Fresh Loaf

If you’ve already voted but still want to get back out among the crowds, Georgia Stand-Up’s presenting you with the opportunity.

The local non-partisan “think and act” tank seeks volunteers to provide assistance, voter protection and refreshments at crowded precincts on what’s expected to be a historic Tuesday.

From the group:

The organization is issuing a region-wide call for non-profits, grassroots organizations, community-based groups, church groups, sororities, fraternities and individuals to adopt a polling precinct with high voter turnout and provide care to the voters at those locations in Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. Voter Care, a new component of the organization’s STAND-UP & Vote program, provides voters standing in long lines with pertinent voter information, refreshments, relief from standing in line, and voter protection assistance.

For more information, give Georgia Stand-Up a call at  (404) 581-0061 or send an e-mail here. You can also visit its website here.

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FiveThirtyEight, one of the most entertaining and informative online resources for this Presidential election, posts an excellent Georgia-centric rundown on the state’s demographics and political dynamics — and how the combination of the two may determine who runs the country come Jan. 20.

From the site:

Since native son Jimmy Carter was on the ballot, Democrats have found Georgia tough sledding. But with African-American turnout soaring to unprecedented levels, Georgia may be a state where the public polling models are off, and indeed Barack Obama has put last minute advertising resources into the state in an effort to both go over 400 electoral votes as well as help a rising tide lift Jim Martin’s boat against Max Cleland-smearing incumbent Saxby Chambliss.

It’s a long read, but it says Georgia’s may be one of the closest races we’ll see on Nov. 4. Definitely worth checking out.

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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has created an online uproar because of comments he made to a North Georgia crowd.

As quoted by Politico.com:

The Republican is outwardly confident, but there’s urgency in his voice as he tours North Georgia, trying to boost turnout in his predominately white base: “The other folks are voting,” he bluntly tells supporters.

Now, read in this context — “predominately white base” followed by “other folks” — I can see how people might see the connection. But I seriously doubt this is what Chambliss implied. Then again, the Republican incumbent — who is in danger of facing a runoff or even losing his seat to Democratic nominee Jim Martin — is considered to be running one of the most fouled-up races of 2008.

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In the last of its Jawja polls of the day, Rasmussen says John McCain still leads Barack Obama by five points in Georgia.

Interesting tidbit:

In the latest poll, Obama now leads 53% to 44% among unaffiliated voters in the state. Last week, McCain led those voters by an identical margin. McCain leads 73% to 26% among white voters in Georgia while Obama earns overwhelming support from black voters. While men favor McCain 55% to 45%, women are split between the candidates at 49% each.

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Mike Dobbins, a former City of Atlanta planning commissioner who now teaches at Georgia Tech, urges voters say ‘no’ to Amendment 2.  If approved, the amendment would allow school systems to participate in tax allocation districts. CL recently endorsed Amendment 2 — click here to see why.

There has been a lot of misinformation spread about TADs and what the constitutional referendum is about. Its supporters have been using tax-generated funding to lobby, and I would say mislead, the public to try to get us to vote for it. TADs allow local governmental jurisdictions to sell bonds to pay for public infrastructure in designated areas where disinvestment and blight bring down the neighborhood and discourage private investment. The bonds are supposed to be paid back from the tax value increases generated by development supported by the improved infrastructure. Many advocates imply that without a yes vote TADs won’t be available to local governments to induce prospective developers’ investment.

But TADs are still available. It’s just that the school portion of anticipated tax value increases must be dedicated to school purposes. So voting no on the referendum doesn’t jeopardize TAD programs; it only reduces the amount of proceeds available.

(more…)

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The polling organization says incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss leads Democratic nominee Jim Martin 48-43. It also says if Libertarian nominee Allen Buckley’s support remains consistent, a runoff is likely.

Says Rasmussen:

Senator Saxby Chambliss leads Democratic challenger Jim Martin by five percentage points in his bid for re-election in Georgia. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race finds the Republican incumbent with 48% of the vote and Martin with 43%. Libertarian Party candidate Allen Buckley picks ups seven percent (7%) of the vote while two percent (2%) remain undecided.

But, under Georgia law, a candidate must win at least 50% of the vote or face a run-off election in December.

If Buckley’s support stays at current levels, it would be difficult for either Chambliss or Martin to win the majority needed to avoid a run-off. It is also possible, however, that some Buckley supporters may choose instead to vote for one of the major party candidates.

A week ago Chambliss was ahead by just two points, the closest the race has been all year and the highest level of support for Martin, whose campaign has spent roughly half-a-million dollars on attack ads against Chambliss over the past month. Just three weeks ago, Chambliss held a six-point lead.

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With just days left before votes are to be counted, Barack Obama is rolling out a new ad about the economy that’s slated to air in Georgia and North Dakota .

Here it is:

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Georgia Democrats are calling for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel to extend advanced voting on Saturday and Sunday after computer glitches caused a reported 500 people to wait two hours in line at a Fulton County polling place.

State Rep.-elect Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, says poll workers at the Adamsville Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta told him voter check-in machines couldn’t access the Secretary of State’s system shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday night. When he arrived at the rec center to assist poll workers, Taylor — who was joined by Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, Councilmember C.T. Martin and City Council Clerk Rhonda Johnson — says he saw an estimated 500 people still waiting to cast ballots.

“A few days ago, there was a problem connecting to the system,” the representative-elect says. “This time, there was a problem with the system.”

(more…)

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Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard — who as you may recall was ordered handcuffed during a trial by Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford — says that contrary to a recent piece in the Fulton County Daily Report, he and the controversial judge haven’t exactly made up and become best buds.

The DA’s office sent the following message to the Superior Court today. (It was also posted in our comments):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 30, 2008

Statement from District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr.

Refutes Claim of Reconciliation with Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr.

On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, The Daily Report published a story about the judicial election between Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr. and his opponent, Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms. As part of the story, the newspaper report quoted Judge Bedford as saying, “Howard and I have shaken hands and have spoken since then. We’re fine.”

Since my election as District Attorney, I have refrained from participating in judicial elections involving incumbent judges. National Prosecution Standards require prosecutors to avoid any activities which may appear to conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the prosecutor’s office. My belief is that involvement in incumbent judge elections is one such activity. That position notwithstanding, the statement made by Judge Bedford demands clarification. We have not shaken hands and resolved this matter. We are not fine.

I regard Judge Bedford’s treatment of me and the office I represent during this incident as one of the most sinister, ignominious and personally painful actions that I have witnessed or experienced as a lawyer and as a person. I believe that illegally limiting or curtailing the freedom of any citizen violates one of the highest protections guaranteed by the Constitution and our system of laws.

I stand strongly behind the findings of independent special prosecutor Danny Craig, who, incidentally, is now a judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit, that Judge Bedford’s actions constituted “an unlawful arrest”.

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Mother Jones has posted an interesting chat with David Goldberg, communications director of Smart Growth America. Goldberg, a Decatur resident and former AJC editorial board member, talks with assistant editor Jen Phillips about the challenges — and opportunities — communities face as they try to become more walkable and less car-centric. He also gives a long summary on what Atlanta’s doing right after decades of doing wrong.

From the interview:

There’s some really disturbing trends here: We’re having a difficult time revitalizing places that are being abandoned, while we go out to these greenfields and build these new places, wasting a lot of money on extending infrastructure all over the place, and we’re consigning people to life in a car and now high gas prices.

So what do we do about that?

It’s worth the time to give the discussion a look if you want to know the answer. Or if you wanted a comprehensive and easy-to-read background on how smart growth concepts work.

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The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that Public Service Commission Democratic nominee Jim Powell can stay on the ballot.

UPDATE: Grift has some discussion on his site about the ruling, plus the actual opinion. You can also download it here.

Here is the release from the court:

STATE SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS POWELL’S RUN FOR PSC

Atlanta, Oct. 30, 2008 – The Supreme Court of Georgia today upheld James R. Powell’s right to run in Tuesday’s election for a seat on the Public Service Commission.

Secretary of State Karen Handel had appealed a Fulton County Superior Court ruling that sided with Powell and overturned her decision finding Powell ineligible to run based on where he lived. In June 2008, Handel first challenged Powell’s qualifications a month after he filed his intent to run as a Democrat against Republican Lauren McDonald for the PSC District 4 post. She argued that a homestead exemption Powell had on his Cobb County property established an irrefutable presumption of legal residence and proved Powell did not live in the North Georgia district he seeks to represent. In her appeal, Handel argued that under state law, the trial court should have given deference to her interpretation of the law on residency that she is in charge of enforcing.

But in today’s unanimous decision, written by Justice Robert Benham, the Supreme Court disagrees. “It is the role of the judicial branch to interpret the statutes enacted by the legislative branch and enforced by the executive branch…, and administrative rulings will be adopted only when they conform to the meaning which the court deems should properly be given,” 8-page opinion says. The facts of the case are not in dispute, merely the interpretation of the law, the opinion points out.

In 2006, Powell purchased a second home in Towns County, which is in District 4. In 2007, he attempted unsuccessfully to transfer his homestead exemption from Cobb to Towns County, but he missed the filing deadline. Evidence shows Powell spends more than 60 percent of his time in Towns County, where he has voted three times, attends church and pays taxes.

The residency law, which is Section 21-2-217 in the Official Code of Georgia, lists 15 rules for determining a candidate’s legal residence. At least seven apply to Powell, the Supreme Court has found, “but the Secretary’s decision did not take into account any of the applicable rules other than the homestead exemption rule.”

“We agree with the superior court that the Secretary committed an error of law that authorizes reversal of the Secretary’s decision,” today’s opinion says.

More to come.

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Jesus, a guy goes to City Hall for two hours and a shitstorm erupts. Well, here’s our take on what happened.

So there’s this internal memo of very questionable origin floating around that’s purported to be from a top political consulting firm. And it’s addressed to a PAC that’s allegedly pushing for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. On Monday morning, the scandalous document puttered out of our fax machine with no name attached. (You can read all about the memo — hell, even read the memo itself — here.)

In it, tales of doom are told. The most frightening of which is that post-debate poll numbers showed Libertarian Party nominee Allen Buckley eating into Chambliss’ support. Lest something is done to ruin Buckley’s standing with undecided voters, the document says, the incumbent Republican could surely face a runoff or even lose his seat to Democratic nominee Jim Martin.

Dear God, please — say it ain’t so.

(more…)

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Grady High School Speech and Debate Team Coach Brandon Sheats sends word via Twitter that last night’s mock Presidential debate raised $1,536.85 for the team. Good work.

If you missed the debate, you can still view it online here.

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Congratulations, fellow citizen! If things go according to plan, come Friday at 10 a.m. you’ll be a co-owner of 66 acres of prime property in Northeast Atlanta.

The Atlanta City Council today approved 9-1 the issuance of $64.5 million of Beltline TAD bonds. Councilmember Felicia Moore was the lone vote against the deal.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. Finance Director Richard Lutch says the project will meet the Oct. 31 deadline set by Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and settle the $45 million debt Mason is owed for property near Piedmont Park.

Beltline leaders will also use $3.5 million of the bond funds to buy out the remaining stake in the property held by Barry Real Estate and Ben Rainey, its private partners in a joint venture that was created to purchase the land from Mason late last year. Beltline leaders must then must transfer the property to the Atlanta Development Authority. (The land must be owned by a public agency to meet tax-exempt bond regulations.)

After the vote, Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee Chair Eugene Bowens, Sr. said that the citizens’ group — while supportive of the deal — still feels it’s not being involved enough in how funds from the TAD bonds are used. By law, the committee is charged with ensuring those public funds are spent in a “fair and equitable manner.” Numerous times in the past — most notably when Beltline leaders decided to spend a large chunk of funds to pay off the Mason property in affluent Northeast Atlanta — the committee has said they have been kept out of the loop. He said TADAC members were only notified of today’s bond deal at a meeting last night with Beltline leaders.

This development raises many questions, such as what direction the project takes now and where it will focus its energy, how the city plans to act on property that it must rezone if it plans to sell, and how future allocations and deals will be handled. Feel free to chime in below if you have any thoughts.

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