Congratulations to State Representative-elect David Stover, who carried over 60.5 percent of the vote in the Special Election Runoff in House District 71 against fellow Republican Thomas G. Crymes. Having received endorsements from Congressmen Lynn Westmoreland and Paul Broun, Stover’s views cover the gamut of the far right side of the spectrum. We’ll let you know when he will be sworn in.
Early voting has begun in the March 19th bond referendum in Canton.
Cherokee County Elections Office, 400 E. Main St. in downtown Canton, through March 15. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Election Day, March 19, city residents will vote at their regular precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Canton City Council approved ballot language and called for the election at its Jan. 17 meeting. The ballot question reads as follows: “Shall general obligation bonds in the aggregate amount of $6,000,000 be issued by the City of Canton to finance the acquisition, design and/or development of up to three new fire stations; to renovate the downtown fire station; and to finance the acquisition of new firefighting vehicles.”
While the General Assembly was dawdling in expanding the protection of our Second Amendment rights, the Pickens County City of Nelson preliminarily approved the “Family Protection Act”.
It would require the head of every household “to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition.”
“I’ve lived here all my life and most everybody who’s original residents and always lived here have always had firearms,” said Nelson resident Donna Hamby.
City council member Edith Portillo acknowledges that if passed, the law won’t be enforced. It’s more about sending a message to the Washington lawmakers who want to further restrict gun ownership.
“Our government at the moment, they want to take as much away from us as they can,” said Portillo.
The proposal is patterned after the Kennesaw ordinance, which supporters insist has helped lower crime there.
If city leaders in Nelson give their version final approval, many people would be exempt, including a gun felons, paupers, and anyone with a mental or physical disability.
The proposed law is part of a campaign led by Bill McNiff, chairman of the Canton Tea Party. He hopes to sell the same idea in other nearby towns and beyond.
“We want to take this county wide,” said McNiff. “Then go statewide and to other states, hopefully.”
Nelson Council member Duane Cronic says he hopes the ordinance will make criminals think twice before entering his town.
The council will take a final vote next month.
I would have thought something like this would have started in Cherokee or Fayette County first. Two interesting historical facts about Nelson, GA: the city namesake, John Nelson, was a rifle-maker, and more than 60 percent of the monuments in Washington, DC are made from Pickens County marble.
General Assembly
House Meeting Calendar
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT | 506 CLOB |
| 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | MARTOC | 406 CLOB |
| 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | RULES | 341 CAP |
| 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | 606 CLOB |
| 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | INTRAGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION | 403 CAP |
That MARTOC (MARTA Oversight Committee) meeting will be a doozy, as they hear a briefing by KPMG on the Management Audit of the transit agency, and then take public comments on HB 264, which would move MARTA toward greater privatization. The transit union, Senator Vincent Fort and the usual suspects from the left rallied at the Georgia State Capitol yesterday.
The bill’s supporters say reform is necessary to stabilize the finances of the transit agency, which is currently operating at a $30 million deficit.
But Prince Sanders, a 14-year veteran of MARTA, said the bill is a power play by state lawmakers to take over the system and enrich outside business interests.
“It’s been a systematic plan for a long time now to get MARTA. It’s the money, it’s all about the money, it ain’t about the people.”
Larry Henly, the national head of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents about two-thirds of MARTA employees, said he’d be devoting whatever resources necessary to fighting the bill.
“The message simply is we’re not going away and if they somehow – through some perverted acts in this statehouse – win this battle, we’ll be back the next day to keep fighting and we’re not going to stop fighting until we win.”
My response is that the union boss is right — it is about the money — but the people it’s focused on are those from whom it is taken in the form of a sales tax.
Among the changes in the bill introduced by State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven)
- privatize several back-office operations and paratransit bus service,
- move new employees into a less expensive pension plan
- and start cutting long-term debt
Without the changes, the audit projected the agency would run an annual deficit of $30 million at least through 2021.
“MARTA should be the crown jewel of metro Atlanta,” [Jacobs] said. “It should be using 21st century business practices. … Instead, it is an authority mired in the business practices of the 1970s.”
Supplemental Budget Adopted
The House and Senate agreed yesterday to HB 105, a Supplemental Budget for FY 2013, which makes midyear corrections to the budget adopted last session to bring it in line with changing revenues. Governor Deal will be presented the bill for signature or veto.
James Salzer of the AJC summarizes some of the changes:
- $19.3 billion dollar total
- $167 million in additional funds to local schools
- $200 million more for healthcare for poor, elderly and disabled
- Restores $2.7 million to Georgia Gwinnett College
- $73 million reduction in funds to the University System of Georgia
- $40 million in cuts to economic development
Merri Brantley with Georgia Gwinnett College discussed the restoration of funds to the college:
Among other things, Brantley said, the restoration of funds will “keep anyone from being furloughed.”
Brantley said that Duluth Sen. David Shafer, the Senate president pro tem, has been “our champion in this.”
Because the young college is growing rapidly, leaders have relied on special initiative funding each year, since funding for the university system is based on two-year-old enrollment figures. GGC has nearly doubled its enrollment in that time to a current 9,400 students.
With only a few months left in the fiscal year, the cut in the special initiative funding would force the college to impose up to eight furlough days with other options.
“It would have affected people’s paychecks and their livelihood,” Brantley said.
The State House passed a sales tax exemption on aircraft repair that primarily benefits Gulfstream, a major employer in Savannah. Former House Appropriations Chair Ben Harbin (R-Evans) has proposed HR 528 (Joint Committee) and HR 529 (House-only) to study the possibility of tax breaks to stimulate the recording industry in Georgia.
The car tag tax double burden on leases has been fixed:
The tuneup, crafted with the help of representatives of Gov. Nathan Deal, will fix unintended consequences of a new law that took effect Friday that eliminated the state’s hated “birthday tax” on car registrations. A chief problem was a double tax on car leases.
Consumers will likely feel the effects in a matter of days. The changes will go into effect as soon as Deal signs the legislation, which is expected to happen quickly.
As lawmakers rushed last year to overhaul the state’s tax code, they failed to account for nuances of car leases, creating the double tax. The compromise solves that problem, which is a big deal in a state where, according to Experian, leases account for 33.8 percent of all new car transactions.
Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer, R-Duluth, said of the compromise, House Bill 266: “This legislation addresses some of the transitional issues that have been raised. No legislation is perfect.”
Gwinnett County anticipates thousands of appeals of valuation under the new title tax fee:
While the state has always assessed the value of cars, the annual rate was so low that it rarely resulted in an appeal, with about 100 to 125 filed each year in Gwinnett.
But Chief Appraiser Steve Pruitt expects that to change with the hundreds or even thousands that could charged with the title tax.
On Tuesday, commissioners approved a $175,000 contract with LMC Inc. to have the firm help with re-valuations, since the state’s value is taken with an average number of miles and condition of a vehicle. The company will make a second valuation taking those factors in mind, and if the taxpayer continues to appeal that, the determination will go before the county Board of Equalizations.
“I just didn’t have the staff to meet with the taxpayers,” and make the determinations, Pruitt said. “We’re going to make it an easy process for the taxpayers.”
Because the tax can be rolled into a loan if a person buys at a car dealership, Pruitt expects most of the appeals to come from casual sales — those made from neighbor to neighbor — where people didn’t have to deal with sales taxes before.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 115 by Sen Curt Thompson (D-Norcross) to enhance the penalties for vehicular homicide:
By a vote of 32-18, state Senate Tuesday passed the bill, which would increase the penalty for vehicular homicide under most circumstances from a misdemeanor to a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. If approved by the House and the governor, it would increase the maximum fine from $1,000 to $5,000, and the judge is not given the statutory discretion to allow the sentence be served on weekends, a press release said.
The Senate also voted to pass Senate Bill 224, which would create a $100 million vulture venture capital fund
[Sponsor Senator Tim Golden] said Georgia compares poorly with other states when it comes to VC investment. Of every $1 invested in venture capital in Georgia, 92 cents comes from out of state, he said.
“With the exception of Alabama, all our sister states have such funds,” Golden said. “Other states, because of these funds, are raiding Georgia companies after we get them established. … This bill would hopefully help solve that problem once we get it up and running.”
“Fire ‘em up,” says Senate Rules Chair Jeff Mullis as the chamber passed Senate Resolution 378 to place a referendum to allow sales of fireworks on the 2014 ballot.
Senator Cecil Staton’s bill to remove the taxation power from the Bibb County Board of Education is receiving rough treatment at home. The Macon Telegraph Editorial Board opposes the measure as an “attempt to govern from Atlanta.”
The system would have to go begging, unlike the other 179 school systems in the state, to the new consolidated government, to approve its budget and levy the taxes.
There are several issues that will get lost in this taxing debate. Presently, the Bibb County schools levy 17.945 mills in taxes. It has held the same rate for four years, even in the midst of lower property values that cost the system $1.6 million.
Though the Bibb County Commission voted 4-1 to not support Staton’s proposal, in typical legislative fashion, where all power comes from the state and not from local people who have to deal with the edicts, Staton said of the commission’s vote, “They have nothing to do with it. … Frankly I’m not concerned about the opinions of people who may or may not be involved.”
Staton is not alone under the Gold Dome with that attitude. It’s easy to dictate from on high when you have no skin in the game.
Also opposing the bill is the Macon City Council.
Retired Atlanta Braves player Chipper Jones was honored by the General Assembly and appeared in the Senate Chamber.
News Across Georgia
Secretary of State Brian Kemp has extended the deadline for annual corporate registration filings.
The extension, from April 1 to May 31, is being offered due to a delay in online registrations brought by implementation of an upgrade to the division’s website, according to a statement released by Kemp’s department.
Kemp said it is “in the public interest” to extend the 2013 corporation registration deadline.
The Public Service Commission voted to delay implementation of a $5 monthly charge for cell phone service under the federal LifeLine program, popularly called “Obamaphones.”
Clayton County’s Second Chance program is hailed as a model for intervention under the Juvenile Justice Reform bill working its way through the Gold Dome.
Floyd County foreclosures were down in February over a year ago, while the dollar value of successful sales is up about 10 percent.
Augusta National won a delay in the auction of a Green Jacket said to have been won by Art Wall, Jr. in 1959.
Augusta National official Jim James testified in a Dallas court on Monday that the jacket is one of several that were stolen from the Georgia club. James said the Masters green jacket is an icon that must be protected.
According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, James testified that in June, he discovered that four green jackets had gone missing from Augusta — those belonging to Fuzzy Zoeller, Gay Brewer, George Archer and Wall. James said the jackets were taken by employees, who sold the jackets to an auctioneer in Florida. All but one were returned to Augusta — Wall’s, which Pyles said he bought at auction last April for $61,452.55.
Judicial Restraints
Crawford County Deputy Magistrate Robin Dunaway will run the court while Chief Magistrate Andrea Peterman remains accused of theft.
Grady County State Court Judge J. William Bass Sr. faces a hearing before the Judicial Qualifications Commission today.
The Cobb County courthouse will welcome the state Judicial Qualifications Commission today to determine whether a south Georgia judge behaved inappropriately and deserves removal from the bench.
Maggie Crutchfield, owner of Red Hills Community Probation in Grady County, filed complaints to the Judicial Qualifications Commission in 2011, she said. Crutchfield’s clients reported to Bass.
“His behavior was not becoming of a state court judge,” Crutchfield said. “There was misconduct and inconsistency with dealing with probations.”
Crutchfield said there were times when Bass would question someone’s sexuality or bring Hispanics into a separate room with a translator but no court reporter.After Crutchfield filed complaints to the commission, an investigator anonymously attended hearings in Bass’ courtroom and found probable cause to address Crutchfield’s allegations.
Liquor and Guns in Carrollton, Georgia
The Carrollton City Council will consider putting a Sunday Sales referendum on the November Ballot.
Placing such an item on the ballot would require considerable staff time and other city resources for research, legal advertising and a public discussion. Garner explained that he wanted to determine the sense of the council before locking the city into such a process.
Garner told the council that the request for putting the liquor sales issue on the agenda had come from the management of the Kroger grocery store. Beginning the process now would give the issue plenty of lead time to be added as a referendum on the November ballot.
But don’t expect to be able to carry your gun on the GreenBelt trail.
Carrollton Mayor Wayne Garner said he won’t ask the council to change city ordinances to allow guns on the GreenBelt trail, and he’s willing to let the courts decide the issue.
James Camp, representing GeorgiaCarry.org, a gun rights organization, hand-delivered a letter to the mayor on Jan. 18, challenging a city ordinance that prohibits firearms on the GreenBelt trail and another which says parade participants cannot carry firearms. The organization claims that the city ordinances conflict with a Georgia state pre-emption law, which says that the General Assembly has the sole power to make laws on where weapons can be carried.
But Garner has a differing opinion concerning firearms on the city’s planned 16-mile walking and biking trail, of which 3.5 miles have already been constructed.
“I have grave concerns, as do members of the school board, about allowing firearms on the GreenBelt,” Garner said. “The trail goes through the middle of city school property, within 20 feet of the Castle playground and through recreation fields. It goes by thousands of children out playing, and I don’t think it’s a place for guns. I think it’s the dumbest thing we could do — to let people carry guns through school property.
“I’m a supporter of the Second Amendment,” he said. “I own guns and I hunt, but I think someone needs to exercise some common sense. If somebody is afraid to ride a bicycle without guns, I suggest they stay home.”
Garner said he’s not sure if GeorgiaCarry will file a legal challenge.
“But before I put that on the agenda and vote on it, I’m going to let the court tell me what to do,” he said.
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