Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for September 1, 2015

On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John B. Hood withdrew his troops from Atlanta, leaving the transportation hub to fall into Union hands.

The last hanging in Atlanta took place on September 1, 1922 outside the Fulton County jail.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, beginning World War II.

On September 1, 2004, United States Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat, spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Later that evening, Senator Miller had a televised run-in with Chris Matthews.

Georgia Politics

Yesterday, incumbent Brookhaven Mayor Rebecca Chase Williams qualified for election to a full term in her own right after being appointed earlier this year to serve out the remainder of the term of Brookhaven’s first Mayor, J. Max Davis. Also qualifying were former DeKalb County Board of Ethics Chair John Ernst and competitive eating champion Dale Boone. Incumbent City Council Members Linley Jones, a former President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and Bates Mattison also qualified for reelection. Mattison also serves as Chair of the Board of Brookhaven Innovation Academy, which was recently granted a state charter.

Also qualifying yesterday was Smyrna Mayor Max “Baconator” Bacon, who will face City Council member Wade Lnenicka. In addition to the matchup for Mayor, Smyrna will see contested elections between Derek Norton, a lobbyist for the Atlanta Apartment Association and Georgia Apartment Association and incumbent Melleny Pritchett for Ward 1 and between former Democratic State Senator Doug Stoner and Tara Simon, who was a finalist on Season Two of The X Factor.

If Dale Boone is elected Mayor of Brookhaven and Max Bacon is reelected in Smyrna, I hope the Georgia Municipal Association will pit them against each other in an eating contest.

Johns Creek voters will have a diverse set of candidates from which to choose, as Jai Lin, originally from Taiwan, qualified for City Council Post 2 and Dr. Nazeera Dawood qualified for City Council Post 5.

I’m willing to be that the craziest election will be in Snellville, where incumbent Mayor Kelly Kautz qualified for a second term.

She will face a familiar foe in Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts, who has been among her most vocal critics in the city government.

“After an outpouring of support from citizens and much discussion and prayer with my family, my husband and parents have given me their full support and blessing to run for reelection,” Kautz said in a statement after signing her qualifying paperwork with her infant son in her lap. “I strive to be a role model for my new son, and I feel that I would not be setting a good example now if I gave in to negative bullying not to run for reelection.”

Kautz was initially “hesitant” to reveal her decision to run. Her campaign announcement said: “Mayor Kautz has never wavered in her desire to serve the citizens of Snellville, but she did not want to subject her family and friends to the false, negative attacks that are often associated with Snellville politics.”

“Because of the antics that occurred over the last two weeks this does not come as a surprise,” he said Monday. “Why else would she buy every Website available with Tom Witts in it and then connect them to a donation page on her Website.”

Witts was referring to Kautz’s purchase of the Website votetomwitts.com and others, which she said would be used for potential marketing.

Votetomwitts.com has no content. But Witts and others accused Kautz of using the site recently to direct traffic to her own campaign site with a well-placed “donate” button.

Asked about the button, Kautz said it was added during a transition of the site from a mayoral page to a candidate page. She said it wasn’t her intention for anyone to see the button unless they were “actively looking.”

Witts called it “dirty politics plain and simple.”

In South Georgia, incumbent Valdosta Mayor John Gayle faces at least two opponents.

Warner Robins Post 4 Council Member Tim Thomas has drawn opposition from Betsy Loiacono.

The City of Forsyth is holding both General Elections and a Special Election in November.

In Forsyth, voters will decide on the mayor and three of six council positions. Those are Post 1, currently held by Jimmy Jones; Post 3, currently held by Melvin Lawrence, and Post 4, currently held by Greg Goolsby. In addition to those seats, there will be a special election in November for Post 2.

City Clerk Janice Hall said Councilman Eric Wilson, who represented Post 2 and was not up for re-election, resigned from his post to run for mayor.

“We’re actually having our regular election and a special election in one election in November,” Hall said. “(Wilson) has qualified to run for the mayor position, so we will have a special election for Post 2 (also). … (Wilson) did not have to resign to run for mayor, he could have remained on council and ran for mayor. If he were successful in running for mayor, then after the first of the year, we would have had to have had a special election to fill his seat.”

In Columbia County, at least five contestants candidates will be on the ballot in a special election for County Commission District Three.

The five – Jim Bartley, Greg Grzybowski, Gary Richardson, Frank Spears and Russell Wilder – had previously announced their intentions to run in the Nov. 3 special election to fill the seat vacated by Mack Taylor in July.

No others have publicly declared an interest in the race, but the door to enter remains open until noon Wednesday, when qualifying closes.

All five qualified to run as Republicans and have said getting a handle on the county’s growth is the election’s key issue.

The District 3 seat, which was vacant for nine months after Com­mis­sio­ner Charles Allen was forced to resign in March 2014, was filled in a special election runoff in December when Taylor defeated Trip Derryberry.
Taylor announced his departure in July, after only seven months in office, to pursue the state House District 122 seat vacated by longtime Rep. Ben Harbin.

Carrollton Mayor Wayne Garner is seeking reelection to a fourth term.

Cave Spring, Georgia will have a contested election for Mayor.

Cave Spring City Clerk Judy Dickinson said Dennis Shoaf and Angela Kerce qualified Monday for the mayor’s seat being vacated by Rob Ware.

Political newcomer Kerce lists her occupation as merchandiser. Shoaf, a line manager at Kellogg’s, is a sitting councilman who had to resign his Post 4 seat to run for mayor.

The Post 1 and Post 2 council seats also will be filled in the Nov. 3 election.

Post 2 incumbent Nellie McCain qualified to seek another term. Local auctioneer Tom Lindsey signed up to run for the Post 1 seat held by Kenneth Agan, who also is expected to run.

Non-Election Related

So, apparently, there are now three classes of immigrants – documented, undocumented, and those whose documents are questioned, and the third group is suing Georgia over driver’s licenses.

A group of immigrants whose legal residency is disputed sued Georgia’s state government Monday for refusing to issue them driver’s licenses.

The immigrants had been ordered deported, but they are either seeking to have their removals suspended or come from countries that will not allow their return. Federal officials have issued them work permits and Social Security numbers. While the Department of Driver Services had previously issued driver’s licenses to such immigrants, the state started rejecting those applications this summer.

“There is no rational basis for the policy, or even any benefit to the state of Georgia as a result of the policy,” the lawsuit said. “Indeed, if anything, the refusal to issue driver’s licenses to this group of immigrants costs the state of Georgia millions of dollars in lost administrative fees from potential registered drivers.”

State officials declined to comment.

On Wednesday, Congressman Sanford Bishop will co-host a Military Family Unit Summit at the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Bishop, who co-chairs the Congressional Military Family Caucus, is hosting the 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. summit to discuss pressing issues impacting America’s service members and their families.

Loggerhead turtles set a new record for nesting sites on the Georgia coast this year, according to the Savannah Morning News.

A loggerhead sea turtle that laid her eggs on Little Cumberland Island on Thursday put Georgia over its previous nesting record set just two years ago. The latest nest was No. 2,290.

“Loggerheads have done it again,” wrote Georgia Sea Turtle Coordinator Mark Dodd, in an early morning email to the volunteers, interns and staffers who patrol beaches to monitor and protect sea turtles. “I am very happy to report that loggerhead nesting hit a new all-time high for the period since comprehensive surveys were established in Georgia in 1989.”

Loggerheads, which grow up to 4 feet long and weigh 200 to 400 pounds, are the main sea turtle visitors to Georgia beaches. The species, federally listed as threatened, nest every two or more years laying up to 150 eggs at a time in multiple nests over the season.

Ossabaw struggled this year with feral hogs eating turtle eggs until new equipment — a thermal rifle scope — helped reduce their raids. Further south, on Cumberland, what’s thought to be three or four family groups of coyotes feasted on turtle eggs before nine animals were removed. It’s more common to see coyote tracks on many of Georgia’s beaches now than in past years, Dodd said.

“With so many (predatory) species, once they learn turtle eggs are easy food, they can wipe you out pretty fast,” Dodd said.

But predators are a struggle to be expected every year on remote barrier islands. Despite them, about 65 percent of nests have hatched to date, releasing more than 100,000 hatchlings. Hatching is expected to continue through mid-October.