Fresh Loaf

This is another post in CL’s 2008 Voter’s Guide series. To review the entire Voter’s Guide, click here.

The idea behind homestead exemptions is to make homeownership more affordable for low-income and fixed-income taxpayers by providing a property tax break for owner-occupied homes. More precisely, the tax burden is shifted to owners of rental property, investment property and high-priced real estate.

Fulton County and Atlanta haven’t raised their homestead exemptions for nearly two decades, during which time housing prices skyrocketed. So, while the referendum seeks to double the exemption from $15,000 to $30,000, it’s really a modest catchup. The owners of low-end homes would get the most benefit from increasing the exemption, but you’d have to live in a hovel worth less than $75,000 to avoid property taxes altogether.

Because there are several taxing jurisdictions involved, separate ballot questions apply to Atlanta city taxes, Atlanta school taxes and Fulton County taxes, but the Fulton school board isn’t taking part in the referendum so county taxpayers outside Atlanta won’t be eligible for the tax break. Unless you live in a Buckhead mansion or an apartment complex, you’ll want to vote yes.

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Could Fulton County have chosen a worse time to propose $275 million in new spending?

On the plus side, it’s for a worthy cause: the $275 million, in the form of bonds, would pay for eight new library branches, expand two existing branches and spruce up 24 others. As for minuses, there’s the lousy economy that’s already put the squeeze on local homeowners and the fact that at least $85 million of the bond money would go toward replacing the Central Library.

The Central Library part of the plan was a last-minute add-on and is accordingly half-baked, calling vaguely for the library system to find a new downtown site, sell the old building and build a spectacular new edifice. Bond funds would cover only half the estimated cost of the new facility; the difference would somehow be made up with private donations, according to County Commissioner Robb Pitts, the idea’s main proponent. Given the current state of the economy and the large number of competing civic projects — civil rights museum, symphony hall, Beltline, etc. — tapping into huge amounts of private money seems a pipe dream.

Atlanta taxpayers should also be aware that six of the proposed new branches would be located in the far north and south ends of the county. Fulton hasn’t had a library bond for more than 20 years, so it’s especially regrettable that mission creep was allowed to bloat this referendum to more than a quarter of a billion dollars. If the referendum’s rejected, perhaps next time the county will come back with a more reasonable proposal.

Check out CL’s 2008 Voter’s Guide and add your comments to races you care about. It continues to be updated. On Oct. 21, come back to find a handy cheat-sheet to your voting both.

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Just six months after being appointed to the bench, Fulton County State Court Judge Susan Edlein faces two opponents in the General Election: Clayton County Senior Assistant District Attorney Anece Baxter White and former Fulton County Juvenile Judge Wanda L. Dallas. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the votes, a runoff will be held Dec. 2.

Edlein, who left a job with Holland and Knight, a big civil-lawsuit firm, to accept the bench position, is backed by some of the city’s biggest politicos, including Mayor Shirley Franklin, state Senators David Adelman and Kasim Reed, and state representatives Stacy Abrams, Kathy Ashe, and Ed Lindsey. The court hears criminal cases below the grade of felony, as well as civil actions.

Edlein says her experience in a private law firm and work with businesses and commercial litigation has helped her preside over the similar cases in State Court.

Baxter White, a former army lawyer, serves in the Clayton County District Attorney’s office. She says she’s the sole candidate who’s argued before the state Supreme Court, and says she’s never had a case overturned on appeal.

Dallas is a former trial lawyer and judge who also taught civil and criminal litigation at Georgia State University. She says the court must process misdemeanors effectively to help maintain public safety and the quality of life for residents — think marijuana possession and DUIs. She also wants to implement an electronic filing system to cut costs and streamline operations.

Check out CL’s 2008 Voter’s Guide and add your comments to races you care about. It continues to be updated, and on Oct. 21, come back to find a handy cheat-sheet to guide to the voting booth.

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Judicial races are usually bland affairs.

Because candidates aren’t supposed to tip off how they’d rule on particular cases — or even types of cases — they normally don’t talk about anything other than qualifications. And usually, all the candidates — at least on the face of it — are “qualified.”

But Fulton County voters have two true Superior Court contests this year: One between seven candidates, and the other in which controversial incumbent T. Jackson Bedford faces a challenger, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has support from neighborhood activists. (more…)

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See our complete — and constantly updated — Voter’s Guide here.

Historically, the Fulton County sheriff’s race is won in the Democratic primary, with the general election a mere footnote. There’s little reason to think that won’t also be the case this year.

Democratic nominee Theodore Jackson, a retired career FBI agent and former interim sheriff, is both qualified and capable of running the troubled department with a professionalism and effectiveness that was beyond the reach of soon-to-be-ex-Sheriff Myron Freeman.

Jackson’s opponent, Republican Michael Rary, also has a strong resume; as Fulton’s former chief marshal, Rary headed a department that provided security to the county’s lower courts and served magistrate warrants. (more…)

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Two recent elections — 2002, when Republicans captured the state Senate, and 2004, when they took control of the House — brought sweeping changes to the state Legislature.

Don’t expect any such drama this year, especially when it comes to the incumbent-friendly state legislative districts in Fulton County. Politicians have gotten very good at tweaking district lines to create seats that are solidly Republican or Democratic; that’s particularly true in Fulton, where there’s a clear divide between relatively upscale suburbs and more economically diverse urban areas.

For instance, state Sen. Dan Moody, R-Alpharetta, may have built an unimpressive record that includes sponsoring Gov. Perdue’s toxic bill to allow private developers to condemn private land. But his Democratic opponent, Pakistan-born businessman Akhtar Sadiq, who’s run several times in recent years, represents a meager threat in North Fulton’s District 56.

Likewise, in Alpharetta’s House District 47, that city’s former mayor, Republican state Rep. Chuck Martin, likely has little to fear from his Democratic challenger, businessman Tony Patel.

Despite their lack of political experience, we’d urge you to vote for the Democrat in either of those races. Before you think that’s unduly partisan, consider two things: 1) Neither Sadiq nor Patel stands a chance at winning, but we as voters can help ourselves by letting elected officials know that they might someday be vulnerable — particularly if there’s a message we want to send them; 2) Both Martin and Moody need to be sent a message. They’ve largely followed the state’s Republican leadership in failing to come up with serious solutions to Georgia’s mounting transportation, environmental, fiscal and educational problems.

If officeholders ever have earned a protest vote, it’s the partisan foot soldiers who have marched this state into swamp filled with mosquitoes.

Check out CL’s 2008 Voters’ Guide and add your comments to races you care about. On Oct. 21, come back to find a handy cheat-sheet to guide you — especially on the obscure races.

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A lot of Fulton County residents may want to throw the bums out of Congress. Just not their bums.
Eighty-three percent of Americans say the country’s headed in the wrong direction, and Congress regularly gets lower approval ratings than President Bush.

But Georgia’s districts are so well gerrymandered to protect incumbents from one party or the other that our congressmen only face the risk of losing in their party’s primary. And in July each of the state’s 13 incumbent U.S. House members won their nomination.

That’s why — barring a strike of lightning between now and January — Republican Tom Price, who represents North Fulton; Democrat John Lewis, who represents the county’s midsection, including Atlanta; and Democrat David Scott, who represents South Fulton, are certain to return to Congress. (more…)

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