Category: Commentary

Ask Georgia political insiders the name of our state’s most important leader right now, and they won’t mention our new governor or lieutenant governor or any of our elected officials in Washington, D.C.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston is the state’s most powerful and influential politician at the moment. He’s led the House since 2010 and is respected across party lines for his pragmatism. Until Gov. Brian Kemp settles in and the scabs from November’s midterm elections flake away, Ralston speaks with the greatest authority.

Given his position and responsibility, Ralston must move immediately to address an issue that undermines his credibility.

Two weeks ago today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an investigative report focused on Ralston’s law practice. Like all Georgia General Assembly members, Ralston is a citizen lawmaker, not a professional politician.

As House Speaker, he makes nearly $100,000, significantly more than the $17,342 paid to other members. Ralston, though, continues to work as a defense attorney back home in Blue Ridge, in the North Georgia mountains.

The newspaper investigation shows many of the Blue Ridge area’s biggest troublemakers have Ralston on retainer — and not necessarily because he’s a courtroom star. State law allows legislators to declare that court dates interfere with lawmaking duties and delay hearings, and Ralston exercises this power frequently, according to the report.

Defendants know this and also understand that delays weaken prosecutors’ cases against them. Frustrated victims move on. Witnesses forget details. Investigators move away from the area. Prosecutors become more amenable to plea deals.

The investigation cites many statistics and specifics, but here’s a summary: Ralston filed 57 requests for continuances involving 21 cases over a two-year period. Of the 93 days he begged off, 76 of those did not conflict with legislative sessions.

Granted, the speaker’s duties extend beyond presiding over the House chamber. Every legislator will tell you serving in the legislature is equivalent to a full-time job, even as the session generally lasts only three months a year. The speaker’s role is even more intensive.

But Ralston the lawyer has an ethical responsibility not just to his clients but to the judicial system. One of the tenets of the process is the right to a speedy trial — see Amendment VI of the U.S. Constitution. And while this law is meant to protect defendants, it also applies to victims.

Ralston’s scheduling practices would appear to victimize the victims.

Slow reaction

Ralston’s response to the revelations is evolving.

He declined an interview with the Atlanta newspaper prior to the story being published. Since the news went public, he’s attacked the media and invoked references to how Justice Brett Kavanaugh was treated during his Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Never mind that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was able to document Ralston’s delay requests through the state’s open records laws. Or that Ralston declined to share his work calendars with reporters or respond to inquiries about his whereabouts on missed court dates.

It took a mini-uprising within the House Republican ranks to shake Ralston. Ten GOP House members, including a committee chairman, signed a resolution calling on Ralston to resign. The Speaker reacted Monday by announcing the creation of a bipartisan panel to review the legislative leave law that has allowed him to stretch out so many trials.

He also pledged to take on no new defendants until his delayed cases are adjudicated.

A call for changes

Count this editorial board among those opposed to Ralston stepping down.

He’s much too important to the legislative process, particularly right now, midway through the 2019 term and nine days out from crossover day, the point in every session after which the House focuses on bills that have already passed the Senate.

But Ralston must change his habits away from the Georgia Capitol. Those accused of serious crimes — child molestation, assault, domestic abuse, drunk driving — are taking advantage of his position to escape justice.

Ralston can remedy the situation by devoting more time to his practice or by taking on what is known in legal circles as a “second chair,” an attorney who assists the lead attorney. This assistant often handles preliminary hearings and proceedings.

Homeschooling is a perfectly valid alternative to educating children in a traditional school setting.

Few would argue that, and those who do have a warped sense of what liberty means in a country founded upon it.

However, the freedom to raise and teach your child as you see fit does not absolve you from the responsibility of educating youth. That makes oversight, be it of a large public school district, small private school or a homeschool, not just necessary but imperative.

Accountability is at the crux of education, as well as the biggest student takeaway from the school experience. Pupils are presented with material and expected to learn it. Success is measured in the form of tests, grades and ultimately diplomas. Same goes for the schools, where performance is monitored by state and local officials.

Why homeschool parents would shun such oversight and accountability is hard to comprehend. Yet, as state lawmakers consider strengthening Georgia’s reporting requirements for homeschools, some in the homeschool community are protesting like an elementary schooler unhappy with the quality of the lunchroom pizza.

Georgia’s standards are equal parts laughable and horrifying. Once a year, a parent need only report to the state the child’s name, age and address. The state also mandates mom or dad write an annual progress report, although submitting the document is not required.

And you thought keeping food cold — plug in refrigerator, place item inside, close door — was easy.

The absence of oversight is troubling from an educational standpoint; learning to read and write, and add and subtract, prepares children for life. Even more worrisome is the opportunity the lax standards provide for those rare parents who homeschool their children specifically to hide abuse and neglect.

That danger alone should be enough to convince homeschool parents to embrace new accountability standards.

Tragedy prompts concerns

Present scrutiny of Georgia’s homeschool reporting requirements does stem from the deaths of two Effingham County homeschooled children.

Elwyn Crocker pulled his children, Elwyn Jr. and Mary, from public school after being investigated for child abuse by Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services, or DFCS. When the kids’ bodies were found behind the family home in December, we learned Elwyn Jr. had vanished from public view in 2016 and Mary hadn’t been seen since last October.

The alleged murders stoked the community’s emotions in the aftermath. The public has criticized DFCS for its failure to monitor the Crocker situation, particularly given a 2017 report from a concerned neighbor. Other Effingham community members, including neighbors and law enforcement, felt guilt over the deaths.

The public discussion soon turned to preventing similar incidents in the future, and that made homeschooling requirements an issue. Tighten the standards to protect children. Something as simple as periodic visits to schools or law enforcement offices — or a home visit from a school or law enforcement official — would suffice.

Such a mandate is not unreasonable. Not in the least bit.

As Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said, “I’m not trying to get into your business. We need to make sure everyone’s safe … Had we had checks and balances, we would have known (Elwyn Jr. ) was gone. Something needs to be done. ”

Legislative action necessary

This editorial board agrees with McDuffie and supports efforts by state legislators to explore the homeschool reporting issue. Three influential state lawmakers represent Effingham County — House Majority Leader Jon Burns (R-District 159), Rep. Bill Hitchens (R-District 161) and Sen. Jack Hill (R-District 4), the chair of the Senate Appropriations committee.

As Hitchens told a large group of Savannah-area government officials and business leaders at last month’s Savannah-Chatham Day at the Georgia Capitol, “When kids get pulled from school like (the Crockers), it needs to trigger something with somebody to follow up.”

Such steps are not intended to infringe on parents’ rights to raise and educate their children. This is not the start of a movement to outlaw homeschooling. Homeschool parents are not presumed guilty until proven innocent.

Strengthening standards is about looking out for the welfare of children. The overwhelming majority, probably 99.9 percent, of homeschool parents are doing an excellent job and are beyond reproach.

But if greater oversight saves one child from abuse — or death — then it is worthwhile. Those who find that offensive need to go back to school and learn more about accountability.

Georgia’s voting system reform efforts will go beyond the ballot.

State legislators held committee hearings this week on House Bill 316, which will ultimately lead to the replacement of our outdated touch-screen voting machines. Much of the debate focused on how Georgians will cast votes — via a new touch-screen device or a hand-marked paper ticket.

But just as encouraging as the ballot discourse was the inclusion of several other important voting system updates in the bill. Those improvements include changes to how the Secretary of State’s office purges voter rolls and how county election officials close or relocate voting precincts and handle absentee ballots.

The bill also calls for Georgia to enroll in a multi-state voter registration database, known as the Electronic Registration Information Center or ERIC, to help identify voters who move out of state or die between elections. ERIC is a state-funded nonprofit organization founded with assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

These initiatives address many of the issues that turned the November 2018 election into a bare-knuckle brawl regarding voter suppression — a dispute that attracted national attention.

Georgia saw a record number of voters cast midterm ballots, but the top-of-the-ticket race between then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams, a staunch voting rights activist, exposed many shortcomings and irregularities in the voting system.

This editorial board called on the Georgia General Assembly to consider widespread reforms on issues, such as voter registration, voter rolls, precincts and election oversight immediately following the midterm. Many of the changes were simple and straightforward and aimed at cleaning up the system with a pragmatic, rather than a partisan, eye.

House Bill 316 does just that. The bill is a work in progress, and we applaud legislators for including these provisions in the initial draft and encourage them to retain and perhaps expand on them as the bill moves forward.

Political ‘sweeteners’

The package that will eventually reach Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature won’t read like the bill as it exists today.

The voting system provisions are likely to remain intact, however, as they act as concessions by the majority party, the Republicans, to gain support from Democratic lawmakers on the broader initiative. To use legislative slang, the sidebar updates are “sweeteners” meant to ease passage of the touch-screen ballot-marking machines favored by the GOP leadership.

All the sweeteners were cherry-picked from bills authored, sponsored and filed earlier this session by Democratic lawmakers. Leaders from both parties, including Speaker pro tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), House Majority Leader Jon Burns (R-Newington) and House Minority Leader Bob Trammell (D-Luthersville), signed off on the larger bill.

HB 316′s author, Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), opened this week’s committee hearings by saying, “The bill before you is somewhat a bipartisan effort.”

So expect the sweeteners to stay.

Common-sense measures

Politics aside, the proposed changes significantly improve the system.

The purge process updates will have a statewide impact. Under the current statute, registered voters who fail to cast ballots in two consecutive federal elections can be dropped from the rolls. Voters who regularly skip midterm elections — of which there are many — can be purged should they miss just one presidential election.

HB 316 would extend the grace period from two elections, or three years, to three elections and five years.

As for precinct changes, local governments would be required to give 30-day public notice ahead of shuttering or moving polling locations and would be prohibited from doing so within 60 days of a primary or general election.

This move would prevent situations like the one Randolph County voters faced last year. County officials closed seven of Randolph’s nine precincts last fall, citing Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues with the shut polling locations.

Another point of focus is the handling of absentee ballots and Georgia’s so-called “exact match” standard. Exact match requires that voter registration data, including signatures, on file match the info presented at the polls.

For those who vote in person, any irregularity can be easily addressed at the precinct. But absentee ballots with matching issues can be rejected. One county, Gwinnett in Atlanta’s suburbs, rejected 10 percent of absentee ballots.

Under HB 316, mismatches would trigger the automatic mailing of a provisional ballot to the voter, a record that would be counted once the voter’s ID is verified.

These common-sense measures will strengthen the integrity of the state’s voting system. We encourage all Georgians to encourage their legislators to adopt these changes.

Skidaway is poised to secede from the sovereign state of Chatham.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a resolution Friday that will put the creation of the city of Skidaway Island on the voter ballot. The referendum will be decided in a March 19 special election.

Should the item pass, Skidaway would become the first new Chatham County municipality since 1974, when Bloomingdale residents opted for cityhood. The next most recent incorporations happened in 1957 in Port Wentworth and 1939 in Garden City.

Should Skidaway incorporate, don’t expect nearly two decades to elapse before the next new local municipality goes up for vote.

Skidaway is the litmus strip. The city charter blessed by the legislature allows residents to keep their Stephens-Day property tax exemptions, one of the main sticking points for those feeling uneasy about incorporation.

The House approved the bill, complete with the Stephens-Day language, by a 164-1 vote; the Senate passed it 43-4. Blocking future new city charters, such as one for the proposed Chatham Islands, based on the property tax exemption will be difficult.

With that hurdle removed, incorporation efforts could very well sweep the county. The debate will be fierce on the far side of the Skidaway Narrows over the next five weeks. After election day, the incorporation discussion will be just as intense off island.

Unwarranted fears driving debate

The larger impact is one reason why we encourage open, earnest discourse regarding Skidaway incorporation.

The Skidaway push began for a valid reason — the federal government’s unresponsiveness to storm debris cleanup following Hurricane Matthew.

The dialogue has mutated since. Many proponents are motivated by unwarranted fears of annexation or consolidation. Residents can veto annexation directly, while leaders at the state and local levels have rejected the notion of consolidating the city and county governments.

Yet angst over what might happen continues to drive conversations on Skidaway and beyond. And that’s a disservice to all, especially with so many legitimate considerations.

The Chatham County Commission is currently tasked with governance of Skidaway and the county’s many other unincorporated areas. Residents are designated as living in a “special services district” and are taxed to pay for infrastructure maintenance and improvements, county police and recorder’s court services.

Other services provided by municipal governments elsewhere, such as fire protection and garbage pickup and recycling, are privatized. Hence, unincorporated residents pay low taxes.

The question for Skidaway residents — and for others in the unincorporated areas in the future — is simple: Are you satisfied with the return on your special services district tax investment?

If not, would a smaller, municipal government do better? And at what cost?

Discuss incorporation realities

Those considering incorporation are largely worried about the wrong “what if?”

The concern shouldn’t be annexation or consolidation, but instead about the consequences of fluctuating tax revenues.

Much of the unincorporated areas, including Skidaway and the Chatham Islands, are dominated by residential properties. The locales have little land available for new commercial or industrial development. The tax digest in those neighborhoods is largely dependent on residential property values.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of homeowners pay property taxes based on a frozen value — that’s what Stephens-Day does.

That’s the catch with Stephens-Day. As long as you are in an area with growth potential, new development can offset cost increases. The less opportunity for growth, though, the less flexibility a government has in making up revenue shortfalls.

In most instances, the choice is cut services or raise the millage rate. And the smaller the municipality, the greater the pressure.

Likewise, the relatively small number of businesses in those areas means less leverage when it comes to sales tax revenue negotiations.

All that said, small, well-run entity can operate with incredible efficiency. A small municipality can set priorities and adjust to changing conditions much more easily than a larger government. Self-rule is attractive in that way.

Pragmatic conversations about these realities of incorporation should be the pre-election focus on Skidaway. The same goes for the other unincorporated pockets of Chatham County.

Let’s remember, too, that what’s right for one area is not necessarily the answer everywhere. Success or failure on Skidaway, with its many private roads and where a quasi-governing body already exists, should not boon or doom incorporation efforts somewhere else.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently expressed his opposition to drilling off our coast, citing concerns about the state’s tourism industry as well as Georgia’s military.

Kemp’s stand brings the governor’s office in line with the Georgia General Assembly. Legislators considered resolutions last year protesting the federal government’s plans to open up the U.S. East Coast to seismic testing and energy exploration. Yet Kemp’s predecessor, Gov. Nathan Deal, declined to take a position on the issue, and the resolutions failed to garner widespread support.

Kemp followed through on a campaign pledge to oppose drilling off the Georgia coast. Emboldened by Kemp’s stance, a dozen legislators gathered at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta last week to underscore the importance of passing anti-drilling legislation in the Georgia House and Senate.

Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-District 162) reintroduced the 2018 resolution. The Resolution to Oppose Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration discourages seismic testing and oil and gas drilling off of Georgia’s coast. The bill has been assigned to the House Natural Resources and the Environment committee.

“Why do we want to stand against offshore drilling?” Gilliard asked. “Because of the economic support that we have for the many jobs our coast creates.”

Sen. Lester Jackson (D-District 1) along with Golden Isles legislators, Rep. Don Hogan (R-St. Simons Island) and Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick), agreed, emphasizing the fact that protecting Georgia’s coast is not a partisan issue.

“This is a Georgia issue,” said Jackson, who reintroduced anti-drilling legislation in the Senate. “So that’s why you see with me bipartisan support — Democrats and Republicans from all facets of Georgia.”

Our shoreline is home to winding estuaries, tidal saltmarshes and wide-open ocean that provide a vital habitat for a wide range of species, from shrimp to North Atlantic Right Whales. Our coast is directly connected to 23,000 jobs and approximately $1.3 billion in economic impact, from dolphin tours on River Street to seafood restaurants on Tybee Island.

We continue to support efforts to oppose seismic testing and other energy exploration off Georgia’s coast.

Learning from BP Deepwater Horizon

Offshore drilling runs the risk of damaging or even destroying Georgia’s coastal ecosystem.

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 affected up to 1,300 miles of coastline in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Widely considered one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, the BP spill released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, making it the largest marine oil spill ever.

The disaster and subsequent cleanup efforts, which included toxic chemicals, had significant, long-term effects on the environment and virtually shut down the tourism industry in surrounding states. A 2014 study published in the journal Science indicated that toxins released by the oil spill killed fish by inducing cardiac arrest. Additional studies found extensive deformities in sea life across the region, including fish with lesions, shrimp without eyes and crabs without claws.

In 2016, a research team reported that 88 percent baby or stillborn dolphins within the spill area had abnormal or under-developed lungs, compared to 15 percent in other areas. A 2012 study of sand on contaminated beaches and marshes found that the volume of organisms that are low on the food chain dropped dramatically since the spill. Further impacts on the marine environment is still largely unknown.

Across the Gulf Coast, tourism took a major hit, with many people cancelling trips to the impacted coastal areas. In Louisiana alone, visitor spending dropped by $247 million in the wake of the BP oil spill.

Balancing energy needs and quality of life

President Donald Trump is a major proponent of offshore drilling off the coast of the continental U.S. However, it’s critical to balance America’s energy needs with our quality of life here in coastal Georgia. It’s not worth threatening our thriving coastal economy, which is supported by tourism, the seafood industry and a healthy marine ecosystem.

Fortunately, our state and local legislators understand the importance of protecting Georgia’s coast. Let’s support their efforts to pass state legislation ensuring the long-term health of Georgia’s coastal ecosystem.

The future economic health of our region may very well depend upon it.