Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 27, 2019

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.

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.”

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency is turning over responsibility for oversight of ash ponds to the State of Georgia, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Federal regulators are proposing to approve Georgia’s program for the disposal of coal ash generated at power plants and allow state regulators to manage the process going forward.

“EPA encourages other states to follow Georgia’s lead and assume oversight of coal ash management within their borders,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a press release issued Monday. “EPA is committed to working with the states as they establish coal ash programs tailored to their unique circumstances that are protective of human health and the environment.”

The AJC looks at legislation going into effect beginning July 1st.

A new law will protect renters from eviction when they complain about unhealthy conditions.

The law makes it easier for renters to win court cases and remain in their homes. Landlords who wrongfully try to evict tenants would have to pay them one month’s rent, plus $500 and legal costs.

The minimum marriage age will increase from 16 to 17.

After approving the use of medical marijuana by registered patients in 2015, the General Assembly this year approved a way for the drug to be dispensed.

Still, the unique distribution system for medical marijuana could force patients to wait months or years before they’re legally able to obtain medical marijuana oil in Georgia.

State Representative David Stover (R-Newnan) has resigned, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.

Citing the needs of a growing family, Republican State Rep. David Stover said he’ll be resigning his office immediately.

Since 2013, Stover has represented voters in District 71, which includes most of Coweta County east of Interstate 85, as well as a section of north Coweta including Madras.

In his resignation letter to Gov. Brian Kemp, Stover said his time in the Georgia General Assembly has been “one of the greatest honors of my lifetime.

Kemp will call for a special election to fill Stover’s unexpired term. The election will likely be held in either September or November.

“It is my hope and desire that my resignation date gives you the timing flexibility you will need to ensure a new representative has been sworn in before the end of the year and ready to go in the 2020 Session,” Stover wrote to the governor.

Glynn County Commissioner Bob Coleman has been indicted on charges related to his insurance business, according to The Brunswick News.

A Glynn County grand jury handed down another indictment Wednesday against insurance agent and county commissioner Bob Coleman.

In it, the grand jury charged Coleman with committing two counts of insurance fraud and four counts of violating the insurance reporting and disposition of premium requirement of the Georgia Insurance Code.

Wednesday’s charges are the second set of such charges against Coleman. A grand jury charged both Coleman and his wife Sherry in January with 15 counts of felony violation of the Georgia Insurance Code.

He was re-elected to serve a third term in the At-large Post 2 seat on the Glynn County Commission in 2016. His current term ends at the end of next year.

Glynn County’s 2016 SPLOST Oversight Committee is seeing delays in completion of projects, according to The Brunswick News.

Members of the SPLOST 2016 oversight committee took county personnel to task over a new animal control shelter and veterans memorial park, both of which the county commission told voters to expect when they approved the penny tax at the ballot nearly three years ago.

Both projects are fully designed, but no dirt has yet been turned on either. Both also came in well over budget.

Road, drainage and sidewalk projects are all otherwise moving along, Austin said. They are either complete, under construction, pending right of way acquisition or making their way through county and state approval processes.

The Lowndes County Commission adopted a $108 million dollar FY 2020 budget, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The $108 million is the total cost of expenditures for Fiscal Year 2020. The general fund is at $58 million, which will afford services to the public.

After the unanimous vote, Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter said the vote made it seem like an easy process, but it was not.

The Lee County Commission approved a FY 2020 budget, according to the Albany Herald.

The budget includes cost-of-living increases for county employees, provides for new public safety positions and does not include a tax increase for residents.

The Oconee County Commission voted to buy land for a new administration building, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The Henry County Adult Felony Drug Court administered by Judge Holly Veal was cited as a “Model Court” by the Council of Accountability Court Judges, according to the Henry Herald.

Duluth will install license plate readers in school zones, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Earlier this month, the Duluth City Council approved a “comprehensive school zone safety program” that enforces existing school speed limits through the use of cameras, which will be installed by RedSpeed Ga., a subsidiary of Illinois-based RedSpeed USA.

When the cameras are not in use for speed enforcement, they will “act as a regular tag reader” and pick up on cars registered to users with Temporary Protection Orders or other criteria that bar them from being in school zones, said Duluth Police Department spokesman Officer Ted Sadowski.

“It’s kind of two-fold,” Sadowski said. “It (records) speed but also can pick up on Amber Alerts and stuff like that.”

Though sex offenders in Georgia are required to register their vehicles and tags in the statewide offender database, it’s not immediately clear whether the RedSpeed cameras have access to that database and thus can pick up sex offenders who travel through school zones.

The cameras, which have been implemented in other counties and cities in recent months, including Henry and Clayton counties and Morrow, Jonesboro and Milledgeville, are not taxpayer funded, Sadowski said.

“It’s violator funded,” he said. “We’re not paying (RedSpeed); they sign a contract where they get 35 % and we get 65 % of the revenue from the violations.”

Cave Spring City Council approved a rewrite of the municipal alcohol ordinance, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The council adopted its 2019-2020 budget at the special called meeting Tuesday, along with a comprehensive alcohol ordinance.

Shoaf said the general fund budget was set at $844,000. The city gets revenue from a permanent 1-cent local option sales tax and does not levy a property tax.

The $1.27 million water and sewer budget, funded through customer charges, also is balanced.

“There are a lot of microbreweries and distilleries popping up all over Georgia and I think this is going to be a good thing for the city,” [Mayor Dennis] Shoaf said.

“The City Council and attorney have done their due diligence to make it restrictive while allowing the flexibility for new businesses. … People don’t want a big change in our way of life. That’s not going to happen,” he added.

Swainsboro has reinstated a curfew for juveniles, according to WSAV.

According to the Swainsboro Police Department, the curfew applies to any person under the age of 17 within city limits between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day.

The department says it’s in an effort to protect the youth in the community.

“This curfew makes it illegal for any male or female juvenile to be on or at a public street, other public places, as well as any commercial or non-commercial venue,” the Swainsboro Police stated, adding, “This curfew remains in effect until further notice.”

Columbus renovated a softball complex in advance of a softball tournament next month, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.