Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 18, 2017

The Mason-Dixon line separating Pennsylvania from Maryland was established on October 18, 1767.

In 1760, tired of border violence between the colonies’ settlers, the British crown demanded that the parties involved hold to an agreement reached in 1732. As part of Maryland and Pennsylvania’s adherence to this royal command, Mason and Dixon were asked to determine the exact whereabouts of the boundary between the two colonies. Though both colonies claimed the area between the 39th and 40th parallel, what is now referred to as the Mason-Dixon line finally settled the boundary at a northern latitude of 39 degrees and 43 minutes. The line was marked using stones, with Pennsylvania’s crest on one side and Maryland’s on the other.

Twenty years later, in late 1700s, the states south of the Mason-Dixon line would begin arguing for the perpetuation of slavery in the new United States while those north of line hoped to phase out the ownership of human chattel. This period, which historians consider the era of “The New Republic,” drew to a close with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which accepted the states south of the line as slave-holding and those north of the line as free. The compromise, along with those that followed it, eventually failed.

On October 18, 1867, the United States took over Alaska from Russia and ran up Old Glory there for the first time.

Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska.

Seeing the giant Alaska territory as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation, William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson‘s secretary of state, moved to arrange the purchase of Alaska. Agreeing to pay a mere $7 million for some 591,000 square miles of land-a territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States-Seward secured the purchase of Alaska at the ridiculously low rate of less than 2¢ an acre.

On October 18, 1870, Rockdale and McDuffie Counties were created when Georgia Governor Rufus Bullock signed legislation creating them.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

State Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer (R-Duluth) will kick off his campaign for Lieutenant Governor this Sunday from 2-4 PM at the Atlanta Coliseum, (formerly Wild Bill’s). Click here to R.s.v.p.

Governor Nathan Deal appointed Virginia Pryor as Interim Director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, as current Director Bobby Cagle will leave the post.

“We have no greater responsibility than caring for Georgia’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Deal. “It is imperative that we work to ensure that each child is safe and has the best possible opportunity for a good life. Virginia Pryor has been a longtime advocate for the wellbeing of children and she has already played a vital role in the administration of DFCS. I am confident that she will serve our state well as interim director. I am grateful for Director Cagle’s efforts as he helped move DFCS forward in a number of ways while protecting the interests of many young Georgians. I wish him well in his next endeavor to serve Los Angeles County.”

Former Georgia Governor and U.S. Senator Zell Miller will no longer appear in public, according to the AJC Political Insider.

The 85-year-old former Georgia governor and U.S. senator, though frail, rests comfortably in the rock house on Miller Street that his widowed mother built in the mountain town of Young Harris. Shirley Miller, his wife of 63 years, is there — as always.

But his family has declared that the former governor’s public life is at an end. There will be no more speeches, no more appearances. Visitations are restricted to close family members.

“Zell is not experiencing a lot of the tremors, but he is experiencing the cognitive symptoms that are associated with this type of Parkinson’s,” said grandson Bryan Miller, who heads up the Miller Institute – a public policy and leadership organization intended to carry on the legacy of the governor who gave Georgia the HOPE scholarship and pre-k education.

The Miller Institute is now handling all of Governor Miller’s official business, and on Tuesday sent along these thoughts from Shirley Miller:

“We want other families with loved ones suffering from Parkinson’s to know they are not alone,” said Georgia’s former first lady. “We understand the daily challenges that are associated with a disease that has no cure. In times like these, we lean on our faith and believe that there is no challenge too great that we cannot overcome with God’s grace.”

Hall County is in the early stages of considering a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST).

A change to state law means Hall County became eligible to create a local sales tax of up to 1 percent to fund transportation projects in addition to existing special purpose local option sales taxes.

A five-year TSPLOST could be spent on resurfacing, rights of way, utility relocation, road, sidewalk and bike path construction, public transit and airports, drainage, patching and shoulder work, culvert repair and stormwater management. The tax revenue could also be used to pay down debt related to any of the other uses.

If commissioners support the idea, the county would be one of nine counties considering the tax. Athens has a popular vote set on a TSPLOST for November, and Bulloch County has a vote in May.

Hall County Planning Director Srikanth Yamala said Tuesday that the county has 12 to 16 months of work ahead of it if commissioners hope to get a referendum on the ballot. The earliest a vote could occur is 2018, if not 2019, he said.

“The county is not looking at any solid referendum date. There’s a lot of additional (work) that needs to happen between now and when the board wants to take that route,” Yamala said. “… The county and cities at some point need to come to the table and see if this is something that we even want to consider (doing).”

Gainesville Police are working to deploy drones.

“I believe the goal for the department is to have one officer on shift that will have the ability to deploy it where it’s needed,” [Gainesville Police Department Officer Doug] Whiddon said.

The Federal Aviation Administration certified Whiddon as a small unmanned aircraft flyer at the beginning of October, as the department is in its infancy with unmanned aircraft.

Whiddon said its main function will be for personnel safety, but it has enormous potential in terms of search-and-rescue missions.

“Missing children and things of that nature, we’re able to put this in the air quickly and see a greater distance,” Sgt. Kevin Holbrook said.

The drone can be airborne in four minutes, a fraction of the time to get a boat in Lake Lanier or walking out in Chicopee.

“Obviously we’re going to be very careful with flying over residential type airspace in terms of privacy, but in general, unless we’re near a controlled airspace … if it’s Class G [airspace], it’s fair game,” Whiddon said.

Gwinnett County Commission Chair Charlotte Nash endorsed Republican Matt Reeves for Senate in District 48.

Reeves’ campaign announced that Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash endorsed the political newcomer Sunday during a fundraiser at Sugarloaf Country Club. Nash was listed as a headliner at the fundraiser.

“Nash expressed to Reeves’ Sugarloaf and Peachtree Ridge area supporters the need to have a proven, local leader who understands the issues important to Gwinnett like Matt Reeves at the State Capitol to continue to move our community forward,” the campaign said in a statement.

Reeves also announced he had picked up endorsements from Johns Creek City Councilman Jay Lin, Gwinnett County Solicitor General Rosanna Szabo, Duluth City Councilman Greg Whitlock, Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris, Suwanee Mayor Jimmy Burnette, Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason, Gwinnett County Commissioner Jace Brooks, state reps. Brooks Coleman and Scott Hilton and former state Sen. Dan Moody.

The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and Muscogee County Superior Court decision on whether a retirement community qualifies for a property tax exemption.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts.

“We are still trying to study the opinion and get a grip on what will happen next,” said Randy Lomax, an attorney for the Board of Tax Assessors. “It is not over.”

Though it is not over, it was the first battle victory recorded in the ongoing legal war for the Board of Tax Assessors in its bid to get the property on the city tax rolls.

Andrew A. Rothschild, who represents the Medical Center Hospital Authority, agreed that the case is not over. Though the Supreme Court appeared to send the case back to the Appeals Court, Rothschild in a prepared statement said it would be removed back to Muscogee County Superior Court.

“The Georgia Supreme Court has returned the case to the Superior Court for additional findings,” Rothschild said. “The Georgia Supreme Court has absolutely not ruled that any property taxes are owed by the Medical Center Hospital Authority. We are firm in our position on this matter, and it would be unwise to comment further on this pending litigation.”

Superior Court Judge Art Smith ruled in favor of the Hospital Authority, stating that its “property interest in the facilities and improvements constituting Spring Harbor qualifies as public property, and therefore, it is exempt from ad valorem property taxation,” according to the news release from the Supreme Court. Specifically, the trial court ruled that, “the validity of Plaintiff Hospital Authority’s property interest in Spring Harbor under the ground lease, and the validity of the ground lease itself, has been established by the Superior Court of Muscogee County in two separate bond validation orders, one in 2004 and another in 2007.”

Eric Thomas has been chosen as the top candidate for Chief Turnaround Officer for the Georgia Department of Education.

They were interviewing in downtown Atlanta because of House Bill 338, which passed along bipartisan lines during this year’s legislative session. Gov. Nathan Deal readily signed it, after backing the bill as a comeback from a political miscalculation. Last year, he hoped voters would let him create a statewide “Opportunity School District” with authority to take over schools deemed “chronically failing,” but they rejected his constitutional amendment in November, preferring to keep schools under local control.

HB 338 requires a more collaborative approach, though school districts could still lose control of schools that do not improve. That puts the turnaround chief in a delicate position, as both the person targeting schools for state intervention and an ally coaching them to improve enough to avoid that fate.

Thomas, is chief support officer of the University of Virginia’s turnaround program, and works with schools across the country.

People who interviewed him said he possessed a winning combination of expertise and the ability to articulate a vision to different audiences.

Glynn County Commissioners heard a proposal for ferry service between St Simons Island and Jekyll Island.

The Glynn County Board of Elections announced the hiring of Monica Couch as Director of Elections.

Dalton State College students heard from local candidates in a public forum.

Macon-Bibb County will hire Troutman Sanders to advise the county on a proposed sales tax referendum to rollback property tax millage rates and freeze property tax values.

Commissioners are proposing the new tax after the millage rate increased 3-mills this year. The amount of revenue taken in from the local option sales tax would determine the extent of the property tax rollback.

“In looking for ways to provide additional property tax relief to its citizens, the Macon-Bibb County Commission is interested in learning more about the legal requirements for implementing (the new sales tax) in Macon-Bibb County,” the resolution said.

The County Commission would still need to request that state legislators OK a tax referendum, which would go before Bibb voters in November 2018.

The new tax would go into effect in 2019, and a millage rate rollback would occur in 2020.