House GOP leader: ‘My goal is to end Fulton County’
When the Legislature passed new maps for the state House and Senate last year, Republicans gave themselves extra slices of certain counties.
Earlier this month, House Speaker pro tem Jan Jones of Milton bluntly explained the merits of the tactic to a group of north Fulton voters. From Neighbor Newspapers:
In January, according to Jones, there will be a north Fulton majority in both the House delegation and the Senate delegation.
Which means, “we can cut Fulton County down to size until we get Milton County,” she said.
“My goal is that we reduce the thumbprint … of Fulton County on your lives and your pocketbooks such that in a very few years, Atlanta and south Fulton will not fight us on recreating Milton County because Fulton County will be insignificant,” she said. “We will begin that process next year.”
Jones said she actually thinks splitting Fulton into three counties would be in the best interest of all citizens.
“My goal is not to re-create Milton County. My goal is to end Fulton County and bring government closer to the people,” she said. “But it will take convincing.”
Jones’ comments, reported last week, are only now circulating within the city of Atlanta. They explain the motives behind HB 1052, which would have given the power to appoint two of three Fulton County representatives on the MARTA board to municipalities in north Fulton, said state Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta.
“The strategy is to chip away at any power that Fulton County has. One of the greatest powers the county has is the appointment of representatives to the MARTA board,” Taylor said.
Taylor has invited Jones to a town hall meeting in his neck of the woods – on any Saturday in the next two months — “so that my consituents and others not in north Fulton may have the benefit of your views.”
***
Over in the editorial department, my AJC colleague Kyle Wingfield reports this bit of news:
Multiple GOP districts last month voted to propose that a ballot question about ethics reform be put to voters in July’s Republican primary. This and other potential ballot questions will be weighed tomorrow as the party begins its annual two-day convention in Columbus.
A question about ethics reform is a slam dunk at the ballot box, if opinion polling is any sign. In a statewide poll before this year’s legislative session, 82 percent of self-identified Republicans said they supported a cap on gifts from lobbyists to legislators — the central plank in this year’s stymied ethics reform bills.
***
The New York Times has two articles worth your time today. The first is about groundwork being laid for a $10 million Republican effort to redefine President Barack Obama in harsh terms:
A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from….
“The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way,” says the proposal, which was overseen by Fred Davis and commissioned by Joe Ricketts, the founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. Mr. Ricketts is increasingly putting his fortune to work in conservative politics.
A new study released by the Brookings Institution argues that Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion is unlikely to hurt him at the polls in November.
The researchers based the conclusion on an experiment in which people were asked whether they planned to vote for Mr. Romney or Mr. Obama. Some of the respondents were first given information about Mr. Romney’s religion – and in some cases, quite detailed information – while others were given none. Those who received the information first were no less likely to support Mr. Romney.
***
Over at the Savannah Morning News, Larry Peterson has this on the Republican race to challenge U.S. Rep. John Barrow, D-Augusta:
A 12th Congressional District hopeful is ducking an opponent’s claims that he broke federal election law.
Rick Allen says Wright McLeod didn’t fully report expenditures, took donations larger than allowed and stole campaign donor information.
***
Members of the executive and state committees of the Democratic party on Wednesday received this note from Russell Edwards:
”While I intended to stay on board as the Treasurer to help finalize a budget and provide information to Committee members until my replacement was elected, the situation has changed due to circumstances beyond my control.
“My access to the Party’s financial information was terminated last Monday, effectively cutting off my ability to perform my duties. After unsuccessfully attempting to reinstate my access to perform my job for the State Committee, I am left with no choice but to resign immediately.”
The party’s April financial report is due on Monday, which will give everyone a peek at the party’s financial situation.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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177 comments Add your comment
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
12:15 pm
Hey Intowner, roads are mostly built with Federal funds and gasoline taxes. Fulton County doesn’t own them.
JP
May 17th, 2012
12:16 pm
Why do so many of you think the only jobs that exist are in the city of Atlanta? Have you seen how many corporate headquarters are located outside the city limits?
Go ahead with the pathetic “commuter tax” (not that it will ever be passed). Won’t cost me a penny.
JREV
May 17th, 2012
12:17 pm
It will cost ALL taxpayers millions if they create Milton County. It costs a lot of money to change signs, maps, and also all of the various databases/software that would need updating. It’s not as simple as a vote.
Dia
May 17th, 2012
12:19 pm
I keep hearing how the main reason for the demand of separation is racism at play. However Sandy Springs, Roswell have large black communities and Alpharetta,Ga has a large Indian one. Also as a Black person I have to talk to others in our community and they feel the same way. The North Fulton pays the majority of the taxes and we don’t see it reflected back into our communities. I just wish it hurry up and separate cause they have been going over this forever.
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
12:19 pm
LMAO – tell me how a mostly rural and beautiful South Fulton had the revenue money to build North Fulton. Are you confusing South Fulton with Fulton and the City of Atlanta?
Dirty Dawg
May 17th, 2012
12:20 pm
Instead of creating more why not consolidate? Instead of dozens of city and county government organizations why not one ‘metro-wide’ hierarchy with ‘community of interest’ zones with elected representation and with a charter that ‘ensures’ they receive a minimum of services in relation to their population/revenue generated.. Many metropolitan areas around the country have gone to that form of governing, and although it still may have its challenges, at least there’s a mechanism in place that forces people work them out together. It’s like a Russian Doll…if you’re constantly getting smaller and smaller you become midgets, but if you’re getting larger and larger, you become giants.
JP
May 17th, 2012
12:23 pm
Oh, one more thing about this “commuter tax”…
The idea of Milton County is so we NEVER have to go into Atlanta again for any services. There’s not much in Atlanta we want or use. You can have all your “great” services and venues. I’ll pass.
Truth
May 17th, 2012
12:23 pm
Tweedle Dee. Prove me wrong….. Again, being a native GA resident I know the history of all lawmakers coming from that region of the state. You should educate yourself on the same. Of course nobody will ever come out and say it. The fundamental flaw of the GOP is their failure to realize racism is alive and well and as strong as ever.
Devil's Advocate
May 17th, 2012
12:26 pm
Why do the good hard working folks want tourism and stadiums in the northern suburbs? Where do you think crime tends to go?
Truth
May 17th, 2012
12:26 pm
South Fulton hasn’t been rural since the 60s. C’mon son! I guess you want to say Fulton Industrial is Altanta, huh? lol! Dang transplants!!
luangtom
May 17th, 2012
12:26 pm
I second that motion……eliminate or restrict the governance of an inept system. Start over, on a very smaller scale.
Truth
May 17th, 2012
12:28 pm
JP, GOOD! I am an advocate of the RACIST MITLON/SANDY SPRINGS/ J CREEK FOLKS HAVING THEIR OWN COUNTY!
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
12:34 pm
Truth – so I am left to assume that long-time Atlanta representative Billy McKinney wasn’t a racist? so I am also left to assume that the current Fulton County Commission Chairman isn’t racist? And also to assume that the majority of the Fulton County Commission isn’t racist (Emma Darnell, Bill Campbell, etc.)? Is there an elephant in the room?
Jesus Christ crushes NWO, DBMs
May 17th, 2012
12:35 pm
The incompetence in Fulton County government is a reflection of the rot and decay throughout the majority of institutions within its confines…e.g. Asians are envied and deliberately underserved because they are generally regarded to be smarter than most Americans, especially African Americans. Their culture compels them to adjust and not complain.
Americans commonly enter employee files and destroy the unfavorable records of other Americans for the purpose of ensuring their employment with other agencies in the future etc. Asians won’t object because of their general respect for others. And except for a few exceptions, African Americans are silenced because their employment is contingent on sheer loyalty rather than competence.
When Rafael Warnock countered Newt Gingrich’s comment and said African Americans know what a work ethic is…I was one of the first to challenge his fantasy. Like many pseudo spirituals, pseudo intellectuals, and automatons, time has passed them by unawares. Presently, we are living in a time of utter rot and decay. Fulton County government is a reflection of it.
Amen?
Rockerbabe
May 17th, 2012
12:35 pm
It is up to the citizens of the respective counties, if they want the change or not. The GOP has little to do with it, other than running their mouths.
I live in Dekalb County, and I do not have a problem with our governments [Clarkston, Decatur, Stone Mountain, Tucker, etc]. The country CEO, Mr. Ellis is fine with me.
I used to work in Atlanta/Fulton County and the problems they have are more the making of the citizens of the surrounding counties who come in for work, make all sorts of demands, then leave at the end of the day. Face it GOP, Atlanta is the economic engine that makes north Georgia what it is, a hub of economic well-being that everyone depends on. AND, this hub has a black politican, who is trying to fix all of the problems, most of which are not of his making. Atlanta and Fulton County as well as Dekalb Count are surprisingly quiet, clean, driveable and enjoyable when all of the suburbanites leave for the day and the weekends.
GOP – stay out of Fulton and Dekalb county politics; the citizens will do with our politicans, what we think is best. Your crap is not wanted, needed and most likely, will not be tolerated.
josh stinger
May 17th, 2012
12:37 pm
atlanta only owns the crappy local roads that pot holes and drive by shootings happen on they do not own the highway mr INTOWNER WHO LIVED IN SAN SIEGO. Move back to California if you want to pay higher taxes. Do away with Fulton county. Break North Fulton away. WE are the best part of FULTON and always will be. It might have something to do that our kids finish high school and go to COLLEGE and work for living!!!! South Fulton can never catch back up with North Fulton. Don’t be jealous just cut us loose so you can count your change. NOBAMA LOL
Carole
May 17th, 2012
12:40 pm
Rex Dogma
Why do all the white folks complain about Fulton & DeKalb Co. I am not African American, but there are plenty of white republican counties that are ran poorly too!! Oh, but that is OK!!! I guess?
+++++++
Let’s not forget the governor and nearly entire State legislature is Rep. We’ve had a Repub governor for 10 years. Our schools aren’t any better. Our unemployment rate isn’t exactly receiving high marks. Our Speaker of the House uses his power to delay court cases. Finally, the folks who scream the loudest about less government and fiscal responsibility have increased the State government and don’t want to have limits on gifts from lobbyists. Most of our legislators have done three things in the past few years: changed the letter behind their name from D to R; gotten meaner, and greedier.
hombre
May 17th, 2012
12:40 pm
white developers from the grandfathered good ole boy network raped and pillaged the streets of buckhead.
JP
May 17th, 2012
12:41 pm
Thanks, Truth. Appreciate the support!
RAMZAD
May 17th, 2012
12:42 pm
It does not take a rocket fuel chemist to figure out that the MO for a predominantly African American government does not work for white people. It never did.
White folks look at the next decade. Black folks look at next week. White folks look for transformations. Black folks look for changes. White folks try to eliminate trash. Black folks buy new trash trucks. White folks take the bus to the Board meeting. Black folks have two Mercedes- none paid for. White folks sit on the floor and take notes. Black folks call the police to clear the podium for themselves. White folks work out conflicts and move along. Black folks turn the conflict into the issue. White folks hire competence. Black folks hire friends and family. White folks have a strategy. Black folks have a self serving tactic. White folks want to be heroic. Black folks want to be seen. White folks talk about organization design and dynamics. Black folks talk about who is under whom. White folks want sidewalks and bike paths and dog crossings. Black folks want dirt paths through the ravine and jay walking. Who is surprised that white folks do not want to be governed by black people?
Truth
May 17th, 2012
12:43 pm
Isn’t Bill Campbell in Florida somewhere? McKinney? Yeah, he probably is racist. However, we are talking about N. Fulton. Not them. Isn’t one of the signs you are winning a dedate when someone brings up an unrelated topic to try to make a point?
Leaning left
May 17th, 2012
12:44 pm
and what about people who abuse of the system….
LMAO
May 17th, 2012
12:44 pm
Tweedle DUMD… Fulton Industrial Boulevard is in UNINCORPORATED SOUTH FULTON. Not Atlanta! As the largest and most profitable industrial park east of the Mississippi in the late 60’s 70’s, & 80’s. FIB put untold millions into the coffers of the county you and your kind want to kill. That money was spent to pave the roads and build the infrastructure of Unincorporated North Fulton which now includes Miton, Sandy Springs and Johns Creek. The money wasn’t used for South Fulton cause it remains as rural as it ever was you ninny.
Also, I’m sure you know the once thriving County of Milton was bankrupt before being annexed into Fulton. Your knowledge of this area is very telling.
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
12:46 pm
Rockerbabe – yeah, like just being a Democrat makes everything ok. People move to the surburbs to escape crime (which is rampant in downtown Atlanta), have good schools (can you say APS scandal), and effective, efficient government (which doesn’t exist in Fulton County). Your comment about surburbanites coming into Atlanta and causing all of the problems that Atlanta/Fulton County face is laughable at best. What are you smoking?
Truth
May 17th, 2012
12:47 pm
RAMZAD, how many competent people did the klansman governor hire when he took over? The good ole boy network is alive and well.
Joe Rational
May 17th, 2012
12:49 pm
As a City of Atlanta resident tired hearing the whining and complaining from both ends of the county I wonder if the equitable thing to do is have Milton county just pay back the debt Fulton must have incurred by absorbing the bankrupt old county- with interest of course.
HDB
May 17th, 2012
12:52 pm
RAMZAD
May 17th, 2012
12:42 pm
Your statement is indicative of the excrement that many on North Fulton are spreading!! You’re looking for a scapegoat….and we ain’t buying it!!
honested
May 17th, 2012
12:54 pm
As another ITP Dekalb resident, you folks fight amongst yourselves and know that we don’t really want any part of it.
Rumor had it earlier in the year that the latest stupid city plan in North Dekalb was part of an eventual plan to form as part of a ‘new’ county, a rumor which was quickly denied by the unnecessary city crowd.
What is wrong with small minded people who can’t get along and work together unless they have a guarantee of being in charge?
As for North Fulton as it exists, there is nothing north of 285 that I need, use or ever spend money on. Do what you will, just leave me (and my pocket) alone. Your idea of ‘Shangri La’ is bogus.
Leaning left
May 17th, 2012
12:54 pm
I say let them take their ball and go home… just as long as the rest of sulton does not have to foot the bill for their transition. Duces!
RAMZAD
May 17th, 2012
12:55 pm
HDB; I am not asking you to buy anything. Look at the difference between Cobb and DeKalb and you will have your purchase, and you can eat it too.
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
12:55 pm
LMAO – so Fulton Industrial hasn’t been revelant since the 80’s? And, again, roads are built with mostly Federal funds with the State contributing gasoline taxes. Fulton Industrial most like didn’t contribute a dime but I am sure that the many industrial businesses you cite created a lot of potholes, which no one fixed.
And Joe, North Fulton has paid taxes all of these years, money that was spent on parks and schools, etc., so it is doubtful that anything further is owed.
Miltonian
May 17th, 2012
12:58 pm
I live in the city of Milton and am ambivalent about this issue, mainly because I have never seen any study that calculates, in dollar terms, the benefits and costs. Is there such a study?
ol swayback mule
May 17th, 2012
12:59 pm
look…..it’s because you’re black…
CT in CP
May 17th, 2012
12:59 pm
Do these guys know where their constituents work? Bankrupting Atlanta will send those jobs North… to North Carolina.
Leaning left
May 17th, 2012
1:00 pm
I would not mind at all if this was truley the will of those people living in north fulton… but when you attempt to realize your emancipation by altering voting districts… thus diluting what little voice we have in not only state politics but national… you must be stopped. So leave our votes and our pockets alone and leave. You can put a nice new fence around “Milton County” and we’ll see you at the Braves game… just as soon as you pay your toll on 400.
hombre
May 17th, 2012
1:02 pm
This appears to be a extension of the souther whities plantation day’s. They send their children to college and then encourage them to join sororities/fraternities to keep isolated from the undesirables. Milton wants to be a frat/sorority for like-minded adult whitey.
Leaning left
May 17th, 2012
1:04 pm
So tired of the politics of “scorced earth”.
Leaning left
May 17th, 2012
1:05 pm
That’s it…. Im moving to Conyers.
Mr. KnowitAll
May 17th, 2012
1:05 pm
The blatant racist commissioners, (police dogs/fire hoses/burned churches) Eaves, Bill (”they ain’t going to take away our money”), and Emma (Mean-spirited Ego-Afro-Queen of the Blabbermouths) Darnell have dug their own graves. Now…they must lie in them.
The abuse and condescending attitudes against the golden goose, N. Fulton, is finally coming to an end.
honested
May 17th, 2012
1:07 pm
Leaning left,
Quite correct.
I just wish the instigators would take a second and realize that everyone (them included) gets burned.
ATLien
May 17th, 2012
1:07 pm
I see some people would like to bring back segregation if they really had their way. Stop with the pie-in-the-sky talk of relocating airports and corporate headquarters, it sounds silly. Kinda of like calling Obama a Muslim or Bush a genius.
For all those who think Obama is incompetent, where were you when Bush (who had a C- average in college and no professional studies) damn near ran the country off a cliff and dropped us in 2 wars the crippled us financially. If you want a Mormon flip-flopper, have at him, but it will be after Obama’s 2nd term. Right-Wingers are delusional and really in a bubble. A democracy only works when both sides are willing too, the left didnt fight Bush when he was in office (all though we damn sure should have), but that’s all the right does because it never acknowledges when they are wrong. Like they were wrong on civil rights and how they are wrong on Gay-Marriage (and no I’m not Gay). The right has done the most atrocious things to people in this country (see Oklahoma trail of tears if you need a refresher course), the country that was built on the backs of African-Americans and Hispanics and all immigrants, even some of you who forget that your ancestors weren’t born on this soil.
Although I’ve been a victim of racisim, I still see the need to work together. Only together can we all achieve our goals.
I was born in Northside Hospital, raised in East Point/College Park, went to high school at North Springs (in Sandy Springs/Roswell), went to Morehouse College, then Ga. Tech, then brought a home in Atlantic Station and have rental property in BOTH north & south Fulton. All that to say, I am a product of the ENTIRE city of Atlanta. I’ve lived, worked and invested in all corners of our great city and I am prayerful that we can (one day) put the bigotry behind us and work for the common good.
JOSH STINGER
May 17th, 2012
1:08 pm
sororities/fraternities put together a group of the population that learn what it means to work hard. My wife is a doctor and she was in AOP @ UGA and then finished top of class at EMORY. This is all because of soority and leadership skills learned at Milton High School. We have large pockets up here because we work hard and stay out of trouble. People in Atlanta and South Fulton do not give a crap about anything except for where the cheapest 40oz is and where they can roll there dice. Long live the South!!
honested
May 17th, 2012
1:09 pm
Mr. K…
So how is N. Fulton a ‘golden goose’?
Reggie
May 17th, 2012
1:09 pm
Yea instead of having one entity perform services we will now have 3?? Yep that makes it more efficient. BassAkwards!!
Buckhead
May 17th, 2012
1:13 pm
Fulton Industrial Boulevard is still and always will be the largest contributor to the County and County Schools general fund.
Reggie
May 17th, 2012
1:13 pm
LOL,
Georgia is the new
Bama!!!
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
1:17 pm
ATLien – I agree that we should put bigotry behind us and somehow in reading your blog think that a good place to start is looking in the mirror. And, by the way, the Afgan war is Obama’s war, not Bush’s.
The Truth
May 17th, 2012
1:20 pm
People decided to move and develop N Fulton KNOWING how the money would be distributed through out the county. Go whine someplace else. Every county in the area has bad government, everyone has to pay property taxes and see the money spent on wasteful projects, everyone has to suffer with an incompetent school system. You can pull away and become Milton County, but you will not solve the problems mentioned above. You may have different names running the asylum, but at the end of the day, it is still an asylum.
Tweedle Dee
May 17th, 2012
1:23 pm
Buckhead (or LMAO or whatever) – do you honestly think that businesses pay sales taxes? This is what builds schools, right? As a matter of fact, businesses pay no tax. What seems to be lost of most of you (and apparently ALL Democrats) is that taxation is a cost of doing business, which is passed on to the ultimate consumer, which means you and me. So, the rant of taxing the big mean ‘ole businesses is self-inflicting taxes upon yourselves. Wake up.
Jason
May 17th, 2012
1:24 pm
@Miltonian, there have been plenty of “studies” but the quality of them are quite poor. They usually focus only on residential property taxes. The problem with this is that almost nowhere in the country do residential property taxes cover the cost of services provided to the property. Commerical property tends to make the government authority a bit more money than the government uses to provide services. The gold mine is in industrial property taxes. The difficultly for the area that was once Milton County is that it has very little industrial property. There is a reasonable amount of commerical property but nowhere enough to subsidize the huge amout of residential property.
There seem to be two groups of politicans in north Fulton who are pushing for the recreation of Milton. The first are those who simply are power hungry and don’t like sharing power with the rest of the county. Recreate Milton and they believe they’ll personally be in total control. And they might be right. The second are those who don’t truly want Milton to be recreated, they just want an issue they can use to get elected over and over again. It’s like the Republicans who for years pushed for the State of Georgia to confiscate the airport from the City of Atlanta. But when the Republicans actually got control of the legislature and were in a position to make it happen, the issue disappeared. Same with Milton. Many who had been pushing for it are now in a bit of a panic because it looks like it might actually happen and bring all kinds of unintended consequences down on them. Plus they’ll lose the ability to finger point and blame all their failures on the rest of the county. The real question is why people like LMAO don’t want to let Milton shoot themselves in the foot? Yes, Milton will be bad for metro Atlanta overall but the rest of the county would be better off making the whiners up there actually take care of business instead of flopping around blaming everything on “those people”.