Who's Running For What?In case you've been out of touch with local political activities for awhile, allow us to be the first (or second...or, third...) to inform you:
Governor of GeorgiaRepublican Party: So far, only incumbent Governor Sonny Perdue has announced.
Democrat Party: Current Lt. Governor Mark Taylor and current Secretary of State Cathy Cox have both announced their intention and have set-up campaign accounts to receive contributions.
Lt. Governor of GeorgiaRepublican Party: Current State Senator Casey Cagle and current political campaign consultant Ralph Reed have both announced.
Democrat Party: Former State Senator Greg Hecht has announced.
Attorney GeneralRepublican Party: No definitive candidates have come forward and said "Yes, I am running." Though, it is rumored that either former Deputy Executive Counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue, Robert Highsmith, or current State GOP Legal Counsel Randy Evans, will be running for AG.
Democratic Party: Though he has not announced any intention, we suspect current AG Thurbert Baker to run for a third term.
Secretary of StateRepublican Party: Currently announced candidates include current State Senator Bill Stephens, former State Senator Perry McGuire (sp?), and perennial SOS candidate, Charlie Bailey.
Rumored to be soon announcing for the GOP in the SOS race is current Fulton County Commission Chair Karen Handel.
Democratic Party: State Senator Carol Jackson is the only one that we know of who has announced.
Grassroots, Schmash-roots (aka "If You're Going To Announce, Don't Be A Wuss")Rumors have it that the "BIG" announcement from Lt. Gubernatorial candidate Ralph Reed more closely resembled that of Sheriff Myron Freeman's announcement of his special "task force" than an announcement of a true grassroots campaign.
To wit, the only thing given to reporters at the event was a one-page, typed list of a bunch of names of supposed supporters. No such list appears on Reed's Website. No such list has been e-mailed via their press operation. It's as if Reed has put a big list of names out there that he really doesn't want people to see because some of these folks may not actually be on his team, and the Reed team has had no time to actually vet and confirm the list.
Contrast Reed's staged announcement with that of his opponent, Casey Cagle's. Cagle issued an e-mail that lists 34 names of state senators who support Cagle's candidacy. These are people that we can actually list because the Cagle campaign appears to believe more in campaign openness than the Reed team. These are the announced supporters of Casey Cagle:
Senator John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee)
Senator Joseph Carter (R-Tifton)
Senator Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone)
Senator Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick)
Senator John Douglas (R-Covington)
Senator Greg Goggans (R-Douglas)
Senator Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville)
Senator Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton)
Senator Seth Harp (R-Columbus)
Senator Bill Heath (R-Bremen)
Senator Judson Hill (R-Marietta)
Senator Brian Kemp (R-Athens)
Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga)
Senator Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville)
Senator Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock)
Senator Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville)
Senator David Shafer (R-Duluth)
Senator Don Thomas (R-Dalton)
Senator Ross Tolleson (R-Perry)
Senator Jim Whitehead (R-Evans)
Senator Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody)
Senator John Wiles (R-Marietta)Note to the Reed camp: Screw it, you had your chance to actually publish something that we WOULD have been happy to either reproduce or provide a link to your Website for the list. Guess the public will just have to ponder who is on your list...one of whom, we've been told, is
Vernon Jones, DeKalb's CEO; too bad we have no list to verify this with...
Watch Out For Those Depth Charges...For those of you not aware, Republican-owned and controlled Insider Advantage-James Magazine bought Bill Shipp's Georgia (along with the established Website domain "www.billshipp.com"). Bill Shipp occasionally writes for the Insider Advantage Website, but the editorial content of BillShipp.com is controlled entirely by Republicans now.
The following article is being reprinted with permission from the Insider Advantage-Georgia Website. It was written by IA-James Magazine's Senior Writer Mike Hassinger (where it says "I", it is Mike's first-person). Hassinger has been a writer, a reporter and a public relations consultant and has done some good political work in his career. The writing is fresh, the topics are relevant and the insight is valuable. Check it out here: Insider Advantage and, if you wish to subscribe, remember to ask for the "The PV Special from Mike Hassinger"Up Periscope - Originally Published April 29, 2005"Poll Finds Perdue, Cox Dead Even In Race For Governor," hollered the headline, which seemed a little premature, even for political junkies. Early polls are usually the product of one campaign seeking momentum or advantage over another. If that exact headline appears in a Georgia newspaper in July or August of next year, it will be noteworthy. But Lt. Gov Mark Taylor will be doing his best to make sure it doesn't.
In the unintentional contest to become Georgia's most dysfunctional county, Clayton and Fulton are running neck-and-neck, though Richmond and Bibb are coming up fast. Feel free to email your nominations to
me.
The future of the Republican Party seems to hang on its ability to define itself as either: A) The moral scold of the nanny-state seeking to regulate personal behavior from the bedroom to the public commons or B) The marketing department of big-business Corporate America. I would choose C) The defender of individual rights and a champion of freedom, and I don't think I'm in the minority.
The future of the Democratic Party seems to hang on its ability to define itself as either: A) The only organization capable of addressing every injustice, inequality and bad-hair day through a taxpayer-funded government program, or B) A coalition of special-interest groups who work together to acquire political power before Election Day and then against each other in dispensing that power after Election Day. I would choose C) A populist voice for Everyman tempered with common sense, but I know I'm in the minority.
Jesse Jackson plans a march in Atlanta on August 6 to protest Georgia's new voter identification requirements. Jackson and several African-American State legislators say requiring identification of people who want to vote prevents minorities, the poor and the elderly from voting, and lay claim to moral authority based on their struggle for equality and civil rights in the 1960s. If my ancestors had fought, and in some cases died, to earn and protect the right to vote, I'd be adamant that my government made sure that the only people who voted were legally entitled to do so; i.e., were properly registered, not felons and had a pulse. Wait a minute, some of my ancestors DID fight, and in some cases die, for that right! May I have a portion of that moral authority, please?
Anyone who dismisses voter fraud as not big enough to affect the outcome of an election should see if they can name the Governor of the State of Washington. There, 129 votes made the difference. Irregularities, including votes cast by the dead, lost ballots and mismatched signatures are still under investigation. A court challenge is still pending. Reform, please. Faster. (It's Christine Gregoire, by the way, at least for now).
Attention supporters, backers and advocates of the City of Sandy Springs: If somebody hasn't done so already, please contact the Georgia Municipal Association immediately. Your decades-long fight for the right to self-determination as a city was, believe it or not, the easy part. Those opposed to your goal of city-hood have not given up and you're not out of the woods yet. GMA is the only organization in Georgia representing cities and offers a wealth of leadership, tools and services to help you become innovative, effective and responsive. Their number is:
404-688-0472.
The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list may be released early, on May 10 instead of May 16, in an attempt to minimize leaks and the resultant outcry from the affected communities. The gallows-humor parlor-game among members of the military and defense-related industries in Georgia is a betting pool on which of the state's 14 military facilities is most likely to close. Speculation runs that single-function bases situated within or near large cities that could withstand the economic hit of a base closure are most at risk. (How do you pronounce McPherson, anyway?) But the list is only the start of the process: The independent BRAC commission will then hold as many as 15 public hearings across the country before submitting a final recommendation to the president on September 8, who then has until September 23rd to send it to Congress, which then has 45 days to either accept it or reject it. It will be a very long summer and fall for more than one member of Georgia's Congressional delegation.
The Georgia Republican Convention will take place in Savannah on May 6-7, with Florida Governor Jeb Bush delivering the keynote speech on Saturday. All fine and good, but let's hope the Florida GOP requests like appearance from Gov. Sonny Perdue when they need a quality keynote.
Fair and balanced: The Georgia Democrats' State Committee meeting will be held May 21. No word on any keynotes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are going to survey by phone some 17,000 people to determine the effects and extent of chronic fatigue syndrome in Georgia. Doesn't everyone have this? Nearly every morning, between 6:00 and 9:30 a.m. with symptoms that include confusion, tiredness and irritability? Or is it just me?
Hmmm...Is There A Surprise In Store For The Convention Atendees?We're not quite sure what's going to be going on in Savannah this Saturday on the convention floor, but
Buzz Brockway of Gwinnett County looks like he might have the inside track.
Checkout his Blog for all of the intrigue...
Cobb County School Board FUBAR-Part $100 MillionIt's interesting that Mike Hassinger ("Up Periscope") mentions the counties of Clayton, Fulton, Richmond, and Bibb as being prime candidates for FUBAR awards. We nominate Cobb County and, especially, the Cobb County School Board who recently voted to go ahead with a plan to commit to spending $100 million on giving Apple laptop computers to every teacher and every student in the county's system.
This, despite the fact that 1) TEACHERS have indicated they are rather dubious of the benefits, and 2) Parents, by a wide margin, are not entirely sure this is anywhere near the appropriate use of SPLOST funds either.
The truly ironic thing is that at precisely the time that the Cobb County school board voted in favor of Step 1 of their plan (i.e., give laptops to teachers only), the county in Virginia that the Cobb Board used as a model for their plan voted to discard the Apples they purchased in favor of Dell Computers.
Anyone remember a certain scandal with the Atlanta Public School Board? Something called....E-Rate? Hmmm...looks like Cobb has a high statistical probability that it will also have a similar level of incompetence with the implementation of their plan.
We get this inkling based on a number of "ideas" that have rolled-out of the Board over the past 4 years (evolution vs. creationism, eminent domain, and general other BS that these guys have come up with). The absolute, final
cap for us being a statement made last Monday during a WSB-TV interview with
Jay Dillon, spokesman for the Cobb School Board. Dillon was responding to the claim from
David Chastain, leader of an opposition group to the laptop idea that the SPLOST voted on 2 years ago didn't include funds for this type of expenditure. Dillon responded that Chastain was incorrect because the purchase of the laptops was (and, we quote)
"just an upgrade of technology" for the schools.
Oh, really, Mr. Dillon? An "upgrade" is when you actually possess an earlier form of the technology for which you are acquiring an "upgrade." An "upgrade" is not an applicable term for buying laptop computers for students where no computers of ANY level of technology have existed before in the students' hands, got it? Go back to the Board and you guys come-up with another way to tell us lies about the use of the SPLOST money. An "upgrade"...sheesh...give us a break...
Now, if you are a Cobb County resident who pays a part of your property taxes to support the public school system, and you don't particularly like either the way this decision was made, OR, you don't like the decision to spend all this money on technology that NO ONE has provided definite proof that it will help accomplish anything in the school system, except, perhaps, cause the taxpayers to become mired in a financial boondoggle in 4-6 years, we recommend you consider writing a check to support the lawsuit that the opposition wishes to file to stop the school board from proceeding any further down this road:
"From
David ChastainCobb Voters United (a new non-partisan voter activist group)
Home: 770-425-2856
Work (6 AM to 4 PM): 770-494-4509
To: Angry and Frustrated Voters of Cobb County
Subject: Your Assistance in Winnable Law Suit to be Filed Against Superintendent Joseph Redden and The Cobb County School Board
Our Position: Cobb County voters ratified a referendum in September 2003 for a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) which, among many ‘capital improvement projects,’ included a section for ‘curriculum technology refresh.’ The total requested budget was just under $76 million dollars. Of this amount, roughly $13 million was targeted for district-wide photocopier refresh and around $6 million to refresh network printers. Laptops for all teachers were approved in this budget. But NOT a laptop for each student in grades 6 - 12. (See the Cobb District web site SPLOST II for more details.)
Now, the controversial "Power to Learn" program that has a total cost of at least $100 Million has been approved by a ‘concept vote’ at the April 13th, 2005, meeting of the Cobb School Board. It has been estimated by the superintendent’s staff that after 2008, the general fund, or another SPLOST will have to provide at least $26 million per year to allow Power To Learn to continue. Yesterday’s Marietta Daily Journal noted that the Cobb School District is projecting a
$29 million shortfall for 2006.
Cobb Voters were NEVER made aware of this in 2003. It was never presented for voter approval.
In a nutshell, Superintendent Joseph Redden and the Cobb County School Board have arrogantly abandoned the 2003 SPLOST referendum in favor of a new, more expensive, and very questionable technology agenda.
Our Remedy: In order to hold our elected representatives, and its agent, Superintendent Joseph Redden, accountable, we must seek a ruling in a court of law. Before that happens, we must first file an injunction that stops everything until both sides have presented each side of the case. This will prevent the Board from obligating Cobb Taxpayers to a debt that we believe is illegal. We will ask the court to require the Board to stay with the original voter-approved plan.
Through several discussions with different attorneys, we were able to locate a metro Atlanta trial attorney with experience in trying SPLOST cases, as well as medical malpractice, civil rights and criminal cases. Presently, he is involved in several cases, but, being a public interest lawyer, he is willing to commit to taking this case and handling to final ruling.
He believes he can take this case all the way through the appeal process with a cap of $30,000. However, he asks that he be provided a retainer of $20,000 before he starts. One attorney with experience quoted considerably more and another attorney with no SPLOST experience quoted less on the retainer, but wanted to bill at $300 per hour with no cap. Until we have a legally binding retainer, we prefer not to publish his identity on the internet. If his identity is important to you, please phone me.
Time is of the Essence! Another local attorney has agreed to assist in setting up a nonprofit corporation. This will not be a political organization, so contributions can be made anonymously and in any amount. Our organization will have a set of officers. When the time comes, we will call a meeting. These details will be forthcoming.
Please Email me or call me and let me know what you can contribute. It needs to be an amount you can comfortably afford and can deliver in the next 5 days. Please forward this email with my contact information to your circle of friends in Cobb County.
David Chastain
Cobb Voters United
dfchastain@yahoo.com
770-425-2856 Home
770-494-4509 Work (6 AM to 4 PM) Think about it. If 300 people each locate and donate $100, that’s the $30,000 we need. Five people can put $20 each together to make $100.
If you can afford more, you will have our heartfelt gratitude.
We will set up a separate message group just for this project in a matter of days. Cobb’s elected officials need to know that Cobb voters will always be holding them accountable and liable, as needed."
PV Note: Rumor has it that School Board Member
Laura Searcy (one of the members of the Board to which we have no respect of, nor trust in, anything she says or does) will be leaving the Board in 2006 to run against
State Representative Matt Dollar.If so, we will thank her for departing the Board, but work like hell against the prospect of her gaining ANY other political position in this state. Enough is enough of these pseudo-Republicans!
