Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 28, 2025

On July 28, 1868, United States Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified and was now part of the Constitution. The first section of the 14th Amendment often forms the basis for litigation and reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Georgia initially rejected the 14th Amendment in 1866, later ratifying it on July 21, 1868 as a condition for readmission.

On July 28, 1978, Animal House was released, instantly becoming one of the greatest films of all time. In case you’ve never seen the film, there is a tiny little bit of adult language in the following clip.

On July 28, 1994, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating “The General” locomotive, which was stolen in 1862 during the Great Locomotive Chase. Today, The General may be viewed at The Southern Museum in Kennesaw.

On July 28, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female Presidential nominee for a major party.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

United States Congressman Mike Collins (R-Jackson) announced he is running for U.S. Senate, according to 13WMAZ.

A Georgia congressman, who serves counties just north of Central Georgia, has thrown his hat into the race for U.S. Senate.

Rep. Mike Collins is hoping to go from serving Georgia’s 10th Congressional District and move into the Senate, challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff. Collins made the announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, by sharing a campaign ad.

Touting his work as a businessman and operator of a trucking company, Collins pointed to his conservative credentials and his ties to President Donald Trump while criticizing Ossoff’s liberal policies.

“We need a senator who works for Georgia, not the California crazies,” Collins said in the ad announcing his candidacy. “I don’t know who Jon Ossoff really works for, but it sure as heck isn’t Georgia.”

Collins’ announcement comes as many in the GOP eye Ossoff’s seat, which is considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic Senate seats in the upcoming 2026 election cycle.

Ossoff’s team has emphasized his work calling out bad government, such as problems with the mail service and Georgia’s DFACs, while Collins points to his support for Trump’s GOP priorities.

Among them, Collins pointed to his sponsorship of the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that is named after the Georgia nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant on the University of Georgia’s campus.

Riley’s killing served as a flashpoint in the national conversation around immigration, stoking fears over immigration as Trump made the issue — and Riley’s slaying — a frequent talking point in his campaign.

Collins also points to his critiques of DEI policies and allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.

Collins is a relative newcomer to the world of Washington. He was elected to Congress in 2023 after GOP Rep. Jody Hice announced she was not planning on seeking reelection.

Right now, Georgia Congressman Rep. Buddy Carter has already thrown his hat into the ring. Meanwhile, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King suspended his campaign last week after pushes from Gov. Brian Kemp’s team.

While Kemp decided not to run for Senate, despite pushes from many in the GOP, sources tell 13WMAZ’s sister station 11Alive in Atlanta that Kemp intends to support the soon-to-be-announced candidacy of football coach Derek Dooley, whose father Vince Dooley is a UGA football legend.

From the Associated Press via WSAV:

Georgia Republican Mike Collins on Monday joined the field challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the state the GOP has named as their top target to add a Senate seat in 2026.

A second-term member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, Collins became the newest top Republican to get into the primary race. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter is already running, while state Insurance Commissioner John King dropped out. Also expected to run is former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.

“I don’t know who Jon Ossoff really works for, but it sure as heck isn’t Georgia,” Collins said in a video released Monday. “It’s time to send a trucker to the U.S. Senate, steamroll the radical left, deliver on President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda and put the people of Georgia back in the driver’s seat.”

Collins had been mulling a run since Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced in May that he would not run against Ossoff, depriving Republicans of their top choice to challenge a senator who won the 2021 runoff in the wake of the 2020 election. Twin victories by Ossoff and Raphael Warnock gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate at the time and. It was the first time since 2002 that Georgia had two Democratic senators.

Although Democrats have made Georgia increasingly competitive, Collins is among those who view Ossoff’s election as a fluke and proclaim that the state is still fundamentally conservative.

The 58-year-old Collins is the son of the late Mac Collins, an eight-term Republican congressman who lost his own bid for Senate in 2004. Mike Collins is a co-owner of a family trucking firm and made a losing bid for Congress in 2014. He reemerged to win a 2022 race for an open seat, portraying himself as an everyman trucker and hard-core Donald Trump acolyte. With a big, booming personality and an edgy social media presence, Collins calls himself a “MAGA workhorse.”

Kemp and Trump have met and said they would try to agree on a preferred candidate. Anyone anointed by both would be stamped as the Republican front-runner. Kemp told Collins and others last week that he would support Dooley, but Trump isn’t ready to endorse yet.

Collins has portrayed his interest in the Senate as seeking to best serve Trump.

“I am going to continue to talk with President Trump and his team just about where we can be the best, beneficial, most help in this mission to make sure we get a Republican in the U.S. Senate from Georgia,” Collins said in a July 8 video.

Collins’ district stretches across 18 counties from the eastern suburbs of Atlanta through Athens. His best-known legislative accomplishment is a law passed this year to require the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain undocumented immigrants charged with theft. That was a response to the 2024 murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan man whom federal officials said entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay while he pursued his immigration case.

The representative says he’s someone who can get things done, but often takes a combative approach on social media. In March 2024 he was criticized for promoting a post from an antisemitic account that attacked a Jewish journalist as a “garbage human.” In February 2024, his account on the social media platform X was temporarily suspended after he suggested that a person arrested by federal authorities should be transported by “Pinochet Air,” a reference to people thrown to their deaths from helicopters during the rule of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

That strategy could help Collins draw attention to wield against Ossoff — the only Democratic Senate incumbent seeking reelection in 2026 who represents a state Trump won. But Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey said in a Monday statement that Collins has already proved he’s a “MAGA extremist” and that the campaign will “expose just how out of step Collins is with Georgia voters.”

Ossoff held his second campaign rally July 12 in Savannah. National Republicans have already launched multiple rounds of advertising against him.

Ossoff raised $21 million in the first six months of this year and had $15.5 million in cash on June 30. But that’s only the beginning. Ossoff and Warnock’s twin Senate victories in 2021 cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock’s 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found.

From the AJC:

The Jackson Republican launched his campaign after laying the groundwork for months — locking down endorsements from prominent conservatives, meeting with Trump advisers at the White House and teasing his campaign in an online video urging supporters to “stay tuned.”

Now the race appears headed for a three-way GOP brawl between a trio of unlikely rivals: Collins, a no-holds-barred MAGA loyalist; Carter, a longtime coastal Georgia lawmaker with deep pockets; and Dooley, a political newcomer expected to soon enter the contest.

The son of the late U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, he won his deep-red northeast Georgia seat in 2022 after defeating a Trump-backed rival in a bruising runoff. Since arriving in Washington, he’s carved out a reputation as both a political brawler and a legislative workhorse.

He was the first freshman lawmaker to sponsor a bill signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden. And the first bill inked by Trump after returning to office in January was a Collins-backed immigration crackdown named for slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

He has well-established MAGA credentials, traveling the nation last year campaigning for contenders running on a pro-Trump “America First Congress” platform, and is a regular presence on the Georgia GOP circuit. His fiery memes and culture war broadsides have earned him a devoted base of Trump supporters — and many critics as well.

“This is Georgia’s moment,” he said. “This is the people’s time to take back control of this Senate seat, deliver on President Trump’s America First agenda, and kick Jon Ossoff to the curb — and together, that’s exactly what we will do next November.”

Speaking of the Laken Riley case, the District Attorneys Association of Georgia awarded their President’s Award for Excellence to Shelia Ross, who prosecuted Ms. Riley’s killer. From the Athens Banner Herald:

Shelia Ross, the state prosecutor who successfully prosecuted the man charged in the 2024 killing of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus, was recently honored by the District Attorneys Association of Georgia.

Ross received the President’s Award for Excellence at the statewide conference for district attorneys held recently at the Jekyll Island Convention Center and hosted by the Prosecuting Council of Georgia.

Shelia Ross, a member of the Prosecuting Council, was specially appointed to handle the state’s murder and attempted rape case against Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant who was in the country illegally when he was charged with the crime that garnered nationwide attention.

The award was in recognition of her commitment to justice and the victims of crime, according to a news release from Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley.

“Shelia Ross exemplifies what a prosecutor should be. She handled the immense pressure of prosecuting one of the most high-profile cases in the last decade with grace, tenacity and the upmost professionalism,” McGinley said.

Ross has also handled a murder case in Oconee County and  prosecuted cases in Fulton County, California and Florida, according to McGinty.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship program will open under budget, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Augusta Chronicle.

Thousands of Georgians will soon be spending money from the state’s new subsidy for private K-12 education, as the first quarterly payouts appear in “promise scholarship” accounts.

More than 15,000 students applied for one of the $6,500 annual subsidies, and about 8,500 were approved. That means the state is on track to give about $55 million in taxpayer dollars — far less than budgeted — to families that have chosen private schooling over attendance at their nearby low-performing public school.

To qualify for the payments, most students had to spend a year attending one of the nearly 500 public schools performing in the bottom quarter of state academic measures. But the youngest students have a way around that requirement. Under last year’s law establishing the payments, often referred to as a “voucher,” rising kindergartners need not have attended public school to qualify.

According to new figures from the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which oversees the program, a third of the recipients will be attending kindergarten. Nearly half will be in elementary school, with the rest in seventh through 12th grades.

The money will be paid out quarterly, starting this month. Families can use it for a variety of education-related expenses. Two-thirds said they plan to spend it on tuition, according to the commission. The rest will use it to cover home schooling costs and other allowable expenses, such as tutoring, therapy and curriculum.

Opponents of these vouchers argued they would mostly be used by the wealthy, who are more able to afford the difference between the amount of the subsidy and the cost of private school tuition, which can exceed $10,000 a year.

As state Republican lawmakers were pushing Senate Bill 233 to final passage last year, Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, summarized the opposition, mostly from fellow Democrats.

The vouchers are “a mirage for families like mine and for countless others across our state,” she said on the Senate floor, adding that they would undermine education for kids who don’t choose private school, since public schools would lose state funding for each student who took a voucher.

“It is a battle for the soul of our education system,” Parkes said.

“I’ve got news for you,” responded Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the chief co-sponsor of the bill. “The wealthy already have school choice, including some wealthy members in this room who have been able to exercise school choice for their own children.”

Supporters of the bill, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a month after passage, said the loss of state funding for public schools would not hurt them because they would no longer have to cover the cost of educating the voucher recipients.

The commission reports that three quarters of recipients are “lower-income,” meaning the students are coming from households with incomes at or below four times the federal poverty level. ($106,600 a year for a family of three and $128,600 for a family of four.)

Half of the recipients are Black and a third are white.

Two metro Atlanta districts will lose the most students — DeKalb County, with nearly 900 scholarship recipients, and Henry County, with nearly 800. Others rounding out the top five districts losing students to vouchers are Bibb County, at nearly 600 students; Richmond County at nearly 500, and Savannah-Chatham County with more than 400.

The commission cautioned that the numbers are a moving target because some students may yet opt out. But the participation numbers are well below the $141 million that lawmakers budgeted for this school year.

Tony West, Georgia director of Americans for Prosperity, a group that lobbied for this program, attributed the low participation to several potential reasons: parents haven’t heard of the program yet, they know about it but are skeptical or they did not apply because they do not live in the attendance zone of an eligible public school.

Only 56% of applicants were approved, which suggests that many who applied do not live near an underperforming school. Address and state residency were the two main qualifying criteria.

“I think that strongly suggests that the eligibility requirements are too restrictive,” said West, who noted that 16 states with similar scholarship programs have not based eligibility on address. He can see his group lobbying state lawmakers to convert Georgia’s program to universal access.

“We’ll see what the political appetite is moving forward,” he said.

The State House Study Committee on the Costs and Effects of Smoking held its second meeting, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Daily Citizen.

A medical expert testified about the cornucopia of health risks for young people who vape — risks that science can “extrapolate” from cigarette use.

“They include things like various respiratory illnesses and pneumonias, worsening asthma as well as the risk of developing asthma,” said Dr. Mary Ellen Fain of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Lots of behavioral problems like ADHD, antisocial behavior, middle ear infections that can cause hearing impairment.”

Thursday’s hearing of the House Study Committee on the Costs and Effects of Smoking was the second in a series that started last month. The first hearing focused on smoking and Georgia’s exceedingly low cigarette tax. At 37 cents a pack, it is well below the national average of $1.97. Only Missouri, at 17 cents, charges less.

Testimony Thursday revealed a similar tax policy for vaping. Georgia and 32 other states plus Washington, D.C., have a vape tax policy, said Danny Kanso, an analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

“Among those 33 states, we are at the very bottom,” said Kanso, who said Georgia taxes the product at 5 cents per milliliter while the national average is 82 cents.

No one from the industry spoke this time or at last month’s hearing.

Advocates at both hearings proposed raising the tax rate on tobacco products. They also advised more sales restrictions and cessation programs.

Bonkur, the Tech student, lamented the recent defunding of Georgia’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program, a victim of federal cuts.

The state health department said last month that core tobacco and vaping prevention and cessation programs were still operating, but Bonkur said it was a loss of “instrumental” prevention work, adding that the state should invest more into it.

These temporary study committees take deep dives on complicated topics, then advise the broader General Assembly. No specific tobacco legislation has emerged so far, but this committee will meet one more time to discuss concrete proposals ahead of next year’s legislative session.

The chairwoman, Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, who also leads the House’s standing Public and Community Health Committee, lamented that Congress omitted menthol when it banned cigarette flavors in 2009, suggesting a direction she might want to take.

Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, chairman of the House Health Committee, another key lawmaker on the topic, said he would like to see more transparency requirements for vape product packaging.

“I would like to include in there that the ingredients of these vaping products must be disclosed,” said Hawkins, a dentist who has also been leading a summer study committee on cancer care access. “Because you’re putting all kinds of things in these vaping products, and I think the public and the user should know.”

Augusta Commissioners named Tanya Barnhill Turnley to the District 4 seat vacated by former Commissioner Alvin Mason, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Tanya Barnhill Turnley will serve part of the unexpired term of former Augusta District 4 Commissioner Alvin Mason, who resigned abruptly in June during a commission meeting after citing personal health concerns.

With more than a year left on Mason’s term of office, a special Nov. 4 election, only for District 4 voters, will decide who serves the remainder of Mason’s term through the end of 2026.

Turnley, 68, is a marketing executive who runs TM Consultants in Hephzibah.

She ran for the District 4 seat in 2007 against incumbent Bernard Harper. After her elimination in the race spurred a runoff, she backed former opponent Mason. In subsequent local elections, she was Mason’s campaign manager.

An Atlanta protest warned of the impact of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” according to the AJC.

A protest Saturday in Atlanta was one of dozens in the state and nationwide to target the “big, beautiful bill” passed earlier this month by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

Attendees and speakers during the Families First demonstration at Impact Church on Sylvan Road criticized the law. They said it harmed working families and vulnerable communities by trimming programs associated with Medicaid, food assistance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The pain is just beginning,” said David Schaefer, vice president of research and policy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “We don’t know all the ways that this is going to harm folks, but it’s going to harm folks in a lot of ways.”

Trump signed the bill July 4, saying he was making good on campaign promises by cutting $1.5 trillion in spending.

The “big, beautiful bill” slashes federal budgets and overhauls Medicaid, student loans, tax policy and clean energy programs. It also extends the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts.

Georgia Republicans supported the legislation, including U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rich McCormick.

The Bulloch County Board of Education faces tough financial choices, according to WTOC.

Bulloch County is now facing the harsh reality of layoffs within the school district and an increase of property taxes for residents.

The Bulloch County school district is looking at a $15 million dollar deficit in their fiscal year 2027 budget that is going to impact Bulloch County residents no matter the outcome.

To understand how the board got to this point, WTOC sat down with superintendent Charles Wilson who broke it down.

“The board and I are trying to figure this out as fast as possible, so people have certainty,” said Wilson.

Superintendent Wilson says that the problem arose with the fiscal year 2026 plan.

He says several factors led to the deficit.

The first being the implementation of HB 581 tax relief equating to a $1 million loss.

The second, a massive loss in state funds.

“There were some additional funding adjustments in our state funding formula,” said Wilson. “They are easily explainable and understandable but that hit us with another 8 million profit burden.”

Wilson says the third reason for the deficit is spending on new SRO officers.

The other reasons given include increased athletic supplements and a property tax millage rate rollback.

Wilson says he wants to clear any confusion from the community regarding this deficit happening because of the loss of federal grants from the government that many other schools in the nation may be facing.

“I am not aware of any notification that says that we are not going to receive it and at this time of the year we typically don’t receive those kinds of notifications,” said Wilson.

Wilson says with inflation, this then creates the projected $15 million deficit for the year 2027.

A deficit Wilson says Bulloch County cannot afford.

So, notices of job eliminations for 2027 have already begun.

“Well, a year away has to start now,” said Wilson. “So, know already started conversations of elimination. We started at the district level with district support staff. We already notified those people. The other things being eliminated at the district level include our two alternative programs. We call that the TLC and the Life program.”

This massive deficit would translate to 125 teaching jobs having to be eliminated across the district.

So far, around 10 personnel positions have already been notified.

Wilson and the board are considering an option that would help decrease the number of layoffs needed.

However, this other option would mean increasing property taxes by raising the millage rate up to around 10 mills.

This would raise homeowners’ taxes as early as this fall.

“We are going to find our way through this,” said Wilson. “Right now, unfortunately the discussion we are having is creating anxiety for people and I understand that. I am sorry for that.”

Wilson and the board have called for a public special meeting for Wednesday July 30th to go over what this new millage rate will be for residents.

The meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. in the boardroom of the Board of Education building.

The Barrow County Board of Education voted to rollback the property tax millage rate, according to AccessWDUN.

The Barrow County Board of Education will cover 100% of the costs for school resource officers (SROs) beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

A letter to Superintendent Dr. Dallas Leduff from county manager Srikanth Yamala on May 25 of this year said that beginning on July 1 of this year, the school system would be responsible in-full for all costs associated with the new SROs in addition to its share of the split cost for the original 12 officers.

Barrow County Public Information Officer Brian Stewart explained the reason for the change.

“With the approval by voters of a school tax exemption for senior citizens in Barrow County, it is imperative that Barrow County Government ensure that no county general fund dollars — for which there is no senior exemption — are dedicated to areas that would otherwise be funded by school taxes and the associated millage rate,” Stewart said in a statement. “The Barrow County Board of Commissioners is committed to providing effective and efficient emergency services countywide while maintaining the careful balance of appropriately allocating citizens’ tax dollars for the betterment of every Barrow County citizen.”

Now, the board of education said in its Thursday meeting that they would fund all 24 positions.

The key issue was a senior exemption approved last November where seniors do not pay any school taxes.

“The first senior property tax exemption was in 1998,” Barrow County Tax Commissioner Jessica Garrett said at the meeting.

The exemption approved in November was described in the meeting as a correction due to increasing property values.

Since the first senior exemption nearly 30 years ago, the school system and government in Barrow County has historically split the cost.

District 6 board member Darlene Carey questioned Barrow County Assistant Superintendent Support Services Dr. James Bowen about what a fair compromise might look like.

“In your research of other school systems that are similar to ours , can you please let us know what you believe is a fair compromise monetarily that this board can do or send to the board of commissioners so that our community can continue to heal and become more united,” Carey said.

Bowen said 70 to 80% is “fairly normal.”

The board of education approved a motion to pay 100% of the direct costs for 24 and any future SROs, and would like more discussion on the indirect costs related to the program.

Despite this cost, the board of education also voted to lower the millage rate to the rollback number for fiscal year 2026 of 15.193 mills, down from 15.5 last year.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Office of Downtown Development says their Georgia Main Street Program had an $824 million dollar economic impact, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

In coordination with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) Office of Downtown Development, the Georgia Main Street Program supports 91 designated communities across the state through training, technical assistance and strategic resources. These programs are committed to revitalizing historic downtowns while fostering strong local economies.

In 2024, Georgia’s Main Street programs continued to deliver measurable results across the state. Local programs helped open 677 new businesses and create 3,658 new jobs, while also supporting the construction of 1,861 new housing units. Communities completed 556 public improvement projects and 931 commercial rehabilitation projects, enhancing the look, function and economic potential of their downtowns. Additionally, nearly 17,000 promotional events attracted more than 8.9 million attendees, boosting visibility for small businesses and reinforcing downtown as the heart of community life.

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety awarded a $33k dollar grant to the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Moultrie Observer.

The grant, which will continue through September of 2025, will help finance the purchase of laptop computers, in-car printers and stands for every patrol unit.

“Our goal, with the help of this grant, will make our deputies more efficient when it comes to incident reports, wreck reports and citations. By having these tools, it also speeds up time for our citizens to gain access to the reports they need,” said Sheriff Rod Howell.

“The loss of one life on our roads is one too many, and the fact almost all fatal traffic crashes can be prevented is one reason why we are awarding this grant,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “The target of zero traffic deaths in our nation is achievable, and we will continue to help develop and implement educational messages, enforcement campaigns, and other safety initiatives aimed at bringing us one step closer to our goal.”

The Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office is a rural county of more than 500 square miles. According to the sheriff’s office, not many years ago, they patrolled with three deputies per shift. Now, they have six per shift.

Effingham County schools have deployed weapons detection systems, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The school district now has the Opengate Weapons Detection Systems at every school. They were implemented at South Effingham High School, Effingham County High School and Effingham College and Career Academy this past spring.

“These advanced, touchless scanners are designed to enhance campus safety while allowing for a quick and seamless entry process,” said Ford. “Every student, staff member, and visitor will be required to pass through the Opengate system each day upon arrival, as well as when attending school events. This is part of the district’s continued commitment to providing a safe learning environment for all. Families are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early during the first few days of school and major events to allow time for this new process as everyone adjusts. School administrators and resource officers will be on hand to assist and answer questions.”

Whitfield County Commissioners will meet at 5 PM today, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has called a special meeting Monday at 5 p.m. in the meeting room of the courthouse.

After opening the meeting, commissioners will retire to meet in executive session, closed to the media and the public, to discuss personnel and real estate. Under Georgia’s Open Meetings Act, formal action, such as a vote, cannot be taken within an executive session.

While executive sessions (closed portions of a meeting) are permitted for specific reasons such as personnel matters; negotiations to purchase, dispose of or lease property; or pending litigation, any binding decisions or actions must be made and recorded during a subsequent open public meeting.