One Capital Removed

Conrad Fink

2012-01-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

I never had the opportunity to take a class with Conrad Fink, but sometimes mere moments with great people can have lasting effects on impressionable minds.
The open space I learned to allow for the unsolicited thoughts of teachers, businesspeople, politicians, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and anyone else I came into contact with as a newspaper reporter came from an interview with Conrad Fink. Even as interviewee, he was instilling the craft of journalism and how it could be done. It is the most memorable interview I conducted as an aspiring Red & Black reporter, and probably ranks up there among the most memorable interviews I've ever been involved in as an aspiring storyteller.

Learn something yourself from these thoughts on the current state of media and how we consume it:

This is not my interview, but one found at Reporting For Hire, which from the sound of things, probably borrowed it from somewhere else.

Georgia, the land of second chances?

2012-01-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

State Representative Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, is introducing legislation that could wipe the slate clean for Georgians who've been convicted of Driving Under the Influence.
Your guess would be as good as anyone's to wonder whether this bill is in response to the recent DUI arrest of Columbus Rep. Kip Smith, but my guess is it doesn't have anything to do with that.
From the AJC's Christopher Quinn:

Rep. Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, said some people who make the mistake of driving drunk once have to live with a lifetime of problems, such as being disqualified from jobs or scholarships.

"If you have a DUI, it never comes off your record," Kidd said.

Read about the other legislation Kidd has been writing and supporting here.

State of State 2012

2012-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Governor Nathan Deal used his second State of the State address to remind Georgians that explorers faced great danger and uncertainty in founding this country, and the least we can do is sit tight and ride this economy thing out.
Looking in our rear view mirror, Deal said we maintained a balanced budget, added six more day's walking around money to the rainy day fund and kept the state's Triple A bond rating, which will help keep the debt service low on the conservative spending Deal will do to pave Georgia's future.

On the vision side of things, Deal continued to stress education, criminal justice and transportation as he did in his major addresses last year.

The Governor applauded the Board of Regents for their decision to consolidate eight state colleges and said Georgia must abandon the ivory tower model of higher education and increase return on investment by building skill sets that meet the need of business. He proposed programs to increase curriculums that teach skilled trades (James Crawford told GPB audiences that the Governor is basing his program on the Go Build Alabama program) and increasing the medical sector of the state's economy.

On transportation, Deal applauded the legislature for making the regional transportation sales tax referendums, but wouldn't get behind any of the vague proposals that might we might be asked to vote on this year. But the Governor will continue to put the state's money behind the efforts to deepen the Port of Savannah.

Even if Georgia does decide not to build and fill more prisons in the future, it will never not be tough on the Seven Deadly Sins--although I'm not sure all of these things are illegal, or even un-encouraged, in the state of Georgia.

Deal did spend some time talking about the things the General Assembly will probably spend its time not accomplishing this session, including zero-based budgeting (I imagine behavioral health and developmental disabilities would be a very selectable program to try this out on) and achieving meaningful tax reform (read some of the proposals Deal made to the Chamber of Commerce here.

The Governor's budget documents can be found here.

More Mental Health Notes

2011-02-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Telegraph has this AJC story about the new money in the DBHDD budget to help fund the transition to care in the community setting.

Over in Rome, The News-Tribune has this story about a petition to delay the closing of Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital that is circulating around the community. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember any effort like this when they shuttered Central State Hospital.

Regional Planning Commissions Preparing for Budget Cuts

2011-02-05T08:30:00.001-08:00

The Calhoun Times has an interesting story quoting the executive director of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission on the budget cuts about to befall Georgia's extra-governmental regional economic development agencies.
There are 12 state regional commissions that assist local governments by providing knowledge and expertise on any number of local issues from planning, economic development, transportation, information technology and human services. Locally, the Middle Georgia Regional Commission has provided empirical data on Milledgeville's perceived parking problem, assisted in the creation of the community's Opportunity Zone Tax Credits and provides ongoing assistance to local officials working to bring new jobs to Baldwin County.
As Georgia continues to tighten its belt to make weather the continuing economic decline, it should take care not to cut off circulation to the legs that will be vital to getting the state back on its feet when recovery begins.

Ballot Reform? Already?

2011-02-02T04:17:00.000-08:00

I heard about this on GPB this morning, but had to go to the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia to link to the AJC to get the full story.
It appears that some legislators, seemingly from smaller and more populous areas, agree that seven weeks of early voting might be a little excessive and may pose problems in smaller counties teetering over an abyss of red ink.
From the AJC:

“There was a concern with the seven weeks of early voting that the cost to hold the voting for that period was excessive for some counties, particularly the smaller counties," said Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, where the bill will be assigned. “And sometimes candidates listed at the beginning of the seven weeks dropped out of the race later on, so people felt like they had wasted their vote.”

But some elections officials and advocates, including the League of Women Voters of Georgia, are concerned that the shortened time period would decrease access to the polls for voters unable to cast ballots during the proposed three weeks.

“It is more important that Georgians have more access to the polls and more opportunities to participate in their government rather than less,” said Tracey-Ann Nelson, executive director for the state LWV branch.

In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said he will review the legislation and work to protect the interests of voters in a cost-effective manner.

Read HB 92 for yourself here.

The Kidd Stays in the Picture

2011-01-29T04:17:00.001-08:00

Baldwin County's Caucus of One, State Rep. Rusty Kidd, is pulling down some headlines for legislation he's writing up at the Capitol.
Most of it is legislation to benefit local institutions, longstanding local initiatives and non-profit organizations across the state. He's even using his experience as a Gold Dome Lobbyist to weigh in on the ethics debate that has colored the last several sessions in Atlanta.
It can be hard for a minority party legislator to see anything they write make it into law, it's even harder if you don't have any team members there to push things along. And sometimes things like this can happen. But despite all that, I commend Kidd for taking his community's concerns to Atlanta and fighting the un-ending battle.
Hats off to you sir.

A Shocker? Really?

2011-01-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

I can't discern whether this above missive is intentionally ironic or not. But, in my opinion, it was only a matter of time before before some legislator got pulled into court over the way banks have operated in Georgia.

Georgia leads the nation in bank failures since mid-2008. Integrity was the first of 52 banks to fail during that time. Since its collapse, two former bank officers have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges.

The suit is the first of an expected wave of litigation and civil penalties by the FDIC against insiders of failed Georgia banks, as the agency tries to recoup losses to its insurance fund.

Read more of the AJC story the above quote is taken from here. And, as you might imagine, this pending civil suit will do nothing to change business as usual under the Gold Dome.

Families in East Georgia increasingly nervous about transition of consumers to community settings

2011-01-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

Families of people being served on the Gracewood Campus of East Central Regional Hospital are growing nervous about the state's plan to move developmentally disabled consumers into community settings, in accordance with the settlement agreement between the US Department of Justice and Georgia over the care and the setting in which care takes place inside the state's mental health system.

[Dale Beasley, whose daughter has been at Gracewood for 40 years,]said she struggled with the decision to put her daughter in an institution, and the only appropriate place for her daughter is at Gracewood.
“If my daughter could stay in a community setting, why would I have ever let her go to a state institution?” she said.

Read this story from the Augusta Chronicle here.

Its like Deja Vu all over again...and again...and again...and again...and again...and again...and again

2011-01-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Rome News-Tribune is reporting that Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital will stop admitting mental health consumers April 1 and close its doors sometime around June 30.

Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital will not close until all necessary services are in place to absorb the patients into the community.

That's the promise made to the legislature's joint appropriations committee this morning by Dr. Frank Shelp, commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

He was noncommittal when asked if that means the proposed June 30 closing date of the hospital might be pushed back, reiterating that it's important to set deadlines.

"We have dates as targets," he said. "But we're not under any compulsion to close the Rome hospital prior to having those other services up and running," he said.

Just like in Milledgeville, the announcement came early in the legislative session and the community's legislative delegation can do little more than pepper the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities with questions during budget hearings at the Capitol.

The announcement of the closing of NGRH is the latest news about the fundamental changes taking place in Georgia's mental health system as a result of the settlement agreement between the State of Georgia and the US Department of Justice concerning the care of people with mental illness and developmental disabilities in the state's network of regional mental health facilities and the state's failure to meet the standards for serving consumers in the most integrated community setting possible, per the Olmstead v. L.C. decision, which originated in Georgia.

This Justice Department press release is a pretty succinct summary of what's going to happen in the next several years.

Under today’s agreement, over the next five years, Georgia will increase its assertive community treatment, intensive case management, case management, supported housing and supported employment programs to serve 9,000 individuals with mental illness in community settings. The agreement will also increase community crisis services to respond to and serve individuals in a mental health crisis without admission to a state hospital, including crisis services centers, crisis stabilization programs, mobile crisis and crisis apartments; create at least 1,000 Medicaid waivers to transition all individuals with developmental disabilities from the state hospitals to community settings; and increase crisis, respite, family and housing support services to serve individuals with developmental disabilities in community settings.

Central State Hospital was the first, and Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital won't be the last. But in a strange note that spooked me when I first read it, the News-Tribune writes:

[Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Spokesman Tom] Wilson said 54 of the current patients have been admitted to the mental health ward, and 73 patients admitted by a court. They will have to be moved to state hospitals in Milledgeville or Atlanta.

Then I remember that the Payton Cook Building just opened a few years ago.

But Rome will not have a new forensics unit to save any state jobs as Georgia moves non-criminals living with mental illness and developmental disabilities into non-profit and for-profit private mental healthcare providers. Again, from the News-Tribune:

The state-run mental health hospital has about 180 patients and 764 employees, according to Tom Wilson, spokesman for the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Though it should be noted that DBHDD will be creating a lot of these community care settings, and that will create job opportunities for some of the employees who will be affected by the closings.

I share all this because it should be a warning the entire State of Georgia, especially those in the mental health system, those with family in the system and employees of the system: Don't think this is just something happening at some other hospital, in some other part of the state. The Federal Government and the State of Georgia are revolutionizing the delivery of mental health services--for better or for worse. We simply don't know yet.

And residents of Augusta, Columbus, Decatur, Savannah and Thomasville should heed these words state Rep. Rusty Kidd uttered roughly nine months ago:

Kidd said it is clear from legislators’ reactions that people from different parts of the state outside of the Middle Georgia region are not hearing about the closing of Central State and the fate of employees there.

“I hope [legislators and DBHDD officials] hear this and take it to heart, so that they will be more sensitive to employees — all employees not just new or long-time employees — now and in the future,” he said. “Everyone needs to be aware that these are people who have had jobs there for a long time, and to lose a job is very serious. [The legislature and state government] need to help them transition into new jobs.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Public Imagination

2011-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, I'd like to share this On the Media story about the "I Have A Dream" speech and how it exists in the American consciousness.

Georgia House Committee Assignments Posted

2011-01-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

The Post Title is a link to the committee assignments by legislator.
State Rep. Rusty Kidd is assigned to Governmental Affairs, Health and Human Services, Science and Technology and State Institutions and Property.

Chief Blue to Roswell?

2011-01-13T05:45:00.000-08:00

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Milledgeville Police Chief Woodrow Blue made the short list for Roswell's top cop job. Link to the AJC article in post title. The Union-Recorder has a front page story in today's paper.

State of the State

2011-01-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

Click the post title to link to Georgia Public Broadcasting coverage of today's address.
You can see the proposed budgets(AFY2011 and FY2012) at the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

In other legislative news:
Political Insider has your list of Senate Committee Assignments. State Senator Johnny Grant is now chairing Public Safety and Vice Chair in Higher Education. As of this writing, it does not appear that the House has named, or the webmasters have updated, the House committee assignments.

ExploreMilledgeville.org

2011-01-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

In case you ever wondered what Daniel McDonald was up to between May and December of 2010:

Newsflash: Georgians must assume responsibility for themselves and their families.

2011-01-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

Governor Nathan Deal sat the state down and gave it a talking to during his inaugural address today.
Whether it was the subject of crime, education, transportation, the water crisis or healthcare reform, Deal pushed a paternal tone that conveyed a message of 'I've been a longtime gone, and look what you've done to my great state' in his first message to Georgia as its 82nd Governor.

One of the other core responsibilities of State government is the education of our children. This is an undertaking that has been the primary focus of several of my predecessors in this office. Despite their best efforts and that of dedicated teachers and educators all across our state, our public education system in grades K through 12 has failed to make the progress we need...

This failure is a stain on our efforts to recruit businesses to our State and is a contributing factor in the frightening crime statistics previously mentioned. High dropout rates and low graduation percentages are incompatible with the future I envision for Georgia.

Betraying little about the way he intends to tackle some of the large problems he identified in his almost 20-minute speech, Deal said enough to sketch a vision of limited government and personal responsibility helping Georgia find a way out of the hard times it faces today.
As some pointed out earlier, Deal outlined a somewhat progressive direction in handling the state's overcrowded corrections system, advocating for day reporting centers, drug-, DUI- and Mental Health-courts. But don't think the new Governor's going to be soft on crime, he's asking the entire state to get his back as he works to break the cycle of crime that threatens the security of all Georgians.
Education was next on deck, and even though Deal said Georgia's education system is failing the state's economic development efforts, he said the entire state has got to get his back in making learning a top priority under his administration. HOPE will be passed on to future generations, but there are going to be hard decisions about who is going to get cut out of lottery-funded goodness.
Add to the list of things that are ruining Georgia's opportunities for economic development--Transportation. Driving a car anywhere in Atlanta sucks--especially today. So we need to cast aside our petty regional divisions and get behind the effort to find solutions to successfully meeting the state's challenges. Deepening the Port of Savannah may be a way to do that and bring more jobs to Georgia, so Deal says he's all about it.
And while we're talking about water, the Governor wants you to know that he's going to continue talking about it too--with Alabama and Florida. And whether that works or not, we're going to start building reservoirs and begin implementing plans for water conservation.
And even though that might be something that requires federal oversight or assistance, the former Congressman wants you to know that he does not welcome the federal government's assistance in delivering healthcare to its people.

As Governor, I will resist the efforts of the Federal Government to mandate its solutions on our people, our businesses and our State government.

You can hear the many people in the state Capitol who have the Governor's back on this in the audio of Monday's address.
Despite all the things mentioned above, Deal used the final portion of his inaugural address to say that his administration will be measuring success by job creation. And as with many of these challenges, the best way to move forward is through limited government and personal responsibility.

Audio of Governor Deal's Inaugural Address

2011-01-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Listen to the future of Georgia Politics with me, via WMUM Macon and my RTR 280 DRs. Total blogger fail on on the inability to host audio files (see my sister blog @ exploremilledgeville.org).

Portion of Text from Governor's Inaugural Address

2011-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

These highlights come from the We Are Politics website, click on the post title to follow the link.

Highlights of the Inaugural Address of Governor Nathan Deal:

Throughout this "Experiment in Democracy," there has been a healthy skepticism by "We the People" about the role of government which we have "ordained and established." The lingering pain of this "Great Recession" in which we are still engulfed has underscored the urgency of re-examining the role of government in our lives.

Presently, one out of every thirteen Georgia residents is under some form of correctional control. It cost about Three Million Dollars per day to operate our Department of Corrections. And yet, every day criminals continue to inflict violence on our citizens and an alarming number of perpetrators are juveniles.

Our dedicated law enforcement officers must not be targets for criminals. Anyone who harms one of them harms us all.

Breaking the culture of crime and violence is not a task for law enforcement officials alone. Parents must assume more responsibility for their children. Communities must marshal their collective wills; civic and religious organizations must use their influence to set the tone for expected behavior.

One of the other core responsibilities of State government is the education of our children. This is an undertaking that has been the primary focus of several of my predecessors in this office. Despite their best efforts and that of dedicated teachers and educators all across our state, our public education system in grades K through 12 has failed to make the progress we need.

This failure is a stain on our efforts to recruit businesses to our State and is a contributing factor in the frightening crime statistics previously mentioned. High dropout rates and low graduation percentages are incompatible with the future I envision for Georgia.

I ask the members of the General Assembly and our State School Board to work with me to restore discipline in our schools, eliminate bureaucratic nonsense, adopt fair funding mechanisms and reward quality and excellence. If we do these things, we will convey the magic of learning to our children and restore the joy of teaching to our educators.

I am dedicated to honoring the promise that has been made to our students through HOPE and will work with the General Assembly to tailor the program to the financial realities we face today. I was not elected to make easy decisions, but difficult ones. In this legislative session we will save the HOPE for future generations.

We will do our part to deepen the Savannah port in order to accommodate the larger vessels that will soon pass through the Panama Canal. But we must do more. Our rail capacity and cargo routes must be improved and expanded. We must not miss this opportunity to provide jobs for Georgians.

Highway congestion, especially in the Greater Atlanta area is a deterrent to job growth in the region. If we do not solve this problem soon, we will lose the businesses who want to expand or locate in our State.

I am dedicated to working with all elements of government to improve our transportation system and I call on all Georgians to join us. We must put aside some of the regional differences of the past and work for the common good of our State.

As Governor, I will continue to pursue negotiations with Alabama and Florida to reach a resolution of the long standing dispute over the use of water in our Federal reservoirs and our major rivers.

We will develop regional reservoirs and continue our conservation efforts. We have been blessed with abundant water resources and we must use them wisely.

As Governor, I will resist the efforts of the Federal Government to mandate its solutions on our people, our businesses and our State government.

We will do our part to provide healthcare to our most vulnerable citizens, but government cannot make or keep us healthy. The primary responsibility for good health rests with individuals and families. We can help cultivate a culture of wellness in our educational programs and offer incentives in Medicaid and the State Health Insurance Program, but it is only individuals and families that can make healthy lifestyle choices.

So today as we embark on this journey to lead our State forward, I call on all Georgians to assume responsibility for themselves and their family. I call on communities and civic and religious organizations to continue and expand their efforts to serve the needs of people in their area. State government cannot and should not be expected to provide for us what we can provide for ourselves.

Snowed Over

2011-01-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

With everything else that has happened this weekend, it was easy to miss this late Friday docu drop of the much anticipated report from the 2010 Council for Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians.
Via Political Insider:

If you have experience with the Georgia tax system, we need your help to put this document through some quick scrutiny. What would these changes mean? What are the unintended consequences?

Post your observations below – or mail them to cjoyner@ajc.com.

Many thanks. And stay warm this weekend.

Shoulda Coulda Woulda

2011-01-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

This time last year he said it was "a daunting challenge that precedes my time as governor," now its just a problem in the rear view mirror.
Jim Galloway reports that Governor Sonny Perdue felt real bad about some things as he packed up his office in the Capitol last week.

There must be something about Georgia

2011-01-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

Frequenters of the Capitol will notice a strange resemblance between this museum piece and the calf in the video below.

Elections of the Future

2010-12-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Will probably continue to look like this.

Continuing with the news I have neglected to link to in this interim period, I want to draw attention to the Elections Advisory Council convened by Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
Baldwin County is lucky to have two representatives, state Representative Rusty Kidd (I-Milledgeville) and Baldwin County Probate Court Judge Todd Blackwell, on this council that is charged with creating cost efficiencies in the state's elections system and improving the system overall.
Georgia's elections system is a mixed bag of efforts to open the ballot box to as many people as possible and throwbacks to the partisan warfare of Georgia's one-party past and present. The Athens Banner Herald editorial board has this to say about some of the opportunities for improvement that they hope the council will consider.

In terms of guaranteeing ballot access, Georgians should watch how much time and effort Kemp and the panel spend in considering current state law for third-party candidates to get on the ballot.
Georgia is widely acknowledged to have one of the most strict ballot access laws in the country. Independent candidates - that is, candidates not running under a major party banner - must obtain the signatures of 5 percent of registered voters in their respective electoral district to get on the ballot when running for local offices, including seats in the state legislature and Congress. Independent candidates seeking statewide offices must obtain the signatures of 1 percent of the state's registered voters.
In some of the state's metropolitan areas, and, obviously, in any statewide race, the signature requirements mean that prospective independent candidates must get thousands of people to sign their petitions to seek office. In those cases, it's fair to see the ballot access laws as a de facto means of keeping third-party candidates off of ballots.

I'm sure Rep. Kidd, who has used that ballot petition in the last two years to send a message to opponents about the number of voters who will be showing up to support him, will have plenty of ideas to share about how we can open the statehouse to Georgians who don't necessarily fit the Republican/Democratic dynamic.
Judge Blackwell's inclusion is a welcome surprise as I've spent much time in his office talking about the ins and outs of election law. He is a great logical thinker, who can objectively explore the many facets of an issue. And most importantly, he knows what he doesn't know and retains the curiosity to explore it.
The image above comes from a photo story I submitted after shadowing Blackwell on Election Day 2008.
To put myself out on a limb, I'd recommend that the council look into the amount of time allocated to early voting. The 45 days of early voting put a significant cost on county governments to employ poll workers for dubious results in bringing people to the polls. I'm not saying that the state should walk away from early voting altogether, but I doubt that the overall turnout numbers would be affected much if early voting was confined to the two weeks before the election.
Despite the obvious opportunities for fraud in the absentee ballot system, it remains as a release valve for engaged voters to cast their ballot despite their scheduling conflicts.
So I look forward to reading the findings of this group and, as others before me, commend Secretary of State Kemp for convening an inclusive commission to consider the future of Democracy's most solemn responsibilities.

Washington Ethics Group Names Deal to Top 10

2010-12-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

Blake Aued of the Athens Banner-Herald would like to remind everyone that there was some shady stuff going on before Governor-elect Nathan Deal resigned his seat in Congress.
Why He Do That?
Read the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Top 10 Ethics Scandals 2010 report here.

You don't see these to often in the blogosphere

2010-12-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

I've been a little late on everything recently, but I thought this was worth highlighting.
I especially like how they changed the identifying information from the first entry.

"If they want to get paid, they shouldn't commit crimes."

2010-12-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

It seems like common sense. But somehow, state Senator Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville) has created a stir over statements he made concerning a strike by inmates in several state prisons over conditions in the state prisons and the state's practice of not paying prisoners for their labor.

Commenting in his role as Senate State Institutions and Properties Chair, Grant told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he's not about to change the state's practice of not paying the majority of prisoners who provide labor to Georgia counties and municipalities and who toil away in the Correctional Industries program.

"If they want to get paid, they shouldn't commit crimes," said state Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, chairman of the Senate Institutions and Property Committee, which oversees prisons.

Besides, he said, "If we started paying inmates, we'd also start charging them for room and board, as well. They ought to be careful what they ask for."

Georgia is no stranger to trouble in its penal system. Prison Historian Larry R. Findlay Sr. writes in "History of the Georgia Prison System" that Georgia's Department of Corrections has often been a venue for moral questions about the treatment of prisoners.

Governor John Milledge first lobbied the General Assembly to establish a penitentiary system "to soften the penal code in use at that time,"which drew heavily form the English system of penal law wherein "branding, pillory, and stocks, in addition to imprisonment and execution were used."

By 1820, the state's penitentiary system was in debt. The General Assembly abolished the system eleven years later in 1831, re-instating the punitive practices of the past and returning many prisoners to the counties they where they were convicted. But the state couldn't abdicate its responsibilities for long and the legislature re-established it the penitentiary system by the next year.

In 1866 the General Assembly laid the infrastructure to take its prison system from a money pit to a money maker.

In December 1866, the legislature passed an Act to regulate the management of the penitentiary and to provide for the inferior courts of each county to hire out offenders to contractors engaged in such repair work [for the penitentiary, itself, at the time]. No lease was to be made which did not relive the state of all expenses during the term of the lease, and no lease was to be made longer than five years. This is the Act that led to the Georgia chain gang.

By operating the Convict Lease System,in which male and female prisoners were leased to individuals or companies for hard labor details such as railroad construction, Georgia's Penitentiary emptied its prison buildings and began turning a profit.

As you can imagine, its hard to keep the state government from going hog wild with any program that it is making money on. Findlay writes that by 1870, there were no more convicts in the penitentiaries and the state discharged all corrections employees the next year. Six years later, the program had become so engrained into the system that the state was able to lease all its prisoners "to three companies for twenty years for a total of $500,000."

Now this is a privatization plan that many legislators will wish they had access to as budget negotiations begin this session.

But public opinion was turning against the Convict Lease System, and Findlay describes 1890 as the beginning of a decade marked by "public outcries over brutalities suffered by the convicts under the lease program." Newspapers including the Macon Telegraph, Atlanta Georgian and the Columbus Enquirer-Sun rallied the people against the system of leasing convicts to private companies.

The legislature ended the Convict Lease System in 1908 by passing an act "to provide that misdemeanor convicts could work on public roads under state or county supervision. In no case, were they to be placed under the control of private parties. Female convicts were sentenced to the female prison instead of the chain gang."

More than 100 years later, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and New York Times are reporting a complex network of prisoner groups that are "not known to cooperate," organized via contraband cell phones, word-of-mouth and the help of family members and prisoner advocates.

These prisoners' story is an interesting study in networking and promotion. No one can doubt that they undertook this large task of organizing these disparate factions because they are upset about the conditions in the prisons. Those same kind of conditions that led the federal government to intervene in the administration of Georgia State Prison in Reidsville in the 1970s and '80s when 52 prisoners at filed a class action lawsuit over the issues of overcrowding, racial segregation, violence and intimidation on behalf of the guards

No one can doubt that the effects of the economic recession have been particularly harsh on those Georgians who have been shoe-horned into a smaller and smaller DOC footprint.

The Times reports that these strikes began in earnest when the department banned cigarettes earlier this year. And the organizers say they will be ready to unleash another wave of protests, which may not be as peaceful, if their demands are not met.

I hope that prison and state officials will work diligently to find some kind of compromise with the men and women in their charge. Georgia's prison guards' jobs are hard enough, we don't need to be putting them directly into a hostile situation after we've asked them to sacrifice so much already. Access to better healthcare and more educational opportunities are something that can expand jobs for Georgians who don't need to go to jail to find a job. But I don't believe there are many Georgians who are going to get behind a plan to begin paying inmates.

We've come a long way since the beginning of the penitentiary system in Milledgeville, but we haven't come that far yet.

Need for Improvement: Mental Health Ombudsman's Year One Report

2010-12-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

Former AJC writer and current Georgia Health News CEOAndy Miller brings us the story that's being missed amidst all the press coverage of the settlement agreement between the US Department of Justice and the State of Georgia concerning the treatment of persons in its mental health system. An interim report summarizing Georgia's Disability Services Ombudsman Jewel Norman's first year on the job cites the need to improve clients' access to timely care and concern over the continually growing role of Law Enforcement in the lives of many Georgians who are living with mental illness. Miller writes that despite the high profile of the settlement between Georgia and the Feds, there are many issues that need addressing in the state's network of mental health service providers:

A little-noticed state report says an independent review team found poor medical care in the deaths of 23 patients at Georgia’s mental hospitals during the past fiscal year.

The report, from Georgia’s disabilities services ombudsman, also shows that the state’s mental health system remains plagued by other major problems, despite more than a year of scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice. Many patients still sit for hours in general hospitals’ emergency rooms, waiting for mental health treatment. And jails across the state still house a high percentage of people with psychiatric illnesses, the report adds.

Still, the state ombudsman who produced the report, Jewel Norman, said she sees improvement in the seven state-run psychiatric hospitals.

The report, itself, addresses the critical issue that there are not adequate resources throughout the state to assist people when they are experiencing a mental health emergency:

Georgia law requires the sheriff’s department of each county to transport mentally ill persons who are a danger to themselves or others to an emergency receiving facility. State policy requires medical clearance before any state hospital or Community Services Board Crisis Stabilization Program (CSP) can accept such a transfer. Most of the time the closest destination to achieve the required medical clearance is a general hospital emergency room (ER)...

In a late spring meeting of the Psychiatric Council of the Georgia Hospital Association, the Ombudsman discovered that many people with mental illness were experiencing excessive periods of waiting in the emergency rooms after medical clearance...

The average wait time for these patients, many of whom were experiencing an acute episode of their illness, was 36 hours... The average time for those persons exceeding the 36-hour mean time was 64 hours or 2.67 days.

These long wait times do more than put Georgians living with mental illness at risk, they have a multiplier effect on society as they tie up vital law enforcement, emergency medical services and hospital resources while these placements are being made. And then there is the worst-case scenario--an unfortunate societal situation that happens far too often in Georgia and elsewhere around the world--in which mental health consumers are adjudicated and incarcerated until a suitable placement can be made in a state forensic unit .

Preliminary data suggests that the corrections system, both local jails and our state prisons have become major providers of mental health services. For example, the Chatham County Sheriff provides data that, on any given day, he has between 200 and 250 people with mental illness in his jail. The Augusta Chronicle, in a July 11, 2010 article reported by Sandy Hodson, stated, “184 men and women who have been deemed mentally incapable of standing trial are locked in jails for weeks and months because there isn’t enough room in the state’s seven mental health hospitals [Forensic Units].” "That's what jails have turned into -- mental hospitals," said Richmond County Sheriff's Maj. Gene Johnson, who oversees the county's overcrowded jail. The Georgia Department of Corrections reports that 15.6 percent of the inmate population is receiving mental health services.

The settlement agreement with the federal government is forcing Georgia to make revolutionary changes to the way people receive treatment in the state's mental health system. In order to realize those anticipated outcomes, Georgia will have to conquer some of the most challenging sets of circumstances seen in the history of the treatment of mental illness. The Justice Department is requiring Georgia to allot the resources necessary to meet the federal government's benchmark of providing care in the most integrated setting appropriate to an individuals’ needs, but it will take the dedication of the Governor-elect, the entire General Assembly, many departments of state government and the people of the State of Georgia to decisively bring an end to this sad chapter in the state's history.

House Party Jumpers Already Moving Up the Ladder

2010-12-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

AJC's Election's Central is reporting that Governor-elect Nathan Deal's House Floor leaders will include newly-minted Valdosta Republican Amy Carter.

**It looks like the General Assembly's Webmasters have been hard at work updating the legislature's website as Carter's bio reflects her recent decision to caucus with the Republican Party.

Rusty: I'm just Me

2010-12-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

As the tally in the balance of power continues to correct itself in the run up to the 2011 session, Baldwin County’s Caucus of One says the 2010 election, and its aftermath, have changed little in Georgia politics.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m a Republican or a Democrat, if I can’t produce, people will elect someone else,” the state House’s loan Independent Rusty Kidd (Milledgeville) said about his campaigning season. “’It doesn’t matter what you call yourself, as long as you can bring something home for me.’”
Talking on the day news broke that Minority Caucus Chair Doug McKillip (Athens) was the sixth Democratic Representative to quit the party and caucus with Republicans, Kidd said legislators are joining the majority on the other side of the aisle to remain relevant in the modern era.
“Politics are going to be controlled by the Republicans, so [these Democrats] feel they need to be Republicans to play the game,” he said. “Republicans don’t just own the bat and the ball, they own the whole club.”
But Kidd says his years under the Gold Dome, both as a lobbyist and a one-year incumbent returning for his first full term in office, have afforded him the ability to transcend the partisan jockeying and be a vote to win or lose on any piece of legislation.
“I’ve been building good relationships with Republicans and Democrats for 20 years,” he said. “They just look at me as Rusty, I’m not cast out by the R or the D behind my name.”

A holistic approach to government

2010-12-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

"I personally moved to a diet based heavily on fruits and vegetables on the advice of my doctor and have seen firsthand how proper diet can lower cholesterol, which has been a serious problem in my family for generations."
State Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) to the AJC about the decision that led him to seek work as a lobbyist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Democratic hemorrhaging continues under Gold Dome

2010-12-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

AJC's Political Insider writes that state Rep. Doug McKillip, the House Democratic Caucus Chair from Athens, announced that he will now caucus with the Republicans.
As the Athens Banner-Herald's Blake Aued notes in the post, Republicans now enjoy a 114-66 advantage in the legislature's Lower Chamber, six votes away from the coveted Super Majority that will make House Republicans unstoppable.
“As an independent-minded Republican, I can accomplish a great deal for my constituents and my city,” [McKillip told the ABH].

Details Emerging on Tax Commission Strategy

2010-12-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

“Republican rhetoric has a great opportunity to be put into practice,” Deal said. “We believe in smaller government and less spending. Guess what? We got lower revenue, there’s going to be smaller spending. And when you have less spending, you’re going to have smaller government. Those are the realities of the world in which we live.”

The Associated Press has the details of Governor-elect Nathan Deal's trip to speak to the Georgia Farm Bureau Convention at Jekyll Island and what he had to say about the soon-to-be-released findings of the General Assembly's special Tax Commission. And let me tell you, he's not talking about tax increases.

Rep. Tony Sellier

2010-12-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

Former Telegrapher and Lucid Idiocy blogger Travis Fain is reporting that state Rep. Tony Sellier (R-Fort Valley) died last night.

Senate Appropriations Chair Allocates time to local business leaders

2010-12-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

The Georgia Senate’s Chief Budget Writer told area business leaders to prepare for another hardscrabble session under the Gold Dome in 2011.
State Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) told an audience at Georgia College & State University’s monthly Executive Forum that rising revenues may not be enough to subdue a double whammy of dwindling shortfall reserves and disappearing stimulus dollars in the state’s 2012 budget.
Reading notes from a presentation he delivered last week to incoming freshman in the General Assembly’s Upper Chamber, Hill said state budget writers will be faced with the same challenges as last session, but fewer options once the state deplete its revenue shortfall reserve and allocates its last federal stimulus dollar to pay the $17 billion it will take to run the State of Georg ia through Fiscal Year 2011.
“Our spending has gone down,” Hill said. “But not as much as our revenues have gone down.”
Despite US Census Bureau statistics that show Georgia’s population growing 20 percent over the last decade, Hill said legislators will struggle to fund state government at FY2005 levels at a time when the state employs 2.3 percent fewer people than it did in 2000.
Growth in local school systems, the Board of Regents, the Technical College System of Georgia and the state’s Medicaid obligations may exceed revenue growth, Hill said.
In light of that potential reality, Hill said Governor Perdue is asking state agencies to submit the same worst, worster and worstest budget scenarios this year as pessimists predict a possible $1.3 billion deficit in FY2012.
Hill advised the audience to think earnestly about the hard choices elected officials will have to make this coming year and help their legislators decide on paths that will help Georgia meet its long term goals.
The former Senate Higher Education Committee Chair talked about the one-sided view of lottery-funded HOPE scholarships for students attending public state universities and asked the audience to think twice before defunding what might possibly be one of the “best things the state has ever done.”
In keeping with the dire predictions Hill provided the audience, he made no grand promises for the legislature’s Tax Commission, which is tasked with re-imagining Georgia’s outdated tax code saying he was not sure legislators could muster the political fortitude to pass meaningful reform, such as reinstituting the state’s penny sales tax on groceries.
But on an upbeat, Hill had great things to say about state Senator Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville). Grant, who was seated in the audience reacted to Hill’s platitudes by jokingly asking him if he would like the check now or later.

Print Prospectus ofOne Capital Removed

2010-11-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

One Capital Removed is happy to be revived by the introduction of a print column in The 'Ville. Electronic readers should download Caminova's DjVu Browser Plugin to view links from the Milledgeville Historic Newspaper Archive.

“By the collision of different sentiments, says an eminent philosopher, sparks of truth are struck out, and political light is obtained.”

When Seaton Grantland published the first edition of The Georgia Journal on November 13, 1809, he did so confidently, knowing that every reader understood the value of another newspaper advocating the rights of the people and instilling in them sound principles on political and moral subjects. “[It] is a truth too evident to require illustration,” he wrote.

Despite readers’ modern reluctance to pay for that value, The ‘Ville subscribes to Grantland’s supposition — wherein any person speaking openly and honestly on the workings of the government will gather around them others of equal temper and passion so as to ignite dialogue on the great challenges of our times —in inaugurating publication of One Capital Removed, a regular column on Georgia, its General Assembly and the revolving cast of characters who’ve made the state noteworthy in times past, present and future.

To celebrate the embarkation on this task of commenting on the present, the writer will oblige himself to stray from the agreed upon format of this column and seek the counsel of those who have come and gone before in attempts to evoke the spirit that led others to put their thoughts to the page in years past. History has much to tell us about our present and future, and as viewed through the lens of the Milledgeville Historic Newspaper Archive, Milledgeville’s past can provide ample insight into today’s issues, events and the idiom that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

As a means to finding that end, readers need not search farther than Grantland’s Prospectus of the Georgia Journal, to recognize the deep-seated suspicion and begrudging acceptance of political parties, as appropriated from Benjamin Franklin’s musing that the “different factions, which at present divide us, aim all at the public good; the differences are only about the various modes of promoting it.” And even recent converts to the political faith will recognize Phillip Guieu and John Jones’ entreaty in the February 1828 debut of The Southron that “every patriot should arm himself with the constitution and the laws, and oppose with the firmness of a free man, the efforts made to change the public institutions of the country.” Under that advice, few readers can question John Polhill’s July 1830 decision to open the first edition of The Federal Union with transcripts of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and Washington’s Farewell Address, reasoning that although most subscribers have read these important documents, many have not paid them the attention they deserve.

"The present seems to be an era of Constitutional discussions" — Polhill wrote almost 180 years before our current Constitutional fanaticism — "discussions which go back in argument to the primitive principles of our government."

As if they were ripped from newspapers published just two weeks ago, these issues have a way of staying on the tips of people’s tongues: division between opposing political ideologies, fear over a perceived hijacking of the machinery of government and a desire to return to the fundamental building blocks of our republic.

Like its predecessors in the Milledgeville penny press, One Capital Removed lays no claim to the knowledge necessary to answer these questions, nor does it make any guarantees on the veracity of the views expressed within this column. But like Seaton Grantland before me, I can promise that One Capital Removed "will not decline the discussion of political measures, or other subjects of general concern, where truth may probably be elicited by the enquiry."

Two hours later

2010-05-21T15:42:00.001-07:00

Two-and-a-half years of dust in the wind

Seconds before the accident...

2010-05-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

The view from 5 p.m. Friday afternoon

Thank You For the Two-and-a-half Great Years

2010-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

To Everyone Who Has Helped Me Bring Quality News to the Community,

As of Friday, May 14, I resigned my position as a staff writer at The Union-Recorder to accept a communications coordinator position at Digital Bridges in downtown Milledgeville.

I am writing you today to express my appreciation for the patience and understanding you have shown me over these last two-and-a-half years while I tried my best to inform The Union-Recorder’s readers about goings-on in the Milledgeville-Baldwin County community. In addition to lending me your time so that I might convey the importance of pertinent community events and information to the paper’s readers, many times you took a few extra moments to share the humor and unique insight that have encouraged me to want to become a more permanent part of this community.

Although I'm not entirely convinced of the supposed demise of print media, I am confident Milledgeville and surrounding communities will continue to look to The Union-Recorder to read and learn more about Baldwin County’s story, no matter the format it arrives in each morning. But there is a new day rising in this community, and I feel this opportunity with Digital Bridges will put me in a better position to positively impact Milledgeville’s future.

If you have not yet taken the opportunity to learn how Digital Bridges is working to assist Milledgeville as it moves into the 21st Century, then I invite you to come out to the Knight Community Innovation Center, next to the Campus Theatre on Hancock Street, to see how we can work together to build the future we want for Baldwin County.

Thank you again for all the time you have spent helping me cover this community, I look forward to continuing to work with you to help build a stronger future for Milledgeville. Please feel free to contact me at through the comments section of this blog or by stopping by Digital Bridges in downtown Milledgeville

Sincerely,

Daniel McDonald

Griffin launches Baldwin election season with coffee talk

2010-05-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Former Milledgeville Mayor and state Senator Floyd Griffin launched the campaign for his old state Senate seat today by hosting an early morning get together at the Blackbird Coffee in downtown Milledgevile.
And as it was indeed early, he provided the coffee.
The former state Senator from the 25th District, who resigned his Senate seat to seek election as Lieutenant Governor in 1998, is hosting four local coffee talks to talk with voters about his candidacy. Today's installment focused on legislation Griffin said he'll introduce should he be tapped by voters come November.
Griffin said he'll introduce legislation to urge a study on Central State Hospital that will inventory all the resources no the South Milledgeville campus and identify the institution's mission in the future, another bill would urge the creation of a new Youth Development Campus in Milledgeville and to require an impact study be performed before any state facility is slated for closure in Georgia.
Don't be surprised if legislative oversight becomes the rallying cry in Baldwin elections this year. See Thursday's Union-Recorder to read about another candidate who's making oversight Milledgeville's main issue this year.
Griffin said he'll be meeting again at the Blackbird next Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. to talk about jobs.

Rosalyn Carter on The Daily Show talking about Mental Health

2010-05-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jessica for pointing me in the direction this clip featuring an interview with Rosalyn Carter from yesterday's Daily Show.
Carter is promoting her new book "Within Our Reach" about the ongoing mental health crisis in America.
In addition to mentioning Central State Hospital, Carter tells the unrealized truth about the way our society is turning incarceration into the primary method of dealing with mental illness.
Watch for yourself:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Rosalynn Carter

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Qualifying Day 2 Recap

2010-04-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

There is nothing new to report in Baldwin County elections from Tuesday, but read Thursday's Union-Recorder to find out which Baldwin County pol is jumping into one of the two local races for the General Assembly.
U.S. Senate candidate R.J. Hadley stopped by 165 Garrett Way yesterday to tell us about his campaign. We'll have a recap of that conversation later this week.
And in somewhat election related news: State Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, and state Rep. Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, announced that they've negotiated a $3.2 million allocation to reopen the Powell Building at Central State Hospital.
The allocation was couched in the terms of saving the state's only designated emergency receiving facility. The money has already passed the state Senate and has to make it into the conference committee budget to go to the governor's desk.
Despite all its implications, One Capital Removed welcomes the return of the strong man Baldwin County legislator.

Joining the 1 Percenters

2010-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Upstart goobernatorial candidate Ray Boyd has announced his intention to run for the state's top administrative position as an independent.
Boyd raised eyebrows last Monday with his inability to fall in line and sign an oath of loyalty to the Republican Party. And this week he's cutting ties and shoving off to run independent.
It sounds like Travis Fain at Lucid Idiocy feels Boyd is going to have a hard time getting the signatures of the 1 percent of total state electors in order to get on the ballot as an independent.

2010 Qualifying Day 1

2010-04-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

A 68-year-old Republican Special Investigator from Savannah is the first new name in the Congressional race for the 12th.
Mike Horner's website says he's a former U.S. Air Force special investigator who currently conducts background investigations for the FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Horner saysid the March on Washington was a wake up call to the Sleeping Giant that is the American public and inspired him to run for public office.

Getting back into the Swing of Things

2010-04-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

Update: Gold Dome Live will be holding down the "pair of conference rooms on the second floor" of the present Capitol for the Atlanta paper.
In news of local interest: Republican Ray McKinney and Democrat Regina Thomas have been the first to throw their hats in the ring again to unseat incumbent Dem John Barrow in the 12th District race for Congress.
State Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, is the first local incumbent to sign in for the General Assembly--though it is reported that state Representative Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, will run again as an independent, requiring him to file a petition with 5 percent of the 141st District's registered voters, so he will probably not get posted on this link immediately.

One Capital Removed has taken a lot of time off recently to revive and start several new and old part-time projects. Milledgeville's only state politics blog also has been experimenting with emerging Internet technology through its new twitter feed.
Check 1 Capital Removed out on Twitter for more up-to-date information about state matters that might affect the State's Antebellum Capital. I'm going to continue blogging here when issues require more analysis.
But to the point of this post, statewide election season starts today! Candidates for statewide offices from U.S. Senate to Governor to state House of Representatives will qualify at the state Capitol in Atlanta throughout this week.
Check here to learn who is qualifying at the Capitol.
One Capital Removed is still out of the office today (Monday), so any qualifying news will post here before it ends up on your lawn in The Union-Recorder.

Ox Refuses to Implement First Phase of Health Care Reform

2010-04-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

From the desk of Insurance Commissioner (and Goobernatorial candidate) John Oxendine:

OXENDINE WILL NOT IMPLEMENT FIRST PHASE OF FEDERAL HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION

Atlanta – Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine announced today that he will not participate in the first phase of recently enacted federal health care legislation which calls for the implementation of a temporary high risk insurance pool in Georgia. In doing so, Oxendine cited that the program could potentially cause taxpayers severe financial hardship.

"I have no confidence in any federal assertion that this so-called temporary program will not burden the taxpayers of Georgia," Oxendine said. "I am concerned that the high risk insurance program will ultimately become the financial responsibility of Georgians at a time when our state is furloughing teachers, laying off employees, and cutting public safety and education funding."

On April 2, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to Oxendine asking him to express his interest in participating in the temporary high risk insurance program established by the new health insurance reform law. Oxendine responded that he cannot commit the state to implement this program which is part of a bill he believes the Supreme Court will hold to be unconstitutional, lead to the further expansion of the federal government, and undermine the financial security of our nation.

Sebelius gave Oxendine an April 30 deadline to indicate his intent to participate.

Hold Still Little Catfish

2010-04-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

AJC's Jay Bookman filed this recent update on the House Speaker's ethics reform bill.
It's a good thing Mr. Bookman found a way to put this back in front of our noses, because I, like the majority of Georgians, may have stopped caring about the General Assembly after reading that corporations and other interests are no longer employing prostitutes in the hallways of the Capitol.
The "Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010" also could have eluded Georgians as it came to be in the form of a Senate Bill that hit the House floor on March 17, 2009.
If it's Sunday morning and you have an hour or so like I did today, you might take the time to learn how this simple bill to increase filing fees and late fines for disclosure reports turned into this No Ethics Reform Package in a little over a year.
Yeah, yeah, we get the picture:

Even Congress now bans the giving of gifts to its members by lobbyists, but in Georgia, legislators are apparently more interested in maintaining the flow of expensive trips, meals, golf excursions and sporting events than in improving their reputation for ethical behavior.

Campaign Contribution Reports are Out

2010-04-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

You can look to see who's winning over contributor's hearts and wallets here.

Barrow Not Leaving the Party of his Predecessors

2010-04-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, AJC's Political Insider laid to rest the rumor that Congressman John Barrow would forsake the Democratic party and become a Republican.
Hearing this, I can only wonder what Democratic maven Maxine Goldstein would think. On more than one occasion, Goldstein has told me about how she's known Barrow since he was a young child attending statewide Democratic meetings with his mother, Phyllis Barrow.
I don't think she would ever think Barrow could become a Republican, but game on with the continuing punishment of dissenting ideas!

Not to Harp on it, but a Pledge is a Promise

2010-04-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

It seems that with his vote in favor of House Bill 307, state Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, is shirking his pledge to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."
Now, we can get into an argument over the semantics of what passed the state Senate yesterday--was it a tax increase, a fee, revenue enhancement or the state's match on federal funds--but I'd rather take the stance that it was probably a bad idea to lock one's self into any kind of 'just say no to new taxes' promise during a session (the two-year sense of the word) in which the legislature is tasked with getting the state out of this dire of a budget catastrophe.

Maybe Baker does stand a chance against the Barnes Machine

2010-04-01T11:47:00.001-07:00

Ratcheting up the partisan fervor today, I just received an e-mail from the state House Communications Office informing me that state Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, introduced a resolution recognizing Attorney General Thurbert Baker for independence and courage.

"I applaud the Attorney General for his independence," said
Representative Mitchell. "Thurbert Baker has consistently stood up for his beliefs. He deserves great recognition."

Baker has been riding a wave of national media attention appearing on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "The Rachel Maddow Show" yesterday to talk about this impeachment thing.
And to add to it, state Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross, appeared on Fox News yesterday to talk about his end of getting the Baker message to the people.
As I am a firm believer that state politics aren't important to people because they know nothing about them, I think this national exposure may give Georgia's Attorney General a positive bounce in the polls, and I'm sure Georgia Democrats who positively hate the Republican majority are absolutely ready to get behind the man that's standing up to right side of the aisle.
Either way you look at it, this is a whole lot better than some crappy Web animation of a bull hitting a rat out of the Ted (which is where I'll be this Monday for the Home Opener!).

Like We Aren't In the Biggest Crisis Since The Great Depression

2010-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

In further proof that the General Assembly could care less about the state's dire economic straits or the well-being of any state employees--aside from the ones who now run their separate-but-equal budget offices--House lawmakers have moved forward with threats to impeach Attorney General Thurbert Baker.
AJC's Political Insider has the details here.
This is an unsurprising move from the chamber that convened until almost midnight on last week's Crossover Day to make up for 29 legislative days of getting nothing done.
So now House lawmakers want to tie up another legislative day or two--they only have nine left--by staging a show trial to make sure every Georgian knows how upset they are about the President's health care reform package.
As if we couldn't tell already.
But ~~bill~~ resolution author Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross, (you can't make this stuff up!) tells the AJC that he is "not concerned with the politics of the situation."
I assume that must be because the entire situation is politics.
Get back to work General Assembly, this state of people who are suffering through higher-than-the-national-average unemployment is losing patience with your posturing.

Kidd Takes the Floor

2010-03-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture that goes along with tomorrow's stories about state Rep. Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, taking the well to pass legislation and raise hell.

Lucid Idiocy Exposes the Green Door Committee

2010-03-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

And he has pictures too!

Some of y'all might remember state Rep. Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, talking during the special election about some unknown committee that does all the real budget writing for the State of Georgia. It may have sounded like some kind of election year mumbo jumbo at the time, but the Telegraph's Travis Fain stumbled upon the end of the rainbow today and found the committee's secret meeting spot.
Read all about it here.

Who'd a Thunk It

2010-03-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

In news that anyone could've guessed, but few took the time to actually find out, the AJC is reporting that in this time when no state department or agency is safe from drastic budget cutting, legislators' own budget is rising.

...under the original budget lawmakers approved for this year, spending on the House, Senate and joint legislative operations jumped more than 20 percent from 2003.

The story says the rising budget is due in part to increases in legislators' per diems (not sure if that spelling is correct) and the creation of separate budget offices for each legislative chamber.

Kidd Passes his first bill

2010-03-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

State Representative Rusty Kidd passed his first piece of legislation through the house Wednesday.
Kidd authored House Bill 1310, which--with the utmost efficiency (see the link)--amends the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to allow the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Commission to solicit federal funds.
Mr. Modesty, Kidd didn't mention that anything special had happened when I interviewed him Thursday about Crossover Day and his perception of his first session, so far.
I read it on Tom Baxter's Twitter feed this morning:

Rep. Rusty Kidd passes his first bill. Says dad Culver is looking on with pride "from somewhere."

Lessons from the Healthcare Debate

2010-03-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

If we've learned anything from the healthcare debate in Washington, I think it is that the American Republic is unable to consider a complicated issue without reverting back to the most base of reactionary behavior.
To illustrate my point, I'll link you to two stories describing scenes from the final days of the healthcare debate: This post appeared in the AJC's Political Insider blog about racist taunts hurled at U.S. Congressman John Lewis last week; and here we have an aftermath story from the Washington Post detailing a spat of attacks and threats against Democratic Congresspersons before, during and after the healthcare vote Sunday.

"It was surprising and alarming to know that people, when they have so many opportunities for expression in this country, that somebody would resort to a brick."

It's amazing to hear about these kinds of reactions from people on an issue as innocuous as healthcare reform--and I say innocuous because this is an effort (at least initially) to open healthcare to more people. You'd hope debate would grow this intense when the government is thinking about sending its military to some foreign land or when lawmakers decide to write legislation that lets corporations send the country's manufacturing base to another part of the world.
As I posted sometime a long time ago--and yes it is sad that it takes me this long to read a book--I have been reading Rolling Stone Editor Matt Taibbi's "The Great Derangement" about the growing divide between Americans of opposing political view points. Well I finally finished the book last night and although I don't feel Taibbi did a good job of reporting his purported observation--going to the ideological fringes of society will undoubtedly illustrate your point, but does little to prove the depravity is seeping into our societal DNA--his thesis is definitely valid and a good primer for what we're seeing from this healthcare debate.
I think the healthcare overhaul has been a total failure in the sense that it could have been a conversation about expanding a sector of the economy that can't be easily outsourced to somewhere else. If the debate could have been couched as an effort to encourage Americans to get a medical education so as to train enough doctors and nurses to put federally-subsidized medical clinics within reach of every American, I think it would not have become this black hole in which bureaucrats are throwing taxpayer dollars by the bundle. I think that more accurately describes the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like Taibbi in his book, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I know where I'd like to end up: A place where we can calmly talk over our differences, come to the best conclusion possible and then forget our differences and move forward on making the best America possible.
I get the feeling that may be too much to ask.

The power of the gavel and those who wield it

2010-03-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Picture of former Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy by the Associated Press

Now that health reform has passed its latest hurdle, newspapers' feature writers are getting in on the action.
The Washington Post has this interesting story about the history and symbolism behind the three gavels House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used to signal the final moments of the health care debate in the nation's capital this weekend.
The article also gives some insight into the history of the gavel in the United States and its meaning in modern politics.
Those of you in Atlanta can go to the Capitol Museum on the top floor of the state Capitol to see one of the gavels used by the state Speaker of the House, which looks like a wooden Foster's Oil Can on a stick to me. Now that we know all this, I'd be interested to know a little about the wooden block that is struck by the gavel, ie. is it made of a certain kind of wood?, how often is it replaced?, etc.

Healthcare, Reform or Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)?

2010-03-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that I first heard they passed the health-reform bill In The Talking Straight Zonee with Quentin T. Howell and Beverly Calhoun. Then they played Michael Jackson and the Jacksons "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)." As they should have.
Both my wife and I agreed that neither of us know what this means, if anything, for us.

Raising A Little Hell--What Can It Hurt?

2010-03-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Update 2: Silly of me not to notice this, but legislators changed the General Assembly's calendar and will not be meeting today. Although I haven't talked with since the calendar change was enacted, I assume Kidd will address the state House Thursday morning.

Update: Representative Kidd just texted to inform me that he will be scheduled to speak about the situation at Central State Hospital from the well Wednesday morning.

State Representative Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgegville, called me Sunday evening to say he is going to take a point of privilege Monday morning and go to the well on the House floor and speak against the closing of Adult Mental Health Services the Powell Building.
Kidd said he has been talking with employees on the phone and at his downtown offices all weekend.
"I've been meeting with employees and the things they are saying make me want to take the well and raise hell," he said. "It's not right to any employee to fire them when they only need four more months to retire with 34 years."
Kidd said he also has questions about the specific reasoning behind closing Adult Mental Health Services at Central State--was it a federally mandated or recommended closure, or was it a budgetary decision?
Kidd said, and several Central State employees have told me, that physical plant, staffing and training changes were being made to meet federal requirements right up until the January announcement that Adult Mental Health Services was closing.
You can keep him honest live here.

Making the most of the furlough weekend

2010-03-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Milledgeville became the focus point Saturday in the hunt for the Democratic nomination in this year's goobernatorial primary when the Central Georgia Democratic Coalition invited all statewide candidates to speak at a job and career fair on the Georgia College & State University capmus.
I think there is room somewhere in this post to ponder the implications of a group of taxpayer-employed public servants--almost all of whom are undercutting their collective performance in their current positions to spend significant amounts of time applying for a better, higher-paying job--talking to residents of one of the hardest hit areas in the state economy--many of whom were recently subject to state separation letters--about how their brand of Georgia politics is going to get everyone back on their horses and riding.
Well if it worked once, and that is all you can remember, then it might be worth another try.
One notable non-candidate, Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, provided useful information by addressing extensions in federal unemployment benefits, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and the HOPE grant for gaining an education at one of the state's network of technical and vocational colleges.
But Thurmond also gave what was possibly the most progressive vision of what the recession can be, relating the story of a simple family produce business that paved the road for his climb to public service. He said the recession may make you unable to buy those things that you used to supplement the love you showed family and friends during good times, but it can't prevent you from being the loving person you want to be during these hard times.
"That $120 pair of LeBron James tennis shoes may help you jump one centimeter higher, but it does nothing for your reading comprehension. We can't continue judging our families by what we can buy our children; we must return to judging them by how much we love our children.
"Just because they can lay you off, downsize you and furlough you, doesn't mean they can downsize the love you have for your child."
Master of Ceremonies Quentin T. Howell introduced Thurmond saying the Commissioner was in Milledgeville despite lingering pain from a car accident suffered several days earlier.
Because I'll undoubtedly be rewriting something of this for Tuesday's print edition, I'm going to keep it lite and hopeful this Sunday morning.

Barbecue returns to political spotlight today in Statesboro

2010-03-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Peach Pundit is bull-horning a Statesboro barbecue party aimed at swaying Congressman John Barrow's vote on Healthcare Reform.
Barrow is one of several Georgia Blue Dog Democrats sitting on the fence with their vote for or against healthcare overhaul legislation. Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that eighth District Democrat Jim Marshall has already signaled he will vote no on the reconciled bill and says that Barrow will likely side against the bill as well. Sanford Bishop, a southwest Georgia Democratic representative, is reportedly undecided at this time, according to GPB.

Buzz From the Capitol: Post Spring Break (pt.1) Edition

2010-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

The following is a newsletter from state Senator Johnny Grant's office.

This week, the Senate returned from a two-week working recess. We took that valuable time to go over the FY 2011 budget line by line to find inefficeinces and waste in order to close the revenue gap. Unfortunately, we are at the point where no one will be spared cuts. Everyone must do their part and share the burden.

The last two weeks have seen a frenzy of talks about drastic cuts and massive layoffs within the University of Georgia. A large concern for rural areas is cuts to the 4-H and county extension programs. I strongly support these programs and will fight to see they are not completely cut from UGA’s community outreach program. 4-H touches the lives of more than 156,000 students and aides them in developing valuable life skills that prepares them for being leaders in their careers and community. Economic growth and success of Georgia agribusinesses greatly rely on the next generation of innovators. The Extension Service helps Georgians become healthier, more productive, financially independent and environmentally responsible. Most counties have a combination of agents who specialize in agriculture and natural resources, youth development and family and consumer sciences. These vital areas, run through the university system, will face some reductions, but they cannot shoulder the burden alone.

The Senate unanimously passed a significant bill targeted at protecting one of Georgia’s most vital natural resources: water. This conservation legislation will change the fundamental way water is conserved throughout the state. Local governments will now have the right to impose more stringent outdoor watering restrictions during non-drought periods whereas current law only allows them during drought periods. Many state agencies are reviewing practices, policies, programs, and rules/regulations to identify opportunities to provide programs and incentives for voluntary water conservation and enhancement of the state’s water supply.

The most sweeping overhaul of the Georgia property tax system in decades received unanimous consent in the Senate this week. This bill is the result of much testimony highlighting the inefficiencies and errors of the property tax system. One of the biggest issues is that the system is based on human assessment of value that is rampant with error, politics, and inaccuracies.

The two major concerns we heard from citizens was subjectivity of the process and lack of clarity in the appeal process. Many Georgians stated the inconsistencies of tax assessors who didn’t even enter their homes or take into account the actual market price of their homes. Many noted the lack of transparency and the convoluted nature of the process. Many of you in Middle Georgia have had your requests for appeal turned down simply because you missed a deadline you didn’t know existed.

Simply put, Georgians and Middle Georgians deserve better. I am proud of the work we accomplished this week in the Senate and I am ready for the work ahead. There is much work left to do with the FY 2010 and FY 2011 budgets but I am confident we will come together and face the uphill battle with a common understanding that Georgia will come out of this recession a stronger state.

As always, it continues to be an honor to serve in the General Assembly on the behalf of my constituents throughout the 25th district. I look forward to the remaining days in session and I vow to work tirelessly ensuring all legislation that comes across my desk works for you and all Georgians.

# # # #

Whoah, it's been a while...

2010-03-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been so absent for so long. And I can't really promise that today's posts will mark a reinvigorated One Capital Removed in the month to come. Continuing projects, new opportunities and the prospect of a personal life that remains a top priority have pushed this blog to the back burner for the time being.
But in keeping with my promise to at least forward on the content other people are writing I've signed back in--if just for an early afternoon.

New York Ordered to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act

2010-03-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

An anonymous reader--or perhaps one whose e-mail address I should recognize--sent this link from The New York Times about a federal judge ordering the State of New York to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and seemingly though not mentioned, the Olmstead decision by building 4,500 units of supportive housing over the next three years to move adult mental health consumers out of "warehouse-like" adult homes in New York City.

"The judge said that only people with the most severe mental illness, including those deemed a danger to themselves or others, should be housed in adult homes. He also said that residents who were eligible for supportive housing may choose to stay in adult homes as long as they have been apprised of their options."

The article goes on to say that the judge has ordered the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee the process of making supportive housing available and transitioning consumers into it.
More stories like this are sure to lend credence to The Baldwin Bulletin headlines that say President Barack Obama's administration is advocating for adult mental health services to be administered in the community setting, in accordance with Olmstead, and not in the institutional setting.
But now there is a measuring stick with which we can compare what is yet to come in the State of Georgia's struggles to retain control over its mental health system.

Rep. Kidd's Mid-Session legislative update

2010-03-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

The following is a legislative update from state Representative Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville.

Mid Year Update

The Georgia Legislature of 40 working days is ALMOST half over but Senator Grant and I have been at the capital some 30 plus days so far this session with weekend appropriation meetings to begin this month.

As you read daily the main topic is the budget and the lack of State funds to continue State programs. We here in Baldwin County are very knowledgeable about budget shortfalls for we have seen over 2200 State jobs lost and another 1700 regular jobs lost just over the past 2 years with possibly a few more before the bleeding stops.

At Central State the real culprit is the buildings are old and cost too much to retrofit or to build a new facility. Hence the Federal Justice Department and the State Department of Behavioral Health have closed and are closing some of the older buildings moving the clients to other facilities within the region.

Senator Grant and or I have met with the Governor 4 times, the director of Behavioral Health 5 times and the Federal Judge once trying to find ways to better utilize what we have left and how Baldwin County can continue to have a “significant” mental health presence, maintaining current jobs and hopefully creating more jobs.

One good announcement hopefully will breed more positive results.

Yes Baldwin County was selected as the site for a new 1000-2500 bed privatized prison. Construction should start around July 1, 2010.

With our growing prison population there is a new interest on the part of Oconee Regional Hospital to take over management and re-open the Kidd Medical Surgical Hospital at CSH. If all works out it would be available for inpatient and outpatient treatment of prisoners in and around Baldwin County. It would also treat those who are housed at the War Veterans Home, Craig Nursing Home and CSH patients. It would also be available, via its emergency room, to treat the general public for those in need on the Southside.

We are looking now for a privatized provider to begin talks about a nursing home on the Southside to house only the elderly prison population. This the state needs and will contract with or build in the near future.

Already we have people looking at the Ireland YDC property to reopen as a traditional YDC or as a State compound to begin transferring some of the 22,000 county jail inmates who have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness. Relieving the responsibility of these prisoners with mental illness from our county jails and county budgets.

July 1, 2010 the State will issue an RFP for another 200 bed forensic facility. Hope we will get that also.

As you see we are constantly working trying to find ways to replace the unemployed with good jobs in Baldwin County. Bring us your ideas, for we want and need them.

Some of the main issues being discussed now are obviously the budget. Roughly 88% of the state budget goes toward Education, Medicaid and Prisons. That leaves only 10 – 12% for all other state programs and services.

Half of Georgia’s budget goes to Pre-K through 12th grade schools and education. Some of the approved budget is 29 million going to school nurses. Teachers a bonus of 7.2 million. The University system budget is cut by 236 million which will probably result in higher tuition.

Funds were restored to fund Liberal Arts at Georgia College.

23 new State Troopers are funded and 1.7 million for a center of Health Science at our Tech School.

$1.38 million is appropriated to design and construct diverting the Baldwin Building at CSH to a Mental Health Building. $2,245 million to replace natural gas lines at CSH. $505,000 for improvements to Georgia War Veteran Home. $315,000 for improvements to the Vinson Building at CSH.

Some of the issues I have received calls or emails about are:
MID YEAR BUDGET & FY 2001 BUDGET

HR 1177 Pari-mutuel Horse Racing
HR 1090 One term for Governor for 6 years
HB 669 Boating under the influence
HB 307 1.6% hospital bed tax
HB 919 2% sales tax increase to be repealed when revenue equals 2006 level
HB 1141 Voters Petition
SB 99 Lake Sinclair
HB 919 Ethics
HB 1030 Merging Department Pardons and Parole with Department of Corrections
HB 788 Animal euthanasia
HB 180 Tattooing
HB 1073 Absentee ballots for those in Military
HR 1401 Coroner education
HB 819 Handgun License
HB 39 Increase tobacco tax by $1 per pack
SB 425 Community Health Boards – members shall have no conflicts of interest
SB 5 Seatbelts – Mandatory to all drivers wear seatbelts, to levy a Gov. Proposal 1% sales tax for transportation
HR 912, HB 912 & HB 920 Ethics legislation and lobbyist disclosures
Georgia Trauma Centers – Several bills
Beer Alcohol Tax increase

To contact Representative Rusty Kidd: rustykidd@gmail.com
Atlanta (404) 655-0334
M’vill (478) 452-1354
Cell (478) 451-7029

To contact Senator Johnny Grant: sengrant@windstream.net
Atlanta (404) 656-0082

# # # #

I think Rusty's update is interesting as it includes the list of things constituents are calling him about.

Accepting or Rejecting Web site: AP's Perspective

2010-02-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

"I would say it's a little bit art and a little bit science, but we're mindful of the fact that we don't want the Stylebook to be a 9,000-page thing that hits your desk with a thud."

Read this delightful story about how the changing world looks to the editors of the Associated Press Stylebook.

Buzz From the Capitol: Supplemental Budget Edition

2010-02-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

The following is a newsletter distributed by state Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, and the Senate Press Office:

As the General Assembly reached the midpoint this week, the Senate took a major step forward and passed the amended FY 10 budget. It will now sit in a conference committee so that we can reconcile our differences with the House. While I know there is much work left to do with FY 11 budget, I m proud of what we have accomplished so far.

It would be nearly impossible to find a Georgian who has not felt the effects of the current financial crisis. January brought additional sobering revenue news, making it more difficult for the Senate to produce a balanced budget. (Note: The sobering news is that January revenues were down 8.7 percent from January 2009 figures. With January numbers recorded, Georgia's revenue collections have been sliding for 14 straight months. This is especially troubling because Governor Sonny Perdue's recommended 2011 budget was written on the expectation of four percent revenue growth.)

The Appropriations Committee diligently went through the House version of the FY 10 amended budget and changed very little. However, one of the significant changes we made was regarding the Quality Basic Education formula. It was increased by $92.8 million to account for K-12 enrollment growth. This is partly offset by the $203 million saved by teacher’s furlough days.

During budget negotiations, I worked closely with the Department of Corrections, ensuring Middle Georgia receives fair consideration in the planning process. We worked collectively to address the pressures placed on county jail programs by closures of state prisons. I helped secure $9.8 million to assist with jail backlogs across the state, and particularly in our area.

Working alongside the Department of Behavioral Health, I combed through the extra $20.3 million allotted for mental health in Georgia. We continue to work and ensure every penny is spent for improved patient care. The largest portion of the increase in funding will be spent on hiring personnel to improve provider to client ratios. Mental health is a very integral part of our district, so we must be vigilant in our efforts to maintain and improve Central State Hospital and our other mental health facilities.

Apart from the budget, Baldwin County has been a big focus of attention. News broke recently that a new prison facility is likely to be constructed in south Baldwin County. Upon the final approval processes, construction will begin and the prison is planning to open as early as 2011. More than 200 jobs will be created as a result of this new prison and it will hopefully ease the pain of the Scott and River’s state prisons closing earlier this year.

It is exciting that in the face of major budget cuts within the Department of Corrections and throughout the state, we will get a new facility that better suits the needs of correctional officers and inmates. It will host 1,000 beds but that could become 2,500 beds in the future, meaning an additional increase in jobs as well.

As always, it continues to be an honor to serve in the General Assembly on the behalf of my constituents throughout the 25th district. I look forward to the remaining days in session and I vow to work tirelessly ensuring all legislation that comes across my desk works for you and all Georgians.

# # # #

This is the second One Capital Removed edition of state Senator Johnny Grant's semi regular newsletter. I'm posting this now, while waiting to get back in touch with Grant to ask him questions about said AFY2010 budget. Check out The Union-Recorder's print edition to find out how that conversation goes.

"Perishable items produced in the state do not even have to be reported"

2010-02-22T05:15:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, the AJC had this delicious vignette about culinary culture under the Gold Dome.

"Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch never stepped inside the Georgia Capitol when the state Legislature comes to town.
Not only lunch, but breakfast, brunch, dinner and an endless array of artery-clogging snackage are heaped on lawmakers’ plates every day -- and night -- during the annual 40-day session.

I guess they were simply trying to whet readers' appetites for this hearty main course in the paper's Sunday edition.

"New House Speaker David Ralston has advocated for ethics reform at the state Legislature, but that doesn’t mean he’s steering clear of meals with lobbyists.
Reports to the State Ethics Commission show lobbyists spent about twice as much on Ralston in January as they did on Glenn Richardson, the man he replaced, during the same month last year.

If You Know He Has the Solution, Why Didn't You Tell Us to Hire Him Before?

2010-02-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Telegraph's Travis Fain gets the skinny on the newest state partnership to get Georgia's Mental Health Delivery System up to snuff.
Get the details about the plan, the man--including a good background about National Mental Health Czar Dr. Nirbhay Singh--and legislators' thoughts here.
Reading the piece, it seems the state may have jumped the gun on this one as it sounds like Singh's contracted scope of work centers on the hospitals.
The U.S. Department of Justices' January filing clearly requests the proposed monitor to oversee the process of putting the state in compliance with the Olmstead Decision by making the hospitals a last-resort service provider, as opposed to the front door--if not only entrance--to the state's mental health delivery system.
You can read more about Olmstead here.
Note Johnny Grant's concerns at the end of Fain's story:

State Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, said he’s criticized the state for spending money on private consultants instead of patient care. But he said the Department of Justice, with its difficult demands for a quick turnaround in a massive system, “changes all of the equilibrium,” Grant said.
Said Grant: “I don’t know where all of this will take us.”

As a side note: Georgia's Old Capital Museum will present a lecture by mental health advocate and local historian Bud Merritt at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Old Capitol Building's Legislative Chambers.
"Silent Witnesses: Cemeteries at Central State Hospital" explores the strange relationship between the Milledgeville community and one of the nation's largest mental health institutions, focusing on the discovery and restoration of several of the hospital's nearly forgotten cemeteries.
I recommend this as a must hear for those who want greater insight into this watershed moment in the community's history.

Shorter Terms for Transpo Board Members?

2010-02-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Apparently last month's mutiny by DOT Board members is fueling more legislative proposals curtailing the governing organization's grip on the Transportation Department.
Read more--well not much more--at AJC Political Insider.

From the Desk of Senator Johnny Grant

2010-02-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

State Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, has been providing our newsroom with these weekly updates from the Upper Chamber of the Gold Dome. In keeping with the mission statement, I'll try to disseminate them here when they are forwarded to me.

The Buzz from the State Capitol

By Senator Johnny Grant
As the weeks have moved along, the Senate has turned their focus to other pertinent legislation while we wait for the House to pass their version of the FY 10 amended budget. In the meantime, the Senate has continued Appropriations Sub-Committee meetings in an effort to prepare for the version we will get from the House.

At these appropriations sub committee meetings, agency heads come and present their budgets and agendas, much like the joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee meetings a few weeks ago. This is a more in-depth look at agency budgets. Two particular agencies I have been working closely with are the Department of Behavioral Health and the Department of Corrections.

Central State Hospital is a vital element of the economy of Middle Georgia. It is the largest mental health treatment facility in the state and is a source for many jobs. It is also called home by many Georgians. As most of you know, under an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, the state has an obligation to improve its mental health facilities. Dr. Shelp, head of the Department of Behavioral Health gave his presentation to the committee, vowing that he would transform his department into a more effective, functional service organization. To make this possible, there is a significant increase of almost double the mental health funding in the FY 10 and FY 11 budgets and we intend to see that every dollar is effectively used for improving patient care.

Another major sector of the Middle Georgia economy is the correctional facilities. Coupled with Central State Hospital, the jobs at these facilities represent a big chunk of the work force in Middle Georgia. It is hard to imagine prison facilities closing, as was suggested right before the governor’s budget was released. In dealing with an amended budget of about $36 million less than the original FY 10 budget, we must work even harder to ensure that instead of closing facilities, we eliminate waste and create efficiency.

We have to be proactive and work with legislators, the governor and the agency heads to ensure these vital pieces of the economy remain fully functioning. There is no doubt that it will take work. We have a long road ahead of us, but it’s worth all the time and effort to see a thriving community.

As always, it continues to be an honor to serve in the General Assembly on the behalf of my constituents throughout the 25th district. I look forward to the remaining days in session and I vow to continue to work tirelessly to make sure all the legislation that comes across my desk works for you and all Georgians.

# # # #

note: Grant is a Georgia Tech graduate, I imagine the title of his newsletter is some reference to that as the Georgia Tech College Republicans publish a newspaper titled The Conservative Buzz.

A Few Notes about the City of Milledgeville

2010-02-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

With a new Council seated this year, one of their first tasks will be to place a permanent City Manager. Water and Sewer Department Director Barry Jarrett is manning the helm on an interim basis, and back-to-back personnel-issue driven City Council executive sessions would lead one to believe that Council is at least talking about naming a replacement for Milledgeville's first City Manager, Scott Wood, who took a job in Canton last year.
But the City of Milledgeville may be posting another job opening in the coming months as City Planner Russell Thompson appears to be looking to take on more responsibility.
The Summerville News in Summerville, a north north west Georgia town of about 4,500 people in Chattooga County, reported last month that Thompson was one of two finalists for the Summerville City Manager position.
Thompson played an integral role in helping launch the city's municipal wireless broadband network, and Wood had attempted last year to have Council approve an Assistant City Manager position for Thompson to reflect the role he played in city administration. That initiative failed to come to fruition, with Council citing budgetary concerns.
Thompson also recently began a term as a member of City Council in neighboring Gray.

The Framers' Intent

2010-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Freedom of speech issues gone awry. This line from an AP story in the Washington Post made me guffaw:

"Half the pickup lines in bars across the country could be criminalized under that concept," he said.

The Plight of Local Governments

2010-02-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

The AJC has a good, long sign-of-the-times piece about how Atlanta bedroom communities are handling the first major hiccup of their nascent existences.
Despite the apples-and-oranges ATL-centric focus of the story, it has some points that are just as applicable for Micropolitan Baldwin County:

‘Squeezing blood’
It’s a given that people who best weather rocky financial times are those who diversify their investments. A professor at Kennesaw State says public agencies are similar: Those with diverse revenue sources aren’t as hard-hit as single-industry towns.

And the article does good by highlighting some of the cost-cutting measures and progressive steps local governments are taking to weather the economic storm.

Transportation Board Comes Full Circle

2010-02-06T07:39:00.000-08:00

Kiss any major federal transportation money goodbye until voters can decide on a constitutional change in November.
I have yet to hear what will probably be a brusque retelling of how this went down, but I'm sure it will be excellent.
From the AJC:

“I had never been over to the state capitol where I saw so much consistency in the disbelief of what the board did, and anger,” Transportation Board Chair Bill Kuhlke told his fellow board members.

No Parham quotes in this one.

DOT AccountingGate Keeps On Moving

2010-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

AJC has the details from Thursday's state Senate Transportation Committee meeting in which senators railed on state Transportation Board members about the vote to go back to a form of accounting that would allow GDOT to begin multi-year federal transportation contracts without having the entire amount of money needed to pay for the project on hand when the project is let.
The thing that is getting me at this time is legislator's insistence that GDOT is right to be accounting that way, but anger that the board voted to actually go forward with it.
Per my discussion with transpo lobbyist Chuck Clay, this really is a race to get back in the federal highway/transpo money game.

"For the good of Georgia—not GDOT, the Governor or the legislature—please let these people sit down and get behind the effort [to resolve this issue]. Because once that [federal roads] money goes to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina, it cannot go back to Georgia. It is not simply sitting in an envelope in Washington with Georgia’s name written onto it."

As the AJC article states at the bottom--where they always put his quotes: "Board member Bobby Parham, who first raised the issue last month, said he did not plan to change his vote."

Lame Duck or Not, Perdue is Swinging for the Fences

2010-02-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

State Representative Rusty Kidd turned me on to this article in the AJC this morning.
It seems Governor Sonny Perdue has some more far-reaching plans to expand power in the Governor's office by proposing a constitutional referendum to allow subsequent governors the ability to appoint the Agriculture, Insurance and Labor commissioners, as well as the state School Superintendent.
The change, should it be adopted by two-thirds majorities in the state House and Senate and a majority of voters in the November election, would go into effect in 2014.
AJC is reporting that the Governor is looking to other states in his decision to move to appointing these state officers.

"Georgia is one of only five states that elect a labor commissioner and one of only nine states to elect its agriculture commissioner. Twelve other states elect an insurance commissioner and 14 vote for state school superintendent."

The measure is being sold as a way of ensuring that commissioners are staying focused on state issues and not out chasing higher offices.
Kidd wonders whether the Governor has the political capital to move forward on a sweeping change like this his last year in office. But he added that House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons Island, told him he is contemplating the idea of packaging Perdue's proposal with Kidd's proposed constitutional amendment to limit the governor to one six-year term.
Expect to hear more about this in the coming week

Westsiders Best Be Boiling

2010-02-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

This was just sent out by the City of Milledgeville Water Department:

Public Notice to Boil Water
Due to a major line break and reduced pressure, the City of Milledgeville water system has issued“Notice to Boil” water for the residents of Meriwether Circle, Pine Lane, Stevens Drive and Central Georgia Technical School.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and making ice should be boiled and cooled prior to use. The water should be brought to a vigorous, rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. Children should be monitored closely during this time. In lieu of boiling, you may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source.
When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the water system officials will notify you that the water is safe for consumption. The water system officials are anticipating two to three days. The City of Milledgeville water system officials are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause.

If you have any question concerning this matter, you may contact the Water and Sewer Department at (478) 414-4052.
Barry Jarrett
Interim City Manager

Donate to the Bostick State Prison Book Club

2010-02-02T14:14:00.001-08:00

GCSU Professor Douglas Goings is looking for copies of last year's Big Read title "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest Gaines to provide to the Bostick State Prison Book Club. If you have a copy that you'd be willing to donate please contact him at douglas.goings@gcsu.edu

Democratic Goobernatorial Debate Tonight

2010-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

Per Lucid Idiocy and David Poythress:
We wanted to remind you that tonight the Democratic Party of Georgia is hosting the first televised Gubernatorial Debate of the 2010 primary election.

It will be held in Athens at the PJ Auditorium, located in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Some last minute seats may be available, but you must arrive no later than 6:30 PM to be seated, and the debate begins at 7:00 PM.

For those of you who can't be in Athens tonight, it will be aired live on WNEG-TV (Athens), WGCL-TV (Atlanta) and WALB-TV (Albany). It will air on WRDW-TV (Augusta) at noon on Saturday. WMAZ-TV (Macon) will air it online tonight, as well as on Saturday at 7:00 PM. We encourage you to check your local listings.

Rasmussen: Voters Trust Collective Conscious of American People More than U.S. Government

2010-02-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Again I say, what is America coming to?
Maybe it's just the city slicker who grew up in Atlanta traffic in me, but I've never had an abundance of confidence in the sprawling masses zooming by me, eating their cheeseburgers and shouting into cell phones at 75 mile per hour.
Not to say this is some kind of binary relation where the balance of that confidence was placed in phony on the left or the phony on the right who just happened to have convinced 50 percent plus one of area voters to send him or her to swampland, or the Gold Dome for that matter.
From the story on Rasmussen Reports:

"Polling conducted from January 18 through January 24 found that 76% of voters generally trust the American people more than political leaders on important national issues. Seventy-one percent (71%) view the federal government as a special interest group, and 70% believe that the government and big business typically work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors. On each question, a majority of Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters share those views.
These results help explain why most voters are angry at the policies of the federal government, and most think that neither political party understands what the country needs.
“The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. The American people want to govern themselves," says Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “The American attachment to self-governance runs deep. It is one of our nation’s cherished core values and an important part of our cultural DNA.”"

Fight Over Transportation Spilling Out of state Capitol Complex

2010-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

AJC's Political Insider is saying that Perdue is now colliding with Congressman John Lewis over the state's inability to lockdown federal monies for high speed rail.

Forgoing Critical Thought on Regina Thomas' Chances in the Primary, Savannah Morning News Picks Barrow in 010 General Election

2010-02-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

I had meant to say something about the John Barrow political mailer I received just about first thing in the new year. It gave a county by county breakdown of the federal grants he has locked down for the 12th District.
But this came up in my Google Alerts and I think it'll be just as easy to link to this.
The piece takes a look at his voting record and comes to this conclusion:

"Republicans grouse about liberal GOP officials they call RINOs - Republicans In Name Only. These days, as least, Barrow is almost a DINO - or Democrat In Name Only.
Sure, that miffs liberals, who backed former state Sen. Regina Thomas against him in the 2008 Democratic primary, as they do this year.
She got 24 percent in 2008, so that base looks covered. And the more she attacks his positions, the better he may look to general election voters.
It will take a dynamic challenger to knock off Barrow, who, by the way, soon likely will report a $1 million-plus campaign till. So far, neither GOP candidate is being confused with the Charisma Kid."

Right now, it appears that Barrow's likely Republican challengers include Carl Smith and Jeanne Seaver. It appears Republican COL. Wayne Mosley, M.D. has dropped out of the race.

A Transportation Blunder?

2010-02-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

Although you can't read the story without penetrating the paywall, you can see from Insider Advantage's homepage that Dick Pettys thinks the state Transportation Board's action to reinstate accrual accounting may be a sizable miscalculation.
Now I haven't read Pettys' story either, but some conversations I had last week (before the other shoe dropped on the state's mental health system issues) led me to the same perception.
I don't gather that many under the Gold Dome disagree with the desired outcome, but it is the way the Board is going about doing it.
Chuck Clay, a former state Senate minority leader and current lobbyist for one of Georgia's largest transportation contractors C.W. Matthews, said the state's leadership cannot delay in finding a way around this constitutional question because it wants to argue about why it happened in the first place.
"We cannot jeopardize this because we are getting into a dispute," he said. "For the good of Georgia—not GDOT, the Governor or the legislature—please let these people sit down and get behind the effort [to resolve this issue]. Because once that [federal roads] money goes to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina, it cannot go back to Georgia. It is not simply sitting in an envelope in Washington with Georgia’s name written onto it."
I had seen this earlier Friday, and Clay mentioned it when we talked. There is a Senate Resolution to place a referendum on the ballot to amend the state constitution to allow the practice of signing multi-year transportation contracts without having the entire cost of the project in the treasury at the time.
This seems like the best thing, but on an issue like this, I imagine it's going to take quite a get-out-the-vote effort for people to mash yes on this one.

Another unexpected expense under the Gold Dome

2010-02-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

In another interesting, yet not exactly germane, note from Macon's General Assembly bureau, it appears that the walls are falling down in the Capitol Building.

ATLANTA — Large pieces of plaster from a top floor of the state Capitol came crashing through a tile ceiling last month, smashing a computer and table in a legislative office below.
The chunks of plaster fell during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, and no one was in the office at the time. Legislative secretaries returned to work to find state Rep. Mickey Channell’s office in a shambles — gaping holes in the ceiling, smashed furniture and plaster on the floor.

At least now we know that Milledgeville isn't the only thing state government is allowing to crumble these days.

House Seating Assignments Making News This Weekend

2010-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

This Saturday's Political Notebook in the Macon Telegraph has an interesting observation concerning Baldwin County legislator Rusty Kidd.

Kidd in Ralston’s seat
Speaking of the pecking order in the House of Representatives, new state Rep. Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, landed an interesting seating assignment.

In offices, where legislators sit in the House Chamber often speaks to their position, Kidd’s seat has a nice bit of immediate history. Before he was elected speaker of the house this year, state Rep. David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, occupied Kidd’s new desk.

The other shoe dropping on Georgia Mental Health System

2010-01-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

The Department of Justice has filed a motion to put a federal monitor in the state's mental health system.
From the Department of Justice press release

"The motion, filed late yesterday, seeks appointment of a monitor who will set binding targets and timetables for reducing the number of residents at the hospitals and expanding appropriate community based services."

More on what this means in tomorrow's Union-Recorder.

Update:Department of Behavioral Health Spokesman Tom Wilson just told me that the state will be fighting the DOJ motion as it asks for too dramatic of a change in the state's delivery of mental health services.

Macon to Milledgeville Rail-to-Trail?

2010-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

Macon.com has this article about a proposal to imbue the Middle Georgia region with plenty more bicycling options for transit and leisure.
I was holding my breath about how this might affect Milledgeville until I read this:

"Of particular interest to Clark is the Macon-Milledgeville Rail-to-Trail, an effort to convert an abandoned CSX rail line to connect Macon’s Ocmulgee Heritage Trail to Milledgeville’s proposed Fishing Creek Trail."

I'll see if this is on anyone else's radar at the ole U-R, and get back to this.

Governor Reacts to DOT Board Accounting Changes

2010-01-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

This story seems to be getting more complicated all the time. An auditor I talked to yesterday said that the change in accounting practices--from accrual to cash and back to accrual--should not be the main issue here as the two practices are really just different ways of looking at a budget and spending plan, and are commonly used interchangeably to give a more holistic view of an organization's financial well being.
Yes! That means I was wrong, I think?
But this clearly shows that the parties in Atlanta are circling the wagons and getting ready for a showdown.
From the Governor's Office:

Statement of Governor Sonny Perdue Regarding DOT Board Action on Accounting Methods
Thursday, January 28, 2010 Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue issued the following statement today regarding actions by the DOT Board in defying the State Auditor and voting to change the department’s accounting methods:

“Today’s action by the DOT Board exhibits a clear defiance of state law and a frightening lack of concern for our state’s financial systems.

The state’s finance team, along with SRTA, identified an opportunity to refinance outstanding bonds for road projects and save DOT a total of $22 million in debt service, including $16 million in FY 2011. Given the uncertainty that has now been unnecessarily created by the Board, we cannot proceed with the refinancing at this time.

The Board is refusing to heed the sound advice of the State Auditor and the department’s own legal and financial staff. Previous Attorney General opinions also make it very clear that the department must follow the same accounting procedures as the rest of state government.

While I am incredibly frustrated that we are forced to pass up a substantial savings opportunity, I am more concerned that this Board continues to act irresponsibly and show such little regard for the state’s conservative fiscal management policies.”

###

We're hearing that a car has crashed into the Mayor's Office on South Wayne

2010-01-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Update: A minivan drove through the back of the building. Everyone is okay. But my colleague reports that Wilkinson Insurance employee Jim Fain says it sounded like gunshots and employees narrowly avoided being hit by the vehicle that is now inside the office.

Update 2:

It appears from this picture, that the van went through Carl Wilkinson's office.

Legislators stop to think before passing law

2010-01-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

What is the world coming to?
I found it a little humorous this morning hearing that House lawmakers paused a moment before ushering through texting while driving legislation yesterday.
According to the AJC, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee decided to send two bills to a study committee to determine whether or not there are ways to properly enforce the proposed laws.
Perhaps legislators just didn't want to get caught taking any cues from the federal government.
I can empathize with the concern that this might be another unenforceable law. I used to work summers for the Governor's Office of Highway Safety counting seat belt usage on the side of the roads and highways across the State of Georgia. But I think H.B. 944 sponsor Amos Amerson, R-Dahlonega, has it right on this one:

“We pass a lot of laws and we don’t try to determine how to enforce them,” Amerson said. “It is like the seat belt law. I am sure they will come up with a method.”

The thing that made me smile was the sudden need for accountability in the laws passed by the General Assembly.
The uproar from this story about tax breaks that may or may not be working (we just don't know!) quickly died down once the public could go back to talking about sexy lobbyists and how they're tarnishing the reputation of General Assembly.
Maybe I'm asking too much for the General Assembly to hastily pass legislation that would tack on an extra revenue-generating fine for people who are caught doing stupid things in the State of Georgia.

The Internet, Alternate Realities and Where We're Going As a People

2010-01-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

I awoke this morning to see this Rasmussen Reports poll in my inbox.

"...[A] new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 23% of adults think they personally spend too much time using the Internet, computers and mobile communications devices.
Seventy-one percent (71%) disagree and believe the amount of time they spend this way is appropriate.
Seventy-five percent (75%), however, believe young children spend too much time on computers and other electronic equipment.

That might not mean much to me on any other given day, but last night--after a long City Council meeting that could have been done in under a half-hour, had Council not convened an almost hour-long executive session for the second meeting in a row--I cracked open Matt Taibbi's The Great Derangement about the effects of an America that is increasingly disengaging from society to interact in isolationist online and real-life communities that adhere to the singular world view of one's choice.
What good is the World Wide Web if you use it solely to bolster your own view point?
The growing way in which many people use these information resources to cloak themselves in a smug certainty that they are right and everyone else is wrong, misguided or delusional is alarming. And it is turning us all into one another's enemies.
Take this earlier Rasmussen poll:

I take some umbrage from this as I was accused of of being guilty of this during the last election cycle. But without naming names, I think it couldn't be more ridiculous in this one isolated incident involving me because the candidate they were saying I was biased against was the one that I supported in my non-newspaper reporting life.
But the kicker on this isn't the number of people who think the press is biased or more liberal or whatever, it's the numbers about a minute and thirty seconds in that I want to emphasize.
Only 21 percent of people are going to get their political news from the Internet this election year. That's just about the same 23 percent who say they spend too much time on the Internet.
The vast majority (considering there are four options here) will be tuning into the nightly news for their political pickins, and print and radio will scour the bottom for a combined 16 percent.
So lets look at it this way.
In a year when the entire state legislature will be up for reelection--we'll see how many actual contests there are this year--three-fifths of us will be relying on the television to give them information on candidates. Just under a quarter will be plotting their own course for campaign coverage and the rest will hope that they can get what they need from local sources.
For Milledgeville that's a little disturbing. There are no local television stations, so almost 60 percent of us will not hear anything about our local races for the Georgia General Assembly. Just under a quarter of us will get to read what the candidates want us to know about them. And 9 percent of us will rely on the efforts of one person who must balance the elections with the needs of city and county governments, plus whatever church barbecues, new wing restaurants and motorcycle club poker runs that pop up during that time.
It is scary to think that the ever expanding media landscape is doing exactly the opposite of what is possible, and that we the public are the reason it's happening.
Just consider this some kind of open thread rant.

Parham Stirs the Pot

2010-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

State Transportation Board member Bobby Parham showed up again in the AJC late last week. If you didn't catch that, you can check it out here. (The best part of the story, and the most illuminating, is found in the comments section.)
Parham also stopped by the Union-Recorder offices Monday to defend a State Transportation Board decision to reverse a former DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham (Evans)-era accounting change that he says has slowed the DOT's ability to keep Georgians at work building and maintaining the country's best state highway system.
Parham said the change, from a cash to an accrual method of accounting, would allow the DOT to borrow money to fund the state's portion of federally-backed road projects on the promise of the federal government making good on their end of the investment.
Evans, a perennial Perdue appointee, implemented the cash accounting procedure after a 2008 DOT audit accused a DOT treasurer of purposefully intending "to hide the true state of GDOT’s finances."
As the AJC and ATL Bizness Chronicle reports say above, the state Transportation Board has already passed a motion to move back to the accrual form of accounting in last week's meeting. But Parham said Trans Board Chair Bill Kuhlke called a special meeting for this Thursday, and he (Parham) thinks Kulhke will try to get the board to reconsider the motion, or at least postpone the change until the next fiscal year, which begins in July.
Board members are asking Attorney General Thurbert Baker to decide whether or not it is constitutional for DOT to use the accrual accounting.
Parham says there is more to this story, so watch it grow legs Friday.

In Reference to a Detailed Explanation

2010-01-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

From my vantage point, it seemed like the joint Appropriations Committee was much more concerned with grilling Dr. Rhonda Meadows of the Department of Community Health than it was with Dr. Frank Shelp of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities yesterday. But the hearing did convey some interesting details.
In response to a question from state Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, Shelp said that the state narrowly avoided a U.S. Department of Justice request to shut Central State Hospital down following Justice's first visit to the campus sometime last year.
Shelp also said that the partnership between the East Central Regional Hospital in Augusta and the Medical College of Georgia has greatly increased that hospital's ability to take an increased case load due to the diversion of mental health consumers away from Central State. Shelp said to be expecting more partnership announcements in the coming weeks.
State Representative Rusty Kidd seems to think that Milledgeville may be a party to some of those announcements.
Some of Shelp's discussion about developmental disabilities programming caused me to think that there may be plans for the state to divest itself of one of its developmental disabilities facilities.
In a conversation following the hearing, Grant told me that it would be hard for the state to walk away from the developmental disabilities program at Central State because it has the largest census of people utilizing that programming in the state.
But heed this warning:
"Daniel, I just don't know. If you'd have asked me last week, or even earlier this week, I'd have told you that I felt Central State was pretty stable. Long term, I think Shelp is right, and I've even heard it in a lot of conversations with others: The ultimate goal is to not have long term clients in hospital or institutional settings. Olmstead extends to mental health."

Barnes Polling Neck and Neck with Ox and Handel

2010-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! Don't forget Nathan Deal--I always do.
Polling people Rasmussen Reports just released this polling information about a survey pitting former Governor Roy Barnes against the top three Republican frontrunners in this year's goobernatorial election.
Barnes comes out on top by razor-thin margins in all but the Ox contest in which he is down by two percentage points. No candidate pulled a majority in any of the races except if you match Ox up against Attorney General Thurbert Baker.
Baker is running a distant second to Barnes in polling for the Democratic nomination.
Read the full report here.

View from the Newsroom

2010-01-21T05:53:00.000-08:00

We didn't get yesterday's news until approximately 4:45 p.m. I don't know how to contextualize that fact.
I feel that Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities spokesman Tom Wilson went out of his way to make sure we got the information before we read about it in someone else's paper. But as we got the news, we began to notice that other Middle Georgia media outlets were already posting incomplete stories as we were just hearing it.
As you may well be able to imagine, when news like this breaks at 5 in the afternoon, it is hard to get people on the phone to talk about it. Central State Hospital spokespeople had already gone home--and that didn't matter much anyways because Atlanta had put a gag order on them. And the legislative delegation was either incommunicado or wasn't saying anything until they had more details.
But the eeriest part about the afternoon was overhearing the phone calls people were making from other departments of the paper as the news filtered throughout the building.
I heard the phrase 'they're closing the Powell Building' ring out repeatedly through the next two hours as we rushed to try and write stories for today's front page.
Milledgeville has gone through a lot of blood letting in the last two years, but this may be the biggest blow of all of them.
The dome of the Powell Building is as much of a symbol of the City of Milledgeville as the north and south gates of the Old Capitol. Central State Hospital is synonymous with the community that hosted it, and now the focal point of that institution will be moth-balled like the rest of the historic campus around it.
And to add insult to injury, the state is going to disrupt the lives of another 200 people in 'giving them the opportunity' to follow their job to where ever it is needed.
Some People Need Their Jobs Right Where They Have Them.

Central State Coverage from Here and There

2010-01-21T05:28:00.000-08:00

Because the Union-Recorder doesn't put much of their content online, I thought I would use the blog to connect local readers to more information about the symbolic end of Central State Hospital.
And you might want to read what some senior reporters have to say about this complex issue anyways.
The AJC has this report that delves deep into their back pages to chronicle the many times that Central State has wound up in their paper. It also details the 1960's coverage by the late Jack Nelson.
The Telegraph gives a good testimonial from a Macon-area mental health advocate about the struggle to get Middle Georgians with mental health issues assistance since Central State started diverting clients to other hospitals in November. That part of the story comes four paragraphs down.
The story also quotes state Sen. Johnny Grant about the closing.

"Two more area prisons are on the chopping block, and a partial shutdown at Central State is “not what Baldwin County needs to hear right now,” state Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, said Wednesday."

Although not strictly related, Lucid Idiocy posted this earlier in the day about the exodus of correctional jobs in Milledgeville.

Below is the text of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities press release announcing the closure.

STATE CONSOLIDATING HOSPITAL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

ATLANTA - Adult mental health services at Central State Hospital in
Milledgeville, Georgia, are being permanently moved to other hospitals within the state’s behavioral health system, the state agency in charge of the hospital announced today. The hospital will continue serving people with developmental disabilities, those in its nursing home, and those in its maximum security forensic facility, which serves people referred for treatment by the courts. Since November 2009, people in the areas served by Central State who needed hospitalization have received care at other state facilities instead. Based on their needs and the clinical assessment of their doctors, planning has begun to move the remaining few adult mental health consumers at Central State to other hospitals or discharge them back to their communities by March 1.

“While we originally stopped new admissions to Central State to fix problems related to safety and treatment at the hospital, what we’ve found through that process is that other hospitals have been well able to accommodate those individuals,” said Dr. Frank Shelp, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD).

The move to consolidate hospital services where possible is part of the department’s larger strategy of improving the state’s behavioral health system so that it’s more weighted towards community-based services while still retaining a role for hospitals in providing acute care. Under its Voluntary Compliance Agreement with the federal government, the state of Georgia has worked to move more people out of institutions and provide them with services to help them live independently in their own communities.

Approximately 200 employees at Central State will be affected by the change in services. DBHDD’s Office of Human Resources and the hospital’s leadership will work with staff to identify other opportunities at Central State and other hospitals that remain understaffed in key areas.
###

Hoping for a detailed explanation

2010-01-21T04:25:00.000-08:00

Behavioral Health Commissioner Dr. Frank Shelp will give his departmental budget presentation today at 11 p.m.
When I talked with state Rep. Rusty Kidd yesterday about the closing of the Adult Mental Health Services Program at Central State, he said that he would reserve all comments until he had heard it from the horse's mouth (Shelp). So you might want to hear it all yourself.
You should be able to watch via GPB here, but I'll tell you, I haven't been able to view any of these hearings there. It may be because I'm an apple egghead, as "Bubba" Williams said.

Out of My League

2010-01-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

I think you'd be surprised to hear that I'm blaming my recent absence from the blogosphere on the fact that I was not One Capital Removed this week, but actually reporting for The Union-Recorder from under the Gold Dome. Well not so much Thursday, but definitely Wednesday for the Governor's final State of the State Address.
But maybe that's in keeping with the witty blog title.
Either way you look at it, I'm not sure if we're much more informed following the news items of the week.
Governor Perdue delivered his final session-opening speech Wednesday and the verdict from the peanut gallery was all about the same.
I think this sums up my take on the speech:

"In a 37-minute-long speech that was long on style—quoting at liberty from the works of great thinkers such as Thomas Paine and Alexis de Tocqueville—and short on substance about how he would like legislators to tackle the challenges facing Georgia in the here and now, Perdue gave the General Assembly a pep talk to send them into the session."

But the real meat of the thing won't come out for another hour, when Perdue drops his proposed budget.
I unfortunately missed Perdue's press conference about his proposal for transportation funding because I was in a Georgia Press Association conference across the street from the Capitol. But much like his proposal to tie teacher pay to student performance, most of the heavy lifting will be done by his successor.
As I said above, today is going to be the big news day, and it is already delivering, with Perdue's budget at 11:45 a.m. and, possibly, the announcement of House Speaker David Ralston's committee assignments. Not the committee's he'll be on, of which I think tradition holds that there will be none, but the committee assignments he'll be doling out because he's got that right.
We'll, of course, be interested in this because Rep. Rusty Kidd will be getting his first assignments today.
I'm hoping for Appropriations and Health and Human Services assignments, and maybe State Institutions and Property, but that may make him too much like state Sen. Johnny Grant.
In other news of the day, I'm glad to hear Speaker Ralston has kept his promise to do away with the hawks system. I know I was a doubting thomas on this, but being a contrarian is my job.
I'm off for the rest of the day, so check in with my One Capital Removed approved bloggers (scroll to the bottom) for up-to-the-minute updates on everything that's going on in Georgia Politics, and I'll tell you something you already know later (please keep reading).

Chandler for Kemp

2010-01-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

AJC's Political Insider is reporting that Interim Secretary of State Brian Kemp has put together this election year's first statewide grassroots organization.
Former Baldwin County High School Principal Lyn Chandler is Baldwin County's organization representative.
Kemp will be running to retain the Secretary of State seat through the next cycle.