Fresh Loaf

Effective immediately, companies wishing to do business with the state of Georgia — and be paid with your tax dollars — best not have ties with Sudan.

Gov. Sonny Perdue today signed a bill that prohibits the state from contracting with companies that conduct business or have ties to the African country’s oil, power, mineral and military sectors. Profits from the sectors are widely believed to help perpetrate genocide in the nation’s southern region of Darfur.

Since 2003, more than 400,000 people have been killed and 2.3 million displaced by genocide in the African nation’s southern region of Darfur. The atrocities, which have been condemned by the United States, are carried out by militias funded by the Sudanese government.

“What this says is very simple,” state Sen. David Adelman, D-Decatur, the bill’s sponsor, said after its signing. “If your business or any of its affiliates are engaged in any business activities with the government of Sudan, you cannot do business with the state of Georgia.”

Companies that plan to do business with Georgia state agencies are now required to disclose international business contracts during the Request for Proposal, or RFP, process. If a company falsifies or fails to accurately disclose its ties with Sudan, it could be fined $250,000 or double the bid it submitted to the state, whichever is greater. The company could also lose the contract and be ineligible to bid on state projects for three years.

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Sen. Preston Smith

The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act, which passed the state Senate last week, would outlaw the creation of human embryos for the purposes of stem cell research linked to treating Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative neurological disorders.

“I am absolutely opposed to creating embryos to cure a disease.”

— Gov. Sonny Perdue, quoted March 10 by the Associated Press

“Human cloning efforts could possibly lead to embryo farms, shades of movies such as The Island, where humans are cloned for their body parts.”

— Daniel Becker, president of Georgia Right to Life, in a March 10 AJC op-ed

“I don’t believe in the destruction of human life in the interests of science. … I don’t think it was right when Dr. [Josef] Mengele did it.”

— State Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, during the Senate debate

“At exactly the time the president of the United States has said he’s putting science above politics, we’re sending the unmistakable message that Georgia is anti-science.”

— State Sen. David Adelman, D-Decatur, during the Senate debate

(Photo courtesy Sen. Preston Smith)

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Due to technical difficulties, I wasn’t able to take part in last night’s live blog, so I’ll recap some of observations from the Democratic bacchanal at the downtown Hyatt. As I arrived, the Rev. Joe Lowery was onstage offering encouragement to an excited crowd in a downstairs ballroom. I was told Senate candidate Jim Martin had stopped by a little earlier and that I’d just missed Mayor Shirley Franklin. I was surprised Shirley had left before the election was called, but her son, Cabral, told me she was helping babysit his kids. I guess after a hard day as mayor, it’s nice to go home and just be grandma.

However, I did see state Attorney General Thurbert Baker; DeKalb CEO-elect Burrell Ellis; Atlanta Councilman Kwanza Hall; Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves; and state Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown, D-Macon. In an unexpected sighting, former Fulton Commissioner Michael Hightower — who spent some time behind bars a few years back for taking bribes from a developer — was making the rounds and shaking hands. A relieved-looking U.S. Rep David Scott, fresh from re-election, came in just after the presidential race had been called for Obama, as the DJ played “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.”

A little later, I found myself sipping scotch in the Obama suite while watching McCain’s concession speech next to former Congressman Buddy Darden. Also there were state Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, who chaired Obama’s Georgia campaign, and fellow Sen. Doug Stoner, D-Smyrna. Both had cruised to election earlier in the day.

Back downstairs, a giant conga line had formed as ecstatic Democrats celebrated the historic victory. Hanging at the back of the ballroom, just watching the revelry, was Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell, looking dapper as always. Leave it to Eldrin to find the happenin’ party.

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The New York Times reported yesterday that Obama pulled his TV ads from Georgia. Scaling back TV ad purchases in a state where you’re behind in the polls typically means the campaign has given up hope of winning the state.

In today’s AJC, Obamaniacal State Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, insisted Obama is still competing in the Peach State.

“We have a strategy to win Georgia,” Adelman said. “It might not be the same plan to win Ohio, but we have a plan to win Georgia.”

No word yet on whether that strategy includes more TV advertising.

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This past spring, Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, unveiled a bill that some considered a breath of sanity in the city-makin’ frenzy that had gripped the General Assembly. Dubbed the Georgia Townships Act, it would give unincorporated communities some of the benefits of self-governance without having to take on all the responsibilities — and costs — of a full-fledged municipality.

Put more simply, it would create a middle-ground option between being the long-suffering patsies of an uncaring county government and having to form a city from scratch — with all of the headaches that entails. Under Adelman’s bill, a town would control its own planning, zoning and land use — the most common reasons for disenchantment with one’s county commission.
Now, two Republican lawmakers are pushing a competing township bill that goes a few steps farther. Under a proposal by Reps. Ed Lindsey and Mike Jacobs, both of Atlanta, towns would also have dominion over code enforcement and building permits — so far, so good — as well as liquor licenses.
Huh?

Jacobs says the booze provision was added after DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones vetoed a local ordinance to roll back bars hours in response to complaints by nearby residents in some communities. Reportedly, House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons, is already interested in exploring the township option for his island home.

However, the most interesting difference is Lindsey’s contribution, which would give communities within existing cities additional say-so over their zoning destinies.

Lindsey hasn’t ironed out the details yet, but says, “I don’t want this to be perceived as an attack against cities.”

Too late for that. The Georgia Municipal Association is already gunning for Adelman’s bill with both barrels, claiming that it would undermine cities’ efforts to annex new territory. The GMA may be right; in many cases, forming a town could be an attractive alternative to creating a new city or joining an existing one. But since when is giving people a broader range of
options a bad thing?

Our hunch is, if it hated the Adelman bill, which has already passed the Senate, the GMA will really loath the Lindsey provision.

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