Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 19, 2023

The Georgia Whig Party held its first convention on June 19, 1843 in Milledgeville and elected ten delegates to the 1844 National Convention.

The first Republican National Convention, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ended on June 19, 1856.

The Republicans, who called for the abolition of slavery in all U.S. territories, rapidly gained supporters in the North, and in 1856 their first presidential candidate, John Fremont, won 11 of the 16 Northern states. By 1860, the majority of Southern states were publicly threatening secession if a Republican won the presidency.

The Civil War firmly identified the Republican Party as the official party of the victorious North. After the war, the Republican-dominated Congress forced a radical Reconstruction policy on the South, which saw the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, abolishing slavery and granting voting rights to African American men in the South. By 1876, the Republican Party had lost control of the South, but it continued to dominate the presidency, with a few intermissions, until the ascendance of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

On June 19, 1864, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston retreated from Pine Mountain and Lost Mountain toward Marietta. Click here to watch a two-minute video by Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta History Center about this week in Georgia in 1864.

On the same day, USS Kearsarge sank CSS Alabama off the coast of Cherbourg, France.

Shortly after the battle between CSS Alabama and USS Kearsarge, Edouard Manet painted the scene from newspaper accounts. The painting hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where I viewed it several years ago. Another painting of Kearsarge is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Built in an English shipyard and sold to the Confederates in 1861, the Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship—220 feet long, with a speed of up to 13 knots. The cruiser was equipped with a machine shop and could carry enough coal to steam for 18 days, but its sails could greatly extend that time. Under its captain, Raphael Semmes, the Alabama prowled the world for three years, capturing U.S. commercial ships. It sailed around the globe, usually working out of the West Indies, but taking prizes and bungling Union shipping in the Caribbean, off Newfoundland, and around the coast of South America. In January 1863, Semmes sunk a Union warship, the Hatteras, after luring it out of Galveston, Texas. The Union navy spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to track down the Alabama.

The ship sailed around South America, across the Pacific, and docked in India in 1864. By the summer, Semmes realized that after three years and 75,000 miles his vessel needed overhauling in a modern shipyard. He sailed around Africa to France, where the French denied him access to a dry dock. Semmes moved out of Cherbourg Harbor and found the USS Kearsarge waiting. In a spectacular battle, the Kearsarge bested and sank the Alabama. During its career, the Alabama captured 66 ships and was hunted by more than 20 Federal warships.

On June 19, 1865, U.S. Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news of the emancipation of African slaves. “Juneteenth” commemorates this.

Some historians blame the lapse in time on poor communication in that era, while others believe Texan slave-owners purposely withheld the information.

Upon arrival and leading the Union soldiers, Major Gen. Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

For many African Americans, June 19 is considered an independence day. Before 2021, nearly all 50 states recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday. On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed legislation officially declaring it a federal holiday.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Glynn County Police Department is implementing a Behavioral Health Response Team, according to The Brunswick News.

The police department is starting a new Behavioral Health Response Team that will employ a full-time mental health professional to respond to incidents in which someone is suffering from a mental-health crisis. At the same time, Coastal Community Health is working to keep specialized mental-health professionals on staff who will be ready to aid all local law enforcement agencies facing similar situations.

The idea is to not only ensure that incidents driven by mental illness or crisis do not escalate to the point that police use force, but also to divert people who need treatment down the path to get it.

Mental health crises and illnesses lead to plenty of police interactions locally and nationally and in some cases can become deadly. Data compiled by The Washington Post shows there were 146 people in 2022 nationally who were experiencing a mental-health crisis or mental illness when they were killed by police.

Six of those people were in Georgia, all of whom were armed with a gun when killed.

That was one of the 409 calls in 2022 in which Glynn County Police encountered someone experiencing a mental-health crisis, according to police data. There have been 161 such calls already in 2023.

The Behavioral Health Response Team is being created to ensure more cases than not end without using force and if possible, with the person in crisis finding the help needed instead of going to jail.

The Glynn County Police Department was awarded a grant last week from the state that will provide $214,500 of federal American Rescue Plan Act money to pay for a mental health intervention worker for three years to work with the newly formed team.

The Georgia Behavioral Health and Peace Officer Co-Responder Act, which passed the General Assembly and became law in 2022, is helping to pave the way for similar programs throughout the state by allowing police departments to create teams that include both officers and mental health professionals who can respond to help individuals in crisis.

Savannah City Council is considering a proposed millage rate at the same level as the current year, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Savannah’s climbing property values mean an additional $7,873,086 in tax revenue for the city government ― assuming Savannah City Council votes to maintain the current millage rate, as proposed by City Manager Jay Melder.

Melder wants to maintain the 12.2 mill rate for the next fiscal year and use the excess funds for capital projects, specifically drainage and stormwater improvements. He’ll make that pitch formally at the June 22 council meeting, the first of three public hearings on the millage. The other two sessions will be held July 27, ahead of the council vote on rate.

Several council members are expected to push back against Melder’s plan and advocate for adoption of the so-called rollback rate, which would generate the same amount of tax revenue as the current fiscal year. The rollback rate is 11.119 mills. Adopting that rate would lower property tax bills by $43.24 per $100,000 of fair market value. A property with a fair market value assessment of $500,000 would see a $216.20 reduction in their tax bill.

Alderwomen Kesha Gibson-Carter, Alicia Miller Blakely and Bernetta Lanier have been vocal in recent council meetings about their desire for council to adopt the rollback rate.

They cite economic hardships facing all Savannahians and the impact of higher property taxes. While many homeowners won’t see a rise in their property tax bills due to maintaining the current millage rate because of the Stephens-Day exemption, rental property owners and small business owners will ― and are likely to pass those costs on to tenants and customers.

“Anything other than rolling back the millage rate would be inconsiderate and lack compassion in this fiscal climate,” Gibson-Carter said.

Bibb County property owners will be receiving assessment notices, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Officials estimate for every $1,000 in property value someone has, the taxpayer could owe $5 less than they did last year.

The reduction will be the largest in recent years and follows another tax reduction last year.

The notices, which arrived in mailboxes last week, include information about the valuation of the property as well as an estimate of taxes owed using a five mill reduction in property tax, which will likely be passed this August by the Board of County Commissioners due to the Other Local Options Sales Tax that was passed in 2021.

Bryan County Commissioners enacted a moratorium for new rezoning applications for the Northern Bryan Industrial Area, according to the Statesboro Herald.

“The purpose of the moratorium is to allow staff and the county to address infrastructure on the north end,” she told commissioners. “As everyone is well aware, there is a lot of development going on in the north end and staff, the consultants and the county need a little bit of a pause.”

Bulloch County enacted a similar moratorium in August 2022, also to look at a larger-scale master plan for the area in southeastern Bulloch. A plan was announced last week that county leaders say will better handle the expected residential growth that will accompany the thousands of workers needed to staff the manufacturing plants going online in the next three to five years.

Miller said the pause will allow Bryan County “time to analyze water and sewer, both from an infrastructure and capacity standpoint and also our transportation network. Such improvements require a lot of planning and a lot of capital investment and we are struggling to keep up with the pace of development.”

Fifteen names are finalists in consideration for the renaming of Savannah’s FKA Square, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The square, located at Abercorn and Wayne streets and adjacent to the Massie School and Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church, has gone unidentified since November 2022 when council stripped Calhoun’s name from the greenspace. The move was sparked by nearly two years of protests led by a Savannah activist organization, the Center of Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing.

Burke County Sheriff Alonzo Williams will not longer routinely deputize Waynesboro Police officers, according to WRDW.

For a number of years, Sheriff Alfonzo Williams has deputized the officers, but he said in a Friday letter to Police Chief Willie Burley that they have lost his trust.

Burley is the only Waynesboro officer to retain his status as a county deputy, according to the letter.

“As you are aware, I deputize municipal officers within the county primarily to build trust and respect, strengthening our resolve to protect the citizens of our community,” Williams wrote. “Unfortunately, some members of your team have broken that trust and respect on multiple occasions.”

To that end, Williams said he was rescinding the deputy status of Waynesboro police officers.

“I will not allow any of them, except you (Chief Burley), to operate outside the jurisdiction of the City of Waynesboro,” Williams wrote. “Any matter pertaining to investigations that may cause them to need work in the county must be vetted by a supervisor and assigned to a deputy to investigate.”

State Senator Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega), the Senate Majority Leader, was named 2023 Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, according to AccessWDUN.

The award is traditionally given to three separate members of the Georgia General Assembly whose efforts focus on encouraging economic development, job creation and free enterprise, according to the Georgia Senate Press Office.

“One of my top priorities as the Senate Majority Leader is to foster economic opportunity through innovation,” Gooch said. “I am honored to receive such recognition from the Georgia Chamber which utilizes strategic advocacy to achieve the very same goal across our state, it is imperative that Georgia maintains its record of being the best state to do business, and I will always strive to support our business enterprises both large and small through my work in the Georgia State Senate. I look forward to cultivating a strong partnership with the Georgia Chamber for many years to come.”

Sen. Gooch currently serves as the Senate Majority Leader, representing District 51 which covers parts of Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Union and Pickens counties, as well as a portion of White County.

House Representative Jan Jones from Milton and Senator Shawn Still from Johns Creek were the other two legislators who won the yearly award.

Thomasville Police Department begins operating a citywide surveillance network Flock camera system, according to WALB.

In October 2022, Thomasville city leaders approved the Flock camera systems for a six-month trial run. A total of 15 cameras were placed throughout the city during the trial period.

With the assistance of Flock Safety System, over 90 gunshot protection devices have been installed, with camera and license plate recognition device installations to begin next week. The system will provide real-time information to better aid officer response.

“If there’s an incident involving a shooting, this new system will alert us that gunshots were detected so an officer is not going into a scene blindly,” said TPD Major Shane Harris said. “Officers will enter dangerous situations with more information to help establish safe interactions and safe policing. Our goal is crime reduction and positive law enforcement interactions throughout the community.”

The system will only be installed on public property.

“The Flock Safety System has and will continue to be installed on city right of ways in open areas,” Harris said. “We will also install cameras at the major intersections and gateways of Thomasville to help improve the safety of our city and potentially assist surrounding law enforcement agencies.”

According to the release, cities currently using the system have reported decreased gunfire, gun violence and gun crimes.

“Through our initial research, some police departments were reporting a 60-70% reduction in crime after they employed this technology,” Harris said.

Snellville City Council adopted a $15.33 million dollar budget for the new fiscal year, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The City Council adopted the fiscal year 2024 budget this past Monday. Snellville leaders are not raising the city’s millage rate, which means residents will not see an increase in their city taxes — but only as long as the assessed value of their property did not increase this year. If the assessed value did increase, then residents will see an increase on their tax bill.

“The great, great majority of this increase is in salaries,” City Manager Butch Sanders said. “We all want to thank Mayor and Council for being very supportive and very insistent on doing more for our employees.”

Snellville officials said they are working with a decline in revenues in some areas because development has been “curtailed” by inflation, but spending in the city’s budget is increasing by 4%, which translates to an increase of about $634,019.

As for the salary increases, Snellville officials said public safety, in particular, was a driving force behind it. The city conducted a salary study to see where Snellville fit, compared to other cities in the area, and decided raises were needed to stay competitive when it comes to attracting talent.

“We are taking care of our public safety officers first and foremost by raising our starting salary and increasing numbers throughout the police department,” Sanders said.

The city’s millage rate will be set next month.

Representatives of Rome, Floyd County, and Cave Spring are working to winnow the list of potential projects for the upcoming Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax election, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The 11-member committee, chaired by local lawyer Bob Berry, is comprised of six appointees from the county, four from the city and one from Cave Spring. However, for these last deliberations, Berry announced that two alternates from Floyd County and Rome would also vote on what projects move forward. Berry himself does not have a vote.

“We believe that almost 30% of the revenue from SPLOST comes from outside Floyd County,” Berry said. “It’s really a great deal for taxpayers.”

Floyd County Clerk Erin Elrod distributed colored sticker dots to all committee members and asked them to affix the dots to projects they wanted to see move forward to the ballot. Once the dots were placed, the projects were sorted by popularity.

Former United States Senator Kelly Loeffler is calling on the Secretary of State to implement upgrades in Georgia’s voting machines, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Former U.S. Senator and Greater Georgia Chairwoman Kelly Loeffler has called on Georgia’s Secretary of State and the State Election Board to take emergency action to fix a long-existing software vulnerability in Georgia’s voting machines ahead of the 2024 election.

“It’s unacceptable that our state’s top elections official has failed to address known vulnerabilities in our voting machines for two years,” Loeffler said. “But it’s incomprehensible that he has now announced, to every criminal and malign foreign actor, that the security flaws will not be fixed for another two years. Election integrity requires secure election infrastructure, and like any technology, election infrastructure requires routine updates.”

“The Secretary of State and State Election Board must take emergency action to implement the available software patch on Georgia’s voting equipment and complete testing before the 2024 primary to secure the vote and restore the confidence of every Georgia voter.”

The Georgia Secretary of State has dismissed those urging for a software update as “election deniers,” claiming, “The procedural safeguards we have in place mitigate these hypothetical scenarios from happening. It’s extremely unlikely that any bad actor would be able to exploit our voting systems in the real world.”

Ni’Aisha Banks announced she will run for the Savannah City Council seat vacated by the death of Larry “Gator” Mathis, according to WTOC.

A special election will be held in September to fill the seat of the late Larry “Gator” Rivers who died a few months ago after a battle with cancer.

Right now, his wife Jean Rivers has taken over the position temporarily.

The special election will be held Tuesday, September 19th.