Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 26, 2023

On June 26, 1918, the Georgia General Assembly ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, which outlawed the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol. Governor Hugh Dorsey did not sign it for nearly a week, but the United States Secretary of State considers an Amendment ratified when the state legislature has voted on final passage.

On June 26, 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco.

The Berlin Airlift began on June 26, 1948 after the Soviet Union had blockaded West Berlin, which was occupied by the United States, Great Britain, and France.

The first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released in the UK on June 26, 1997.

Gone with the Wind was re-released on June 26, 1998.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Patricia Frey’s 2-vote margin in the Muscogee County Board of Education District 7 election stands, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

With all six precincts reporting, in-person advance voting and mail-in ballots, Frey received 147 votes to 145 for Ashe, according to the results released Tuesday by Nancy Boren, director of the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration. Ashe received more of the advance votes (51-37 in person and 2-0 by mail), but Frey received more of the election day votes (110-92).

The vacancy on the MCSD board was created when District 7 representative Cathy Williams resigned, effective April 1, to join the 14-member Georgia Department of Transportation Board. She received the most votes for the appointment among the 24 state legislators whose districts are in or contiguous to the 2nd Congressional District.

After the election board certifies the results, the winner of the MCSD board special election will serve the rest of Williams’ four-year term through 2024. The seat will be up for re-election in its regular cycle in May 2024 with the other nonpartisan local offices on the ballot.

“The newly elected board member can be sworn in as soon as the local Probate Court receives the appropriate paperwork from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and the oath of office can be administered,” MCSD board attorney Greg Ellington told the Ledger-Enquirer in a text message.

Meeting as many voters as possible was key to her victory, Frey said. “For the last three months,” she said, “I’ve been in every neighborhood across the district, knocking on doors, talking to people in their front yards, on their porches and everywhere else and talking about the issues and how I want to bring collaboration to the schools to meet the noneducational needs of the students so the teachers and administrators can do what they do, and that’s teach.”

Some Georgians rallied about abortion on the anniversary of the decision striking down Roe v. Wade, according to 13WMAZ.

Julia Callahan is a pro-choice advocate and co-founder of Macon’s Middle Georgia for Choice.

“We are still angry. We are still here to protest. We are still fighting for women’s rights,” Callahan said. “This is a human rights issue.”

Suzanne Guy is singing a different song. She’s a pro-life advocate with Life Initiatives and Values.

“Absolute gratitude and joy that a terrible wrong has been made right by our Supreme Court,” Guy said.
Guy sees this as a time to celebrate that thousands of children were brought to term.

“Thousands of men and women as well will be spared the regret and trauma of abortion,” Guy said.

A new partnership is bringing mental health resources to inmates in coastal Georgia, according to The Brunswick News.

“Unofficially, jails are the largest caregivers for mental health issues in this state, and probably the entire country,” [Glynn County Undersheriff Mario] Morales said.

The Glynn County Detention Center has a capacity for a little more than 600 inmates, about a third of whom have mental illnesses or struggle with mental health crises, Morales said. That is why the partnership the sheriff’s office has with Coastal Community Health is so valuable, he said.

For the past two years, since Dr. Kavanaugh Chandler came on board as Coastal Community Health’s executive director, the community health clinic has provided general health-care services to inmates at the jail. Those services include tending to the mental health needs of the inmates.

“Hopefully in the process of seeing them in the jail they will feel comfortable after release (and) come to us for the health and mental health needs,” Chandler said.

It’s a new way to think about health care for inmates that he believes can have a positive impact statewide. As a community health clinic, Coastal Community Health is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is funded through grants and other sources to ensure access to quality care for everyone. That allows the clinic to provide a full slate of services to the jail less expensively than other third parties.

That saves money for the sheriff’s office and the taxpayers, Morales said.

The funding setup also allows the clinic to provide affordable care for anyone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay. Chandler said that sets the clinic up well to treat people with mental illnesses or substance abuse after their release from jail.

Chandler said he and Sheriff Neal Jump met with state Attorney General Chris Carr recently and discussed how part of the $636 million Georgia will receive as part of a settlement in an opioid case against pharmaceutical companies could be used to support initiatives similar to the local partnership.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the last year under the Dobbs decision.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June and the state criminalized the procedure, the president of Oklahomans for Life saw his once-improbable goal become reality.

Six weeks later, voters in neighboring Kansas soundly rejected an amendment to eliminate abortion rights from that state’s constitution. “That was the first alarm bell that went off,” said Lauinger, 79 years old. A string of defeats for abortion opponents in other states has followed.

Nodding to the political climate, Lauinger recently lobbied Oklahoma Republicans to add exceptions for victims of rape and incest to the state’s criminal ban, an unusual move for an antiabortion leader. “We believed we needed to learn the lesson that was so clearly before us,” he said.

Tensions like those in Oklahoma are surfacing in states from the Midwest to the deep South. The Supreme Court’s decision a year ago to withdraw constitutional protections for abortion was a pinnacle moment for social conservatives who long dreamed of Roe’s demise. Now, they are facing a backlash.

In the run-up to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, groups on both sides of the debate expected that roughly half of the states would outlaw many or most abortions if Roe fell. Today that number stands at 14, after abortion opponents hit both political and legal obstacles.

“It has absolutely flipped the politics of this,” said Steven Greene, a political-science professor at North Carolina State University. “One of the things we talked about for years is that Republicans cared more about the issue. It seems like you’re going to have Democrats caring more about the issue and being more motivated. And that is going to potentially really matter.”

The Kansas vote last August set the tone. Abortion-rights supporters then won victories in five more statewide referendums in a politically diverse mix of states, including Michigan and Kentucky. The Michigan vote effectively nullified a state abortion ban that had been in force until the Supreme Court issued its Roe decision in 1973.

Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr pushed back against Nazis, according to 13WMAZ.

“There is absolutely no place for this hate and antisemitism in our state. I share in the outrage over this shameful act and stand with Georgians everywhere in condemning it. We remain vigilant in the face of these disgusting acts of bigotry,” Kemp said in a tweet.

“The antisemitic acts that have recently taken place in Cobb County, Macon and Warner Robins are inexcusable. Their intimidation tactics will not work and must be condemned. We stand strong with our Jewish friends and neighbors against these continued expressions of hate,” Carr said in a tweet.

In Warner Robins, people near Peach Blossom Road woke up to anti-Jewish literature in their front yards Friday. There were plastic bags with anti-Semitic fliers inside, along with some sort of pellet.

Later at Temple Beth Israel in Macon, about 15 people protested outside the temple, shouting what Bibb County deputies call ‘obscene language’ through a bullhorn.

Neighbors called the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies eventually closed the protest down. The group had a blow-up doll representing a gay Jewish man hanging by the neck from a street sign.

From WRDW:

A group of about a dozen neo-Nazi extremists waving swastika flags and displaying antisemitic propaganda gathered in front of an East Cobb synagogue during services Saturday.

County officials identified “these individuals as part of a small group that travel around the country in order to spread their hateful message,” the Chabad of Cobb County said.

“We are working closely with Cobb County officials and the Police Department to ensure the security and safety of our campus. There is no threat whatsoever at this time,” the statement read.

Similar fliers and packages have been found throughout metro Atlanta in 2023. Flyers have been found in Athens, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Roswell, and Atlanta. They were also found earlier in the week in Marietta.

The Anti-Defamation League Southeast said in Georgia antisemitic incidents increased 60% from 2021 to 2022.

A push to define anti-semitism in Georgia law stalled this past legislative session. House Bill 30 was sponsored by state Rep. Esther Panitch, the chamber’s only Jewish legislator.

From the Macon Telegraph:

Hundreds of Maconites gathered on the steps of Temple Beth Israel in downtown Macon Saturday afternoon to show their support of and solidarity with Macon’s Jewish community.

Flyers covered in antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric were thrown in neighborhoods in Warner Robins and Macon Friday, according to the Warner Robins Police Department and Macon residents. The flyers were inside plastic bags weighed down with what police believe were pine pellets.

“I knew it wasn’t people in Macon-Bibb, because the Christians, Jews and various other religions have had an extremely peaceful coexistence in this town forever,” [Mike] Kaplan, who is the chair of the county election board, said. “This congregation was established in 1859, and we’ve never had this happen. We’re more grateful for the response than we are saddened by the actions of these few people who came from out of town and brought hate to Macon.”

“The foundation of what happened yesterday was hate,” she said. “I used to have debates with my mother, who survived Auschwitz, she said, ‘How could they let neo-Nazis march?’ And I said, ‘In America, even those that have hate speech are allowed to speak, because otherwise, who would choose what you could say and who could say it?’ So you have to give them allowances, but we must answer back. We must fight back against the hate.

The U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Peter Leary, released a statement in response to the antisemitic group.

“The events in Macon and Warner Robins targeting the Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities are deeply troubling. I strongly condemn acts to intimidate and threaten people based on their faith, race, ancestry, or LGBTQ+ identity,” Leary said. “Our office will defend the civil rights of all citizens.”

The Georgia Municipal Association brought elected officials to Savannah, according to WTOC.

The convention, which has been going on since Friday brings together leaders from all over Georgia for networking and workshops.

The workshops cover topics like economic development, environmental sustainability, and cultural diversity, to name a few. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson spoke at the opening of the general session.

“Savannah’s not the only city dealing with these issues, so talking about best practices, things that work, things that we can share, resources that are out there, opportunities for funding infrastructure related projects, really creates an opportunity for us to really learn and then take that information back to our cities,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.

The Savannah Branch of the NAACP hosted a meeting to discuss the last legislative session, according to WTOC.

Georgia State Representatives Edna Jackson and Anne Allen Westbrook say the 2023 legislative session was a successful one.

Jackson and Westbrook say they’re proud of new laws passed like one that allows city council to raise the hotel-motel tax, and another that raises pay for the Savannah- Chatham County Public School System Board members.

“We want folks to know that our big focus is education, healthcare, and affordable housing is getting to be a bigger issue in Georgia.”

Georgia State Representatives Edna Jackson and Anne Allen Westbrook, in order to make the quality of life better for the people in Savannah it starts with education.

”We came up with a bill that’s gonna help pay loans for doctors to go to medical schools, but they must give 5 years of practice.”

Along with that, Jackson mentioned that the State will pay for people who want to get their nursing degrees if they stay in the state.

“One time it was just in the rural areas, but it is now across the board and they can go and they can get their nursing degrees and they will pay for it.”

Jackson adds that is just the starting point.

With more healthcare workers they can focus on deeper issues the community has such as maternal mortality.

“We have some of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the US. Black women are 2-3 times more likely to die in childbirth or the 1-year postpartum period than white women. As Democrats, we would say a lot of this has to do with we have not fully expanded Medicaid in Georgia. i would say we made some improvements around the margins, we have expanded Medicaid for the 1year postpartum period. It’s not enough, I don’t think, so I would say we are running out of excuses on this.”

Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman, LLC is expanding its practice with eleven new lawyers, according to a Press Release.

Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman, LLC announced today that it’s added 11 lawyers at offices across the country, including seven working out of Georgia. The firm previously known as Chalmers & Adams, LLC, described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a “powerhouse GOP law firm,” now has 19 lawyers in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. Its lawyers are admitted to practice in 15 states, enhancing the firm’s national presence.

“We are very excited these outstanding lawyers have joined the firm,” said Douglas Chalmers, Jr., the managing member of the firm. “These additions will allow us to expand the scope of the litigation, political law, corporate and family law solutions we offer to our clients. We are looking forward to continuing our growth into additional states and practice areas.”

The recent additions in Georgia include Alex Kaufman, Rob Kaufman, Kevin Kucharz, Juan Patino and Jim Hicks, all of whom joined the firm from Hall Booth Smith, P.C. and who focus on commercial and political litigation and corporate law. Jon Spetalnick, who was a solo practitioner and has a family law and estate planning practice, and Yana Ruseva round out the new Georgia team members. Messrs. Patino and Hicks and Ms. Ruseva joined the firm as associates; the remaining attorneys are members.

Among his notable duties, Alex Kaufman serves as general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party and the 6th Congressional District Republican Party, and he served in the Office of Executive Counsel for former Gov. Sonny Perdue. Rob Kaufman is a seasoned trial lawyer who has tried cases and argued appeals across the country and closed deals in excess of $100 million.

“CABK has the national reach, expertise, relationships and platform to give our clients the absolute best legal services possible with flexible billing arrangements,” said Alex Kaufman. “This was an excellent fit for our lawyers, and it opens the door to many new opportunities for our clients.”

CABK has brought in high-profile attorneys in Washington, North Carolina and Washington state as well.

In North Carolina, CABK has brought in new members: Phil Thomas from the North Carolina Republican Party, where he served as chief counsel, and Kevin Kline, who ran a solo practice focused on political law and civil litigation. They will double the firm’s presence in North Carolina, where Charles D. “Chuck” Gabriel, a seasoned litigator who has relocated to North Carolina from Georgia, and Caitlin Contestable were already members.

In Washington state, the firm adds Drew Stokesbary, who practices in the areas of corporate, political and election law. He is lead counsel in redistricting cases pending in federal court in Washington state. Stokesbary also serves in the Washington state House of Representatives, where he is the House Minority Leader.

The member addition in the District of Columbia is Moses Ayala, who focuses on political law.

The other named members of the firm are firm founder Douglas Chalmers, Jr., who specializes in litigation and political law; Michael Adams, who spent more than a decade as general counsel for the Republican Governors Association and is an expert on campaign finance and election law; and Dan Backer, one of the nation’s most well-respected attorneys specializing in matters before the Federal Election Commission.

For more information: Please contact Brian Robinson at 770-533-2617.

More information on the firm, including professional bios for its lawyers, is available on its website located at https://link.edgepilot.com/s/17629453/rZ5qAUgfE0ma9vG56SvrTA?u=http://www.chalmersadams.com/.

Statesboro City Council voted to advance a pay raise for council members, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Statesboro City Council split 3-2 Tuesday night on a vote to move forward with a proposal for a raise of roughly 45% in council members’ pay.

If approved by the council in the near future, the raise would only take effect with the start of a new council term, in January 2024, when it would be the first raise in council members’ pay in 18 years. Mayor Jonathan McCollar asked that the mayor’s salary be left the same, and the council members backing the motion obliged.

So the pending proposal is to raise the annual salary of regular council members from the current $7,500 to $11,000 and the salary of the mayor pro tempore from the current $9,250 to $13,500. The mayor’s pay would remain unchanged at $18,500. The current rates were adopted by a different mayor and council back in 2004 and took effect in January 2006.

With an “FYI” memo from City Attorney Cain Smith to the council members, the staff had suggested a raise of about 33% in the mayor and council members’ pay “only … to start the discussion,” Penny said. At that level, the new salary figures suggested in the memo were $10,000 for regular council members, $12,500 for the mayor pro tem and $25,000 for the mayor.

“If you were interested in increasing the current compensation package for council … we would have to advertise it and (hold) a public hearing and you’d have to act on it in council,” Penny said. “And what this would do is, you wouldn’t be raising your salary. The salary increase would not take effect until after the next election, so it would be in January 2024.”

Smith had explained these steps, in the memo, as requirements under Georgia law for a pay increase for a city’s elected officials. The law says that a raise approved by the current council “shall not be effective until after the taking of office of those elected at the next regular municipal election.”

Chatham County Commissioners voted to retain the same millage rate for the coming fiscal year, according to the Savannah Morning News.

At the last of three millage rate hearings on Friday morning, the Chatham County Commission voted to maintain county millage rates, which will result in rising property tax bills for non-homesteaded property owners across the county at the next billing cycle.

The decision to maintain the rate rather than adopt a rollback comes after rising costs for capital projects, including completion of the trial courts building, funding for the new emergency operations center and the fire services contract. Staffing and retention issues have also stretched the county budget.

The county’s adoption of the existing millage rate comes after proposals from the school district and the City of Savannah to do the same. Last year, all three entities had adopted the rollback rate, which yields the same amount of property tax raised in the previous cycle.

Rising home valuations and growth in the digest in the last 12 months will lead to an increase in property taxes across all three county-related millage rates. The General Maintenance and Operations tax levied at 10.518 mills on all county residents will see an increase of 8.41%. The Special Services District millage rate of 4.502, which applies to unincorporated residents, will see an increase of 5.90%.

Homeowners who qualified for the Stephens-Day exemption, which freezes home valuations at the time of the homestead application, won’t see a property bill increase unless the millage rate is raised.

Gwinnett County Board of Education members scheduled required meetings ahead of voting to retain the same property tax millage rate for the coming year, according to AccessWDUN.

The first hearing is currently scheduled for July 5 at 6 p.m. The second and third public hearings will take place on July 12 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Each hearing will take place in the board room at the J. Alvin Wilbanks Instructional Support Center at 437 Old Peachtree Road NW in Suwanee.

The Gwinnett County Board of Education on June 15 adopted its FY 2024 budget and tentatively adopted a millage rate that would support that budget, according to the Communications and Media Relations department with the county. Throughout the budget-setting process, it was indicated the adopted budget would not require an increase in the millage rate.

The millage rates presently sit at 19.20 for maintenance and operations and 1.45 for debt service. The funds generated by maintenance and operations millage reportedly pay for daily school system operations, including employee salaries, instructional materials, student transportation and school utility costs.

Debt service millage funds are used to pay off the school board’s long-term debt from a bond referendum that was passed over previous years to fund school construction, according to county officials.

The Gwinnett County Tax Assessor’s Office conducts annual property value assessments in order to keep the tax digest up to date. According to state law, local authorities, including the Board of Education, are required to keep tax collections revenue-neutral by decreasing millage rates in order to offset the gained taxes from property value updates. Another option is to announce a tax increase, even if the actual millage rate does not rise.

Total millage revenue for FY 2024 will reportedly generate more funds due to the announcement of a property tax increase. However, taxpayers whose property values have not increased from a reassessment will see no increase in their school tax bill, officials said Friday.

Clarke County Board of Education members also are moving forward with the same property tax millage rate, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The board has proposed keeping the millage rate at 18.8 mills.

The hearings are set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, and Thursday, June 29 at the school district office at 595 Prince Ave.

After the public hearing on Thursday, the board plans to meet in a called meeting and adopt a millage rate and vote on the final approval of the proposed budget of more than $214 million for the school year, which takes effect on July 1.

New legislation becoming effective next month lowers the insurance requirements for ride-share, according to Atlanta News First via WRDW.

On July 1, a new law going into effect could impact both rideshare passenger and driver safety.

Jeb Butler, a personal injury law attorney, fights for people who have been hurt in car wrecks. He is concerned about a new law going into effect on July 1, which lowers passenger protection insurance from $1 million to $100,000.

“They don’t think about the way this is going to matter for the rest of your life,” he said. “Serious injuries, medical bills, future medical care, pain and suffering, lost wages — that’s going to eclipse or pass that number 100,000 real quick.”

A spokesperson from Uber shared a statement that celebrated the change.

“Georgia has been the most expensive state in the country to insure for rideshare, leading to higher fees for riders when compared to other major markets… This new change is a welcome step forward in making sure Uber is affordable for Georgia riders.”

Getting behind the wheel can be lucrative for drivers, but it can also be risky for everyone on board. In 2019, there were 5,890 Uber and Lyft accidents in Georgia. This number is steadily increasing as ridesharing rises in popularity.

Gwinnett County Commissioner Jasper Watkins (D-District 3) was appointed to the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia Standing Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse, according to AccessWDUN.

“As a veteran, I’ve witnessed the personal struggles associated with the transition from military to civilian life and recognize the importance of collaborating on solutions to address these sensitive topics,” said Watkins. “I am thankful to ACCG President Henry Craig for my appointment to the Mental Health Committee. I look forward to serving alongside the state’s esteemed members to tackle mental health and substance abuse challenges.”

“Mental health challenges are often a crisis for most local communities. As counties are the closest constitutional government to their constituents, we are on the front line of reform efforts,” said ACCG President Henry Craig. “The work of the ACCG Standing Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse will serve as one of many contributions to encourage statewide renewal of policy and resources to address the prevalent issue of care for Georgians with mental illness and substance addiction.”

The committee convened its first meeting on June 21 at the Baldwin County Government Office in Milledgeville.

Gwinnett County Solicitor General Lisamarie Bristol announced her office received $150,000 in funding to help clear a case backlog, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Solicitor General Lisamarie Bristol announced the $150,000 grant, funded by Judicial Council American Rescue Plan Act, this past week. During the first round of ARPA funding distribution, Gwinnett County’s judicial circuit received about $2 million. The funding for the Solicitor’s Office came from a supplemental funding round. The office is one of 24 judicial circuits that received grant funds during the supplemental round.

“Many people do not realize the potential collateral damage a pending misdemeanor or traffic offense may have on someone’s life,” Bristol said. “I am thrilled to be able to use these funds to enhance our technology and hire additional staff to address the issue. I am optimistic we will continue this trajectory to better serve Gwinnett residents.”

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patty Austin Gaston (D) announced she will run for reelection, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

She points to efforts she has created since she took office, such as the Junior DA mentorship program to introduce teens to jobs in the criminal justice system. She also points to her office’s efforts to clear out a backlog of cases, both those that originated during the COVID-19 and those that had been pending in the system in some cases for years before the pandemic.

“I want to do a court program where citizens can come in and learn what we do, and what they will doing as a juror,” Austin-Gatson said. “So we want to do more education … Three things that are really hurting our community is drugs, gangs and guns so I’ll be working on initiatives to work hard with our GCPD to bring safety to that.

“We’ve had people die because they don’t know how to store their guns (or) they don’t know how to clean their guns. So bringing education to the community in order to keep it safe, that’s one of the things I will be doing.”

Austin-Gatson, who became the first African-American and first woman elected as Gwinnett’s district attorney in 2020, already has a challenger from her own party. Andrea Alabi, a former prosecutor in the DA’s office, kicked off her campaign for the Democratic Party’s nomination in April.

Savannah City Council member Bernetta Lanier announced she will run for reelection to the Board of Aldermen District 1, according to WTOC.

She launched her re-election campaign with a celebration at Waterworks Plaza Saturday. She first joined Savannah’s City Council in 2019.

Lanier joins a growing list of Savannah City Council members running for re-election. Election Day is Nov. 7.

Jim Arrington was sworn in as LaGrange City Council member representing District 1, according to WTVM.

Jim Arrington was sworn in as District 1 City Councilman, filling the seat that was vacated earlier this year.

Arrington won the city councilman race by almost 1300 votes against Terry Stafford.