Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 3, 2020

On June 3, 1941, Georgia voters ratified a Constitutional Amendment extending the term of office for Governor and the other Constitutional Officers from two years to four. Governor Eugene Talmadge campaigned for the Amendment, hoping to serve a four-year term after the two-year term he currently held, but was defeated in the 1942 Democratic Primary by Ellis Arnall. Remember this phrase: legislation almost always has unintended consequences.

On June 3, 1942, Curtis Mayfield was born in Chicago, Illinois and would later live in Atlanta, dying in Roswell in 1999.

On the morning of June 3, 1962, a plane carrying 106 Georgians crashed on take-off from Orly near Paris, the deadliest crash in aviation to that date.

On June 3, 1980, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter had amassed enough delegates to assure his nomination in the Democratic Primary for President.

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Tiananman Square Massacre in Beijing, China. Pro-democracy protests had begun on April 15, 1989 and on May 20, martial law was declared. The People’s Liberation Army began taking the square back on the evening of June 3d.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Former State Rep. Rusty Kidd (I-Milledgevile) has died, according to the AJC.

Kidd represented the Milledgeville area for eight years until deciding not to seek re-election in 2016 for health reasons.

“There’s certainly a lot of broken hearts,” said state Rep. Rick Williams, a Republican from Milledgeville who succeeded Kidd. “He was the most genuine person you’d ever meet. He was a peacemaker. He did a lot for our community that people never knew.”

Kidd was a Democrat for 40 years before becoming an independent. He supported Republican Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016.

Kidd in 2004 became the chairman of the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission, which provides grants to Georgians for their post-acute care and rehabilitation for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. A bill pending in the General Assembly this year would provide funding from fines and forfeitures to the trust fund.

“Rusty Kidd was a statesman and community leader who left Milledgeville, Baldwin County and the state of Georgia better off thanks to his years of dedicated service,” Gov. Brian Kemp said.

The late Mrs. GaPundit worked with Rusty Kidd when she was at the Georgia Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission. Despite his reputation as a bit of a rascal, Mrs. GaPundit held him in the highest esteem and there is no greater compliment I can think of.

Governor Brian Kemp yesterday spoke about the current state of COVID-19 in Georgia and recent protests.

“Before we get started with our weekly COVID-19 briefing, I wanted to take a few moments to address the protests that we have seen in communities across our nation. As I said over the weekend, this is a deeply emotional time in Georgia and America.”

“Gripped by a global pandemic, COVID-19 has threatened the health and well-being of our families and communities. Here in Georgia, this healthcare crisis has created economic hardship. Unemployment numbers and uncertainty is sky high. And during this unprecedented moment, we have witnessed injustice with our own eyes. Georgians are filled with fear, with anger, and righteous impatience. People are hurting, and we have more questions than answers.”

“I support the right to peacefully protest, to honor the life of George Floyd, to demand action. As the cradle of the Civil Rights movement, this is a place where peaceful protests ultimately shook up the status quo. The birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this is a city where his legacy looms, urging us to seek justice, love mercy, and treat each other fairly with kindness and respect.”

“What started as a peaceful protest on Friday ended in violence and destruction. A powerful moment was ultimately corrupted by some with a different agenda.”

“But to be clear, I am also outraged that these Georgians are now in harm’s way because some are using this moment to riot, loot, and compromise the safety of our citizenry. Violence and destruction is unacceptable, and we will continue to do our part – in conjunction with local leaders – to plan, mobilize, and respond appropriately to threats that undermine our safety. We will do what’s necessary to keep the peace. I still have hope that we can emerge from this stronger and more united.”

“This is a moment to unite as Georgians and find solutions to the problems that we face. We can overcome these incredible challenges together.”

“On Thursday in Brunswick, Gregory and Travis McMichael will appear for preliminary hearings following their arrests for the death of Ahmaud Arbery. We will have a strong state law enforcement presence in the region to support local government, including Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources officers, National Guard troops, GEMA officials, and related state agencies on hand. And we will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable if they try to infiltrate peaceful gatherings to cause chaos. Let me be clear: we will not tolerate disruptive, dangerous behavior or criminal conduct. We will put the safety of Georgians first.”

“Before I turn it over to Dr. Toomey, I want to renew some calls to action. Please continue to follow public health advice and mitigate your risk of exposure. We are still battling a pandemic, and we need to stay vigilant. Wear a mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands regularly. We’re starting to see more patients return for regular screenings, but we’re also seeing an increase in more serious diagnoses because people have delayed medical intervention. Don’t skip medical appointments. Prioritize your health.”

“We’re in this fight together – the fight against COVID-19, the fight to revive our economy, and the fight to ensure liberty and justice for all. Please pray for our state and country. Pray for peace and for a better, brighter tomorrow.”

Four Lowndes County voting precincts will be closed for next week’s elections, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Due to a lack of poll workers, Trinity Presbyterian (precinct 2), Dasher City Hall (precinct 8), Valdosta State University (precinct 10) and Jaycee Park (precinct 11) will be closed Election Day and be reassigned to the Lowndes Board of Elections for next Tuesday, according to Deb Cox, Lowndes County supervisor of elections.

Reassigned voters from those precincts can also go to any of the seven open precincts in the county and cast a provisional ballot.

Another change for the election Tuesday will be any registered voter can vote at the board of elections without using a provisional ballot. The process will mirror early voting, Cox said.

She said her office is prepared for larger numbers of voters June 9, and due to social distancing measures, residents should expect longer lines if they elect to cast a ballot at the 2808 N Oak St. location.

Whitfield County elections workers will begin processing ballots tomorrow, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Pursuant to State Election Board Emergency Rule 183-1-14-0.7-.15, workers will open absentee ballots and begin scanning absentee ballots starting at 8 a.m. Thursday in the Board of Elections and Registration office in the Whitfield County Courthouse, 205 N Selvidge St.

The process will be monitored as authorized by the rule. This processing will not include any tallying or tabulation of results; only opening envelopes and ballot scanning.

The Macon NAACP is questioning apparent racial disparities in prosecution by the District Attorney, according to the Macon Telegraph.

At a news conference outside the Bibb County Courthouse, Gwenette Westbrooks, local NAACP president, voiced concerns regarding cases where “we feel … there has been injustice.”

Westbrooks raised questions about a pending rape charge against a black man and the handling of an unrelated case involving a white man who officials have said claimed that a pair of black men carjacked and kidnapped him.

“We feel that the color of a person’s skin should not have any bearing on the way a case is prosecuted. And that’s what we are seeing. There is a lot of disparities in the way these cases are handled,” Westbrooks said.

United States Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Atlanta) is donating her Senate salary, according to the Albany Herald.

When she first took office, Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler pledged to donate her full Senate paycheck to charities and nonprofits across the state. Since January, she’s donated more than $70,000 to about 20 organizations.

Several of Loeffler’s donations went to organizations in the Albany area. So far, she has donated $3,800 apiece to Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation and the (Tift Area) Pregnancy Care Center. This is in addition to the $1 million donation she recently made to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.

Loeffler donated funds to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation that helped with COVID-19 response, and the Second Harvest of South Georgia food bank used the contribution it received to aid with meal distribution for families dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Congressman Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) thinks his legislative body should stick to in-person voting, according to The Brunswick News.

Carter and other Republicans claim proxy voting is unconstitutional and are challenging the policy by the House leadership in U.S. District Court in Washington.

As far as Carter is concerned, House members who vote by proxy are shirking their duty and are the first Americans to do so in more than two centuries.

“The Constitution directs Congress to assemble – not sit on the sidelines as America faces a global pandemic and Americans lose their jobs,” Carter said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top House Democrats see if differently. They advocated proxy voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Americans everywhere are being advised by health experts to keep six feet apart, limit group sizes to 10 and cover their faces.

“We can all be in Washington voting while following safety guidance,” Carter said. “That is exactly what we are doing. It takes much longer, but we are adapting like the rest of the country is and voting in small groups to ensure social distancing.”

Judges and others who work in the state justice system may face pay cuts, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Henry Herald.

With state prosecutors, public defenders and judges facing weeks of furlough, some members of the Senate Appropriations Judicial Subcommittee on Monday floated temporary pay cuts as a way to trim spending without impairing the court system’s ability to speedily process cases.

“We may have to think outside of the box a little bit,” said Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, who chairs the subcommittee. “Would this be better with a salary reduction as opposed to a furlough?”

The General Assembly is set to reconvene later this month and has until July 1 to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Proposed furloughs were outlined Monday amounting to between 13 and 44 days for state prosecutors, 40 days for superior court judges and their staff, 13 days for Georgia Supreme Court justices, 18 days for District Attorney Chris Carr’s office and 24 days for the Georgia Public Defender Council.

With those furlough days, judges and attorneys critical to the court system would be forced to take several days off work at a time when cases have piled up and defendants awaiting trial have stayed imprisoned longer amid the coronavirus pandemic, several state agency heads said Monday.

COVID-19 may complicate planning for hurricane evacuations, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Emergency officials in some Georgia coastal counties are nervously bracing for this year’s hurricane season amid new dangers posed by the coronavirus to people who would require help evacuating.

“If we have to evacuate, it’s going to be a nightmare,” said Ty Poppell, director of the Emergency Management Agency in McIntosh County south of Savannah.

Poppell said putting evacuees on a bus and maintaining six feet of space (two meters) around each person to help prevent potential exposure to the virus would be a big problem.

In neighboring Liberty County, emergency management director Larry Logan said he didn’t have enough shelters to maintain social distance in case of a mass evacuation. He was concerned that fear of contracting the virus at a shelter would lead more residents to ignore any evacuation orders.

“This is going to be all new. It’s going to be a trial and error thing,” he said.

The Hall County Commission is considering adopting a full rollback property tax rate for the next fiscal year, according to the Gainesville Times.

The rollback millage rate is the rate an average property owner would need in order to avoid a higher tax bill due to an increased property assessment. Property owners could see higher or lower tax bills, depending on their assessments.

“As the board continues to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on our community, the commission also believes it is prudent to scale back its FY 2021 spending plan in anticipation of a potential reduction in revenues,” Hall County Administrator Jock Connell said in a statement. “The members of the board have worked diligently to achieve a lower millage rate even in the midst of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.”

Gwinnett County Commissioners approved a $38.48 million dollar bond package for a new mixed-use development near the mall of Georgia, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett County will expand meal delivery for seniors using nearly $307,000 from the Atlanta Regional Commission, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Augusta University considers how to reopen campus in the face of budget cuts, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The school has prepared four different scenarios for how it will conduct classes and operations. One is with minimal social distancing of at least six feet and some large classes perhaps split and alternating who attends in person and who attends online to a return to online only classes and instruction.

“The virus will determine most of what we do,” Keel said. There may even be a situation where classes begin in person and then switch “midstream” to online only if there is an outbreak, he said.

But the plan for now is to provide “face to face” experience for students, Keel said.

But AU and every other college and university in the University System of Georgia has been asked to prepare for 14 percent budget cuts that will include mandatory furloughs. At AU, that amounted to $32.9 million, Keel said. Part of that is cutting 69 vacant positions, the furloughs that increase as salary increases, and delaying renovations and eliminating travel, among other items. But all of that will depend on what the Georgia Legislature does when it reconvenes this month to pass a budget for next fiscal year.

The Floyd County Judicial Center will reopen at 9 AM Thursday, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The Ledger-Enquirer published a Q&A with candidates for Harris County Board of Education District Six.

The Savannah Morning News profiles the candidate for the House District 163 primary elections.