Standing on principle makes representative “irrelevant”?
So, if a representative stands on their principles and votes independently of the majority, they are now irrelevant? Isn’t this what the voters expect when they elect a representative? I don’t think they ran for office with the expectation of future rewards from leadership. You didn’t mention the reasons why they voted no.
First of all, a new Georgia Supreme Court building designed to administer justice for all should not be named after anyone and especially not for an individual that will now be a lobbyist potentially seeking political favor within the same building.
Surely, the AJC can see the ethical contradictions. You should be calling out this obvious conflict of interest. I guess you expect them to vote in “lockstep” with the house leadership. This is exactly what’s wrong with our body politik.
Kudos to Matt Gurtler and Colton Moore for standing on principle.
Source: https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/the-jolt-the-vote-the-house-just-doubled/ZZyRE0VumzmKoaTE4K2MXO/
Nick Sandmann: The Truth in 15 Minutes
Another view of the controversial Covington Catholic High School in Washington. This is a film made by their attorneys that are suing various media, celebrities, etc. that jump to conclusions over a 30 second clip. Lot more to the story here.
Nick Sandmann: The Truth in 15 Minutes
2 weeks ago, the mainstream media, politicians, church officials, commentators, & celebrities rushed to judgment to wrongfully condemn, threaten, disparage &…
Not Far Right, Just Right
As always, a good post from Hank Sullivan. It would behoove us all to get informed and get on the same page as to who is the real enemy of The People.
Not Far Right, Just Right
If you felt dismay reading my recent article, “Syria Pullout Explained,” I suggest your discomfort arose from the shock of finally reading …
Source: georgiapatriotfiles.blogspot.com/2019/01/not-far-right-just-right.html
What is your role in government?
This is a very powerful civics lesson from my friend Michael DeLance Thomas. Michael eloquently explains the correct relationship between God, the individual (people/mankind), and government both state and federal. In a free society, each individual has a role to play and I’m not just talking about voting. You first have to understand the proper relationship of authority. It’s a different mindset. Some of the things you will learn by watching:
- Do you know the difference between ‘government’ and ‘politics’?
- How about the difference between a ‘representative’ and ‘leadership’?
- What’s the difference between a ‘right’ and a ‘privilege’?
- Do you know where your rights come from?
Worth the time to watch. If you don’t understand your role, are you really free? If you don’t know what your rights are, do you really have any?
Remarks and Presentation to GRA for Restore & Preserve the Constitution
Who does your representative work for? Do they work for you or for themselves?
Have they lived up to the campaign promises to represent their constituents? Or, are they pressured to follow the leadership of their party to drive a certain agenda.
Do they honor their oath to the US and Georgia Constitutions or are they beholding to special interests that have lined their pockets with campaign contributions?
I’m sure that is why most of you are here today at Georgia’s first Republican Assembly Convention. You are principled people that expect the same of your representatives whether they be local, state or national.
Good morning, my name is Field Searcy. I’m with Restore & Preserve the #Constitution, a grass roots organization founded on the ideas in that name. Who are we? I think first of all, we are God fearing people that know there’s a higher power who gave us life and granted us natural rights. Secondly, we are Constitutionalists. We revere the Constitution over any party or personality. Thirdly, we seek the truth in all things and expect our elected representatives to do the same as well as honor their oath and the founding principles.
As an organization, we are activists with a passion for liberty and for informing our fellow citizens of the tremendous responsibility we have as the sovereigns over our government to be engaged in this process of self-government.
We are proud to partner with the GRA as an official educational affiliate. Our missions are very similar and our goals are similar as well. We seek to engage Georgian’s in every county to effectively hold their representatives accountable to their oath and the law. Provided those are just laws.
There are many things to be concerned about with our government today:
Out of control government spending;
Unethical behavior and corporatism at all levels;
Efforts to change the Constitution instead of following it;
Efforts to change our form of government through #Regionalism;
We also see centralization of:
Our schools through #Common Core Standards;
Our medical care through the Affordable Care Act;
Our safety through grants and equipment to local law enforcement that is militarizing what used to be known as “Peace Officers”.
There are other examples but I think you get the idea.
More importantly, our natural rights protected by the Bill of Rights are being challenged on a daily basis. Every single right outlined in that document is under assault.
Some would say, we’ve tried to stop these violations but it seems there’s no use. They happen anyway. In a lot of cases, that is true. But what we’ve found, is that when the people are properly INFORMED AND they get ENGAGED, they can make a difference. Let me give you a few examples:
In 2012, when the State of Georgia sought to impose the largest tax increase in the history of the state through TSPLOST, a group of people from all over the state with very little money got ENGAGED and INFORMED their fellow citizens of a special election, the TSPLOST was defeated in 9 out of 12 regions.
In Habersham County where the county commissioners were considering implementing onerous Property Maintenance Codes that would have devastated property values, a few citizens got INFORMED and ENGAGED others. From the normal citizen participation of a handful of people at the commission meeting, they rallied over 150 people to challenge the elected representatives and the Codes were turned down 5-0.
There are other examples. The point is, when the people are INFORMED and ENGAGED, they can make a difference. Sometimes when you stand up, you get attacked but we have to learn to leverage those attacks to rally more people to become engaged and stand up for what is right.
However, still leadership drives the agenda whether it be your local city council or county commission, the state house, or the governor’s mansion.
So, what can WE do about it? The solution is WE THE PEOPLE. We are the sovereigns of the government, not those that we elected to represent us. We need a bigger voice from around the state to show that the people are paying attention and will hold the elected accountable.
Hence was born The Key Is WE and The Weekly Enumerator. The Weekly Enumerator is a scorecard for legislation and policy. It’s a way to:
VOICE your opinion
BUILD voter consensus
INFORM legislators
CHANGE the status quo
Each week during the legislative session, we send out an online survey of a key piece of legislation or policy initiative in the state government. We don’t tell you how to vote, but we do provide direct links to the legislation, articles or opinion pieces on both sides of the issue, and a way for you to express your opinion and comments. It only takes a few minutes to vote but you can spend more time if you desire to research the topic to come to an informed decision based on your values and principles.
We’ll have questions like:
Should Georgians support Rep. Stephens on HB 677 in his bid to allow casino gambling?
Should Governor Deal instruct the Attorney General Sam Olens to join with Kansas, West Virginia, and thirteen other states to challenge the EPA Clean Power Plan announced on August 3rd of this year?
Should Georgia’s support passage of the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” in the 2018 session?
Our target is to get responses from all 159 counties in Georgia. A state of over 10,000,000 residents. This is another area where we are similar to the GRA in that we want representation from all Georgia counties, not just the Atlanta metro area.
We need representation from each county. I have to believe there are at least 100 concerned citizens in each county that will spend 10-15 minutes per week to become INFORMED and ENGAGED. That’s 15,900 people. Only .15% of the population.
If you’ve ever been to the Capitol during the legislative session, you’d know that many voices would be a POWERFUL voice of the people.
With your vote and comments, we compile the survey data and publish a 4 color flyer that’s hand delivered to your representative’s mailbox at the capital. Each edition covers a single survey. It contains:
The Survey Question
The Tally: How Georgian’s Voted: YES, NO, MAYBE
A heat map showing how each county voted
Selected quotes from the comments submitted (all survey results and comments are anonymously displayed on the website)
And, a photo of the bill sponsor and other elected representatives statements. Sometimes they like getting their picture on the flyer. SOMETIMES THEY DON’T.
The Weekly Enumerator is a way to:
Enlist like-minded Georgians in 159 counties
Be Informed
Speak Out
Engage Others
Call Legislators
The Focus of our surveys will be:
9th and 10th Amendments
US Bill of Rights
Georgia Constitution & Bill of Rights
Georgia Legislation and Regulations that affect our liberty, #representative government and the free market system
As Samuel Adams said, “It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting the brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
That’s what we are looking for. The commitment of a minority of concerned citizens willing to spend 15-20 minutes a week on a survey and help spread the word to friends and social media.
We have to remember how powerful a minority can be. During the American Revolution, only THREE PERCENT of the people actually fought against Great Britain.
For the Key is WE, we’re only looking for .15 % of Georgian’s.
You can get engaged by signing up for our surveys, download our materials and spread the word. We have handbills, business cards, and buttons. You can download the Weekly Enumerator (PDF) and share with your friends or mail to associates. We’ve tried to make this really easy. These were some of the effective techniques we used to defeat TSPLOST.
You can also donate to our cause or purchase some of educational materials:
The 5000 Year Leap by W. Clean Skousen
Sovereign Duty by KrisAnne Hall
The Law by Frederic Bastiat
American Needs Revival Not Revision
Technocracy Rising by Patrick Wood
Also, a new set of books for children to teach them the principles of liberty, limited government, the golden rule and more.
Speaking of KrisAnne Hall, please save the date November 3rd and 4th. If you have not heard KrisAnne and her Constitutional Education series, this is not to be missed. She’ll be speaking at Adventure Outdoors on Friday night and Saturday at noon. Come earlier on Saturday and enjoy the shooting range with KrisAnne.
Come visit our table where you can signup for the Weekly Enumerator, peruse our book selection and get more details about the KrisAnne Hall event. You can also signup at www.TheKeyIsWE.com . Visit our Facebook page and like and share. We’re on Twitter too.
Thanks to the GRA for this opportunity to present to you.
Thank you and America Bless God.
Amending the State Constitution: Vote NO in November!
By: Angela Bean, Fayetteville, Georgia
When voting, my number one rule is to always vote NO to any question on the ballot asking to amend our Georgia #Constitution IF the question is new to me and I don’t understand the issue. The reason to vote NO is simple: repealing a bad amendment to the state constitution is much more difficult than repealing bad law. Take the 16th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution as an example.
In November, voters will be asked to amend our constitution to “allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance.” This is about Governor Deal’s program called “Opportunity School Districts” to rescue failing schools.
Due to the secular curriculum teaching anti-American and anti-Christian values (teaching created by the federal Supreme Court in 1962 when they told us we couldn’t pray in public schools) most conservatives support publicly funded “school choice.” This taxpayer funded “choice” was created 20 years ago by the federal government in the form of charter schools. At one time these parent/community controlled charters were the answer for many children. But in the last few years the federal government has co-opted charters which are mandated to follow the same federal #Common Core standards. Unfortunately most haven’t caught onto this fact yet.
In 2015 the Georgia General Assembly passed SB133 laying out the Opportunity School District (OSD) program. SR287 was passed to allow for a constitutional amendment to be placed on our November ballot because this program is currently UNCONSTITUTIONAL and only “we the people” can change our constitution via a vote to allow it.
Like most amendments to our constitution that government wants to implement in order to give them more control, the ballot language of this amendment is deceptive.
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended
to allow the state to intervene in chronically
failing public schools in order to improve student performance?
( ) YES
( ) NO
This amendment isn’t about helping students achieve. This amendment is about a shift in our form of government with elected representation to appointed councils. If this passes in November our state will establish a NON-ELECTED council to oversee how our tax dollars are spent on state/federal run charter schools. A state created criteria to determine if a school is failing will be used and “qualifying schools” will be “transferred” from under local control to control by this council. The state can “take over” up to 20 schools a year from the locally ELECTED school boards and place them under NON-ELECTED school councils and a new OSD state school superintendent that will also be appointed by the executive branch.
Currently our U.S. Constitution guarantees us a #republican form of government which is one that allows the people to elect representatives, who are accountable to the people, to make decisions on how our tax dollars are spent. With our elected school boards, “we the people” have access to all board meetings and votes and can request to see the records of how our school board is spending our tax dollars at any time under the “Freedom of Information Act.” We also have access to review all curriculum to include textbooks, online programs, videos, etc. that are taught in our schools.
Opportunity School Districts will go against this republican form of government with accountability to the people. And, worse, according to legislation that has already been passed, these schools can be turned over to PRIVATE companies called EDUCATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS (EMO) to manage the tax dollars that the state will be giving the schools for each student enrolled. (Local tax dollars from property taxes will not be used, our state tax dollars will make up the difference.) The EMO of each school can appoint a board of advisors for the school and, according to HB797 passed in 2012 which governs how charter schools can be run, none of the advisors need be a parent. Are you getting the picture yet? Does it make you uncomfortable to have the state and federal governments assume full control of a school, and our children, and give the tax funds (over $7000 per student) to their cronies to manage?
Barak Obama has supported the federal funding of state run charter schools. Isn’t this enough to raise alarm bells as to the real agenda for our children being removed from local control into state/federal run charters? NOTE: according to HB 797 these public charters MUST comply with the same Common Core standards and student testing system that the traditional public schools are under. What these state/federal charter students are taught without community oversight should concern us.
If that isn’t enough to make you concerned about this shift from parent controlled charter schools to state and federal controlled charters, please read this article about the Gülen Movement, a mysterious Islamic group operating over 100 charter schools in the U.S., with over $500 million tax dollars, including two charters in Fulton County, Ga.
Vote NO on this one and let’s work towards finding a better solution to our education problem.
—
Angela Bean is a an active citizen watchdog of government at the federal, state, and local levels. Angela has a proven track record of working for good government as an activist traveling the state promoting federal reforms such as the FairTax, and pushing back against the federal overreach of the Affordable Care Act and Common Core state standards in Georgia. Angela is a dedicated constitutionalist who works with other like-minded organizations including The Eagle Forum, The Madison Forum, and The Restore & Preserve the Constitution coalition.
Legislative Plunder of the Grand Jury – Analysis of Georgia H.B. 941
Signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 which was the genesis of the grand jury
Photograph: Universal History Archive/Rex
“Historically, this body has been regarded as a primary security to the innocent against hasty, malicious and oppressive persecution; it serves the invaluable function in our society of standing between the accuser and the accused, whether the latter be an individual, minority group, or other, to determine whether a charge is founded upon reason or was dictated by an intimidating power or by malice and personal ill will.” Wood v. Georgia (1962)
By Paul Nally
Obviously, the continued effort of our legislators is to throttle the free and unrestricted use of our Liberties is exemplified by the fact that throughout the verbiage of this HB, the term “district attorney” is used. This, instead of the generic “prosecutor”, is an unabashed attempt to make a reader of the law, a reader of the rules of practice and procedure, believe that ONLY an elected district attorney, or one appointed by the Attorney General, has the sole authority of law to present a case of police use of excessive or deadly force to the Grand Jury. Further, that such presentation be made within one year. That is found in the proposed language of 15-12-71(B) in Section 1.
That one paragraph turns this proposed legislation into an instrument of a legislative plunder of the rights and power of a Grand Jury and a citizen’s First Amendment Rights.
The precise verbiage used by those entities who author our laws and are skilled in craftily contrived deceptive advocacy are too often placed in our printed statutes. The reasoning behind this is rather simple.
A conscientious judge, hearing a claim of being obstructed in a citizen’s access to the Grand Jury, would know that the letter of the law must be interpreted in the light of a citizen’s protectable guarantees and all other statutes which pertain to that particular issue. This is required of judicial interpretation so that the totality of the law, the totality of meanings and applications of the law, are all in harmony. So, a good judge would know that the use of “District Attorney” or “one appointed by the AG” would not be interpreted as exclusive language to just those two, but would be a general reference which would not exclude any citizen.
But, if you have a corrupt lawyer, corrupt District Attorney, and/or a corrupt Judge who seek only to exercise the maximum control over a group of citizens, then, when a citizen tries to access a grand jury to lay before them his / her evidence of corruption and crime, the lawyer, judge, or district attorney can drag out the statute, point to it, and “show” the citizen that “the law” plainly gives the authority to the DA, or Judge.
What is a citizen to believe?? He does not know of, or understands, the concept of judicial interpretation. He is looking at the black letter of the law being shown to him, but because of his lack of education, he cannot understand why the verbiage used by his legislators is wrong. He knows it’s wrong, he just doesn’t know how to express his understanding that the words used don’t jive with his concept of what his Liberties mean. Therefore, he is left to accept as true, or believe, a lie and simply assume that the Legislators had some “good” reason for denying him the use of his Liberties of petition, free assembly, responsible speech, and his right to be heard, in the words of our Constitution, by those vested with the power of government to redress his grievance. This is how those skilled in deception will tell you just enough of the truth so that you will believe a lie. Deceptive verbiage has become the new weapon, the gun and knife, for the deprivation and theft of Liberties.
This is one of the most effective methods of preventing citizens from bringing evidence before a grand jury of political and governmental corruption; using our ignorance as a tool to bring about our enslavement. And, so, we are left at the mercy of thieves and liars who have convinced our neighbors to elect them as “public servants” when, in reality, they are a part of an autocratic oligarchy, an “elite of society”, subverting the law and turning it to an instrument of plunder.
Each morning you awake to a new day; yet, in reality, it is just another day of you and your children being the victims of a very deceptive theft of your liberties. The instrument of that theft is not a gun or a knife, it is the words and phrases of bad laws and bad applications by judges and lawyers, with the tacit, at least, approval of the State Bar, and the enhancement and ease of use of those tools by our own ignorance.
That is the very reason our founders put the supreme power of government into the hands of citizens when, in our Constitution, they acknowledged the power of a citizen, in a Grand Jury assembled, to be the ONLY lawful “Judges of the Law” in this State, and with that power, they have the authority of the Supreme Law of this State to punish those who would subvert the law and turn it to an instrument of plunder.
But, unless we, the people. are willing to educate themselves to understand the depth, the breadth, the sheer magnitude of the concept of being a “Judge of the Law”, and be willing to exercise that awesome power, we all will suffer servitude at the hands of our servants; and now, as I’ve just recently learned, there is evidence that we, and our children, are being poisoned, and in some cases killed, by those same servants so that they can receive large sums of money and influence by poisoning our medicines. That is definitely within the jurisdiction of a Grand Jury to investigate, but until corrupt judges and DAs are removed from standing between a citizen and his evidence and the Grand Inquest of a Grand Jury investigation, we will be subjected to physical abuse, harm, and death by those who pretend to serve our best interest. We can no longer afford their indifference to their ignorance or their criminal negligence.
Paul Nally is retired from GaDOT. Formerly city patrolman, Bartow County Deputy, Chief of Police w/ City of White, Ga., and former judge of the 827th Militia District, Bartow County (Justice of the Peace before that court was merged with the Magistrate Court in the 1983 Constitution).
Editors note: For more on the Grand Jury, see The Fifth Amendment’s Grand Jury: A Proud & Lost Protection of Liberty.
Angst against government at all time high
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. ~
Plato
Every 4 years, we march to the polls believing that if we change the occupant of White House it will fix the problem. For the vast majority of the population, it’s really glossed over that there are 469 other elected offices at the federal level that will also be on the ballot this November. Nationwide, it’s estimated there are as many as 30,000 offices up for election. These state and local political offices oftentimes have just as much or more effect on your individual freedoms, property rights, zoning regulations, licensing regulations, local and state taxes as do the federal offices.
The great philosopher Plato said, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” It’s not your fault though. In fact, it seems that you’ve been discouraged. We’ve been told not to speak about religion or politics, it’s not “politically correct”. Or, maybe you have been interested but haven’t known or been taught how to be politically involved.
If you happen to read your county paper under the fine print legal ads, you might have seen an ad similar to this which ran for 7 days between 1/22 and 1/29 in the Marietta Daily Journal. The county party is required to run this ad as the “call” for the Precinct Mass Meetings.
If you really want to get involved in the political process, it starts at the grassroots; at your local precinct. In Georgia, it works like this. Every odd numbered year and during the national election year, the local county Republican Party issues a call for the precinct mass meeting. If you are a registered voter and believe in the principles of the party, you are qualified to participate in the precinct mass meeting to be elected as a delegate to the county convention held in March.
Why is this important? The delegates to the county convention elect delegates for the district convention and the state convention which in turn elect delegates for the national convention. Of course, the delegates to the national convention will determine the nominee for the party to run for President in the general election in November. If you want to have a voice and see that good government and the principles you believe in are upheld, the precinct process is where it begins. You can be a part of shaping the party at the local and state level as well as the federal.
From government overreach, wasteful spending, over taxation, failed promises and corruption, to willful violations of the Constitution and outright attacks on the Bill of Rights, angst against local, state and federal government is at an all-time high. The solution will not be found in a single man or woman in the White House. If you want to retain limited self-government, The Key Is We! We the people are the sovereigns. All of the elected representatives work for us. It’s our responsibility to keep them in check within the bounds of their oath of office to the Constitution. George Washington stated it plainly, “The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.” It’s time to get informed. It’s time to get engaged.
PRECINCT MASS MEETING INFORMATION
If you are a registered voter in Georgia, your voter information can be found at https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do . Visit this site and enter your first initial, last name, county and DOB in the MVP Login to find out your voting precinct and districts.
COBB COUNTY
If you happen to live in Cobb County, you can register for the mass precinct meetings at https://www.cobbpmm.com/register.php. Online preregistration is available through Wednesday, February 17, at 11:59 pm. The Cobb GOP Precinct Mass Meeting takes place on Saturday, February 20, 2016, at 10 am. The location is 774 Roswell Street Baptist Church, Marietta GA. Walk-in registration will be available starting at 8:30 am. Please bring a valid photo ID. Participants in the Precinct Mass Meeting will elect delegates/alternates to the Cobb GOP County Convention in March.
Be sure to arrive early as doors close at 10:00 am and no one will be allowed to register after that time. You should also know that precincts that do not have any participants are not allowed to form and cannot send delegates to the county convention.
OTHER GEORGIA COUNTIES
For all other Georgia counties, go to http://gagop.org/ (scroll to bottom of page) to find your county GOP contact information or check your local newspaper for the legal ads.
The dates for the conventions have been set as follows: (please note that due to Georgia GOP Rules Changes, some individual counties may have elected to adjust their county convention/precinct meeting date. Please verify with your local county GOP)
Precinct Mass Meetings for Counties over 80,000 Population: February 20, 2016 at 10 AM;
Precinct Mass Meetings for Counties under 80,000 Population: March 19, 2016 at 9 AM;
Precinct Mass Meetings have each Precinct ELECT, by majority vote in each precinct, Delegates to the respective County Convention.
County Conventions: March 19, 2016 at 10 AM; County Conventions ELECT, by majority vote, Delegates to the District and State Conventions.
District Conventions: April 16, 2016 at 10 AM; District Conventions ELECT, by majority vote, 3 National Delegates and 3 Alternates to the National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
State Convention: June 3-4, 2016 in the Augusta Convention Center in Augusta, Georgia; The State Convention ELECTS, by majority vote, a National Committeeman and National Committeewoman to serve a 4 year term on the Republican National Committee (RNC), as well as 31 Delegates-at-large and Alternates-at-large.
Is Ted Cruz a ‘natural born Citizen’? Welden v. Shepherd Debate Video
The initial 15 minutes of the livestream is a video by KrisAnne Hall that was shown prior to the debate, in which she explains the Strong Cities Initiative. If you wish to bypass this piece, skip to 15:04 into the video.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate LIVE STREAM 7pm EST, February 4, 2016
WHAT: Debate: Is Ted Cruz a ‘natural born Citizen’?
DEBATERS: Attorney Jason Shepherd and David Welden
WHERE: Cherokee Cattle Company, 2710 Canton Road, Marietta, GA
WHEN: February 4th 7:00pm – early dinner arrival 6pm
The Northwest Georgia 9/12 will present a “Lincoln Douglas” style debate with former businessman David Welden and Attorney Jason Shepherd.
Is Ted Cruz eligible to be President? YES! According to Attorney Jason Shepherd, Cruz is constitutionally eligible, as described in his recently published paper on the subject.
Retired Cobb business owner, David Welden, disagrees with Shepherd and has challenged him to a formal debate. Welden claims Cruz is not constitutionally eligible to serve the Presidency because he is not a natural born Citizen.
Connect Cobb: the blurred line between public and private
By Craig Kootsillas
As sources of capital dry up, developers have turned to Private / Public Partnerships (PPP) touting them as innovative solutions to funding challenges as critics eye them with deep suspicions over the blurring of the line between public and private.
This series of articles is the result of an examiner.com investigation concluded today of a large-scale transit plan now branded as “Connect Cobb“. The public record was examined and this investigation’s findings reviewed by officials at the county, region and federal level. Cobb County is a northern suburb of Atlanta that generally is urban to the south and generally suburban to the north.
A consortium of owners of commercial property centered around the largest malls in Cobb County (GA) lie poised to implement a transit plan they created in secret over a decade ago as all levels of government overlook years of concealment, deceit, conflicts of interest and potential fraud clearly documented in the public record.
The plan, for which development first began in 1999, has come to be branded as “Connect Cobb” and the effort involved a number of quasi-governmental entities, also described as “public/private partnerships” (PPP).
Georgia law provides for the creation of “community improvement districts” (CID) when the majority of owners of commercial property within an arbitrary and contiguous area agree to the formation. They then elect officers and a board of directors from within their membership.
A CID functions similar to an investment club with the government operating as a no-cost money handler. CIDs agree to invest an amount proportional to the the value of the property they own within the boundary of the CID.
This is considered to be a “millage rate” and the investment is collected by the government as a tax. After being pooled by the government, the entire amount is made available to the CID.
When deciding on all matters, CIDs vote in a manner in which the value of each member’s vote is determined by the value of the property owned within the CID.
This process is derided by critics as “the golden rule” wherein “he with the most gold rules” and point to the fact that the largest property owners are conglomerates headquartered well outside the CID and county.
Georgia law provides CIDs the ability to to use pooled revenue as local matching funds to seek grants from federal, state and local governments. With this dynamic, CIDs regularly “leverage” their pooled funds paying only 10 percent of the total cost of large transportation projects with the balance funded by various governments.
This savings is referred to as a “rate of leverage”; in this example a “10 to one leverage rate” would be touted.
Georgia law also provides for the creation of “development authorities”, a PPP to which elected officials appoint board members who then elect officers and establish rules. Development Authorities are able to package “inducements” to individuals and firms that include abatement of school and property taxes, the issuance of tax free bonds and lump sum payments.
Cobb County elected officials view development authorities as independent entities and rely on courts and mandated federal hearings to provide oversight.
While some development authorities will work closely with local government given authorities’ ability to alter and create development patterns, the Development Authority of Cobb County does not. This has led to controversy within Cobb by members of the public and authority board members centered on the charge that the DACC has granted a disproportionate share of inducements to owners of property within the Cumberland CID causing development to focus there.
Examination of the DACC’s record and Connect Cobb’s analysis of job opportunities within Cobb substantiates this claim.
Two local firms worked alongside Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation to develop the plan beginning in 1999 and have since merged.. Don Hix, one time CEO of one of the local firms (then associated with Mayes, Sudderth and Etheridge), now is employed by the other firm, Croy Engineering.
Since before development of the plan and until recently, Hix served as chairman of the Development Authority of Cobb County (DACC) and not the only project insider to serve on the DACC.
Upon completion, the Bechtel plan was delivered to the chairmen of the two CIDs, at the time Kessel Stelling, now Synovus Chairman/CEO, served as the chairman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, the Cumberland CID and was a member of the DACC board.
Like Croy, Stelling would return to Cobb during the 2008 update of Cobb’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) by reassuming the chairmanship of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
During the development of the project transportation planning, management and most other roles of Cobb government regarding transportation were being “privatized”. In a recent interview during his bid to reclaim the chairmanship of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, an office he held during the development of the transit plan, Bill Byrne pointed out the fact that the privatization plan was developed with guidance from Croy.
Since then, Croy has remained one of Cobb’s most influential consultants.
After overseeing the privatization of transportation in Cobb as Cobb’s Director of Transportation, Croy went on to head the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) and the creation of the Greater Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) under Cobb native and former governor Roy Barnes. GRTA was a campaign imperative of Barnes. Once elected, Barnes appointed Croy to begin what was labelled as Barnes top issue: the development of transit corridors within the Atlanta metro region.
While heading SRTA, Croy became the center of controversy when it was revealed that toll revenue was being redirected from tollway operations, including $10 million to purchase land for a development located near the terminus of Connect Cobb.
Then, in 2008, Croy returned to Cobb to oversee development of Cobb’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP), the document in which local governments choose targets for state and federal funding. He went on to serve as Cobb’s liaison to the Northwest Corridor Study (NWCS), a study considered to be a precursor to Connect Cobb during which a variant of the 1999 plan was considered then rejected as too expensive and too slow.
Croy continues to be deeply involved having been chosen to oversee multiple efforts totaling many millions over the years required to implement Connect Cobb.
The original stakeholder committee formed to oversee development of the plan was co-chaired by Tad Leithead, who spearheaded the development of Cumberland while at Cousins Properties, and Bob Voyles, founder of the Seven Oaks development firm, both long-standing members of and developers focused on the Cumberland CID.
Leithead would succeed Stelling as chairman of the Cumberland CID, a title he holds till today. Leithead also served as chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Atlanta’s federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization, the local body charged with oversight and allocation of federal funds.
After acceptance of the plan by the Cumberland and Town Center CIDs, the plan received no public hearing and was not brought forward for consideration or adoption by Cobb’s Board of Commissioners.
In spite of having been adopted into Cobb’s 2008 Comprehensive Transportation Plan in a manner that has sparked controversy, the public would remain unaware of the plan until revealed by CDOT at a work session of Cobb Commissioners May 4, 2010.
Next up: The strategy
Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/connect-cobb-the-blurred-line-between-public-and-private