Tag: Snellville

“Jeremy” (left) is a 5-year old Black Lab who has been neutered, microchipped and fully vaccinated who is available for adoption today from Walton County Animal Services. A Georgia licensed rescue that pulls him from the shelter is eligible for $310 in donations that have been pledged.

“Dora” (right) is about 5 weeks old and weighs six pounds. She’s an Australian Shepherd mix with a docked tail and full vaccines. She’s also available for adoption from Walton County.

In Macon, two puppies were rescued from being tied outside without shelter, food, or clean water in 100+ degree temperatures.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Nathan Deal is leading a trade mission to Canada through July 10th.

The mission will include Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal, Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Steve Brereton, Consul General of Canada in Atlanta.

Deal will meet with prospective businesses and with companies that have existing Georgia operations, including Bombardier and CAE. In Toronto he will address a business investment luncheon hosted by PNC Bank and the Canadian-American Business Council. Later that day Deal will throw out the first pitch of the Toronto Blue Jays v. Kansas City Royals baseball game at Rogers Centre.

The governor and delegation will also attend, as honored guests, celebrations of the U.S. Independence Day hosted by the U.S. consulates in Montreal and Toronto. Georgia-grown products will be showcased during the Independence Day celebration in Montreal.

Congratulations to Canadia. It’s not every day that a minor US state gets an official visit from Georgia’s Governor.

Congratulations to Fayette County’s Sheila Studdard, who was reappointed by Gov. Deal to the Board of Commissioners of the Superior Court Clerks Retirement Fund of Georgia. Condolences to Gwinnett County Chair Charlotte Nash, Henry County Chair B.J. Mathis, and Douglas County Chair Tom Worthan, whom Deal appointed to the GRTA Board.

Fulton County became the state’s largest charter school system on July 1st, which will allow the system to apply for waivers to some state regulations.

The State Board of Education has set a hearing on July 18 to review the Board’s recommendation that the Governor remove members of the Sumter County Board of Education following the loss of its accreditation from SACS.

Gwinnett County’s would-me casino magnate Dan O’Leary is predicting that the Republican ballot question on whether to allow casino gambling will fail.

O’Leary said the question on the GOP ballot is flawed. It reads: “Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education?” The Democratic ballot does not contain the question.

“To truly gauge public sentiment on the issue of gaming, the real question is: Are voters in favor of the Georgia Lottery expanding with (video lottery terminals) games in a single controlled environment to save the HOPE scholarship? This question gets to the heart of the issue. It’s not about casinos; it’s about saving HOPE,” O’Leary said in a statement, referring to the HOPE Scholarship, where lottery funds are used to fund college scholarships and Pre-K programs.

While video lottery terminals look like video slot machines, O’Leary said they are more similar to scratch-off lottery tickets and funds would go solely to the Georgia Lottery.

O’Leary said he did not lobby for the question to be on ballots.

“Given that this ballot question does not accurately portray our project, we fully anticipate that the voters will vote against it,” O’Leary said.

I disagree that the casino gambling question is doomed. We wrote yesterday that casino gambling scored a narrow victory in Hall County GOP straw poll, and have seen other signs that Republicans may not disapprove overwhelmingly of casino gambling. Of course, the Personhood Amendment may bring out culturally-conservative Pro-Life voters, who appear to strongly oppose casino gambling. Over-under for approval of casino gambling is set at 48.

House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams spoke with Dennis O’Hayer and responded to Majority Leader Ed Lindsey’s statement on MARTA’s leadership and the 50-50 funding split, saying that she’s open to discussing the issues, but that Lindsey’s proposal is unworkable.

The Transportation Leadership Coalition is considering a legal challenge to the preamble language for the T-SPLOST on the July 31st ballot [pdf].

On behalf of TLC, Atlanta attorney Pitts Carr has taken the necessary initial action to protect the Georgia state ballot from political interference.

Today’s formal inquiry from attorney Carr directs Secretary of State Brian Kemp to cite the legal authority for adding the language “Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight.”

Carr’s letter in part reads:

“Secretary of State Kemp concluded that the preamble “is referenced in the original legislation”.  Nowhere does that language appear in O.C.G.A. 48-8-240 et seq.”

Jack Staver, TLC chairman [said,] “The chaotic and contradictory statements made by Kemp and his office are characteristic of someone getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar, or in this case in the taxpayers’ pocket. I understand why Kemp is running around like a chicken with his head cut off.  There is a real possibility that the secretary of state could be held personally liable for the cost of reprinting the ballot.”

Ten days ago TLC issued a public call for Governor Nathan Deal to intervene and protect the integrity of the ballot.  Governor Deal, one of the biggest supporters of the Referendum 1 tax increase, has not responded to these requests.

Yesterday, Republican Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise released a YouTube video raising the issue of his opponent’s truthiness, ethics, and adherence to Republican principles.

Davidson, running on an ethics platform, is taken to task for claiming education degrees she has not earned, lobbying for green energy subsidies at the expense of higher electricity rates, endorsing a Democrat after she lost the PSC Republican Primary in 2008 (despite signing the GOP Loyalty Oath), and a series of ethics lapses….

On July 31, voters in Bibb County will vote on whether to consolidate Bibb County and the City of Macon. State Rep. Allen Peake supports consolidation and writes,

Folks, the bottom line on this consolidation vote is this: If you are happy with where you are now, and content with our county losing population and jobs, then vote NO.

But if you believe we can have a brighter future; if you believe that we can turn this sinking ship around, and if you want economic opportunities for your family, your children, and your grandchildren, then this is your chance. Vote YES on July 31! We have so many positives in our community, and if we can just get past the gridlock and stagnation that has been our pattern for the last 40 years, there are no limits to how prosperous we can be.

So, please join me by voting YES, and let’s start moving the community we love in the right direction.

Incumbent Republican State Representative Jimmy Pruett faces challenger John Clements in the Primary for District 149.

Incumbent Javors Lucas has served 31 years on the Macon Water Authority Board and faces challenger Regina Lucas in the Democratic Primary. Surprisingly, Lucas’s tenure is the second-longest on the Board to Chairman Frank Amerson.

Houston County will elect two school board members.

Stockbridge Mayor Lee Stuart admits to reading the emails of five city employees:

Stuart said he suspected his own city e-mail account was being monitored, as well, but he did not say by whom.

“I wanted to see if they [those he wanted to monitor] are the ones monitoring my e-mails,” said Stuart. “I had complaints from city employees that their e-mails are being monitored. In any e-mails that I sent to city employees, they would get questioned by Gibson [when he was employed earlier this year] about e-mails I would send them.”

Stuart, as Stockbridge’s chief executive officer, has the right to view e-mail accounts for employees in the city. However, Milliron said Stuart, in May, made a request to monitor employee e-mails, without the knowledge of employees.

“Quite frankly, unless there is an exemption in the state’s public access laws, we presume that all of our e-mails are open to inspection by the public,” said Milliron. “But I would not expect the mayor, or any other elected official, to have secret access to my, or any other employee’s e-mails, unless there was a city policy that informed employees that they had no expectation of privacy with respect to their e-mail communications. There is no such policy in place.

“The mayor always makes broad, sweeping statements that he has received complaints,” Milliron continued. “Everyone, with respect to the mayor, is always nameless and faceless. His request to secretly monitor employee e-mails does nothing but undermine the working relationship that we have here at City Hall.”

The ongoing feud in Snellville took a turn stayed nasty as Democrat Mayor Kellie Kautz criticized the council’s action:

A 4-2 vote pushed through an amended budget proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts, one that does not include a $426,022 budget line for road projects through the Livable Centers Initiative. The LCI project… was the crux of debate among the mayor and council and the primary difference between Witts’ $9.61 million budget and that proposed by Kautz.

Kautz called the project’s non-inclusion, and the budget in general, “sloppy,” “a mess” and “unprofessional.”

Witts said it was not included in the budget because he didn’t believe it should be factored into tax calculations. He said it should be handled with money received following the service delivery dispute with the county.

“I don’t feel that’s something we should be taxing our people for,” Witts said. Councilmen Bobby Howard and Dave Emanuel voiced their support.

Jan Burke, the city’s controller, did not support Witts’ budget. She called the omission of the LCI project — as well as $16,900 for gazebo repairs at Briscoe Park — a “material misstatement.”

“Those are material expenses,” she said. “They have to be budgeted. We obviously are going forward with those projects.”

Because nothing screams “professional” like name-calling.

Events Calendar

The Lamar County Republian Debate Committee will host a debate among the three candidates for Third Congressional District, namely, Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and two other guys. The event begins at 7 PM tonight at Lamar County School’s Fine Arts Center, at 126 Burnette Road in Barnesville. Doors will open to the public at 6 p.m. For more information, contact Julia Heidbrink at 678-588-1619 or by email at midgatp@gmail.com.

The Towns County Republican Party will celebrate the Fourth of July on the Seventh of July with a barbecue and forum for Ninth Congressional District candidates at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds.

On July 10th, the Cobb County Civic Coalition will hold a forum for candidates for County Chair.

The Council for Quality Growth will host Congressman John Mica, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at lunch on July 13th for a Regional Transportation Referendum countdown.

Republican Women of Muscogee and Harris Counties will host a primary candidate dinner on July 17th featuring Q&A and opportunities for candidates to speak.

You can register today for Grilling with the Governor in Gainesville on July 21st.

On August 4th, the Eighth District Republican Party will host the annual Fish Fry in Perry at the Georgia National Fairgrounds.

Ends & Pieces

Atlanta Tim Hornsby qualified for the 2012 Olympics in sprint kayak. WABE has a story on Hornsby.

The Georgia Aquarium has applied for a permit to bring 18 Beluga whales to the United States, but they wouldn’t necessarily be housed in Atlanta.

This is “Reeces,” a black lab mix who  is in run 118 at Cobb County Animal Services and his ID# is 544247. He is probably in immediate danger of euthanasia, as his hold is expired and Cobb County had 63 animals come into the shelter on Tuesday, and possibly even more yesterday.

If you’re considering getting a dog or cat, please consider a shelter animal or adopting from a rescue organization. Thousands of healthy dogs and cats are put down every year in Georgia, and we’re in the middle of the worst part of the year for strays.

Cobb County’s Shelter hours for Adoptions are: Tuesday – Saturday 9:30 AM. to 5:30 PM and Sunday 2 to 5 PM.

 

Happy belated birthday to Augusta, which celebrated with 276 candles on their cake yesterday.

[I]n a letter that was dated June 14, 1736, James Oglethorpe ordered authorities to lay out our town.

In 1739, Oglethorpe himself came to visit the town he had created. He stayed 10 days, then left, but not before leaving Augusta leaders with a thoughtful and logical growth plan.

Augusta’s leaders appear to have disregarded much of it, beginning a tradition that some would say continues.

GaPundit’s Event Calendar

We have launched out Event Calendar and invite political professionals, lobbyists, county parties, and other organizations to post their announcements. Email me for instructions on how to begin posting. We will be including events posted on the calendar in our morning emails. Anyone who is interested in helping maintain the calendar is also asked to let me know.

Posting your political events on our calendar will help get them in front of our more than 5000 daily email subscribers.

To check out the Event Calendar, hit this link or visit GaPundit.com and click on “Events” in the menu bar.

Republican State Rep. Robert Dickey is holding a Peaches and Politics fundraiser at Dickey Farms on Thursday, June 21st from 6 to 8 PM. It will feature Speaker David Ralston, Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal, House Majority Secretary Allen Peake, Ag. Commissioner Gary Black, SOS Brian Kemp, and Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens.

Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Peachtree City’s council is docked the Mayor’s pay from $750 per month to $75 in order to reimburse the city for expenses incurred to defend the Mayor against a libel suit. Former Mayor Harold Logsdon sued current Mayor Don Haddix personally, not as Mayor; the city’s insurance company denied coverage to Haddix twice before agreeing to cover defense costs. Haddix is threatening to cost taxpayers even more money by either resigning and triggering a special election or unspecified legal action.

Apparently, PTC council is serving as a cautionary tale; when the Fayette City Council started arguing, Mayor Greg Clifton said, “I don’t want this to turn into a Peachtree City Council. I want this to be a council that gets along.”

Fayette County Commissioner Robert Horgan is running for reelection in the Republican Primary, and PTC municipal judge Stephen Ott qualified for Fayette County State Court Judge against incumbent Judge Carla Wong McMillian.

Richmond County Sheriff candidate Scott Peebles had campaign signs set on fire last week, one-upping candidate Richard Roundtree, whose sign was used as a weapon in a fight between two women. Roundtree will remain in the race after a complaint alleging he owed back federal taxes was dismissed upon a showing that Roundtree has a payment plan.

Five candidates have announced challenges to incumbent Augusta Commissioner Matt Aitken. Qualifying is next week.

Jeremy Hobbs remains on the ballot for Columbus Council District 8 after producing a Georgia Power bill that was accepted as proof that he meets the residence requirement.

Democratic lawyer Scott Drake announced his campaign against incumbent Republican Senator Don Balfour, saying, “I can no longer stand silently on the sidelines. Democracy is not a spectator sport and public office is about service, not feathering one’s own special interest nest.” In a heavily Republican district, I’ll go ahead and predict that Drake does indeed stay on the sidelines after being crushed in the General Election.

Former state Senator Lee Hawkins, who is unopposed in the election to succeed State Rep. Doug Collins, has signed the pledge to support a cap on lobbyist gifts to legislators. He is the only Hall County legislative candidate to do so.

The South Hall Republican Club will host a debate for candidates for County Commission next Tuesday, June 19th at 6:30 PM at the Spout Springs library in Flowery Branch.

Governor Deal sat for a Q-and-A last week to discuss the $1 billion project to add lanes to I-75 and I-575 in Cobb County.

GPB’s Orlando Montoya discusses the race in the 12th Congressional District:

Dublin attorney Maria Sheffield is courting Tea Party voters focusing on her history as a grassroots organizer.

“This race is just about electing a true conservative who comes from our movement.” Sheffield says. “I think it’s about going to Washington and not just simply casting a vote but it’s about doing the hard work that needs to be done.”

Cherokee County school board district 2 candidates debated.

The candidacies of Willie Saunders against Augusta Superior Court Judge Carlisle Overstreet, and Christopher NeSmith against Northern Circuit Superior Court Judge Thomas Hodges have been challenged in letters to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Clarence Johnson’s campaign against Fulton County Superior Court Judge Todd Markle is also being challenged. The eligibility challenges in all three cases relate to taxes owed.

The Atlanta Tea Party sent out a press release yesterday saying the campaign to increase your taxes via T-SPLOST is deceptive and calling T-SPLOSt advocates are “worried and desperate.”

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

The State Ethics Campaign Finance Commission will meet today and may consider complaints filed against Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign.

Snellville’s City Council will consider banning guns in city parks at the July 9th meeting. Mayor Kellie Kautz, a Democrat, said, “I’m all for people having the right to carry their weapons but, we want to make sure that they’re using them properly.” They may have a problem doing that, as Georgia law preempts municipalities from regulating gun rights.

President Obama is not only leaking white voters, he’s also leaking dollars as roughly 90% of donors of more than $200 to his 2008 campaign have not yet renewed their pledges.

“The 2008 donors who were most likely to give again in 2012 are those with ideological scores most similar to Obama’s, whereas moderate-to-conservative donors and those on far left are significantly less likely to re-up,” [Stanford political scientist Adam] Bonica said.

Obama may try to make up for the shortage of donors by hitting their cells: a ruling by the Federal Elections Commission will allow his campaign to tap its database of more than a million mobile numbers for donations via text. According to The Hill:

Text donations would be capped at between $10 and $50 per billing cycle and campaigns would enforce that restriction through tracking donations from a single user’s mobile phone number to a single premium short code assigned to the political committee. The short code would also enable the aggregator and carriers to ensure “the $50 limit is never exceeded for one political recipient.”

Newt Gingrich’s former head of digital operations Vincent Harris says it will be a game-changer:

The ability to accept donations via text will greatly increase the percentage of donations coming in from mobile users as a whole. On the Gingrich campaign mobile users made up 18% of visitors to the campaign website but only 8% of our donations came via mobile users. The ability to text in a donation should help close that gap. In 2009 I ran the mobile operations for Bob McDonnell’s gubernatorial race in Virginia. We briefly tried raising money off of our opt-in list and had users text back a donation amount that was followed up by a live caller who took credit card information. If we had used the technology discussed on Monday, our program would have been much more successful.

Contrary to previously-published reports, a Gingrich spokesman says that the Newtster’s speaking fees have gone up in some cases and remained steady in others.

Gingrich spokesman RC Hammond said the new rates are not in fact a discount:

Inside the beltway has bounced from $20,000 to $25,000. Continental U.S. remains at $60,000 a speech. And, heading abroad is as much as $150,000.

Turns out there is a demand for new ideas, solutions and innovation Newt is booked into the fall.

Former Georgia State Rep. Gloria Bromell Tinubu (D) may not have escaped a runoff in the Democratic Primary for South Carolina’s Seventh Congressional District after all. A lawsuit asks a judge to order a runoff election.

The state Election Commission will decide Friday whether to call a runoff between Coastal Carolina economics professor Gloria Bromell Tinubu and attorney Preston Brittain. At issue is whether to count the votes of state Rep. Ted Vick, who withdrew May 25 following his arrest on a drunken driving charge, but remained on the ballot.

Without Vick’s more than 2,300 votes, Bromell Tinubu won the four-way race outright, with 52 percent of the vote to Brittain’s 39 percent. But five names were on the ballot. Both the Democratic Party and Brittain’s campaign argue none of the five received a majority, so a runoff is necessary; otherwise, voters are being disenfranchised, they argue.

Days after Vick withdrew, top Democrats called a news conference to endorse 32-year-old Brittain of Myrtle Beach, including U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

The director of the state Republican Party, Matt Moore, on Wednesday accused Harpootlian and Columbia insiders of “trying to steal the nomination from Gloria Tinubu,” after getting egg on their face with the endorsement.

But Harpootlian called that nonsense, saying the party is only trying to ensure voters aren’t disenfranchised.

Republicans “need to take a deep breath and some medication, and go home and let us try to resolve this in a legal fashion,” he said.

Nydia Tisdale, who was ordered out of the Cumming City Council chambers by Mayor Ford Gravitt for daring to assert her rights under the state Open Meetings Act, filed a federal lawsuit against Gravitt, also naming the police chief, and deputy chief.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed against Gravitt last week by Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens.

Tisdale’s attorney Gerry Weber said while his client appreciates what Olens is doing, her lawsuit seeks personal damages.

“[First] we’re seeking an order from the court ensuring that Ms. Tisdale and other citizens are able to attend the Cumming City Council meetings and to film them,” said Weber.

“We’re also seeking damages for her for what happened to her on the day that she was physically pulled out of the meeting by the chief of police and deputy chief. And the last thing we’re seeking is under the new Open Meetings Law, when it’s violated, that there are civil penalties.”

In the suit, Tisdale asks for a jury trial to hear the case.

“City council meetings are the public’s business,” said Weber. “We think it’s entirely appropriate for a jury to evaluate the excluding of a citizen, a taxpayer from a public meeting.

Tisdale is a blogger for AboutForsyth.com, and Weber said she was recording the meeting so that citizens who could not attend would have access to the proceedings.

According to personal financial disclosures on file with the Georgia Ethics Campaign Finance Commission, Chatham County legislators did nearly $6.5 million in business with the state in 2011. The vast majority of the money was from Medicaid payments for consumers who chose to do business with pharmacies, a home healthcare company, or medical offices owned by legislators.

Speaking of Medicaid, Georgia’s program may be $300 million short for the next fiscal year.

The state Department of Community Health plans to ask the state legislature for roughly $308.2 million to make up the gap for fiscal 2013, Vince Harris, the agency’s chief financial officer, told board members.

The looming deficit comes at a time when the state health agency is also facing the addition of another 600,000-plus Georgians to its Medicaid rolls starting in 2014, as part of the program’s expansion under the health care law.

“The budget numbers that we have are very daunting,” Commissioner David Cook said.

The health care program is also looking at a $90 million deficit for the current fiscal year.

Florida legislators’ net worth got hammered by property value declines and stock market losses. If you think that’s tough, Florida Governor Rick Scott was dead, according to state voter rolls.

Georgia leads the nation in foreclosures with a 30% increase over May 2011, and Atlanta is in second place among the twenty largest metro areas. Carroll County also saw foreclosures up both month-to-month and over the past year.

“There’s no positive news in foreclosures in our region,” said Dr. Joey Smith, assistant professor of economics at University of West Georgia. “We’re seeing foreclosures going up from last year and last month.”

Smith said housing prices are starting to rise some in the area because buyers are bidding against one another for foreclosed homes.

“A lot of neighborhoods where we’re seeing foreclosures are transitioning from owner-occupied homes to rental units,” he said.

The Grantville City Council says, “I’ll see your foreclosure and raise you two demolitions,” as it moves forward to demolish two houses owned by Mayor Jim Sells.

“Some of you think this is about houses that need to be demolished,” Sells said. “What it is about is contempt for your mayor.”

Carrollton’s open carry ordinance — for alcohol — appears to be working for the community.

The Carrollton City Council on June 4 approved two amendments to its alcoholic beverage ordinance. One amendment allows people to carry drinks they have purchased at downtown businesses anywhere in the downtown business area. The second amendment gives the city manager authority to issue special-use permits for organizations to serve alcoholic beverages on city property, such as the amphitheater or city parks.

“What I’m proposing is for people of legal age, if you legally purchase the alcohol, that you be allowed to go from place to place, with the drink in a solo cup,” Coleman said at the June 4 council meeting. “If it’s a Styrofoam cup, with an Irish Pub logo on it, it’s even better, because it shows it was legally purchased there. You can’t sit on the square and bring your cooler and knock down two dozen beers. This is not Savannah, New Orleans or Las Vegas.”

If you’re considering filing a false lien against a public official, you may want to rethink that, as it’s now a felony.

a new state law against so-called sovereign citizens who engage in “paper terrorism” to harass public officials…. makes it a felony to knowingly file false liens against government employees.