New car tags for retired legislators

A truly silly bill from the 2013 Session of the Georgia General Assembly made available a “Legislator Emeritus” license plate for retired members who served at least eight years under the Gold Dome. To be fair, it was a small part of a bill addressing a number of vanity tags and the free tags that are issued to military veterans who meet certain criteria.

One Georgia candidate makes most wealthy list

Rick Allen, who is running for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 12th District and hopes to challenge Democrat John Barrow, made Roll Call’s list of the top wealthy candidates for Congress.

So far this cycle, the construction company owner has loaned his campaign $10,000. That’s small change compared to 2012, when Allen put in $640,000 from his own pocketbook (via loans and contributions). He lost the primary to a state lawmaker.

Republicans have — again — named Barrow as a top target in 2014. Allen’s financial largess makes him a GOP favorite to defeat Barrow.

Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call Race Rating: Leans Democratic.

Obamacare fell again and it can’t get up

If you still have any doubts about the amateur hour that was the Obamacare healthcare.gov rollout, the entire site went down for part of Sunday.

Meanwhile, FoxNews has turned to the compelling question of the identity of the young woman originally featured in a photo on the healthcare.gov website.

Atlanta races heating up

The Atlanta City Council Post Three race between incumbent H. Lamar Willis and first-time candidate Andre Dickens appears to have become a proxy fight between Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and his predecessor, former Mayor Shirley Franklin, whose campaigns Reed managed. From the AJC story on the rivalry:

Recently, in a press conference held on the Beltline, Franklin, who backs neophyte Andre Dickens, called out Dickens’ opponent, attorney H. Lamar Willis, for running a questionable charity and for getting disbarred for not turning over an injured child’s cash settlement. A couple days after Franklin’s salvo, Willis faced cameras outside City Hall and fired back at Franklin and her family, saying the former mayor had once harbored her drug-dealing felon son-in-law in her home. He also referred to Franklin’s son and daughter, a personal attack on family members that violated the unwritten rules of campaigning.

The campaign started in August when Reed, who faces token opposition and can spend time politicking for political allies, helped the three-term Willis raise money for re-election. Days later, Franklin helped turn the sleepy campaign into perhaps the city’s hottest race when she endorsed Dickens, a longtime friend of her son, Cabral, who is advising his campaign.

Soon, Atlanta residents received anonymous robocalls taunting “Shame on Shirley,” and disparaging her term in office (she left City Hall nearly four years ago). A couple weeks later, Reed urged the media to stop dwelling on Willis’ woes and check into a bankruptcy filed by Dickens.

“It’s unfortunate that anyone has attempted to cast this campaign as any kind of feud, or disagreement, between myself and former Mayor Shirley Franklin. I respect Mayor Franklin, and believe she served ably for eight years as mayor,” the current mayor wrote. “A thorough, or even cursory, review of the public record will show that during the year-and-a-half that I served as her campaign manager, and the eight years that she served as mayor, that I was loyal to her and did not engage in public disputes with her on any issue. I do not intend to start now.”

The Democratic Party of Georgia is weighing-in against former Atlanta City Council member Mary Norwood, for what it calls her “Republican Record.”

Snellville still Snellville

And because that’s the case, the political fighting continues. Past bankruptcy filings by candidate Alisa Boykin have become an issue, with a local website publishing a list of creditors from 2008 proceedings. Ms. Boykin responded with an op-ed calling it “political bullying.”

There must be a balance that constitutes ethical values so that personal conduct is regulated as to what is appropriate so that the right decisions can be made on behalf of our citizens.

I have experienced this issue first hand after I publicly announced my candidacy for Snellville City Council. Over the past few weeks I have endured countless attacks against my character, my family and even my residency by my opponent and his supporters. These attacks for the most part have been said or written in this very media source by people who are not residents of our City, who have never met me and who have not even attempted to contact me. These attacks have not been an examination of my personal life, my character or my qualifications to be a member of the Snellville City Council, rather they have been blatant lies, unfounded half-truths and elaboration of mere rumors. The comments and allegations that have been made have been mean-spirited, rude, sexist and sometimes racist. The only purpose of these attacks is to bully me, to decimate my character and to intimidate myself and my family.

Moving forward, I will not retaliate by exposing the skeletons I have learned about the very people who are throwing stones, but neither will I allow their bullying to stop the momentum of my campaign.