You don't see these to often in the blogosphere

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.

Joining the 1 Percenters

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.

Ox Refuses to Implement First Phase of Health Care Reform

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.

Barrow Not Leaving the Party of his Predecessors

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

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

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

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.

Shorter Terms for Transpo Board Members?

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.

DOT AccountingGate Keeps On Moving

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."

Fight Over Transportation Spilling Out of state Capitol Complex

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.

A Transportation Blunder?

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.

Governor Reacts to DOT Board Accounting Changes

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.”

###

"45% Say Random Group From Phone Book Better Than Current Congress"

If only there was some alternative universe where we could put this assertion to the test.
Rasmussen Reports determined this figure in a December poll.

"A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 45% of likely U.S. voters now think a group of people selected at random from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than the current Congress. That’s up 12 points from October 2008, just before the last congressional elections. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree, and another 19% are not sure. "

And it also appears that a majority of voters think our elected officials are paid too much--and with figures like they're quoting, I agree:

"Members of both the House and Senate are paid $174,000 per year. The political party leaders in both houses and the president pro tempore of the Senate earn $193,400 annually. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is the highest paid member of Congress, earning $223,500."

The Future

Oak Hill Middle's Aqueous Green Action Team hosted an environmental forum this week with Mayor Richard Bentley, Keep Milledgeville-Baldwin County Beautiful Executive Director Angie Gheesling and Milledgevile Master Gardener David Barnes.
The people you see behind us are they who will make this world a better place.

The Worst Decision the County Ever Made-For the City

First Presbyterian Church Green Initiative members Audie Wilson and Debbie Harshbarger giving a recycling presentation to City Council Tuesday Night.

Maybe it's just because County Commissioners are known to turn quickly on those who are still questioning their decision to add a $13.50 fee to all county water bills in order to facilitate curbside solid waste pickup, or maybe it's because the city really is perceived as the more progressive local governing body; but has anybody else wondered why the Milledgeville City Council is seemingly the new venue for all questions about the future of recycling in the Milledgeville-Baldwin County area?
Representatives of three different local environmental advocacy groups--the Aqueous Green Action Team, Georgia College's Environmental Science Club and the First Presbyterian Church Green Initiative--were on hand last night to engage Council in a conversation about what city officials can do to create more recycling options for community members.
Suggestions ranged from working as quickly as possible to open some kind of universally accessible recycling drop-off point to creating a community advisory board on recycling to creating a municipal recyclable materials processing center.
Read Wednesday's Union-Recorder to find out what options are currently on the table.

Tonight to be a big one at City Hall

Those interested in recycling, taxes and who'll be holding the reins at City Hall should make it out to tonight's Milledgeville City Council meeting.
And don't think you can just watch this one from home.
In a 7 p.m. work session Debbie Harshbarger and representatives from Georgia College & State University's Environmental Science Club will address Council about the county's solid waste management woes. Safe bet is they'll be talking more about the new lack of efficient avenues for recycling than the $13.50 monthly charge currently being levied by the county.
Council will set the tax levy, which should remain at 9.12 mils as ordained in their September 23 meeting.
And Council will also try to come together to appoint an interim City Manager.
Disagreements over the last item have stretched over the last two or three council meetings. All evidence points to a divide on council over who should be interim chief admin.
As the U-R reported last week, there are three viable candidates in City Hall who could take the position: Water and Sewer Director Barry Jarrett, City Planner Russell Thompson and Finance Director Don Toms.
Barry Jarrett has been the go-to-guy before. But as evidenced by the delay in falling back into old habits, there is something fueling disagreement among Council members concerning that appointment.

For those about to...

Recycle.

The Milledgeville City Council is holding a work session before Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting to discuss recycling.
No info about what aspect of recycling they'll be discussing, but one could guess that there maybe some movement on the county's offer to consolidate solid waste management.
The work session will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Executive Chambers.

Offer on the Table

Update: Since writing this post and its accompanying newspaper article, I've been told that the assertion that city residents would benefit from a higher level of service if the city were to take the county up on their offer is incorrect.
Sinclair Disposal Service, the city's solid waste management contractor, provides curbside pickup of recyclables as well as occasional pickup of white goods and leaf and limb service.
One commenter went on to say that they have had difficulty obtaining an exact list of what recyclable materials Advanced Waste collects and how they recycle it.
As I've promised in the past, there will be more to come.


We'll cover this ASAP in the U-R print edition, but I thought I'd use the immediacy of the Web to get this out there first.
I got this official letter from County Clerk Cindy Cunningham. It appears the Baldwin County Commission is interested in sending some more customers to Advanced Waste.
Via Chair James "Bubba" Williams, the Commission is offering to consolidate solid waste services with the City of Milledgeville, if the City becomes a part of their solid waste plan.
Please comment with any questions you may have.