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Jim Powell’s PSC court case postponed

Monday, August 4th, 2008

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.

PSC candidate Jim Powell gets his court date

Monday, July 28th, 2008

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.)

Jim Powell continues race unabated

Friday, July 18th, 2008

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.”

(more…)

Georgia primary election results

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

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…)

Powell: Disqualification signs still posted at polls

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

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.

Atlanta blogs today

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Griftdrift returns from a snorkeling adventure in the Gulf of Mexico to weigh in with a spot-on analysis of Secretary of State Karen Handel’s decision to remove PSC Commission candidate Jim Powell from the ballot, and a judge’s subsequent decision to put him back on the ballot.

—Lori posts a pictorial tribute to Fire Station No. 7, which was closed yesterday due to the city’s budget crisis, on Mingaling. There’s nothing there about Shirley Franklin going “Philadelphia” on the protesters who don’t want to lose their fire station — and almost needing her own fire put out — but there’s some pretty pictures.

— Over at Jason Pye’s blog, he passes along info that Bob Barr, former CL columnist and now presidential candidate, has opened up an on-line store where you can pick up campaign t-shirts and hats. They’re spiffy.

— In a campaign of a different sort, there’s a long back and forth on ATLmalcontent regarding a fellow blogger’s tome on the requirements for a male to be a feminist ally. Which is something we should all aspire towards, no?

— A new trend in Atlanta television news is called “backpacking.” No camping involved. Just news reporters doubling as camerapersons. Doug Richards at Live Apartment Fire explains how WXIA is trying to get a bigger bang for the buck. And essentially telling viewers: Expect less.

— Over at the Wren’s Nest, someone has discovered that the family of Joel Chandler Harris sued Coca-Cola for copyright infringement in 1932. Br’er Rabbit didn’t win because Br’er Coca-Cola out-foxed him.

— I’m still trying to figure this one out, but the ladies at Pecanne Log seem to have this inexplicable crush on our own Thomas Wheatley, to the point they appear to gush over him with every post. Today, there’s no Thomas-gushing going on, but there is a nice sigh of relief that the Crum and Forster building has been saved from the clutches of demolition by those ramblin’ wrecks over at Georgia Tech.

Votes for Jim Powell may — or may not — be counted

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Last post regarding the 2000 Florida recou–I mean, Jim Powell disqualification situation.

From an email received from the Secretary of State’s office, with emphasis added:

As provided for in Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 21-2-5(e)), Mr. Powell has the right to appeal the Secretary of State’s final decision. Mr. Powell filed a petition in Fulton County Superior Court, and the Court granted a stay of the Secretary of State’s final decision. The election will proceed as planned, and Mr. Powell’s name will appear on the ballot. Votes for Mr. Powell will be tallied and votes may or may not be counted based on the outcome of the appeal.

Jim Powell’s stay order against Karen Handel

Monday, July 14th, 2008

For you legal eagles who like one-page documents with funny signatures, you’re in luck. Here it is.

Jim Powell back on the ballot

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Just as soon as I spoke with Jim Powell about the eleventh-hour disqualification he believed was a game of political chess orchestrated by Secretary of State Karen Handel, this comes in via e-mail:

I am still a candidate. A Fulton County Superior court Judge just issued a Stay.

We’ll continue to watch. Waiting on a call from Handel’s office to see if his votes will indeed be counted. We’ll update when we know.

(Updated) Jim Powell not out of PSC Democrat race

Monday, July 14th, 2008

UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments and this post, a Fulton County Superior Court judge has ruled Jim Powell is still a candidate for the Public Service Commission District 4 Democratic primary.

Big news coming from Dick Pettys at InsiderAdvantage. Secretary of State Karen Handel has booted Jim Powell, one of the Democrats vying for the District 4 Public Service Commission race, off the ballot because of residency concerns. Odd judging that just a few weeks ago a judge ruled he had met the requirements.

powell.jpg From Pettys:

In a statement issued by her press office shortly before noon, Handel said James R. Powell does not meet the residency requirements for PSC District 4, a seat now held by retiring Commissioner Angela Speir.

Handel said notices of his disqualification will be placed at the polling places tomorrow, and votes cast for Powell will not be counted.

She said she found that Powell owns a home in Towns County, which is within District 4, but that at the time he qualified, he received a homestead exemption and continued to receive mail at a home he owns in Cobb County, which is not within the district.

The ruling leaves Bob Indech the only Democratic candidate in the race while Lauren McDonald and Pam Davidson are competing for the GOP nod. The winner will compete with Indech and Libertarian Brandon Givens in November.

UPDATE: Blog for Democracy has an interesting post up about Powell’s disqualification.