Fresh Loaf

At Manuel’s Tavern on Tuesday night, there were chicken wings, some hummus, lots of beer, and a roomful of residents who were tired of Georgia’s reputation as a coal-dependent embarrassment when it comes to energy. In other words, it was a typical night at Manuel’s. But on this night, the crowd was talking with someone who says he can change the state’s filthy energy ways.

Jim Powell, the Democratic nominee for the Georgia Public Service Commission — the quasi-judicial state agency that helps determine how much it costs to keep your lights turned on and your house toasty warm — was amongst nearly 50 well wishers at the Tuesday night fundraiser held in his honor at the political pub in Poncy-Highland.

Organized by some of the city’s leading environmental activists, the benefit was one of several scheduled around the state to give Powell, a former executive with the U.S. Department of Energy, a financial advantage over his well-financed opponent on Nov. 4, Bubba McDonald.

Powell, in contrast to McDonald, has pledged not to accept contributions from  lawyers and lobbyists who represent the industries he’d regulate should he win the  general election. (”How could I be objective and make decisions on your behalf — and my behalf — if I’m taking money from them?” he asks the crowd.) While a boon for his integrity, that promise has left Powell in a lurch when it comes to cash. He’s just now getting the chance to widely distribute yard signs. Television commercials, considered one of the best ways to reach voters in any race, may prove too costly, he says.

So what does a guy who wants to run for one of the state’s most powerful — yet misunderstood — agencies  do?

(Photo courtesy Jim Powell for Georgia Public Service Commission)

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Angela Speir, the Public Service Commissioner who’s stepping down after her current term ends and is widely considered an advocate for everyday Georgians, is endorsing Democratic candidate Jim Powell for her soon-to-be-open seat.

“In this time of skyrocketing energy costs and with the elimination of the Consumers Utility Counsel, it’s more important than ever to elect a good person to the Public Service Commission,” Speir said. “Jim Powell has my vote,  endorsement, and prayers for his success.”

Powell, a former official with the U.S. Dept. of Energy, has been fighting a back-and-forth residency battle with Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. Even after being booted from the ballot just days before the primary, he was granted a stay by a Fulton County Superior Court Judge and went on to garner 85 percent of the vote. The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case but has not yet set a date.

Speir, a Republican, urged voters to look past ideology and partisan affiliation  and vote for Powell in what many believe is going to be a top-down ballot. “Doing the right thing transcends political parties,” she said.

Speir also stressed a need for voters to be aware of the differences between Powell and his opponent in the race, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald. Speir unseated McDonald on the commission in 2002.

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Some familiar Democratic names, such as Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., are scheduled to be on hand for the “For The People Rally” in Gainesville on Sunday, Sept. 21. The former Civil Rights activist and longtime lawmaker will be the afternoon’s keynote speaker. Billed as  a day that “celebrates the values of the Democratic Party,” the gathering will be held from 1 pm to 5 pm. All ages are invited.

Lewis will be joined by U.S. Senate Democratic Party nominee Jim Martin, Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell and Congressional Candidates Jeff Scott, Bobby Saxon, Bill Jones and Doug Heckman.

Former State Legislator and Congressional Candidate Wyc Orr will be the evening’s host of the event.

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Jim Powell, the Public Service Commission candidate who’s been both campaigning for a seat on the powerful agency and fighting a residency challenge through Georgia’s legal system, will get his day in state Supreme Court.

The candidate, a former U.S. Department of Energy official, says the court has denied Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s request to send the case back to the Court of Appeals and have placed it on the calendar for November. (I think it’s safe to say they’d hear the case prior to election day on Nov. 4 — it’s early and I’m awaiting confirmation from the court’s spokesperson.)

Powell’s fought a long battle so far. He first faced a residency challenge posed by Bob Indech, his opponent in the July 15 primary. After Powell cleared that obstacle, Handel booted him from the ballot in an eleventh-hour decision. A Fulton County Superior Court judge granted him a stay the day before the primary and he went on to trump Indech 85-15. Since then, it’s been a game of legal ping pong between Powell and the state’s guardian of the polling place. The state’s highest court is where the back-and-forth must end.

“It’s hurting me,” Powell says when asked of the legal battle’s impact. “It’s obviously been a distraction. The biggest disadvantage is in fundraising.”

Distractions aside, he says he’s continuing his campaign. Today’s schedule is nothing but fundraising meetings and phone calls.

To read CL’s ongoing coverage of the Battle of Powell©, click here.

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 — It’s convention time: balloons, big speeches, inspiring video bios. Bernita is in Denver and blogging for Blog For Democracy. The first thing she does is piss off the Secret Service. Uh-oh.

— Amy Morton from Georgia Women Vote is also in Denver. She has steered clear of aggravating the Secret Service, and managed to have breakfast with Heath Shuler, the former college quarterback turned Congressman.

— Everyone knows John McCain was a prisoner of war, partly because he keeps reminding us. At Politits, the question is asked: Is McCain POWing it into the ground? Perhaps Saxby Chambliss should run against McCain since he could put McCain’s war record into perspective, just like he did with Max Cleland.

— A federal judge ruled in favor of Jim Powell last week, saying Secretary of State Karen Handel wrongfully tried to remove him from the ballot in the Public Service Commission race. But DriftGrift says Democrats shouldn’t gloat just yet.

— Over at Chicken Fat, Edwin has a bigger fish to fry: world peace.

— And finally, Mother Time pays a visit to the Wren’s Nest to claim the Ouija Board she left there decades ago.

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The ball was back in her court and she played it like we thought she would.

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel — whose spokesperson said she was disappointed by last week’s Fulton County Superior Court ruling that put Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell back on the ballot — is now contesting that decision in the Georgia Court of Appeals. She filed an appeal this morning, the candidate said.

“I’m going to continue fighting this in court,” Powell said. “Looks like we’ll take it all the way to the state Supreme Court if we have to.”

No word yet on when the appeal will be heard. To read CL’s coverage of the never-ending PSC brouhaha, click here.

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No word yet from Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel if her office will appeal yesterday’s ruling in Fulton County Superior Court that Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell is indeed eligible to run for office in his district.

After the jump, Powell’s statement regarding the legal ping-pong match.

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Jim Powell, the Public Service Commission candidate who’s been wrangling with Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel over whether he was eligible to run for office, told CL minutes ago he has won his appeal.

“I just got a two-word e-mail from my attorney saying, ‘We won,’” Powell said.

No other details to report at the moment. If Powell or Handel release a statement, we’ll post it here. A spokesperson for Handel says the office is “disappointed” with the Judge’s ruling and are reviewing it. They’ll have a lengthier statement to offer tomorrow.

Powell won nearly 85 percent of the vote in the July 15 primary against opponent Bob Indech. He will now ostensibly go on to face Lauren “Bubba” McDonald in the November’s general election. To read CL’s coverage of the PSC brouhaha, click here.

UPDATE: Griftdrift posted his thoughts about the case plus a good collection of links to news stories.

(Photo courtesy of Jim Powell for PSC)

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— Sad news from Decatur. Andy Peters at the Deal Watch blog reports that the company that owns the Crescent Moon diner filed for bankruptcy protection. Although the diner, which has two other locations, has remained open, Peters reports the diner’s Decatur landlord wants to start eviction proceedings.

— The United States is on the verge of becoming majority minority, and Reporter Cub celebrates our diversity.

— Over at Politits, Dcup strays from politics to discuss some real-life adventures in parenting three kids.

— But politic junkies, fear not. At Tondee’s Tavern, Mcantone looks at Karen Handel’s quest to have Jim Powell disqualified from the Public Service Commission election.

— Doug Richards at Live Apartment Fire has dug up a 15-year-old “inside the newsroom” video produced by WAGA-TV. For those who have been in Atlanta that long, it’s a fun trek back in time to really bad haircuts, including Amanda Davis doing her best Sheila E.

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Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell’s court case against Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel has been rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Fulton County Superior Court. His case will be heard by Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore in Courtroom 4-E.

Moore’s name may sound familiar — her recent ruling that the state must consider carbon dioxide when issuing air permits slammed the brakes on Georgia’s first coal plant in 20 years. That ruling is being appealed.

To read CL’s coverage of the PSC brouhaha, click here.

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Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell says his appeal that was originally scheduled for today at 3 p.m. in Fulton County Superior Court has been postponed. Judge John Goger has recused himself because he’s a former law partner of Powell’s attorney. Powell says a new judge will be assigned later today and the appeal should be heard sometime later in the week.

Powell is contesting Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s removal of his name from the July 15 primary ballot. He was granted a stay the day before the election and garnered 85 percent of the vote.

To read CL’s coverage of the PSC brouhaha, click here.

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Jim Powell’s appeal has been scheduled for Monday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. in Fulton County Superior Court.

The Public Service Commission candidate was thrown off the July 15 primary ballot in an eleventh-hour disqualification Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who overruled a decision by an administrative law judge that deemed he met residency requirements. A Fulton County Superior Court judge granted him a stay and he managed to pull in 85 percent of the votes in his race against Bob Indech. (Click here to view CL’s rundown of the events.)

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Jim Powell yesterday said he’s not going to let the legal issues hanging over his head taint the buzz of winning Tuesday Democrat primary for the Public Service Commission’s District 4 seat.

Powell bested opponent Bob Indech 85-15, a surprising feat for someone who’d not only been disqualified the day before, but also reported signs were still hanging at polls on Tuesday wrongly advising voters his race was essentially over.

“I’ve got a lot of folks I need to talk to,” Powell said during a phone interview. “I won the primary. So obviously, I’m going to run my campaign as if I’ll be [on the ballot] in November.”

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Here’s a quick rundown on the July 15 Georgia primary results. The big news was generated by high-stakes runoffs:

* U.S. senator: The two experienced Democrats — Vernon Jones and Joe Martin — vanquished three first-time candidates and will face each other in an Aug. 5 runoff. With 91 percent of precincts counted, DeKalb CEO Jones won 40 percent of the vote, while Martin got 35 percent. Martin — who entered the race late and has been criticized for a lackluster campaign — may have a slight edge in the runoff: He has more money in the bank, he seems more likely to pick up support from supporters of other candidates, and his largely white base historically shows up for runoffs better than does Jones’ base of black voters. What does Jones have going for him? A runoff in the contest for who will replace him as DeKalb CEO could spur turnout in his home county. The winner takes on Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.

* DeKalb County CEO: The contest for the most powerful local government post in the state heads for a runoff as well, although DeKalb Commissioner Burrell Ellis turned out an impressive showing with 46 percent of the vote. No surprise that he’ll face well-liked state Rep. Stan Watson in the runoff. But a 20 point head start has gotta give Ellis the edge. (more…)

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Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell says voters from all over the state are telling him signs noting he was disqualified and votes for him would not be counted were still hanging at the polls as late as 1 p.m. today — almost a full day after a judge told Secretary of State Karen Handel she could not boot him off the ballot.

So far, Powell says he’s heard from voters in DeKalb, Fulton, Bibb, Wayne and Gwinnett Counties. He says someone who was working the polls told him that Handel’s office sent an e-mail last night saying the signs should not be posted. Problem is: No one checked their e-mail before heading out in the morning before they manned the polls. This one location only received a phone call at 12:10 p.m. telling them to take down the signs, the worker told him.

Handel determined Powell did not meet eligibility requirements on July 10. Click here to read Handel’s July 10 ruling. Powell says he was not able to confirm her ruling until yesterday morning.

“I spent over 35 years with the U. S. Government and I have seen a lot of things, I would have expected someone at Karen Handel’s level to have conducted herself more professionally,” Powell writes in an e-mail. “The citizens of Georgia should be outraged. Handel didn’t seem to have any problems getting my name off the ballot; it is unfortunate that she had so much difficulty getting my name back on the ballot.”

If you have any photos of this or hear anything, send it our way.

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