Lobbyist Boyd Pettit apparently recently advised the Bartow County School Board to appropriate $17,000 to begin to fund a suit on behalf of Lamar Grizzle, School Board Chairman, whose daughter is the Assistant Principal of Pine Log Elementary School, in Bartow County.

This is on the heels of HB 251, in which the Legislature asserts a rule against nepotism in School Board Elections.

According to Article VIII. Section V. Paragraph I, of the Georgia Constitution, all elections are held as provided by law, and since the General Assembly is the lawmaking body in the state, they would assume such a right.  Further, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (c) specifically states that the General Assembly has the right to take “Action affecting the composition, form, procedure for election or appointment, compensation, and expenses and allowances in the nature of compensation of the county governing authority.”

The suit states, among other things, that in order to be elected in Bartow County, Grizzle MUST be able to run as a Republican, a position which I cannot find the General Assembly attempting to assert anywhere, but it does open up the door for the suit:

The suit names everyone from the Secretary of State down to the local GOP- with one exception- the County Board of Elections.

Pettit, coincidentally, lists the Bartow County Board of Elections among his clients.

Watch his presentation to the School board here:

You Tube: Pettit Testimony 1/19/10

Here’s the first page of  the 73-page injunction, naming Grizzle as the Plantiff:

Bartow County has specific procedures for purchasing, requiring, in the case of big ticket items like this, three formal bids to be requested and approved through the purchasing department.

When asked about the bid process, a  Bartow Purchasing Manager told Aaron Coalson of Lobbyists for Life and Liberty that there were no bids, and that he assumed that the Superintendent had “handled it.”  The Manager went on to say he also assumed that they would use the regular attorney for the schools, Boyd Pettit.

Pettit’s name is found nowhere on this complaint.

This entry was posted by Rob Miller, on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Rumors and Tagged: Bartow County Board of Elections, Bartow County Schools, Boyd Pettit, Georgia Power, Lobbyist, Pettit, Secretary of State, SoS
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