Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 16, 2021

On June 16, 1736, General James Oglethorpe arrived in England with Tomochichi, the Yamacraw Indian chief, Tomochichi’s wife and several other members of the tribe on a trip to meet the Georgia Trustees and King George II.

On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Illiniois Republican Convention as a candidate for U.S. Senate and warned that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The Atlanta Constitution was first published on June 16, 1868.

Bob Dylan recorded “Like a Rolling Stone” on June 16, 1965.

The Monterey Pop Festival opened at the Monterey Fairgrounds on June 16, 1967, often considered one of the opening events of the “Summer of Love.” Among the artists playing the Festival were the Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Macon-born Otis Redding.

Six Flags Over Georgia opened on June 16, 1967.

Atlanta Braves player Otis Nixon tied the modern record for steals in one game with six stolen bases agains the Montreal Expos on June 16, 1991.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Centerville City Council Post 1 goes to a runoff election, according to 13WMAZ.

According to Andy Holland with the Houston County Board of Elections, Robert Bird will face Debbie Taylor in a runoff.

Bird received the most votes, gaining 241, or 42.36%.

Taylor ended the race with 183, or 32.16% of the vote, and Susan Lemme finished with 145 votes, or 25.48%.

Holland says the runoff election will be held on July 13.

Two State House Special Elections also go to runoffs, according to WTOC.

In House District 156, Toombs County Republican Party Chairman Leesa Hagan of Lyons and auto dealer Wally Sapp of Baxley are the top two finishers. Democrat Wright Gres of Baxley finished third.

In House District 34, Republican ambulance company executive Devan Seabaugh of Marietta will face Democratic artist and educator Priscilla Smith of Kennesaw in the runoff. Three other candidates finished further behind.

From the AJC:

The seats are open because state Reps. Bert Reeves and Greg Morris resigned from office earlier this year. Reeves, a Marietta Republican, stepped down to take a job at his alma mater, Georgia Tech. Morris, a Vidalia Republican, was appointed to the State Transportation Board.

House District 34 in Cobb County is being considered an early test for suburban Atlanta Republicans after the state supported Joe Biden for president in November and Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in January, all Democrats.

In South Georgia’s House District 156 race, Hagan, an online consulting firm owner, and Sapp, a car dealer, came within one percentage point of each other, but neither received a majority of the nearly 5,000 votes cast to avoid a runoff. Democrat Wright Gres finished third in the contest.

Voters in House Districts 34 and 156 will go back to the polls July 13 for the runoff election.

From the AJC’s Political Insider:

Republicans still have to be pretty pleased with the outcomes in two contests Tuesday to fill vacant seats in the Georgia General Assembly.

In the South Georgia open seat in House District 156, two Republicans are headed to a runoff, while a Democrat lagged with just 15% of the vote, underperforming Joe Biden.

And in the Marietta-based House District 34, vacated by former GOP Rep. Bert Reeves, GOP voters combined to amass about 60% of the tally. Biden notched about 47% in the district in November.

Nickie Tillery was elected to the Muscogee County Board of Education yesterday, according to WTVM.

Voters in District 2 went to the polls Tuesday and selected Nickie Tillery to represent the district.

Tillery won 902 votes in Tuesday’s election, more than double that of opponent John ‘Bart’ Steed who received 436 votes.

Tillery has said that improving reading scores among Muscogee County students will be one of her top priorities.

Greg Cannon was elected to represent District 3 on the Henry County Commission, according to the Henry Herald.

Cannon won the special election with 3,385 votes.

Of the 38,286 residents registered to vote in District III, a total of 4,695 voters or 12.26% cast a ballot

Cannon will serve Commissioner Gary Barham’s remaining term through December 2022. The seat became vacant in March when Barham died from complications of COVID-19.

Chuck Garrett won election to Watkinsville City Council District 1, according to WGAU Radio.

Garrett garnered 298 votes, to [Carolyn] Maultsby’s 92.

Brian Brodrick, running unopposed, was elected to fill [former Mayor Bob] Smith’s unexpired term, which is up at the end of the year.

Annie Wallace, running unopposed in Canon, will fill the unexpired term of Mayor Ray Morgan, who died earlier this year.

Politipreneur. That’s a new term I just coined to describe Gwinnett County Commissioner Tiffany Porter, who went out and increased her pay almost 25%. From the AJC:

Gwinnett County commissioners approved tax-collection contracts with three cities Tuesday that will raise the tax commissioner’s salary by more than $34,000.

The 4-1 approvals come after legislators tried to stop Tax Commissioner Tiffany Porter, a Democrat elected in November, from charging cities per-parcel fees to collect taxes for them. The new law also targeted Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand, who for years has engaged in the practice to boost his own salary.

Porter’s base salary is $141,098. She refused to collect taxes for eight Gwinnett County cities without the additional fees — saying that she did not run to be tax commissioner of the cities, just the county.

Commissioner Ben Ku, who voted to approve the contracts, said he was “very disappointed” by Porter, calling her actions abysmal.

“While this may be legal, it is the worst example of a politician profiting off of our taxpayers,” Ku said.

“The contracts expired on Dec. 31, 2020, and it’s abysmal that one or two commissioners have agendas that disrupted the process to renegotiate simple contracts for services,” [Porter] said.

Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, said he expected bipartisan legislation next year to address the issue.

“Tax commissioners should not raise taxes simply to increase their own paycheck,” he said.

Governor Brian Kemp swore in Jerry Bruce as Georgia’s new Child Advocate, according to a press release.

Mr. Bruce fills the vacancy left by the April 2021 resignation of Rachel Davidson and was selected following the formation and recommendation of a three-member nominating committee.

Jerry Bruce has 26 years of experience in child welfare and juvenile justice law. Since 2015 he has worked as Georgia’s Court Improvement Program Director and as Program Attorney for the Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Justice for Children. Previously, he served as a Juvenile Courts Judge in the Enotah Judicial Circuit, and as a Special Assistant Attorney General representing the Department of Family and Children Services in Union, Towns, and Rabun Counties. Mr. Bruce received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia in 1993, as well as a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Louisiana State University in 1990.

About the Office of the Child Advocate

The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) provides independent oversight of persons, organizations, and agencies responsible for providing services to children who are victims of child abuse and neglect or whose domestic situation requires intervention by the state. OCA’s mission is to protect Georgia’s children and restore the security of children whose well-being is threatened. To accomplish their goal, OCA identifies patterns of treatment and service for children and makes recommendations for necessary policy implications, legislative changes, and systemic improvements.

Fulton County Superior Court Senior Judge Gail S. Tusan has enjoined the implementation of legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Kemp, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Senior Judge Gail S. Tusan signed the order that commands everyone to “immediately cease activities in the furtherance of the implementation of Senate Bill 9 and the creation of the Judicial Circuit for Columbia County.”

Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 9 into law earlier this year. It was set to go into effect July 1. The civil lawsuit seeking to stop the split was filed on behalf of Willie Saunders in April against the governor and the three counties that now comprise the Augusta Judicial Circuit – Richmond, Columbia and Burke.

Tusan’s order prevents further action on the split of the Augusta Judicial Circuit at least until a matter raised Tuesday by Burke County attorney Barry Fleming can be adjudicated. Fleming’s motion seeks to remove Tusan from presiding over the case.

Fleming, a Harlem Republican Representative of District 121, supported Senate Bill 9. His motion to force the judge off the case alleges potential for her bias because the assistant attorney general representing the governor in the judicial split lawsuit is also representing Tusan in a Fulton County legal matter that concerns a time before Tusan retired from the bench.

Tusan was assigned to preside over the case after all the judges of the Augusta Judicial Circuit recused themselves.

Former Congressman Bob Barr (R-Cobb) was elected Chair of the Investigative Panel of the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission, according to the Fulton Daily Report.

Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Barr to the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission’s Investigative Panel in 2019, replacing Athens attorney Edward Tolley, who was appointed by former Gov. Nathan Deal. As the new chair of the seven-member panel, Barr replaces William P. “Pope” Langdale III, who served in that role for the past two years.

Langdale will continue to serve as a member of the Investigative Panel, according to JQC Director Chuck Boring. The group also has elected DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Stacey Hydrick as vice-chair.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the past two years as a member of the JQC Investigative Panel, following my appointment in 2019 by Gov. Kemp, and I am honored now to have been chosen by the other members of the Panel to serve as Chairman,” Barr said in an email to the Daily Report Friday. “The people of Georgia are most fortunate to have such a high caliber of men and women who serve as members of the Hearing Panel and on its outstanding staff, to help ensure the integrity of judges and courts across the state.”

Georgia State Legislators began the redistricting process with a public meeting yesterday, according to the Associated Press via WTOC.

The joint House and Senate redistricting committees met Tuesday for an online hearing to collect testimony about what citizens want to see in new district lines. Ten more hearings will be held in person around the state between June 28 and July 30. House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee Chairman Bonnie Rich, a Suwanee Republican, says lawmakers seek to listen.

From the Capitol Beat via the Rome News Tribune:

The General Assembly draws new district boundaries every 10 years following the latest U.S. census to reflect population shifts that have occurred during the last decade. While redistricting usually takes place during the late summer or early fall, the process isn’t expected until later in the fall because the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the release of census data.

In Georgia, the party in control of the legislature historically has drawn maps giving it the best chance to maintain or build on its majorities. Democrats were in charge of redistricting through 2001, but in 2011 and again this year, Republicans are in the driver’s seat.

During Tuesday’s hearing, several speakers argued that Georgia should take power over redistricting away from the General Assembly and put it in the hands of an independent commission, as has been done in some other states.

State Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler noted that Georgia has experienced significant demographic shifts since the 2011 redistricting, including a 40% increase in its Asian-American population, a 26% rise in Latinos and a 14% increase in the Black population.

“These maps must reflect the changing face of Georgia and the need for historically disenfranchised voters to have a voice,” said Butler, D-Stone Mountain.

Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, chairman of the House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee, announced that future hearings will be held in Atlanta, Albany, Augusta, Athens, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumming, Dalton and Macon.

From the Gainesville Times:

“We’ll be holding at least one more virtual hearing,” said state Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, chairwoman of the House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee.

Also, a website will be set up for residents to post comments.

“Our goal is to ensure that every comment we get goes into a central location so that we can utilize it and draw upon it in the map-drawing process,” Rich said.

The Census Bureau “is saying we’ll be getting partial data in late August and that could be used to draw the maps but with the full data not coming in until the end of September,” said Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, chairman of the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee.

“There are some lawsuits pending about this data, but we can’t do a lot about that.”

From the AJC:

The outcome of redistricting later this year will have consequences for years to come, helping define representation in Congress, the state House and the state Senate long before voters go the polls.

Each district must have roughly the same number of voters after the state’s population grew by 1 million, reaching a total of 10.7 million residents. But the shape of those districts can be decided by legislators.

The Republican majority in the General Assembly will attempt to approve maps that increase their control of 58% of state legislative districts, and Democrats will try to stop them while also preserving their own seats. Lawsuits challenging the fairness of maps could follow.

State legislators are looking at how Georgia prepares its workforce for the aviation industry, according to the Rome News Tribune.

A group led by state Rep. David Knight, R-Griffin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Higher Education subcommittee, visited the Aviation program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College on Tuesday.

Industry reports indicate that there are more aircraft maintenance personnel over the age of 60 than there are under the age of 30.

Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, also participated in the session along with several House budget analysts and officials from the TCSG.

“We want to make sure that they are adequately funded, (to see) if they have the resources; looking at the ability of students to meet the demand,” Knight said. “There is going to be a great need to replace those folks who are keeping our aircraft in the air.”

Knight asked if the college had room to expand. Byrd said there is additional physical space, but it would also require additional instructors and equipment so the added students would not have to compete for time on the equipment.

Byrd explained that he can’t just run out to Ace Hardware and pick up a wrench for his students to use — everything must meet stringent Federal Aviation Administration specifications.

 

Georgia Public Service Commissioners voted to cut fees charged to landline accounts, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

The Georgia Public Service Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the fee supporting the program from 6% to 3.75% in monthly phone bills starting next month.

The mandatory fee, implemented in 2011, was designed to bring the costs of in-state long-distance phone calls in line with the costs of out-of-state long distance. It took 10 years to fully implement the program, making the fee reduction possible.

A $50 phone bill will drop by slightly more than $1 per month under the reduced fee, resulting in more than $13 in annual savings. Georgia has an estimated 1.7 million landline phones.

Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Z. Simms postponed a murder trial due to a shortage of potential jurors, according to the Macon Telegraph.

[O]nly 36 of 200 county residents decided to show up for jury selection in a murder trial … forcing Simms to postpone the trial.

“We have not had enough jurors show up for us to pick a jury,” the judge said. “As absurd as that sounds, it is just a fact. So all of these cases that are ready for trial can’t be tried.”

“The sheriff is going to have to go out and start picking people up and dragging them down here and find out why in the hell they aren’t here for jury duty,” he said. “Everybody complains about crime but when they get a jury summons they either ignore it or immediately start calling somebody to help them get out of it.”

There are currently more than 80 people in the Bibb County jail charged with murder. Simms said a trial backlog has already put a burden on the courts after they were shut down for most of 2020. With jurors not showing up, that backlog of cases continues to grow, as Macon is on pace to eclipse last year’s record of 51 homicides.Simms plans to order the use of state court jurors and will let the attorneys on both sides appeal that ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.

“We can just retire and go fishing and turn it into… anarchy. Because we can’t get people down here,” Simms said. “Something has got to be done.”

Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis wants an audit of purchasing card (“P-card”) use, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

In an 11 p.m. news release, Davis said the Augusta accounting firm [Serotta Maddocks Evans] is already performing “similar audits” for the city and could look at his credit card usage at little extra expense.

The demand comes as the commission prepares to vote Tuesday to have the city law department and administrator’s office look at state laws governing the use of purchasing and credit cards and develop a policy for Augusta. The item appears on the commission’s 2 p.m. meeting agenda.

In the statement, Davis said he’s being subjected to “unsubstantiated allegations of abuse, misuse and misconduct of taxpayer funds” that could “weaken public trust and confidence” in its leaders, as well as discourage economic development.

Davis said in the statement the audit will “confirm government compliance with state and local laws” and suggest areas in need of improvement, such as “the public employees responsible for substantiating compliance with the city’s financial guidelines.”

Statesboro City Council voted 3-2 to place a liquor sales referendum on the November 2, 2021 ballot, according to the Statesboro Herald.

The question headed for the ballot is this: “Shall the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits be approved?” This is the entire wording authorized in state law.

If a majority of voters say “no,” the law prohibits bringing another liquor store referendum in the city for two years.

The previous requirement for signatures that Boyum spoke of was removed by Georgia Senate Bill 145, signed into law May 4 by Gov. Brian Kemp. Previously, a referendum for legalizing liquor stores could only be initiated through a petition signed by at least 35% of the registered and qualified voters in a city or county.

Senate Bill 145 lowered the petition threshold to 20%, if citizens bring a petition.  But also under the new law, no petition is required if a city or county governing board initiates the referendum by passing a resolution or ordinance.

If voters in the referendum approve legalizing liquor stores in Statesboro, the mayor and council will need to enact changes in the city’s alcoholic beverage and zoning ordinances to spell out the rules.

Savannah announced three finalists for City Manager, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The finalists will be in Savannah on June 25 and 26 to participate in interviews and community panels. Council members will appoint citizens and business community representatives to participate in the panel interviews with the finalists.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson talked about the city’s crime wave, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said it will take a holistic approach involving the community, the police and the judicial system. He specifically mentioned the District Attorney’s office, which is working through a backlog of cases delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hundreds arrested on non-violent crimes were not jailed during the COVID-19 pandemic to limit the number of people in the Chatham County Jail. Other accused offenders were bonded out quickly via virtual hearings in an effort to curb the virus’ spread.

“I’m for restorative justice, and all those other things, but when you put babies at risk, and you shoot indiscriminately into crowds, Savannah will not tolerate that. And I’m hoping that our community won’t tolerate that as well,” Johnson said.

The issues with the local criminal justice system predate COVID-19, Jones said, adding that there are more than 50 pretrial detainees who have been in the Chatham County Jail for more than 1,000 days.

“Our criminal justice system here runs notoriously slow,” [Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones] said. “While a lot of other departments like to blame either the DA’s office or the mayor’s office or the police department, I think it’s right to say that it is everybody’s problem and it is going to take a collective collaborative solution.”

From WTOC:

Mayor Johnson joined mayors from Houston, Austin, San Jose, Dayton, and Chicago as well as the CEO and executive director of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), who all shared their pleas for the federal government to take immediate action.

USCM president, Nan Whaley, says on Friday night alone there were four mass shootings across the US over a six-hour period. One of those mass shootings happened in Savannah on Avery Street where eight people were shot. Two of those victims have died.

The main message of Tuesday’s conference was that they want the Biden Administration to make ending this crisis a priority.

Some of their stated requests include asking the administration to treat it as a public health issue, to continue to enact meaningful and common-sense gun control legislation, universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and policies that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter spoke to WTOC.

“We are seeing gang involvement. I don’t know if I would categorize it as a problem. If you look at the level we’re seeing in this city, some of it may be gang involved, it’s something that deserves a higher level of attention in our community. One of the important things is we need to look at the culture of what’s causing gangs in our community. Once we determine that, what do we do about addressing that culture of gangs in our community? We need to look at everything, some of the root causes of crime we’ve been dealing with for quite some time in Savannah: poverty, blight, education, employment, mentoring, re-entry program. These are some of the things we are looking at a holistic community based approach,” Chief Minter said.

When asked why people will not come forward, Chief Minter responded, “First thing is fear, fear of retaliation or retribution. I think that’s big. The other thing is this culture of not providing information to the police, not snitching.”

“People aren’t letting us know. It’s going to continue. if there’s gang activity and people are not letting us know, it’s going to continue. If there is other criminal activity, if people aren’t willing to bring that information forward and have that discussion with us, it’s only going to continue,” Chief Minter said. “If you don’t want to talk to us for any other reason, please provide us with information for the sake of that 18-month-old infant.”

Richmond County Elections Director Lynn Bailey will retire at the end of the year, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

“There is no doubt that 2020 will forever be the pinnacle of my career,” she said. “Implementing a new system and experiencing a record turnout, all in the face of a pandemic, was no small thing. It was the experience of a lifetime.”

Bibb County Commissioners approved a $174 million dollar budget for FY 2022, according to 13WMAZ.

Looking at the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, Mayor Lester Miller wants to add $500,000 to code enforcement in an effort to crack down on blight.

Other highlights include no property tax increase, cutting outside agencies like Atrium Health Navicent, and museums like the Tubman and Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Around $80 million of the budget is set to go towards public safety, but the mayor also wants spending for mental health services, economic development, and beautification.

 

The Whitfield County public school system continues its free lunch program as modified during the pandemic, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Once again this summer, adults can pick up meals for children without children being present, which has made meal distribution easier on children, parents and nutrition workers, and “I hope this becomes permanent,” said Tiffany Smith, free and reduced-price lunch clerk for Whitfield County Schools’ nutrition department. Previously, “we served five days per week, and we had to physically hand a meal to each child.”

That “was a burden on parents,” said Angie Brown, nutrition director for Whitfield County Schools. “I hope (this waiver) becomes permanent, because (that) would be good for kids.”

Also, school systems can serve multiple meals at once, rather than individually, another holdover from a waiver granted last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Brown said. “That was a burden on kids, to have to come every day, but this (new method) is awesome.”

On average, Whitfield County Schools provides 6,000 meals a day during the summer, Brown said. “There’s definitely a need.”

The Jekyll Island Authority Board adopted a budget for FY 2022, according to The Brunswick News.

“We had an unexpected robust year and have experienced that since the pandemic struck as a result of leisure travel,” said Jones Hooks, executive director of JIA, during the board’s monthly meeting.

The board voted unanimously to approve the $30.4 million budget for fiscal year 2022.

JIA staff estimate the authority will end the current fiscal year on June 30 with about $6.4 million for capital projects in reserve.

“We are anticipating significant cash reserves … as a result of this past year,” Hooks said.

The City of Oakwood has scheduled public hearings for the FY 2022 budget and millage rate, according to AccessWDUN.

While the Oakwood City millage rate will stay the same for the upcoming fiscal year, the tax digest has increased in value.

That equates to a tax increase, as the city is not fully rolling back the millage rate, according to City Manager B.R. White. It remains 4.174 mills.

Gainesville City Council voted unanimously for their FY 2022 budget and millage rates, according to AccessWDUN.

City Manager Bryan Lackey commented that a big help in allowing for a full rollback on the General Government millage rate was funding from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Lackey said those funds (approximately $12-million) could have been used for a wide array of needs but city leaders wanted to return the money to the people of Gainesville.  “We could have done a lot of great projects with that, but we all felt that because we’d been blessed…and we’re doing really well…we felt the right thing to do was to give it back to the community.”

The Hall County Board of Education unanimously gave tentative approval to their FY 2022 budget, according to the Gainesville Times.

The budget includes a full rollback of the millage rate, which features a net decrease of 0.7 mills, or a 4% decrease in the tax rate, Superintendent Will Schofield said. The general fund millage rate was decreased by 1.2 mills, but the bonded indebtedness millage rate was increased by 0.5 mills in order to fund the district’s construction projects as part of the 10 Year Facility Plan.

The budget features $21 million in CARES funding, with about $11.5 million from CARES II and about $10 million from CARES III, and the district will still see tens of millions in CARES money over the next two budgets, Schofield said.

The temporary CARES funding will mostly go to additional staff for academic support and trauma and mental health services, but some of the funding will also go to purchasing items like new laptops and band equipment. Some of the funding will also go to the district’s agribusiness plan, including $1 million for a meat processing plant to be built near East Hall High School. The district did not think they would be able to fund this project so soon until the CARES funding came in, Schofield said.

“The CARES funding was designed realizing students have lost a lot in the last year and a half,” Schofield said. “We’re going to see that and I’ll continue to say people will write about this for generations in terms of what children (lost) — particularly children who were home for the entire time lost, children of poverty — it will be almost impossible to catch them up, but we’re going to work until our fingers bleed.”

Flowery Branch will consider its FY 2022 budget, according to the Gainesville Times.

The tax rate is proposed to stay at 3.264 mills, but that would mean higher taxes for anyone who saw their property values increase in the past year.

Under state law, not rolling the rate back to a “revenue-neutral” level is considered a tax increase, and three public hearings must be scheduled. To keep the revenue amount at the same level as it was last year, the city would have to reduce the tax rate to 3.116 mills.

The third hearing will take place Thursday, with a vote by council to follow.

The fiscal 2022 budget, which takes effect July 1, is up for adoption.

The budget has a $6 million general fund, which covers daily operations, including salaries. The city proposes to add several positions in 2021-22, including additional staffing in police. Earlier this year, city officials discussed beefing up the payroll in response to the city’s rapid growth.

Flowery Branch operates with several other budgets, including its water/sewer capital projects fund. At $13 million, that fund is especially large this year, as the city embarks on an expansion of its sewer plant — also to keep up with growth.

Sandy Springs is considering accountability programs for residents in the municipal court, according to the AJC.

The city is working on two separate out-patient treatment programs, one for DUI cases and another for non-violent misdemeanors.

Municipal Court defendants accused of non-violent crimes could avoid jail time by entering the 12- to 24-month treatment program.

Defendants found guilty in DUI cases and determined to be eligible could start the treatment program after their court sentence is completed. After completing the program the conviction could be reversed in part or entirely from the record.

The defendant would be assigned to an accountability team that includes the prosecutor, defense attorney, the judge and court staff and community leaders. The teams would consistently communicate with defendants and the professionals treating them to gauge improvement, [Solicitor General Steven] Ellis said. The city is currently deciding on up to 40 candidates for the program which would launch by the end of summer, he said.

Defendants would have to pay $700 to enter the program in addition to a $60 monthly fee, he said. During a call with the AJC last week, Ellis and attorney Dan Lee said defendants’ costs could be reduced by community service or financial assistance from nonprofits in the community.

“We think and hope on balance the costs will very minimal,” Ellis said of what defendants will pay.

Lee told City Council during the May meeting that the city has high medical costs for people in jail who shouldn’t be there, and instead, those people would benefit from a treatment program.

Columbus will host two World Championships for kayaking in the coming years, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Tuesday at Waveshaper Island overlooking the river, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson, Phenix City Mayor Eddie Lowe and Uptown Columbus announced that the region has been selected to host two international kayaking competitions: the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 World Championships.

“They really are Olympic-caliber events,” Uptown Columbus Inc. Chair Helena Coates told attendees. “They will draw over 300 athletes from 30 countries around the world. We will be the face of the world for two years running.”

The World Cup includes two competitions on different waves in the river. The first cup will take place Oct. 3-5, 2022, with the second cup Oct. 7-9.

The World Championships will take place June 27-July 1, 2023. It’ll be the sport’s ninth world championship event and the first in the United States since 2013.

“I don’t think we can fully comprehend how big this is,” Henderson told attendees. “To have the world cup and the world championships here for two years in a row — yes it’s going to bring economic development. … But we are already the site of the longest urban-setting whitewater rapids in the world. Can you imagine how that notoriety is going to grow as the world tunes in to see some of the most talented competitors you’ve ever seen, right here in Columbus, Georgia?”

In 2015, world champion Claire O’Hara called the rapids on the Chattahoochee River “amazing” after her first time on them. Jez Jezz, who has won over 10 national championships, called the course “world class.”