Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 29, 2015

President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his eighth visit to Warm Springs, Georgia on July 29, 1927.

Congress passed legislation establishing the National Aeronautic and Space Admininistration (NASA) on July 29, 1958.

The Doors’ “Light My Fire” became their first #1 hit on July 29, 1967.

Carl Lewis won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the long jump at the Atlanta Olympics on July 29, 1996.

Yesterday, the last active M35 “Deuce and a Half” truck in service at Robins Air Force Base was moved to the Museum of Aviation and into the history books.

Georgia Politics

Republican J. Max Davis and Democrat Taylor Bennett will meet August 6th for a candidate forum at Oglethorpe University.

The Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce announced July 27 that it would host the forum on Aug. 6 at Lupton Hall on the Oglethorpe University campus. The forum is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Democrat Taylor Bennett, a lawyer and former Georgia Tech football player, and J.Max Davis, a lawyer and the former mayor of Brookhaven, collected the most votes in the four-candidate field seeking the post in the July 14 runoff. Under Georgia law, when no candidate collects more than half the votes cast in an election, the top two finishers face one another in a runoff.

Davis and Bennett meet in the runoff election Aug. 11. During the forum, the candidates will answer only questions submitted in advance and presented through a moderator. To submit a question, go here.

In the runoff election for House District 155, Clay Pirkle has taken to Facebook to remind voters that early voting has begun.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Horace Hudgins is holding meet-and-greets for voters.

Macon has won the award for best-tasting water from the Georgia Association of Water Professionals.

The Augusta City Commission passed an ordinance levying a stormwater fee to be added to water bills.

Debated by the commission since February, the fee is projected to generate some $14 million annually for maintenance and upkeep of Augusta’s aging storm drainage system.

The proposed fee for a typical household is $6.40 a month, although large property owners will be subject to a higher fee based on their square footage of non-draining surface.

Engineering Director Abie Ladson said residents will receive a pilot bill within 30 to 60 days that includes their estimated fee. More information about the fee will be posted on a Web site, or customers can call Engineering to find out their fee amounts, he said.

Stormwater foes, meanwhile, vowed to fight the fee. Former commissioner Moses Todd unveiled an “Ax the Tax” advertising campaign Tuesday seeking signatures for a petition to repeal the ordinance.

Claiming the fee is “a tax against the church, the poor and schools,” one version of the ad includes the direct telephone numbers of all 10 commissioners.

The Gwinnett County Commission made Alan Chapman the permanent Transportation Director, while the county prepares for public hearings on changes to the comprehensive transportation plan.

County leaders recently embarked on a major, 18-month comprehensive transportation plan overhaul that will require public input before a final plan is put into place. Commissioners approved a $1.25 million contract last week with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. to serve as a consultant on the comprehensive plan re-write.

Transportation Director Alan Chapman sat down with the Daily Post on Tuesday and explained that a time line for the beginning of the public feedback process has not been finalized. He hoped to have the first steps needed before it can begin — a project management plan and a public involvement plan — in place by the end of the year, however.

“We’ve got to beat the holidays because people are going to be busy from around the middle of November through the end of the year,” Chapman said.

The county’s original transportation plan was developed in 2001 and there have been two updates since then. The last update was done around 2007 when the economy was on the verge of a long recession.

“This is going to be our first major reworking of the entire plan,” Chapman said.

Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division has developed a draft plan for wildlife mangement, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“It’s a plan of action for conserving wildlife before it becomes too rare or too costly to conserve,” said Mary Pfaffko, assistant chief of non-game conservation within the Wildlife Resources Division of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources. “It’s a guide that helps us focus conservation efforts where they’re needed the most.”

The 248-page plan, now in draft form, was organized by DNR with input from more than 100 conservation partners, including other agencies, nonprofits, universities, businesses, landowners and the public. More than two years in the making, the plan identifies climate change as an “emerging issue” for the state, one that particularly affects coastal habitats because of the associated sea level rise.

“While much of the coast of Georgia is well situated for the next 30 years due to the predominance of high elevations, the vast expanses of salt marsh will begin fragmenting substantially over that period, and will be followed by marsh drowning on a large scale,” the plan states.

Henry County has closed two dog parks for 30 days to prevent the spread of canine flu in the county.

Because DeKalb

After an Ethics Board hearing that was to hear charges against County Commissioner Stan Watson was cancelled for lack of a quorum, iCEO Lee May nominated two new members, bringing the Ethics Board back to its full seven members and making it easier to get a quorum of four members.

May appointed Attorney Christopher E. Bruce who is a DeKalb County resident and a Workers’ Compensation Associate with Speed, Seta, Martin and Trivett in Lawrenceville. He previously worked in the office of the DeKalb Solicitor General and earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law.

Nikki Forman, a DeKalb County resident and a Marketing Communications Coordinator for DeKalb Regional Health System in Decatur, was also appointed. She was previously a Communications Specialist with the South Georgia Medical center in Valdosta and earned her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

“These appointments bring a wealth of experience and perspective to the DeKalb Board of Ethics and restore the panel to full membership,” said Interim CEO May in a release. “The Ethics Board can proceed with the myriad of important issues before it.”

After a vendor hit a fire hydrant and knocked the entire county’s water system out of commission for the weekend, Republican candidate for State House J. Max Davis is calling for an audit of DeKalb County’s water management.

“The recent threat to the health and safety of DeKalb citizens is a continuing issue that we are all facing,” said Davis. Many businesses were forced to close for the weekend and heading into the week due to the “boil water” notice issued by the county. “It was stunning that DeKalb County businesses and residents experienced 3rd world conditions the past few days as they were denied access to clean water. This is completely unacceptable.”

“Not only can they not handle the basics of water safety,” continued Davis. “But as Mayor of Brookhaven, I responded to hundreds of calls and emails from people who were being wildly overcharged for water service. I was able to help many citizens resolve these outrageous overbilling issues yet problems still persist for many. We need to hold these bureaucrats responsible for their mismanagement.”

Davis is calling for a comprehensive audit that would address maintenance, infrastructure, management and finance within the DeKalb Department of Watershed Management. Contingent upon the results of the audit, he would propose private sector competition to government monopolies like DeKalb Watershed to increase accountability and cut costs to taxpayers.

DeKalb County canceled the contract with USA Management, which provided lifeguard services to Brown’s Mill Aquatic Center after the company could not prove all lifeguard were certified.

“The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted this morning (July 28) to cancel the contract with USA Management, the company providing lifeguard service for the Browns Mill facility,” a press release from the county says. “The termination of the contract follows USA Management’s failure to provide proof of certified lifeguards. DeKalb Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs is working to provide staffing at the location.”

11Alive reports that at least 16 lifeguards at Brown’s Mill could not provide proof of certification as required by the contract.

In June, a child nearly drowned at Brown’s Mill Aquatic Center after a lifeguard called 911 and did not provide CPR.

Deal signed for new inland port

Georgia will team up with Murray County and CSX Corporation to create a second inland port in Chatsworth, Georgia.

The so-called inland port in this small, mountain community is the second in what is planned to be a statewide network of terminals designed to make rail more convenient to shippers. The first is in Cordele. Besides providing an alternative to existing freight, the network is also envisioned as a lure to manufacturers.

Gov. Nathan Deal said the Chatsworth terminal and the potential jobs it could bring is part of the payoff that legislators were promised when they voted to appropriate $266 million in bonds to fund the state’s share of deepening the shipping channel of the Savannah River.

“The message we delivered to legislators who really did not, perhaps, know what the port of Savannah did for our state was this: The port of Savannah is the key to prosperity for the entire state of Georgia,” he told the dignitaries assembled for the ceremony. “Today’s step is a further ratification of that vision and that goal.”

Chambers of commerce and other industry recruiters in the area have already been talking up the terminal as a way to entice manufacturers to bring jobs to the state. And executives from the Volkswagen assembly plant in nearby Chattanooga, Tenn., were interested enough to attend Tuesday’s ceremony.

State taxpayers will put $10 million into development of the Chatsworth project. The Georgia Ports Authority, which will operate it, is putting in another $7.5 million it has earned from port fees. Murray County is investing $1 million in the 42-acre site, and CSX Corporation is putting in $5.5 million.

Once in operation, the Appalachian Regional Port is expected to remove 50,000 semi truckloads yearly from Georgia’s roads between Chatsworth and the Port of Savannah.