Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 1, 2024

Original Communist (O.C.) Karl Marx published Das Kapital on October 1, 1867.

Voters in the state of Washington adopted the state constitution on October 1, 1889.

The first World Series of baseball opened on October 1, 1903.

On October 1, 1908, Ford introduced the Model T.

Happy 100th Birthday to former President Jimmy Carter, who was born on October 1, 1924 at Wise Sanitarium in Plains, Georgia, the first American President to be born in a hospital.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Warm Springs, Georgia for the 21st time beginning on October 1, 1931.

In a Special Election October 1, 1940, Florence Gibbs became the first woman elected to Congress from Georgia, completing her late husband’s term and serving through January 3, 1941, but no standing for a full term of her own.

Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the Communist People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

The Carter Center in Atlanta was dedicated on October 1, 1986.

Mikhail Gorbachev named himself Chairman of the USSR’s Supreme Soviet on October 1, 1988.

President George H.W. Bush condemned Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait in a speech to the United Nations on October 1, 1990.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Georgia Hemp Farming Act goes into effect October 1, 2024, according to a Press Release from Governor Brian Kemp’s Office.

Atlanta, GA – While state officials and agencies continue working around the clock with local and federal partners to support Georgians recovering from Hurricane Helene, Governor Brian Kemp, Commissioner Tyler Harper and Colonel Billy Hitchens also issued the following statement to remind relevant parties that the Georgia Hemp Farming Act, which places public safety restrictions on hemp products manufactured and sold in Georgia, will become effective tomorrow on October 1.

The General Assembly passed the Georgia Hemp Farming Act in March, and the majority of the bill will go into effect on October 1. The law imposes age restrictions on the possession of consumable hemp products and requires consumable hemp retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers to obtain a license to operate in Georgia, among other testing and regulatory requirements.

All residents and visitors of Georgia, along with all Georgia law enforcement officials, are reminded that as of October 1, it is a crime to sell consumable hemp products to persons under the age of 21. It is also illegal to purchase or possess consumable hemp products if you are under the age of 21. These new restrictions will be strongly enforced throughout the state to protect the health and safety of young Georgians.

“Here in Georgia, the safety of our residents is top priority, especially that of our children and young people,” said Governor Kemp. “Consumable hemp products are dangerous to minors and unregulated hemp products are a danger to all Georgians.  Knowing these dangers, I want consumers to be aware of these new laws and know that all law enforcement officers in the State will be enforcing them starting October 1st.  I’m grateful to the General Assembly for passing this legislation that puts in place necessary guardrails to protect Georgia’s children and communities as this industry evolves and want to thank the Department of Agriculture and all public safety agencies across Georgia for working hard to implement this new framework effectively.”

“Our team at the Georgia Department of Agriculture was proud to work with Governor Kemp, the General Assembly, and other Law Enforcement Agencies from across the state to protect Georgia consumers and children by establishing much-needed guardrails for consumable hemp products in our state,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “The laws regarding under 21 sales and the sale of raw flower products are very straightforward and will be strictly enforced by our Law Enforcement and Hemp Program Divisions as well as other state and local law enforcement starting October 1st.”

“Through our traffic enforcement across Georgia, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is committed to applying the new law set by the General Assembly and strongly supported by Governor Kemp regarding limitations placed on consumable hemp products,” said Colonel William W.  Hitchens, III, DPS Commissioner. “We take the safety of our residents and visitors seriously and will carry out our duties which will include enforcing the restrictions set by the Georgia Hemp Farming Act.”

The new law implements necessary public safety measures that are a result of Congress legalizing hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp is a cannabis plant that naturally contains small amounts of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9 THC, along with other natural cannabinoids that may be used for medicinal purposes. In recent years, consumable hemp products like oils, gummies, and beverages have been sold throughout the state with little oversight, no standard for quality control, and few requirements for labeling products.

State law enforcement agencies encourage all citizens and public safety officers to review these new restrictions, as well as the rules proposed by Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper that provide comprehensive standards for hemp production and product testing.

A copy of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act can be found here. A link to the proposed Department of Agriculture rules regarding hemp can be found here.

The Georgia Hemp Farming Act is administered separately from and does not impact Georgia’s medical cannabis program. For those patients with qualifying medical conditions, information on Georgia’s Low-THC Oil registry can be found here.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney struck down the state’s “Heartbeat Bill” abortion legislation, according to the New York Times.

A Georgia judge on Monday struck down a state law effectively prohibiting abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.

The ruling, by Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court, is unlikely to be the final word, because of the expectation that the case will ultimately be decided by the Georgia Supreme Court.

Still, the ruling means that women seeking abortions in Georgia will have greater access, at least temporarily, to a procedure that has become mostly inaccessible in the South since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“A review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her health care choices,” Judge McBurney wrote in his 26-page ruling.

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” the judge continued. “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene.”

From the Savannah Morning News:

The 26-page decision from Fulton Superior Judge Robert McBurney repealed Georgia’s Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, a 2020 law that restricted access to abortion after six weeks, before many people become aware that they are pregnant.

The law carved out exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother, but a recent ProPublica article argued that the law forced healthcare providers to delay medical care to pregnant patients, and linked at least two deaths to the ban. The story drew national attention, with Vice President Kamala Harris visiting Atlanta to promote reproductive rights across the state.

From WSAV:

The six-week “heartbeat bill” has seen multiple legal challenges since first being passed in 2019. It was deemed unconstitutional in 2020, but the 2022 Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization allowed the state to enforce the act.

“Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives have been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge,” said a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp. “Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”

The past two years have seen scores of protests against the law.

An article in the Ledger-Enquirer and Macon Telegraph incorrectly identified Fulton Superior Court Judt McBurney as a “federal judge” and a “U.S. District Court Judge.”

From the Capitol Beat News Service:

In a 26-page ruling, Judge Robert McBurney declared the law an unconstitutional violation of women’s privacy and equal protection rights.

“This dispute is fundamentally about the extent of a woman’s right to control what happens to and within
her body,” McBurney wrote. “The baseline rule is clear: a legally competent person has absolute authority over her body and should brook no governmental interference in what she does — and does not
do — in terms of health, hygiene, and the like.”

The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the Living Infants and Equality (LIFE) Act in 2019 banning abortion in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law included exceptions for rape, incest, and “medical emergencies,” defined as a life-threatening condition or threat of irreversible physical impairment to the mother.

But federal courts blocked the law from taking effect until 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

The reproductive rights group SisterSong filed a lawsuit challenging the law and won an initial ruling by McBurney in November 2022 declaring the ban unconstitutional. However, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed McBurney’s decision a year later and remanded the case back to Fulton County Superior Court, leading to Monday’s decision.

McBurney ruled that Georgia’s law governing abortion must revert to where it stood before lawmakers passed the heartbeat legislation in 2019, which based the right to abortion on the viability of the fetus, typically between 23 and 24 weeks.

Abortion has been among the most hotly contested issues of this presidential election year. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, traveled to Atlanta Sept. 20 to put the blame for the deaths of two Georgia women in 2022 on the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died after taking abortion medication left them with some fetal tissue remaining in their uteruses. Doctors worried about running afoul of Georgia’s abortion ban delayed caring for Thurman for 20 hours, while Miller sought to treat herself rather than see a doctor because of the same concerns.

While Harris has called for codifying the Roe v. Wade ruling into federal law, former President Donald Trump – the Republican nominee – has supported leaving the abortion issue to the states.

From Atlanta News First via WALB:

“Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives have been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge,” a spokesperson for Gov. Kemp’s office said. “Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”

A legal consideration known as “void ab initio” dictates lawmakers can’t pass an unconstitutional law, knowingly or unknowingly, even if it later becomes constitutional. It’s the consideration Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney used to put a hold on the ban almost a year ago. The state Supreme Court reinstated the ban while the case worked its way through the legal system.

From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ended a national right to abortion, it opened the door for state bans. Fourteen states now bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Georgia was one of four where the bans kick in after about the first six weeks of pregnancy — which is often before women realize they’re pregnant.

The impact of bans has been felt deeply in the South because many people have to travel hundreds of miles to states where abortion procedures can be obtained legally.

The Georgia ruling, if it stands, could open up new avenues to access abortion not only for residents of the state, but for people in nearby states who currently face long trips to places like North Carolina or Illinois.

Georgia’s law was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019 but it was initially blocked from taking effect until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.

Kemp has in the past tried to soften its political impact by trying to focus on the health of mothers. Monday, he attacked the ruling.

The law prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart around six weeks into a pregnancy.

Before the law kicked in, there were more than 4,400 abortions each month in Georgia. That has dropped to about 2,400 a month on average since the ban took effect in 2022 according to data compiled for the Society of Family Planning.

McBurney wrote that his ruling means the law in the state returns to what it was before the law was passed in 2019, allowing abortions until roughly 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

“When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene,” McBurney wrote.

An “arbitrary six-week ban” on abortions “is inconsistent with these rights and the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman’s rights of liberty and privacy and society’s interest in protecting and caring for unborn infants,” the order says.

In part because Georgia has no way for citizens to place initiatives on the ballot, there’s no referendum on abortion rights scheduled for Georgia’s November election this year. But that hasn’t stopped Democrats from trying to keep abortion on center stage as an issue in Georgia, as they try to appeal to women voters and suburbanites.

On Sept. 20, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Atlanta to cast Republican Donald Trump as a threat to women’s freedom and lives, warning Trump would limit abortion access even more if reelected. It’s also a key issue in state legislative races as Democrats try to cut into Republican majorities, particularly in the state House.

Harris came to Atlanta on Sept. 20 after ProPublica reported that two women in the state died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills to end their pregnancies.

Democrats argue such deaths were a predictable outcome of laws that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Harris has been outspoken on abortion rights ever since the Supreme Court’s decision more than two years ago, but the Sept. 20 speech was her first focused squarely on the issue since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

From the AJC:

A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office said the state plans to appeal.

Mike Griffin of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, who lobbied in support of Georgia’s law, said McBurney’s order gives the appearance of “legislating from the bench.”

“A lot of what we saw in those early years 50 years ago (when Roe v. Wade was decided) was a lot of things were being done judicially because they thought it couldn’t be done legislatively,” Griffin said.

Once Roe v. Wade was overturned, SisterSong and many of the other groups sued Georgia in Fulton County Superior Court, citing the state’s constitution, which some legal experts have said grants more expansive rights to privacy than the U.S. Constitution.

The ruling comes after the state Supreme Court last year reversed a 2022 ruling from McBurney in which he said the 2019 law had been passed illegally since Roe v. Wade was the law of the land at the time.

That sent the case back to McBurney, who then was asked to rule on the constitutionality of the law. On Monday, he ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

“While the state’s interest in protecting ‘unborn’ life is compelling, until that life can be sustained by the state — and not solely by the woman compelled by the act to do the state’s work — the balance of rights favors the woman,” McBurney wrote.

Claire Bartlett, executive director of the anti-abortion Georgia Life Alliance, said she was disappointed by the ruling, but she wasn’t shocked.

“It’s not particularly surprising that a liberal, pro-abortion judge would attempt to create a right to abortion (from the state constitution) out of an enumerated right that isn’t there,” she said. “To me, it’s ironic that he’s basing his decision on Georgia’s constitutional right to life, liberty and property … and focusing only on a women’s right to liberty versus a child’s right to life.”

Georgia’s abortion law was struck down in 2022 for eight days, when McBurney ordered the state to stop enforcing the restrictions in his initial ruling.

The state appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court, which decided to allow the law to remain on the books while the case worked its way through the legal system.

Supporters expect something similar to happen this time around. Once the state appeals the ruling, it will go to the state Supreme Court for its consideration.

The Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the State Election Board’s new hand-count requirement, according to USA Today via the Savannah Morning News.

Three Republican members of the election board passed the rule Sept. 20 over the objections of their two colleagues and the advice of Republican Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.

The rule requires three separate individuals in each of Georgia’s voting precincts – there are 2,400 precincts, according to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – to hand count the ballots before the county deadline to certify election results. The hand-counters must ensure they each arrive at the same totals and that those totals match figures generated by machines. A poll manager must correct any inconsistency “if possible” and document it.

“If the Hand Count Rule is allowed to go into effect, the general election will not be orderly and uniform – large counties will face significant delays in reporting vote counts,” and “election officials will struggle to implement new procedures at the last minute,” the lawsuit states.

The suit also argues the hand-count rule jeopardizes the security of ballots.

Democrats are arguing the hand-count rule violates Georgia’s election laws, exceeds the board’s authority to pass rules, and runs afoul of basic limits on the power of agencies.

“The Hand Count Rule is so improper on its face that both Georgia’s chief elections officer and chief law enforcement officer felt compelled to speak out in opposition prior to the Rule’s adoption,” Democrats said in their lawsuit.

Democrats are asking a trial court in Atlanta, Georgia’s Fulton County to declare that the rule exceeds the board’s authority and block it from going into effect.

In a statement released in support of the lawsuit, Harris-Walz Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks said “Democrats are stepping in to ensure that Georgia voters can cast their ballots knowing that they will be counted in a free and fair election.”

Former President Donald Trump visited Valdosta, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Donald Trump, who is running to regain the presidency, spoke with reporters and officials outside the remains of Chez What, a furniture store on Ashley Street that was decimated by Hurricane Helene.

Over the weekend, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell had also toured damage wrought by the hurricane that struck the area in the early hours of Friday morning.

Trump said he had brought with him truckloads of supplies — fuel, water and food — that would be distributed by Samaritan’s Purse, a charity that had already arrived in Valdosta to assist people who had been hit hard by the hurricane.

“We’re here to stand in solidarity with all the people of Georgia and all the people suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Trump said.

He praised the first responders, National Guard and servicemen who were providing assistance throughout the area hit by the storm, which came ashore on Florida’s Gulf Coast Thursday night as a Category 4 storm and is believed to have still been Category 2 when it reached Valdosta.

Trump urged the federal government to assist the storm’s victims, especially the farmers.

“The farmers have been affected very, very badly,” Trump said. “Their crops and their livelihoods have been so badly affected.”

Trump noted that the country is in the middle of a hard-fought national election, but he sought to portray his visit to Valdosta as non-political.

“When our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters,” he said.

He encouraged residents to look out for one another, to persevere and to pull through “stronger and more prosperous than ever before.”

“In our hearts we know that God is with us, God is strongly with us,” he said. “The American people are stronger than any challenge.”

Franklin Graham, director of Samaritan’s Purse, spoke after Trump.

“The building behind us represents hundreds of thousands of people that have lost homes, businesses, friends, loved ones,” Graham said. “It’s going to take an army of volunteers and people to respond.”

At the request of Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson, Graham closed the event with a prayer. He asked not only for help for the people suffering from Hurricane Helene but that in the upcoming national election, “that Thy will be done.”

From WALB:

“Working together, we’ll overcome these hardships we’ll endure,” Trump said. “We’ll rebuild Valdosta and every other town that’s been badly hit.”

President Joe Biden is set to visit areas hit by Hurricane Helene soon. Vice President Kamala Harris also has announced she will cancel her campaign stops on Monday and visit FEMA headquarters in Washington D.C. for a briefing as she prepares to also visit heavily impacted areas.

Governor Brian Kemp authorized additional National Guard personnel to help with hurricane cleanup, according to 13WMAZ.

As Georgia grapples with the damage from Hurricane Helene, Gov. Brian Kemp has authorized 1,000 additional members of the Georgia National Guard to help respond to damage in the state.

It comes in a Monday afternoon executive order signed by Kemp, and it brings the total authorization to 2,500 members of Georgia’s National Guard.

The executive order was signed on the same day Kemp visited Augusta to surveil the damage Hurricane Helene caused.

The eastern part of Georgia was battered by the so-called dirty side of the storm, leaving many communities suffering storm damage, under boil water advisories and, in many cases, in the dark. Across the state, there are nearly 530,000 power customers without power after the storm.

The original executive order from Sept. 24 authorized 500 members of the National Guard to help respond ahead of the storm, and then on Sept. 27, Kemp authorized 1,000 more members of the National Guard to help aid in the response.

But on Monday, the executive order said that “continued assistance from the Georgia National Gaurd is necessary to ensure the necessary response and recovery efforts of the State of Georgia from the negative impacts of Helene.”

In the days after Hurricane Helene, Georgia’s death toll has continued to rise. On Monday, Kemp confirmed that the total number of lives lost is now 25 people, and nationally, over 100 people are believed to have lost their lives after Hurricane Helene.

Along with authorizing the National Guard, the original state of emergency declaration mobilizes resources, expands government power and loosens certain regulations so the state can better respond to any impacts from the storm.

Governor Kemp asked the federal government for an expedited emergency disaster declaration, according to WSAV.

On Monday morning, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp requested an official expedited emergency disaster declaration from FEMA in response to Helene.

The request comes after the state saw widespread power outages and considerable damage to homes and businesses because of the force of Helene.

The declaration is to ensure that the state has all the necessary resources for a full recovery in all affected parts of Georgia.

An Emergency Declaration was approved on Sept. 24 by President Biden after Tropical Storm Debby.

The decision allows for the release of Federal funds to help people and communities recover from the storm which occurred August 4-20, 2024.

Gov. Kemp visited Augusta to survey storm damage, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Georgia is using all its power to get electric power to the rest of the 1.3 million residents blacked out by Hurricane Helene, Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday.

“Literally, this hurricane, it’s like a 250-mile-wide tornado had hit,” said Kemp, surrounded by local and state leaders gathered outside James Brown Arena in downtown Augusta. “To see the level of the destruction that a hurricane can do, in this community, being this far from Lowndes County or Echols County and the Florida line, is unprecedented.”

Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, said Monday that while fuel is abundant, power sources for convenience stores are not, and emergency generators are planned for the darkened stores.

Also, starting Monday, points of distribution will be available statewide to offer food, water and basic human health needs. The first 13 of those points opened Monday, with more expected soon, he said. Specific locations are listed on the Georgia EMA website section with the latest updates on the Helene aftermath at gema.georgia.gov/hurricane-helene.

More than 1 million water customers statewide are being served by 361 emergency drinking water sites, he said. Seventy-eight wastewater treatment facilities are being examined statewide amid 291 community boil-water advisories.

Also, Georgia’s Supreme Court is expected to declare a 30-day statewide “judicial emergency” Monday that suspends all but the most crucial court functions, Kemp said. The court issued a similar order in 2020 that was renewed more than 100 times during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We know that people are frustrated. We know that they are tired. We know they need power back on, need resources, and we are working 24/7 to deliver that,” Kemp said.

From WJBF:

Gov. Kemp said he’s been traveling around the state, assessing damage, speaking to local leaders and working to deliver aid to affected areas.

“The President just called me yesterday afternoon, I missed him and called him right back, and he said ‘hey what do you need,’ and I told him we got what we need, we’ll work through the federal process,” Gov. Kemp said. “He offered if there’s other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.”

He said he submitted an expedited emergency declaration to be approved by the federal government for FEMA assistance.

“They have acknowledged receipt of that and I’m sure that they’ll take care of that very quickly,” he said.

“We’re also gonna have some folks here to help with traffic control and any security operations that come up and we’ll do that over the next couple of days here as well,” said Major General Richard Wilson with the Georgia National Guard. “We’re gonna continue to assess the damage across the state and then we’ll be able to expand as needed.”

Governor Kemp says crews are working around the clock to get us back to normal.

“We will not waiver until we get everything put back together,” he said. “It may take us a while, but just know this team will work 24/7 to get your power back on, to get roads clear, to get water operating, making sure that we’re getting our state back to normal. This is obviously gonna be a very long recovery, but we will not waiver in that recovery.”

The City of Valdosta municipal court postponed court dates, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The City of Valdosta’s Municipal Court sessions originally scheduled for Monday, Sept. 30, and Wednesday, Oct. 2, have been postponed.

The sessions will be rescheduled for late October, with the new dates to be announced soon, according to a Sunday press release from the City.

Chatham Area Transit suspended services Tuesday, October 1, after the hurricane, according to WTOC.

CAT says this is in response to crew assessments from Helene. CAT services include Fixed-Route services, Paratransit Mobility, and the DOT Shuttle.

CAT administrative offices also remain closed.

The Savannah Belles Ferry will be in operation from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

City of Savannah government offices reopen Tuesday, according to WTOC.

The City of Savannah will reopen offices and facilities on Tuesday, October 1, with normal operation hours.

For the facilities that are still without power, whether or not they open will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Chatham County offices will also reopen with normal operating hours (8 a.m.) to include Chatham County Juvenile Court and Chatham County Judicial Court.

David Maschke is running for Dougherty County Board of Education District 1, according to the Albany Herald.

Nearly 12 years after he ended his three-term run with the Dougherty County School Board, David Maschke has decided to run to serve District 1 again.

Maschke said he originally left the position due to burnout. He works full-time running his own architecture firm. Still, his passion for the school system crept in once again, and he said he started attending School Board meetings as a member of the public three years ago.

Since that time, Maschke said he’s attended nearly every meeting, and what he witnessed at these meetings pushed him to get involved again. He said the school system has a major impact on the community and its future, and he wants to help make necessary changes.

Maschke said he believes the board needs to sit down with school district leaders and host lengthy, multimeeting assessments of the realities in the school system. He said board members need to ask questions and set achievement goals.

“The first thing they need to do is admit that there’s a problem, and then they need to have open, honest discussions,” he said. “They need to demand accurate information from the administration. They need to invite public participation so that the issues can be identified … and addressed.”

Maschke said when he was a board member from 2000 to 2012, he and a few other board members made sure agendas with attachments were published 72 hours in advance and that discussion happened during the meeting.

“I think the public should be made aware of the meetings – should be invited to the meetings,” he said. “Board members are there to represent the public and to represent the district. They work for the voters, for the taxpayers. The superintendent works for the board, not vice versa.”

Longshore workers may strike the Port of Savannah and other East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, according to the AJC.

The Georgia Ports Authority docks in Savannah and Brunswick are among the busiest in the United States, with crane operators and longshoremen renowned for their efficient work.

On Tuesday, that loading and unloading of ships is likely to cease at Georgia marine terminals and 13 others along the East Coast and Gulf Coast as union dockworkers, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association), are threatening to go on strike. The work stoppage would be the first since 1977 and is stems from the expiration of a six-year labor agreement between the ILA and the shipping vessel operators that transport cargo around the world.

One master contract covers all the marine terminals, which stretch from the Port of Houston to the Port of Boston, and the current dispute is largely because of disagreements over wage increases and the use of automation in moving cargo.

For the Georgia Ports Authority, though, the labor agreement carries significance beyond that of most of their fellow terminal operators. With the state authority renovating one terminal and building another, a new ILA contract could reshape the division of labor on some of Savannah’s docks and threaten its unique business structure.

Unlike the majority of other U.S. cargo ports, the GPA does not lease out its facilities to shipping companies to operate in conjunction with union dockworkers. Instead, the state authority runs the terminals in Savannah and Brunswick, negotiating vessel calls with the shippers and employing crane operators and other laborers who work alongside the ILA union members in loading and unloading the ships.

The potential for changes is concerning to the authority’s chief executive, Griff Lynch, who credits the current operating structure for Savannah’s success. Cargo volumes have doubled over the past decade, and the port is now the third-busiest in the country, behind only Los Angeles and New York.

“GPA has been among the fastest-growing ports, which has benefited not just the GPA but the ILA and the state’s overall economy as well,” Lynch said. “All of us have grown and benefited appropriately, and we’ve enjoyed that growth because we are a hybrid port and because of the service we collectively provide to our customers.”