Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 28, 2019

Christopher Columbus “discovered” Cuba on October 28, 1492.

The Battle of Wauhatchie, one of a handful of night battles in the Civil War, began along the Georgia-Tennessee border on October 28, 1863.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886; the first ticker tape parade followed.

The United States Senate overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919.

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended on October 28, 1962 as Kruschev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba if the United States would respect Cuban sovereignty.

Democratic President Jimmy Carter debated Republican Ronald Reagan in Cleveland, Ohio on October 28, 1980.

The Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians 1-0 to win the World Series on October 28, 1995.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp has not yet publicly announced his choice for appointment to the United States Senate, and it’s make reporters people nervous. From the AJC:

Two months since the announcement, Gov. Brian Kemp has yet to pick from among the roughly 500 people who have applied for the coveted seat — or even signaled when the online application process will close.

Georgia Democrats haven’t moved much faster on finding someone to run against Kemp’s choice in 2020. No high-profile politician has yet jumped in the race, partly because the crowd of candidates is waiting for party leaders to bless a favorite.

The limbo has some potential candidates from both parties grumbling about what’s taking so long. They worry that they’re missing valuable fundraising time and, possibly, the chance to capitalize on November moments such as President Donald Trump’s visit and the Democratic presidential debate.

Some Kemp allies see the vacancy as an opportunity to grow their party’s appeal after last year’s narrow midterm victories. U.S. Sen. David Perdue said in an interview he’s discussed several criteria with the governor for the pick, including tapping someone who is a strong communicator and is “on our side” backing Trump.

“And the third thing is: Georgia is a growing state and the Republican Party needs to broaden with it,” he said. “And that’s been my mantra since the very beginning.”

[T]he only Democrats to make formal announcements about the race are the big-name folks who have publicly ruled out a run: Stacey Abrams, the 2018 gubernatorial contender; U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath; and Michelle Nunn, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

There’s also a Wall Street Journal article behind their paywall.

The Tri-State Water Wars among Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, will see a new skirmish on November 7, according to the Gainesville Times.

At the hearing, Georgia and Florida lawyers will get to present their state’s side in a dispute stemming from the latest piece of litigation — one that involves Florida’s claims it has suffered economic and ecological harm from Georgia’s “overconsumption of water” in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin shared by the two states and Alabama.

The arguments are taking place in Albuquerque because that’s where the special master — Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit — is based.

Before Kelly, another special master, the late Ralph Lancaster of Maine, had presided over the lawsuit, taking briefs from both sides before submitting a recommendation to the Supreme Court last year.

Lancaster had found that Florida had proven harm but that it wasn’t possible for the court to find a solution to the dispute. He believed the Army Corps of Engineers needed to be a party in the case because it controls water flows in the ACF.

[U.S Supreme Court] Justices disagreed, ruling Florida’s case was strong enough that further hearings and evidence could allow the court to come up with a decree on water consumption.

“I would think we would hear something from (Kelly) sometime next year and then the Supreme Court will take some time to react to that,” [Southern Environmental Law Center Director Gil] Rogers said.

Democrat Stacey Abrams announced that the Georgia debate for the Democratic candidates for President will take place at Tyler Perry Studios, according to the AJC.

The newly opened $250 million studio is the only major film studio in the nation owned by an African American. The debate is certain to point to a crowning achievement for a once-struggling playwright who, more than 20 years ago, had been kicked out of his apartment and was living out of a car.

That’s a message sure to be celebrated by Democrats who will be depending on a strong turn-out by African-Americans, who made up 60% of primary voters in 2018, in the 2020 election season.

We’re hearing that the Democratic National Committee had wanted the debate to be held in Sandy Springs, at the city’s new entertainment complex — to bolster U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta. An announcement had been scheduled for Monday.

But protests from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, we’re told, had forced a reconsideration of the Fort McPherson property. We’ve reached out to the Bottoms administration, but have yet to hear back.

United States Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue are co-sponsoring a Senate resolution on the House impeachment inquiry, according to the AJC.

David Perdue and Johnny Isakson have signed on as co-sponsors of a GOP-authored resolution that condemns House Democrats for their “unprecedented and undemocratic” impeachment inquiry.

The nonbinding resolution — one chamber of Congress has no authority over the internal workings of the other — was unveiled Thursday by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It slams Democrats for refusing to tee up a full floor vote formally authorizing the investigation.

Perdue, one of Trump’s staunchest Senate allies, called the inquiry a “partisan show trial” on Thursday.

He was joined 24 hours later by Isakson, who had been absent from Capitol Hill all week contending with back pain.

“After careful consideration, Senator Isakson has decided that he will join his Senate colleagues in co-sponsoring the McConnell-Graham resolution,” spokeswoman Amanda Maddox said. “He has said all along that he wants to make sure he’s doing his part as a member of the Senate to ensure a fair process.”

I saw Senator Perdue was at last night’s World Series game. Since he was elected as a Washington outsider, I assume he was supporting the Houston Astros.

State Senator P.K. Martin (R-Gwinnett) kicked off his 2020 reelection campaign Sunday, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

A potential sale of Starcourt Gwinnett Place Mall has local elected watching, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

There is a lot riding on the sale of Gwinnett Place Mall, namely the future of what officials in Gwinnett County government and the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District consider to be the county’s “central business district.”

“It is close to the center of the county (and) it’s right there on one of the main transportation corridors,” Gwinnett Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash said. “All of those things mean that it is bound to play an important part in Gwinnett County.”

The mall is generally described by local officials who remember its opening in 1984 as being a crown jewel for Gwinnett in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It was a sign that Gwinnett County had matured to a different sort of community from the one I’d grown up in,” Nash said. “Prior to that mall opening, to go to a mall meant we went to DeKalb or Fulton.”

One issue that complicates the Gwinnett Place Mall site is there is not one single owner for the entire site. The mall’s three remaining anchors — Macy’s, Mega Mart and Beauty Master — each own their respective parts of the mall property as well as parking lot space for their stores.

Athens-Clarke County Commissioners are struggling to figure out how to spend money to fight poverty, according to AccessWDUN.

Leaders of a Georgia county intend to spend $4 million to fight poverty as part of a “prosperity package.”

But after months of study, Athens-Clarke County commissioners aren’t yet sure where the money will be spent. That’s left at least one commissioner frustrated.

“Man, y’all are getting me down on this. We’ve got to agree on something,” Commissioner Tim Denson said at a recent work session. “Not only is that frustrating, it’s embarrassing.”

Gainesville and Hall County will receive a grant to combat aggressive driving, according to AccessWDUN.

A three-year dispute over service delivery has cost Valdosta and Lowndes County at least $800k, according to AccessWDUN.

The Valdosta Daily Times totaled the legal spending in the three-year long dispute between the city of Valdosta and Lowndes County using open records requests.

The two couldn’t agree on a revised service delivery agreement, which state law requires every 10 years. The idea is to reduce duplication of services.

Lowndes County wants the city to seek county approval before providing water and sewer to new businesses outside the city limits. County leaders say they believe Valdosta will ultimately annex water and sewer customers into the city limits in areas where it’s providing services.

Early Voting continues in Rome, according to the Rome News Tribune.

A total of 240 Rome voters cast early ballots over the weekend and Robert Brady, Floyd County’s chief elections clerk, was elated.

Six of the nine City Commission seats will be decided in the Nov. 5 election, along with the “brunch bill” question of if restaurants can serve alcohol as early as 11 a.m. on Sundays.

Early voting continues this week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at two universal locations: the Floyd County Administration Building, 12 E. Fourth Ave., and the Floyd County Health Department, 16 E. 12th St.

Brady said advance voting ends Friday but all six city precincts will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters will have to go to their assigned location then – Mount Alto North, Mount Alto South, Town Rome, North Rome, East Rome or South Rome. Check the Georgia My Voter Page website for your site and status or call the Elections Office at 706-291-5167.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is seeking public comment on proposed oyster farming rules, according to The Brunswick News.

According to an announcement Oct. 22 by the state Department of Natural Resources, DNR’s Coastal Resources Division asked the state Board of Natural Resources to consider new rules that would adopt those from the National Shellfish Sanitation Program model ordinance.

Public comment on the proposed new rules, available by PDF on The News’ website, is open through Nov. 21.

There will be a public comment meeting on the rules proposal Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at CRD’s Susan Shipman Environmental Education Center at One Conservation Way in Brunswick.

According to CRD, “Georgia’s existing laws governing shellfish harvest date back to the late 1800s and were based on the rights of riparian owners to plant and harvest shellfish. There was flexibility in the law such that in the 1980s, the shellfish industry was reinvigorated with the startup of clam mariculture in intertidal mud flats. To experience a similar revitalization in oyster mariculture, significant policy reform was required.”

The Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center works to train veterans for civilian jobs, according to the Macon Telegraph.

The Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center expects to offer an electrical technician accelerated training program in January, thanks in part to a $100,000 grant from an Atlanta-based foundation.

Retired Air Force Col. Patricia Ross, the center’s chief executive officer, said requests to add a program to serve the booming construction industry have been coming in since the facility opened its doors in August 2016.

Having received $3.9 million in state funds for expansion of the center, VECTR conducted the informal study to identify the type of labs that would help the construction industry the most.

While the overall unemployment rate of 3.1% for veterans is slightly lower than the national average of 3.5% for all Americans, the unemployment rate for the group of veterans served by VECTR — post 9/11 veterans — is increasing, Ross said.

September’s federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show an unemployment rate for the post 9/11 veteran population of 4.5% compared to the national rate of 3.3%.for non-veterans, Ross noted. A year ago, the post 9/11 unemployment rate was 3.9%.

Candidates for Savannah Mayor and Council spoke to voters ahead of next month’s elections, according to the Savannah Morning News.

About a hundred people gathered at the Pentecostal Miracle Deliverance Church on Sunday afternoon for a candidate forum held by the Savannah branch of the NAACP.

The forum featured candidates for Savannah’s two at-large city council seats and mayor who attended the NAACP’s first forum at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum on Oct. 8.

Candidates for mayor include incumbent Eddie DeLoach, former state senator and representative Regina Thomas, and First District Alderman Van Johnson.

For At-Large Post 1, incumbent Carol Bell is facing challenger Kesha Gibson Carter. For At-Large Post 2, 2015 election runner-up Alicia Blakely is facing off against former County Commissioner Tony Center.