On June 27, 1864, Sherman’s Union forces attacked General Johnston’s Confederates at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
One year later, the Military Department of Georgia was created to oversee Reconstruction in the state.
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.
The Gone with the Wind scene that includes the line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” was filmed on June 27, 1939, along with an alternate that used the line, “Frankly, my dear, I just don’t care.”
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
The United States Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari in the case involving Georgia’s statewide elections for Public Service Commission, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Ledger-Enquirer.
The court’s decision not to take up the case, issued on Monday, means members of the PSC will continue to be elected statewide under a new schedule adopted by the General Assembly this year.
While the five members of the commission serve as representatives of districts, each member is elected statewide. A federal lawsuit filed by four Black Fulton County residents argued that electing members of the PSC statewide diluted Black voting strength in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act, making it more difficult for Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice. While a lower federal court agreed and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned that decision. Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court not to hear the case upheld the appellate court, meaning statewide PSC elections that had been delayed while the lawsuit was pending now may go forward.
Under the schedule the legislature approved in March, the election for the PSC’s District 2 seat now held by Commissioner Tim Echols will take place in May of next year in conjunction with municipal election primaries. The elections for districts 3 and 5 – seats now held by commissioners Fitz Johnson and Tricia Pridemore – will be held in 2026. Elections for PSC districts 1 and 4 – now served by commissioners Jason Shaw and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, will take place in 2028.
Former Governors Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes will join the Democracy Defense Project, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
The Democracy Defense Project, launched Tuesday, is led by former Govs. Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes, former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
“For far too long, politicians, pundits, and activists have worked overtime to sow distrust in America’s electoral process,” said Deal, a Republican. “We refuse to sit on the sidelines while the bedrock of this great nation is eroded away by misinformation and dangerous political agendas. Our goal is to restore confidence in the electoral process that makes this country exceptional.”
“Trust in the electoral system and commitment to a peaceful transition of power are vital to the future success of our republic,” added Barnes, a Democrat. “While it may be politically advantageous to undermine America’s core values, it’s a harmful damaging game with lasting consequences.”
The Democracy Defense Project is being launched in the same week that Trump and Biden will appear at CNN’s Atlanta studios for the first of two scheduled debates ahead of the 2024 election.
The Georgia effort is part of a national push for election integrity focusing on battleground states where challenges to the November election results may arise. The organization will use earned and paid media to raise awareness of efforts to subvert elections across the country.
Governor Kemp’s political leadership committee will spend $1.5 million dollars on state legislative races, according to the AJC.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s political operation plans to spend $1.5 million to boost Republican legislative candidates in November elections to help vulnerable incumbents and swing district challengers preserve the GOP’s edge in the Georgia Legislature.
The Republican advantage will remain secure in November barring an electoral avalanche, but Democrats aim to cut into the GOP’s 102-78 lead in the House and 33-23 edge in the Senate. But Kemp isn’t taking any chances.
Kemp’s leadership committee is coordinating with the House and Senate Republican caucuses in effort to squeeze Democrats in mostly suburban territories where GOP candidates have recently been in retreat.
The governor has retooled his Georgians First Leadership Committee from a fundraising vehicle that helped him win a second term in 2022 into a political operation that has filled a void left by the Georgia GOP, which is devoting much of its resources to helping underwrite former President Donald Trump’s legal fees.
The gush of cash is an enormous amount for down-ticket races that rarely attract this level of spending. It will boost four incumbents in tough reelection battles: State Reps. Scott Hilton of Peachtree Corners, Matt Reeves of Sugar Hill, Deborah Silcox of Sandy Springs and Ken Vance of Milledgeville.
It also will target several Democratic incumbents, including state Rep. Jasmine Clark of Gwinnett County and Farooq Mughal of Dacula. Republican Noah Harbuck, who is competing against Democrat Tangie Herring in an open middle Georgia-based seat, will also get support from Kemp’s network.
Those races are considered some of the only competitive contests in Georgia after another Republican-led redrawing of political maps protected most incumbents and left only a handful of swing districts.
A new state law effective July 1st will make it easier for landlords to deal with squatters, according to WTVM.
The Georgia Squatter Reform Act will make it a lot harder for people to live at someone else’s property without their consent.
There were roughly 1,000 squatter cases in the state of Georgia last year. This new law will allow homeowners to regain possession their properties quicker and punish squatters with fee’s and jail time.
“If someone is believed to be on a property illegally and they are not supposed to be there, they will get notice that they have three days to show proof that their supposed to be there,” said Georgia Rep. Teddy Reese, of District 140.
Rep. Reese says people may see a vacant home over a period of time and decide to move themselves in without permission and without paying rent. He says before this bill was a law, it took too long to remove the squatters from the property.
The law was signed by Governor Brian Kemp and will go into effect July 1. State Senator Ed Harbison says the new laws can get squatters out of the property within three to seven days as opposed to months, and in some cases years.
“Before it was a civil thing that is, you see somebody in your house, you can’t call the police and get them out. What you had to do was go to court, file a civil suit to force the law to come and put them out,” Harbison said.
Squatters could face up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine or both. Reese says these fines are based on the value of the property.
“That fine is going to be determined by the market rent of the property itself,” he added. “Then, your penalty could equate to what that homeowner is going through to get you out of it.”
Volkswagen will invest at least $1 billion in Rivian, which could lead to the proposed Rivian Georgia plant opening earlier, according to the AJC.
Electric vehicle startup Rivian and German automobile giant Volkswagen Group announced Tuesday a joint venture to develop EV software technologies, a potential $5 billion partnership that Rivian said will provide the company the capital it needs to grow and launch its planned Georgia factory.
In March, Rivian put on hold its plans for a $5 billion factory an hour east of Atlanta. Rivian has said it intends to honor its commitment to build the Georgia plant, but paused the project and announced plans to shift initial production of its new lower priced EV, the R2, to its factory in Normal, Illinois.
Volkswagen Group plans to invest an initial $1 billion in Rivian, taking an equity position in the startup and becoming one of the company’s largest investors. The planned partnership includes $4 billion in additional investments through 2026, and would result in the developed software technologies being used in both companies’ future EVs, according to a news release.
Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe said Tuesday that he remains committed to building the Georgia factory as the company scales production, and he said the joint venture with Volkswagen will help that endeavor.
“This partnership does provide really a capital road map to not only secure and support the launch of R2 in Normal but also support the launch of that mid-size platform in our Georgia facility and our path to positive free cash flow,” he said.
Rivian postponed its Georgia factory construction plans as a cost-cutting measure, saying the move would save more than $2.2 billion in short-term development costs. Rivian plans to start production of its R2 crossover at its Illinois plant in 2026, but Scaringe has said Rivian would still need to build the Georgia factory to have capacity to scale production.
In selecting Georgia for its second factory, which is expected to employ 7,500 workers, state and local officials offered a $1.5 billion incentive package. Most of the incentives, however, only accrue to Rivian if it collectively meets 80% of its promised jobs and investment by the end of 2030 and maintain those metrics through 2049. Otherwise, they’d be subject to claw back measures.
Rivian reported a $1.4 billion net loss for this year’s first quarter, larger than its $1.3 billion loss in the first quarter of 2023. Rivian ended March with nearly $6 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
VW said it plans to invest $2 billion in the joint software company, while the other $3 billion would be used to purchase equity in Rivian. Rivian Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough told investors during a Tuesday evening call that the first $1 billion investment from Volkswagen will be in the form of a note that converts to stock.
Columbus City Council members are considering changes to allow an appointed member to continue receiving pension payments related to earlier employment with the city government, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
The majority of the 10-seat Columbus Council appears ready to change a city law that would help retired police officer Byron Hickey accept the controversial and delayed appointment to fill the governing body’s vacancy.
Despite the Columbus Consolidated Government’s pension board declining June 13 to recommend a proposed amendment to the CCG employee pension plan, the council is scheduled to vote July 9 to do exactly that.
The CCG charter considers councilors to be part-time employees — and they are paid like it, earning around $22,000 per year. But they have the option to participate in the city’s health insurance plan, and about 8% of their pay automatically goes to the pension plan because the it considers councilors to be full-time employees.
If Hickey accepts the council’s appointment to serve as the District 1 representative, current city law would suspend his pension. This proposed amendment would allow Hickey or any other CCG retiree to still receive their pension payments while serving on the council.
Augusta broke ground for a new James Brown Arena to replace the existing facility, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
On Tuesday, local leaders and members of the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority ceremoniously broke ground on the new James Brown Arena to replace the old one.
“In 1979, this facility was brought into operation, and I remember as a kid my very first concert was the Parliament-Funkadelic,” said Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson. “This new arena represents the next generation moving forward for all of these kids. … I can’t wait until they’re our age and they’re telling stories of where they were.”
Brantley said demolition bids are due in July, with the notice to proceed to be issued by late July/early August. It will take three-to-four months to demolish the arena. The coliseum authority’s chairman Cedric Johnson said, once demolition is complete, it will take about three years to complete. This puts the new James Brown Arena opening around late 2027.
This was made possible by a temporary sales tax voters approved last fall. The tax ends as soon as the project is fully funded.
The next step will be to tear the roof off this mother old facility.
The Glynn County Board of Education voted to adopt their $184 million dollar proposed budget for the new fiscal year, according to The Brunswick News.
The Glynn County School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a $184 million operating budget for fiscal year 2024-25, which begins July 1.
The new budget includes a state-mandated salary increase of $2,500 for all the county’s approximately 1,800 certified teachers. A school district employee health insurance increase will add more than $3 million to the budget.
The Glynn County School district is recommending a tax rate of 15.15 mills, or $15.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value for county property owners. That is a ¼ decrease from the current tax rate of 15.40 mills, or $15.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The proposed tax rate would generate $105 million toward the 2024-25 budget. Federal and state money will generate the remainder of the budget.
The Oconee County Board of Education will consider a property tax millage rate lower than the current rate but higher than the full rollback rate, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
The Oconee County Board of Education has set up three public hearings to allow input on its recommendation of 14.25 mills for the fiscal year 2025 budget.
The millage rate determines the amount of property taxes a person pays.
The BOE adopted a millage rate of 15.0 mills on June 11, according to the news release. But the board explained that although the recommended millage is decreased, Georgia law requires the millage rate of 14.25 be advertised as a property tax increase because assessed value of existing property in the county has increased since last year.
The BOE approved a 2025 budget of $114,890,755 and reports that 90% is designated for salaries and benefits and 10% for daily operations, according to the release.
The Gwinnett County Board of Education adopted a FY 2025 budget with higher raises for teachers, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
When Gwinnett County Public Schools initially unveiled its proposed fiscal year 2025 budget at the end of March, teachers were expected to get a $3,000 raise, including a $2,500 raise that Gov. Brian Kemp had put in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
The school system’s $3.2 billion budget that was unanimously adopted by the county’s school board last Thursday, however, increased that amount to a $4,000 raise for teachers.
The 4% cost-of-living adjustment that had originally been proposed for other district employees was also increased to a 4.25% adjustment in the final budget.
“These investments were a result of feedback and input, not just you the board, but also our staff and our community,” GCPS Chief Financial Officer Masana Mailliard told board members at a work session before the budget vote.
“This comes with the opportunity for us, as we’ve had additional state revenue, to sort of go back and take a look and try to address some of the additional feedback that we’ve gotten over the past few months.”
The increases in salaries for GCPS employees were part of $32 million in funding that was added to the district’s budget as part of its final adoption.
The AJC writes that teachers across Metro Atlanta are receiving raises in the coming year.
Gwinnett County Commissioners voted to keep the property tax millage rate unchanged, according to the AJC.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is proposing to hold the county’s general fund property tax rate steady at 6.95 mills for the fifth year in a row.
Keeping the rate unchanged would bring in nearly $11 million, or 3%, more than commissioners anticipated in January when they adopted the budget, Buffy Alexzulian, the county’s finance director, told commissioners during a recent briefing. The tax rate needed to collect the general fund revenue budgeted earlier this year would be 6.5 mills, but Alexzulian recommended against lowering the rate, saying the county needs to maintain adequate reserves.
“It’s a one-year decision you make, but it has a long-lasting impact on that revenue you’re going to lose going forward,” she said. “If you roll it back, you’re going to be forced to make some serious decisions with the budget next year or you’re going to have to raise the millage rate. I mean, the math is the math.”
The board will hold three hearings for residents to comment on the proposed tax rate. Two will take place Thursday, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The third will be July 16 at 11 a.m., and the board is scheduled to vote on the rate at 2 p.m. that day. All hearings and board meetings will be at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville.
Online comments will be accepted on gwinnettcounty.com until 9 p.m. on July 15.
Commissioners will also set tax rates for the police, fire and emergency services, development and code enforcement, recreation and economic development funds. In recent years, the rate for all those funds combined has been 14.71 mills for residents in unincorporated Gwinnett.
“By maintaining this stable tax rate, we can maintain a stable government that supports well-being and quality of life for all Gwinnett residents, businesses and visitors,” County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said in a news release.
Savannah City Council will vote on the future of the Civic Center, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The three resolutions reflect the options cost-benefitted by city staff: keep and renovate the entire Civic Center facilities including the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena and Johnny Mercer Theatre; demolish the entire complex and replace the Mercer Theatre at an alternative location; demolish the MLK Jr. Arena while retaining and restoring the Mercer Theatre.
“This is only a step in a series of decisions that have to be made,” said Mayor Van Johnson at a recent press conference. “So, this will give us a strategic direction.”
The mayor said he doesn’t want to see a repeat of the dragged-out process that happened with the Enmarket Arena.
“We’ve heard from everybody and now it’s time for council to have their say in terms of a vote. I’ve promised that we were going to make big decisions quickly, we’re not going to suffer from paralysis of analysis and so this Thursday we’re going to make the hard choice,” said Mayor Van Johnson.
The mayor was also asked about his personal preference at his weekly news conference earlier today. He said now that the Enmarket Arena is fully operational, there’s no longer a need for the arena in the Civic Center. He also pushed back against the option that would get rid of the entire structure, including the Johnny Mercer Theatre.
“We have a 400-seat cultural arts center and then we have a 10,000-seat arena. If we get rid of the Johnny Mercer Theatre, we have nothing in between,” said Mayor Van Johnson.
Mayor Johnson also points out the upper floors of the civic center are often used as an equity space for various meetings. He says the council has not taken community input lightly and will make an important decision on Thursday.
Bulloch County Commissioners side-stepped a vote on an intergovernmental agreement involving wells for the Hyundai plant in Bryan County, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners, split 3-3 but with Chairman Roy Thompson casting the tiebreaker vote, halted a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 25, special meeting that had been called for the purpose of approving two agreements with Bryan County having to do with wells, water and wastewater.
One of the agreements is the memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to establish the mitigation program for other well owners whose water level may be impacted by the counties’ providing four large wells to supply water to Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America. The other is a proposed intergovernmental agreement, or IGA, between Bulloch and Bryan counties for operation of county-owned water and sewer systems, also in southeastern Bulloch and northern Bryan.
The called meeting was halted, without any action being taken on the agreements, after complaints were voiced, especially by the Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization, that public notice issued a little over 24 hours before the meeting gave members of the public insufficient time to know the contents of the agreements.
Statesboro City Council member Phil Boyum said he will resign, according to GriceConnect.
“Since the word is out: I will be resigning my position as District 1 Councilmember in order to move closer to my parents full-time as they advance in years. I’ll submit my resignation letter at the July 16th meeting, so the remaining council members have time to call for a special election in November. It’s been an honor to serve the citizens of Statesboro for nearly 12 years and I am proud to leave the city in the best financial shape of the last two decades,” posted Phil Boyum on his Councilman Phil Boyum Facebook page.
At the Tuesday, August 15, 2023 City Council meeting Boyum announced his intent to resign from the District 1 City Council Seat and made a motion to call a special election to have been placed on the November 7, 2023 municipal election.
However, Boyum never submitted his required letter of resignation and has continued to serve on Council. There was never a special election called.
At the last Statesboro City Council meeting, on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, during the public comments section, Statesboro resident Don Armel questioned Boyum’s residency. Armel asked the council to address a concern that he had about the possibility that a vacancy exists among the council seats as defined by verbiage within the city charter, due to limitations on council members’ place of residents.
Armel challenged the residency of District 1 Councilmen Phil Boyum. Armel believes that Mr. Boyum does not have a residence in Statesboro or District 1. Armel said that the East Main residence where he formally lived was vacated in 2023 and there is no verification or proof of residency of Council member Boyum in District 1 or even in the City limits of Statesboro. He asked the Council to investigate his legal residency as stated in the City Charter.
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