private school in the county, will pay the same basic annual cost per officer as the Bulloch County Schools for the services of each deputy through the days school is in session, $52,450 and change. That amount would automatically increase by 3% for each year the contract remains in effect after its initial term of July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

As in past contracts between the Bulloch County Schools and the Sheriff’s Office, the payments from the schools are meant to compensate the county not just for a large part of the deputies’ salaries but for a portion of the costs of their uniforms and equipment, vehicles, training and insurance.

“Basically, the school board pays a portion and we pay a portion, kind of a happy medium,” said Sheriff Noel Brown. “The implementing of it is about half and half, as far as the vehicle, the equipment and the person, and then it goes just into hourly wage or salary thereafter.”

Under the contract terms, school resource officers are expected to be on the grounds of assigned schools from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. when classes are in session. For any work performed by SROs at school after-hours, such as during extracurricular activities, the public school district and the private academy will pay an hourly rate of $36.

“We re-evaluated the cost model because of wage and non-wage price increases, and what we do is we take the base salary and project some overtime, but then we use an indirect cost formula based on the amount of overhead … and we amortize the price of a sheriff’s vehicle,” [County Manager Tom Couch] said.

Brunswick City Council will consider a proposed contract with the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office for supplemental services, according to The Brunswick News.

A draft contract calls for supplementing police services with deputies when necessary.

“It’s the same thing we did for the county police when we were needing assistance for them to back (Brunswick Police Department officers) up on shift work, (and) making sure we have something in place to reimburse the sheriff,” said City Manager Regina McDuffie.

Under the agreement, the city would pay $37 an hour for a deputy and $43 an hour for any overtime. If a sergeant is required, the city will pay $42 an hour and $50 an hour for any overtime.

If approved, the contract will be automatically renewed on a monthly basis for three months. Cancelation is subject to 30 days notice.

The terms of the contract are similar to the one the city signed with the Glynn County Police Department in May 2022. City commissioners will consider extending that contract through March 2024.

Augusta Commissioner Sean Frantom believes the city can afford a full rollback of the property tax millage rate to offset rising assessments, according to WJBF.

“We’ve reassessed a lot of values two years in a row now I know I’ve got call people have gone 60 70 even one hundred percent in value increase,” said Commissioner Sean Frantom.

Commissioners can lessen the impact by approving the roll back tax rate, that vote expected next month.

“It absolutely can be done because the new properties in the digest over last year if we do a full roll back it looks like we’ll have enough money that is barring any new requests,” said Frantom.

The Gwinnett County Board of Education kept the property tax millage rate the same for the coming Fiscal Year, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The Gwinnett County Board of Education adopted a maintenance and operations millage rate of 19.2 mills and a debt service millage rate of 1.45 mills last week. District officials said the maintenance and operations millage rate will enable Gwinnett County Public Schools to pay for planned salary increases for district employees and fund a salary supplement which will be paid out to many district employees this fall.

School taxes make up the largest portion of a property owner’s property tax bill, although it is not the only part. The bills also contain taxes raised through a separate millage rate set by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners and, if the property is located inside a city’s incorporated limits, municipal property taxes that are set by city councils.

Although the millage rates for school taxes will remain the same as they were last year, property owners can expect to owe more in taxes if the value of their property increase this year.

An example given during public hearings which were held on the property tax rates showed a home whose appraised value increased from $445,000 last year to $469,700 this year would see their estimated taxes increase from about $3,341 last year to about $3,530 this year.

Floyd County Board of Education members hosted a public meeting to discuss proposed millage rates, according to the Rome News Tribune.

As part of the millage rate discussion the county school system is seeking to lower its millage rate from 17.95 in 2022 to 17.70 for 2023, which will still be an effective tax increase of 6.92%. A tax rate of one mill represents one dollar in tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.

School bus driver shortages persist and affect Georgia systems, according to The Current.

the 2022 regional commercial driver shortage meant the [Chatham] county school system had to ration school bus service and transportation to their family’s preferred public school — Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts — was cut. Del Razo left his job driving for the private St. Andrew’s School and chauffeured his daughter to classes.

Less than three weeks before the 2023 school year starts, the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System driver shortage is worse than ever. As of July 12, the district has only 154 confirmed drivers. Last year they had 222, while in 2019, 328 drivers worked for the schools, according to a transportation update presented to the school board in January.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the district’s challenges recruiting and retaining drivers. Tight labor markets mean their skills are in high demand, from logistics companies, the port and even other school districts, while years of underfunding school transport by the state has left local administrators with steep challenges in servicing their bus fleets.

Vanessa Miller-Kagler, SCCPSS Chief Operations Officer, announced to the board at its July 12th meeting the district has set the starting salary for drivers at $18.67 per hour, higher than it has ever been. The district is also transitioning many drivers from 5 hour schedules to 8 hours.

However, rising private sector wages still outpace the school district. The average salary for a port driver in Savannah is around $30 per hour, according to Zip Recruiter. When Del Razo drove for St. Andrew’s private school in 2021, CDL-certified drivers were paid $18 per hour, while non-CDL certified drivers were paid $16 per hour, he said.

State Rep. Shelly Hutchison (D-Snellville) was chosen by the Council of State Governments for a leadership program, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The Council of State Governments picked Hutchinson to participate in its 2023 Henry Toll Fellowship. Each year, since 1986, the council has hosted a new class of fellows in Lexington, Ky. for what is essentially a “boot camp” for officials working in state government, according to the Georgia House of Representatives. Participants in the program are nominated by their peers and alumni of the program pick each year’s class of fellows.

United States Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) announced $15 million in federal funding for Head Start programs in the Augusta area, according to WRDW.

$15 million is set to help 11 of our local counties’ Head Start programs.

In the CSRA, there’s a need. Ossoff says it comes down to education and poverty due to COVID.

With the poverty level in Augusta nearly double the state level, Ossoff says he’s putting a stop to children suffering from it.

In order to meet the need, the CSRA Economic Opportunity Authority has a local Head Start program.

Interim Executive Director Mary Harrison said: “We do health, vision, dental screenings, medical screenings, things like that. We also offer play therapy for children who need a little more attention, and have a little bit of behavioral challenges.”

Ossoff says the pandemic is to blame.

“Coming out of the pandemic, there was a real cost, learning loss, socialization, loss. And for three, four, and five year old’s, that early childhood education is essential,” said Sen. Ossoff.

Which is why he says the millions in funding are needed.

“Headstart is a crucial, crucial program to ensure that young children in Georgia have access to the nurturing educational environments that are so essential in early childhood, to nutrition services, to the kind of wraparound services that support the whole family. As they help to lift up these young people. These are essential years in a child’s life, we know that from ages three, four, and five, the cognitive development and the social development that’s ongoing, make a huge difference for the rest of somebody’s entire life,” Ossoff said.

From the Augusta Chronicle:

Standing outside the Central Savannah River Area Economic Opportunity Authority, Ossoff elaborated on the $14.9 million that the CSRA EOA will receive for the Head Start program.

“This extraordinary organization is serving 13 counties, more than 1,400 children, with robust partnerships,” Ossoff said. “With local school districts working alongside of the Georgia pre K program, Head Start is a crucial, crucial program to ensure that young children have access to the nurturing educational environments that are so essential in early childhood, to nutrition services, to the kind of wraparound services that support the whole family.”