Cobb E-SPLOST, most others, pass handily
SPLOST-IV, which will raise more than $770 million for capital expenditures by Cobb and Marietta schools, passed last night with more than 57% of votes cast in favor of continuing the penny sales tax. The Marietta Daily Journal brings us voter reactions:
Those in favor of SPLOST IV were thrilled with the overwhelming support they received at the polls Tuesday.
Voters approved $773.3 million for Cobb and Marietta school districts to be raised through a 1-cent special sales tax between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2018.
“My cheeks are a little sore from smiling so much,” said John Loud, the co-chair of the pro-SPLOST group United 4 Kids, shortly after the tax got a large push from the “yes” votes.
“The voters came out today to show their support,” Loud said. “Maybe the project list isn’t 100 percent the best for everybody, but as you look at the picture as a whole, it’s the right direction for the kids, community, economy.”
Another person who spent a portion of their evening waiting on the results to come in at a restaurant on the Square was Marietta City School Board Chair Randy Weiner.
“I’m very grateful to the voters of Marietta City that they saw the value and the need in this SPLOST,” he said. “I’m just very happy tonight!”
Scott Sweeney, the Cobb Schools board member who represents east Cobb, said “the kids won tonight” in response to the passage of the special tax.
“Again, the Cobb County voters got this right and decided to continue their support of the SPLOST initiative,” he said.
Not everyone was happy with the election’s outcome.
Lance Lamberton, a member of the Cobb Taxpayers Association who has been adamantly against passage of SPLOST IV since the board first discussed creation of the project list, said he “fully expected” the yes votes to win.
“We just didn’t know by how much we were going to lose,” he said.
He was pleased with the number of votes they picked up compared to the 2008 SPLOST III election, when around 5,000 fewer voters visited the polls.
“We think the grassroots effort … made a difference,” Lamberton said. “It was really like David and Goliath, especially if you compare resources.”
With his group had, Lamberton is hoping to build upon that foundation for the next time.
“I think our focus now is going to be changing the rules of how and when these elections are held,” he said. “We also want to look at the fractional SPLOST idea, no public moneys used to propagandize and election dates.”
The MDJ also writes that voters in the last hour of voting appeared to be strongly against the measure. It’d be interesting if at some point in the future, we’re able to break out votes cast by the time at which they were cast, but that might run into concerns about the secrecy of ballots.
The Canton city election to sell bonds for upgrades to firefighting equipment was defeated at the polls by more than 70%. Local pols blamed low turnout.
There are 11,683 registered voters in Canton, which translates to a turnout of 6.3 percent. The low turnout drew criticism from those on both sides of the referendum issue.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get a better turnout,” said Councilman John Beresford, who was in support of the bond. “We would have if people understood the issue better. We didn’t have a grassroots bunch of cronies like the mayor did to get the word out.”
“Turnout was terrible, yet I honestly feel like it was a fairly representative sample of everyone, even if they didn’t make it out to the polls,” said Mayor Gene Hobgood. “When you don’t vote, you don’t count. The apathy there is inexcusable to me. Even though it was only a six percent turnout, those six percent made a difference.”
Scott Drake was elected to the Decatur City Council by a 14-vote margin.
Catoosa County passed a SPLOST with more than 73% of voters polled approving the measure. The five year sales tax will produce about $60 million. Chattooga County passed its SPLOST by a similar margin to raise $14 million over five years.
Jeff Davis County voters approved a SPLOST by a whopping 90% and Jones County voters approved their E-SPLOST by more than an 82% margin.
Monroe County voters passed an E-SPLOST with nearly 74% support; Newton County was closer but still garnered more than 56% of votes for their E-SPLOST.
Seventy-eight percent of Telfair County voters approved a SPLOST and the Washington County SPLOST passed with nearly 55%.
Paulding County voters rejected Sunday Sales by 57-43 yesterday; Pickens County voters approved Sunday Sales by nearly 68% of votes cast.
Cynthia Chaney, Mayor Pro Tem of Meigs, Georgia, will continue as Mayor, winning yesterday’s election by 60.95%. Chaney became acting Mayor when Andrew Wurst resigned to move outside the city limits last year.
Randolph County residents will see a new Sheriff in town as Democrat Eddie Fairbanks won nearly 59% over fellow Dem Harold Piper.
Hart County failed to elect a new Magistrate Judge, instead sending Todd C. Townsend (24.31%) and Thomas J. Jordan (22.51%) to a runoff election.
Also sending judicial candidates to a runoff is Camden County, where Robert “Bo” Sweat took 38 percent of the vote and Martin Turner 20 percent to advance to the second round.
The special election was needed to replace Probate Judge Martin Gillette, who agreed to stay on temporarily when the woman elected last November to replace Gillette — his longtime assistant, Shirley Wise — pleaded guilty to three criminal charges shortly after last November’s election.
Camden County also saw passage of a six-year transportation SPLOST extension and approval of Sunday Sales in the City of Kingsland.
Women and the GOP
From the Republican National Committee’s “Growth and Opportunity Project” report:
Women are not a “coalition.” They represent more than half the voting population in the country. [p. 21]
The RNC must improve its efforts to include female voters and promote women to leadership ranks within the committee. Additionally, when developing our Party’s message, women need to be part of this process to represent some of the unique concerns that female voters may have. [p. 19]
Rachel Dodsworth, recently elected a Vice Chair of the Chatham County GOP, from 5 Messaging and Demographic Points to Grow the GOP: A Young, Female Republican View of the Growth and Opportunity Platform
3) “Talk about people and families, not just numbers and statistics”
Political junkies often need to remember to step back and take a look at what matters to the people. Yes, that position statement sounds good on paper associated with a few Excel bar charts, but is that really the best way to get the message across to the voters? Are these statistics going to really excite the voter?
Republicans must keep it simple and close to personal everyday life when articulating plans and policies. Yes, I love talking about effective tax rates versus actual tax rates, but the part constituents care about is the opportunity to have more “take home pay” and grow their personal wealth to achieve the American dream.
The report points out that “Democrats tend to talk about people, [while] Republicans tend to talk about policy.” The Republican Party needs to highlight positive polices to excite people and grow our base.
Georgia General Assembly
Today is the Thirty-Fifth Legislative Day of the 2013 Session. Much of the action will be in Committees, where each chamber hears bills passed by it’s counterpart on the other side of the Gold Dome. The Senate and House both convene at 10 AM.
HB 256 by State Rep. Ben Harbin sponsored in Senate by Sen. Mike Dugan – Tobacco; regulation of cigar wraps
HB 103 by State Rep. Jason Shaw, sponsored in Senate by Sen. Tim Golden – to allow the issuance of a group life insurance policy to certain groups as approved by the Commissioner; to remove a participation requirement before the extension of group life policy coverage to dependents of employees or members
HB 164 by State Rep. Alex Atwood, sponsored in Senate by Sen. Tim Golden – Sales and use tax; exemption regarding sale or use of engines, parts, equipment or other property used in maintenance of certain aircraft; eliminate sunset
HB 350 by State Rep. Allen Peake, sponsored in Senate by Sen. Butch Miller – relating to child, family, or group-care facility operators prohibited from employing or allowing to reside or be domiciled persons with certain past criminal violations, so as to provide for exceptions for persons otherwise issued licenses as provided by law
HB 371 by State Rep. Ben Harbin, sponsored in Senate by Sen. Hunter Hill – to define liquefied natural gas for motor fuel tax purposes
| 8:00 AM | EDUCATION & YOUTH Sub Com- School Choice | 310 CLOB |
| 12:00 PM | RULES Upon Adj. | 450 CAP |
| 1:00 PM | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT-CANCELLED | 310 CLOB |
| 1:00 PM | JUDICIARY NON CIVIL | 307 CLOB |
| 1:30 PM | HIGHER ED | 125 CAP |
| 2:00 PM | AGRICULTURE & CONSUMER AFFAIRS-CANCELLED | 125 CAP |
| 2:00 PM | JUDICIARY | 307 CLOB |
| 2:30 PM | APPROPRIATIONS | 341 CAP |
| 3:00 PM | REGULATED INDUSTRIES | 310 CLOB |
| 4:00 PM | HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | 450 CAP |
| 4:00 PM | TRANSPORTATION | MEZZ 1 |
HR 529 by Rep. Ben Harbin and others – creating the House Georgia Music Industry Study Committee
SB 120 by Sen. John Crosby and others, sponsored in House by Rep. Barry Fleming – to provide for prosecuting attorneys in probate courts in counties where there is no state court; to provide for the appointment, compensation, oath of office, duties, and authority of such prosecuting attorneys; to authorize the appointment of staff
SB 212 by Senator Jeff Mullis and others, sponsored in House by Rep. John Deffenbaugh – to require schools to provide training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of an automated external defibrillator for students in grades seven through 12
SB 136 by Senator Butch Miller, Renee Unterman and others sponsored in House by Rep. Chad Nimmer – “Kyle Glover Boat Education Law” and “Jake and Griffin BUI Law”; provide for greater public protection for hunting and boating
Governor Deal has expressed his support for SB 136, saying
“We know alcohol in is involved in over 50 percent of all boating fatalities each year. On Georgia roads, if the operator of a vehicle has a Blood Alcohol content of .08 or higher, he can be charged with DUI. However, you cannot be charged with BUI unless your BAC is .10 or higher. The Jake and Griffin Prince BUI Law that I am proposing will change that. If you are too drunk to drive an automobile, then you are too drunk to drive a boat.”
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Gwinnett County Republican Party that with many of Georgia’s Firearms Laws being unconstitutional and in need of remedy, we call upon the Senate of the State of Georgia, and the Governor of the State of Georgia to take up their responsibility to the law-abiding citizens of the State of Georgia and review, debate and vote upon House Bill 512;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the overwhelming support of HB 512 in the Georgia House deserves a floor vote from the Senate post haste and that this bill not be pushed into the next calendar year before a floor vote occurs;
Shotgun Wedding
The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee recommended passage of Senate Bill 101, the senior chamber’s gun bill, which was supported by the National Rifle Association, after amending it.
The House committee added much of its own bill, House Bill 512. That measure, which has already passed the House, originally would have allowed guns in bars, churches, nonsecure government buildings and much of college campuses. But the committee on Tuesday voted to remove bars from the bill, require churches to decide whether to allow weapons and specifically banned guns in courthouses. Stripped from SB 101 was a provision that would have barred local governments from prohibiting gun owners from living in public housing.
The committee made no changes to the so-called campus carry section, which would allow weapons permit holders — who must be 21 — to carry guns anywhere on campus other than athletic events, fraternity and sorority houses, and dormitories.
The changes had the blessings of Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, the sponsor of HB 512, and Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, the sponsor of SB 101, as well as pro-gun groups advocating for the bill.
An Unholy Marriage?
State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-City of Brookhaven) wrote last night on Facebook, “Senate Republicans stall MARTA privatization bill. Union thanks them. What’s wrong with this picture?” after his MARTA privatization bill was sent to hospice care by the Senate Transportation Committee.
State House Republicans put the full weight of their chamber behind a bill mandating privatizing parts of MARTA to help salvage the financially struggling transit authority, but Senate Republicans may well derail it.
The bill has stalled in the Senate Transportation Committee, assigned to a subcommittee for study with only six days left in the legislative session — to the professed gratitude of MARTA’s union, which views privatization as a threat to jobs.
Then he took Senate Bill 168 hostage and Frankensteined it to add parts of his MARTA bill to legislation already passed by the Senate.
Jacobs has done an end run around Gooch’s committee that could be successful.
He amended a bill — supported by key senators — that broadens the eligibility for contractors for public works projects to include four key aspects of the MARTA legislation: the mandatory privatization of certain functions such as para-transit or cleaners, the restructuring of the board to give DeKalb and Fulton mayors appointments, a debt ceiling and the ability to divert revenue earmarked for capital projects to operating costs.
One aspect of the original MARTA legislation that Jacobs didn’t include in the amendment was the one issue that he said the MARTA administration asked him to include in the stalled legislation: the ability for the governor to appoint a retired judge to arbitrate a disagreement between the union and MARTA management.
The union considers that language disadvantageous to it in bargaining on its contract with MARTA at a time when management says it is committed to privatization. It would allow the governor to appoint someone seen as more favorable to management. Several years ago the union got a rule installed that arbitrators would be professional arbitrators acceptable to both management and labor.
Senate 2014
Yesterday, Politico reported that Congressman Tom Price (R-GA-6) is in talks with the National Republican Senatorial Committee about running for the Senate seat being vacated by Saxby Chambliss in 2014.
Republican Rep. Tom Price met Monday with senior officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to two sources.
The Georgia congressman continues to mull a run for the seat opened up Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ retirement.
The NRSC will remain neutral in the primary and has been willing to meet with any candidate or his representative who’s declared that they are running or expressed a serious interest. These include Reps. Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston and Paul Broun.
Price, a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, raised more than $300,000 in the two weeks after Chambliss retired and had $1.6 million cash on hand at the end of the year.
There’s been chatter in Peach State Republican circles that Price, who represents Newt Gingrich’s old district, would rather sit out the Senate contest than give up his perch in the House. But the meeting suggests that he is still actively looking at making the race, even if he faces a crowded field.
Meanwhile, according to a separate Politico story, Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA-1) has signed Fabrizio McLaughlin, who polled for Governor Nathan Deal, and is headed toward an April announcement.
Republican Rep. Jack Kingston is assembling a campaign team, including a pollster, in anticipation of a bid for the Georgia Senate seat that Saxby Chambliss is leaving open.
Kingston, now in his 11th term, … is expected to make an official announcement of his decision in mid-April, but he appears to be leaning heavily toward running.
“I hope everyone in the delegation gets ready to stay where they are because I’m gonna beat ’em,” he told Hotline On Call at the Conservative Political Action Conference here on Thursday evening.
Broun spoke at an unlisted event sponsored by the groups Tea Party Nation and Tea Party Express. “I hope we are hearing from the next senator from Georgia,” Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips said, in introducing Broun.
Broun, who is the only declared candidate in the race so far, told On Call that he is working hard to gain the support of the grassroots in the Peach State, and that he is encouraged by the support he has received so far. “I’m a grassroots guy,” he told the tea party groups. “I fought the whole political structure of Georgia just about when I was elected to Congress in 2007, from the governor on down.”
He is likely to rely heavily on grassroots support in the Senate race as well, particularly in a primary featuring several of his congressional colleagues. Kingston and Gingrey both have close ties to Gov.Nathan Deal. And some national Republicans could be turned off by Broun’s history of controversial statements.
Price also spoke at CPAC on Thursday, on a panel about the “Europeanization of America.” He did not reference the Senate race during his remarks, but told On Call that he is “absolutely” interested and will make a decision about the race after the House wraps up its discussion of the budget in May.
Headline of the Week
“Weiner Polled for N.Y. Mayoral Bid”
Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s dormant New York City mayoral campaign paid more than $100,000 to a San Francisco-based polling firm earlier this month, suggesting the once-prominent Democrat whose career was derailed by allegations he sent salacious texts and photographs to various women online was contemplating a return to politics in this year’s elections.
Even with the recent polling payments, Weiner is still sitting on more than $4.3 million in campaign funds, and the amount of money he could spend in a primary would grow if he participated in the city’s matching-funds program. But the lack of any other expenditures during the filing period suggests he isn’t plotting a campaign, perhaps as a result of what the internal polls told him.
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