Voices, Votes & Vision: The Latest in Politics & Public Policy
On June 2, 1774, Britain’s Parliament passed the Quartering Act, the last of the Coercive Acts, meant to punish the American colonies and reassert British control. Eventually, the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution would prohibit the forcible quartering of soldiers in private homes.
Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commanding forces west of the Mississippi, surrendered on June 2, 1865, and this date is generally considered the end of the Civil War.
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on June 2, 1953.
On June 2, 1962, Georgia-born Ray Charles hit #1 on the charts with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
On June 2, 1989, Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams, was released in theaters.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Early voting in the Statewide Special Primary Elections for Public Service Commission:
Republican – 5778 – 39.87%
Democratic – 8635 – 59.58%
Nonpartisan – 79 – 0.55%
TOTAL –14,492
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville issued a stay against the Secretary of State’s decision that Democrat Daniel Blackman does not meet the qualifications to run for the Public Service Commission for which he qualified, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.
A Fulton County Superior Court judge has issued an injunction staying enforcement of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s order disqualifying Daniel Blackman from next month’s state Public Service Commission (PSC) Democratic Primary ballot.
Raffensperger ruled on Wednesday that Blackman failed to prove he had established residence inside PSC District 3 at least one year before this November’s general election as required by state law.
One day later, Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville stayed the order in a one-page decision pending the outcome of a hearing set for June 10. Early voting ahead of the June 17 began on Monday.
“The court does not find that the harm incurred by allowing (Blackman) to remain on the ballot pending a final hearing in this case is outweighed by the potential harm of removing him as a candidate at this juncture of the proceedings,” Glanville wrote.
Three other Democrats are vying for the party’s nomination in PSC District 3, which covers Fulton, Clayton and DeKalb counties. The winner of the primary will challenge incumbent Republican Commissioner Fitz Johnson in November.
Blackman’s lawyer, Matthew Wilson, praised Glanville’s decision.
“We are grateful to the Fulton Superior Court for granting our request for an injunction while we litigate Daniel’s appeal,” Wilson said Friday. “Once we are actually given a fair hearing, I am confident Daniel will prevail because all the facts and all the law are on his side.”
Blackman has run for the commission before, losing in a runoff to incumbent Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald in January 2021. After that, he joined the Biden administration as Southeast regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Six candidates have announced for Lieutenant Governor in 2026, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
The race to succeed Republican Burt Jones as Georgia’s next lieutenant governor is heating up, with multiple leading state senators considering the position.
Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, opened a door to run on Thursday, registering his intent to raise campaign contributions. As the Senate’s president pro tempore, he is only one notch below Jones.
Kennedy outranked Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, who declared he was entering the race earlier this month and recently vacated the role of Senate majority leader.
Also raising money for the Republican primary is Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia. He’s not in Senate leadership, but has led the powerful Appropriations Committee for several years, making him a key player in budget decisions.
Another raising money for the GOP nomination is Jerry Timbs, II of Griffin, who ran for Henry County Commission in 2016. And Takosha Swan of Conyers, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to the board of the state Department of Veterans Service in 2019 after running unsuccessfully for the state House of Representatives, is both raising money and has announced she is running.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, is going for his party’s nomination. He is not in Senate leadership but has been a consistent foil for Republicans during debates on the Senate floor.
On the announcement by Senate President Pro Tem John F. Kennedy (R-Macon), from 13WMAZ:
Macon State Sen. John F. Kennedy has announced his bid for Georgia’s lieutenant governor, according to a press release from the Macon-based legislator and lawyer.
The announcement comes just days after Kennedy set up a campaign committee, allowing the Macon Republican to raise funds for the bid for Lieutenant Governor, the second in command in the executive branch.
“My first priority has always been to put hardworking Georgians first, and that’s what I will continue to do as Georgia’s next Lieutenant Governor,” Kennedy said in his statement. “I’ve never shied away from tough fights in the state legislature, and this campaign will be no different.”
But the lieutenant governor also has considerable influence in the state senate, which Kennedy has been a fixture of since his election back in 2015.
Currently, Kennedy serves as president pro tempore of the state Senate, which is a leadership position elected by members of the state Senate. Kennedy was elected in an unanimous vote in the state Senate.
During the legislative cycle, Kennedy spearheaded efforts to overhaul Georgia’s civil litigation policies, a long-term goal of conservatives and business owners in the state. The passage of the bill delivered a major legislative win for Gov. Brian Kemp, who placed the civil litigation overhaul as his top legislative priority.
He also sponsored legislation to tackle chronic absenteeism in schools, which also became law.
Outside of the legislat[ure], Kennedy serves as a partner at the Macon-based law firm James Bates Brannan Groover.
In his statement, Kennedy says that his vision for Georgia is three-pronged:
• Keep Georgia Growing: keeping Georgia the best place to live, work and family
• Keep Georgia Learning: putting students first and ensuring parents have a voice in their child’s education.
K• eep Georgia Safe: supporting men and women in law enforcement.Kennedy’s decision comes as current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to throw his hat in the ring to replace outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp.
“Georgians can be confident that my leadership will be focused on delivering conservative results, not empty rhetoric – and I know that by working together, we will keep Georgia Growing, keep Georgia Learning, and keep Georgia Safe,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, a Macon lawyer, is banking on the support of Georgia’s business community after helping pass a law this year limiting lawsuits and civil verdicts.
Burt Jones, the current Republican lieutenant governor, is expected to run for governor next year instead of seeking reelection. He’s could announce his candidacy later this summer.
Kennedy was first elected to the state Senate in 2014. Majority Republicans elected him president pro tem, the No. 2 position in the Senate, in 2023. Before that, Kennedy had been chair of the majority caucus and led the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts after the 2020 Census, securing Republican majorities.
Kennedy didn’t mention Trump in his announcement, saying his top priorities as lieutenant governor would be a strong economy, education and public safety.
This year, Kennedy sponsored a law that is meant to curb the number of student absences in schools.
Like the onetime president, Kennedy’s initials are JFK. But this 59-year-old Kennedy, born less than two years after the president was assassinated, is unrelated and bears the middle name of Flanders.
Georgia’s lieutenant governor presides over Senate sessions, but senators decide how much power the official has. When senators agree, lieutenant governors can be influential. As president pro tem, Kennedy already works with Jones to set the agenda for the Senate.
On the Democratic side, the only declared candidate is state Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark (D-Lilburn) announced she will run for the 13th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Atlantaish), according to the AJC.
Pledging to be a voice for “families, science and reason,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark jumped into the race Monday to unseat U.S. Rep. David Scott, becoming the latest Democrat to mount a generational challenge against one of the state’s longest-serving legislators.
Clark, a microbiologist and college professor, said in an interview that she’d center her campaign for the Democratic-leaning east metro Atlanta seat on her scientific training and her experience winning tough races in a swing legislative district four times.
But she also promised a more confrontational response to President Donald Trump’s agenda that would strike a contrast with Scott, a 12-term incumbent who is under mounting pressure to step aside.
“We need to be boldly, loudly and intentionally standing up for our voters and against what’s happening in our communities,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If people aren’t hearing you, it’s because you’re not loud enough.”
She joins two other prominent Democrats already in the race. State Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur, a 20-year veteran of the Legislature, launched his bid in January, saying Democrats need a “louder voice” to push back against MAGA policies.
The United States Department of Homeland Security identifed several Georgia political subdivisions as sanctuaries for the undocumented, according to WRDW.
The cities of Atlanta and Athens, along with Fulton, DeKalb, Douglas and Athens-Clarke counties, have been named as obstructors of federal immigration law by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions undermine the rule of law and endanger the lives of Americans and law enforcement,” according to the department’s website. “Sanctuary jurisdictions, including cities, counties, and states that are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities.”
The department, headed by Secretary Kristi Noem, said its list of American cities and counties nationwide “was created to identify sanctuary jurisdictions, which are determined by factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.”
“Each jurisdiction listed will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with federal statutes,” the department said. “DHS demands that these jurisdictions immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens.”
Georgia’s Congressional Delegation is uniting to promote the creation of an Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park near Macon, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
After more than a century of trying, Georgia may soon get its first national park, as the state’s congressional delegation puts aside partisan differences to upgrade the status of ancient mounds in Macon.
That city, long a champion of promoting Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park into a major national attraction, has already begun adding street names in the language of the native peoples who dwelled there.
The Muscogee Nation, whose ancestors were forcibly moved to Oklahoma by the U.S. government in 1836, has collaborated on national park status, and would have a role in guiding its management.
The park idea has induced similar collaboration in a normally fractured congressional delegation. Thirteen of Georgia’s 14 Republican and Democratic representatives are co-sponsoring legislation that would convert the historical park into the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve. Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators are behind an identical bill in the Senate.
The current historical park would anchor the national park. Proponents would raise money to buy another 7,100 acres, expanding the attraction to about 10,000 acres. This addition would be a federally managed preserve with fishing and hunting.
That is downscaled significantly from the 80,000 acres once envisioned, but it would still have a major impact on the region, said Seth Clark, executive director of The Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, the grassroots force behind this movement.
The preserve would guarantee a place for endangered and threatened species, said Clark, who, as mayor pro tempore of Macon-Bibb County, sees a massive boon for humans, too. Tourism would explode, boosting the economy, creating jobs and producing an estimated $34 million in added tax revenue for the region, he said.
“That’s life changing for some of our neighbors and I think it’s life changing for the Middle Georgia economy,” said Clark, who sees a unique alignment of interests that could finally push this national park idea across the finish line. It has been in circulation since at least 1933, when the Macon Historical Society and Junior Chamber of Commerce pitched it. The next year, the local congressman, Democratic Rep. Carl Vinson, introduced legislation for a national park. He wound up with the lesser national historical park designation, but the dream for top-tier status lived on. It may be closer than ever to happening due to the bipartisan collaboration as well as to support from state government, the public and businesses, including the Georgia Mining Association, Clark said. (Kaolin, a clay used to make slick paper coatings and other products, is mined around there.)
Supporters pulled these disparate interests together through years of study and negotiation. For instance, the mine owners came around after the legislation made it clear that the government could not use eminent domain to take land for the preserve, Clark said. The mandate to allow fishing and hunting proved popular, as well.
The United States has 63 national parks. The vast majority are out West, although three of Georgia’s neighbors can boast at least one. South Carolina has Congaree National Park, while North Carolina and Tennessee share the Great Smoky Mountains. Florida has three: Biscayne, Dry Tortugas and Everglades.
The National Park Service oversees another 370 battlefields, memorials, monuments, preserves, scenic rivers and other cultural and environmental sites, including the Ocmulgee mounds.
Dropping “historical” from the name could elevate Ocmulgee into a major attraction, observers say.
The park currently draws around 160,000 a year, said Jessica Walden, president and CEO of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce. National park status could increase that nearly ten-fold to almost 1.4 million annual visitors within a decade, she said.
This would generate several thousand jobs and about $233 million in annual economic activity, she said, noting that the proximity to Macon and its 160,000 residents would produce a synergy for both city and park.
“It’s not in the middle of Montana. It’s adjacent to downtown Macon,” she said. “So, they’re both going to benefit from that.”
Plans include new roads to tie the site to the city. Tourists also would need access to Macon’s two airports – and to the hotels and other destinations to be developed.
The site is like a core sample of cultural history. It was continuously inhabited for at least 12,000 years, beginning with the Ice Age, says the National Park Service. During the Mississippian Period, starting in the 900s, native peoples constructed mounds for their elite, landmarks that endure as a central attraction. It was the largest archaeological dig in American history, with more than 800 men turning soil in the late 1930s under the Works Progress Administration.
Then, there is the preserve. It would hug a river corridor with more than 85,000 acres of contiguous bottom-land hardwood swamp, says a 2017 study by the National Parks Conservation Association. The “Diamond in the Rough” report said this was the largest remaining block of such habitat on the upper coastal plain.
It is a migratory flyway, and home to more than 200 species of birds, 100 species of fish, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians and 50 species of mammals, including black bear.
It is also one of the few places where the endangered Ocmulgee skullcap grows. The member of the mint family sprouts leaves up to three inches long, unfurls inch-long blue-violet flowers and only lives in the watersheds of the Savannah and Ocmulgee rivers.
Business interests see the ecological, cultural – and development value.
“Establishing Georgia’s first national park and preserve at Ocmulgee Mounds will serve as a robust form of economic development for Middle Georgia while conserving the site’s important series of ecological and cultural assets,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber, the day after the state’s delegation to Congress re-introduced the national park legislation in March.
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, introduced his bill in the House of Representatives on March 25, the same day Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, with fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock as co-sponsor, introduced an identical bill in the Senate.
All but one member of the U.S. House from Georgia signed onto Scott’s bill, the lone exception being Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens. (His office did not respond to an emailed query about that.)
Similar legislation had been in play last year, but more pressing concerns in Washington shoved the issue off the national agenda.
At a congressional hearing last week, Ossoff got an opportunity to ask Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for continued technical aid with the initiative, given the “overwhelming local support” for an Ocmulgee national park.
Burgum was noncommittal but did not outright nix the idea, saying he would be “happy to engage with you and take a look at this proposal.”
Scott’s office quoted the congressman saying that he was working closely with Democrats Ossoff and Warnock and with Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, whose district also includes Macon. National park status “remains a top bipartisan initiative” for everyone involved, Scott said.
He said he requested a hearing on the legislation but added that he does not expect any movement on the bill before Congress finishes the budget reconciliation process.
Seth Clark, the Macon mayor pro tempore and local Ocmulgee cheerleader, remains hopeful.
“While this is probably one of the most volatile political times in my lifetime,” he said, “I believe that Congress has enough productivity in them to get this done.”
“No Kings Day” protests will be held in 22 locations across Georgia on June 14, 2025, according to the Savannah Morning News.
June 14 is set to be a busy day with Flag Day, President Donald Trump’s birthday, and now ‘No Kings’ Day.
This is a nationwide movement against Trump and his upcoming military parade, with events in Georgia and the rest of the U.S.
‘No Kings’ describes itself as a nationwide day of defiance by multiple groups including Indivisible, 50501, and Stand Up America.
New state laws will go into effect July 1, 2025, according to Atlanta News First via WTOC.
SB 244: Establishes a system for compensating individuals who were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated in the state. It also includes provisions allowing defendants to recover attorney’s fees and costs if they are successful in disqualifying a prosecuting attorney for misconduct. The bill, originally inspired by the Georgia election interference case involving Donald Trump, was later amended to include the Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act.
HB 175: Provides for a more comprehensive background check for early care and education programs and Head Start programs, which include fingerprint check and a search of child abuse and sex offender registries.
HB 208: Disabled veterans can now apply for two additional free license plates, while other Georgia motorists can purchase special license plates honoring the Shepherd Center; the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; Southern University; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; Alabama State University; the state parks and historic sites division of the Department of Natural Resources; and a plate promoting conservation and enhancement of black bass populations.
HB 131: Owners of self-storage service facilities who wanted to place a lien on a unit’s properties were required to advertise their intention once a week for two straight weeks in their respective county’s legal publication. As of July 1, they only have to do so once.
HB 85: Changes the salary provisions of superior court judges in Georgia.
SB 79: The Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act raises the jail sentencing and fines for anyone convicted of fentanyl trafficking in Georgia.
HB 371: In their seemingly never-ending efforts to improve Georgia’s nationally low public education statistics, lawmakers increased the state’s annual capital outlay for the decades-old Quality Basic Education Act from $300 million to $375 million.
SB 241: New standards and definitions have been established for funeral directors to classify organic human reduction as a means of disposing of deceased human bodies. Organic human reduction is a process that transforms human remains into soil through aerobic decomposition.
SB 55: The Dignity and Pay Act prohibits any employer to pay a person with a disability less than the federal minimum wage.
SB 123: The Compulsory Attendance Act prohibits students from being expelled from school solely because of absenteeism. The bill’s sponsors also said it provides more localized approaches to reviewing chronic absenteeism cases and requires local school boards to adopt policies to help students who are chronically absent.
HB 111: Lowers Georgia’s income tax rate incrementally to 4.99 percent through January 2026.
City of Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens, Interim City Manager Cheryl Ford, and former Election Superintendent Rhunette Williford have been released on bond, according to WALB.
According to a reliable source, Mayor Kelvin Owens, Interim City Manager Cheryl Ford, and former Election Superintendent Rhunette Williford posted bond following a bond hearing Friday, May 30.
WALB previously reported that Owens, Ford, and Williford were arrested and charged with election fraud and conspiracy to commit election interference.
Camilla City Council will discuss the issue, according to WALB.
The city of Camilla will be holding a city council meeting on Monday, June 2.
According to a Facebook post, the meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. at Camilla City Hall.
The proposed agenda will be “Discussion/Action regarding the Legal Status and Defense of City Officials.
The [Mitchell County] Grand Jury handed down the 13-count indictment on Wednesday in relation to a November special election for an unexpired Camilla City Council seat that was ultimately won by council member Azalee Vereen.
On Election Day, the city’s special election was canceled, and voters were barred from voting. The special election resumed at 4 p.m. that day, running until 4 a.m..
The arrests follow a lengthy legal case involving two former city council members who were ruled ineligible to serve because they could not prove they were residents of Camilla. No bond hearing had been held in that case as of Monday morning.
Mayor of Climax Joseph Kelly and his wife Natalie Kelly were arrested and charged with sex crimes involving minors, according to WALB.
According to a release from the GBI, Mayor of Climax Joseph Kelly, 38, was arrested and charged with two counts of child molestation. His wife, Natalie Kelly, 44, of Climax, was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree.
On Saturday, May 31, the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) requested the GBI’s assistance in investigating allegations of Joseph having sexual contact with multiple minors.
Both Joseph and Natalie were arrested later that day by GBI agents and DCSO investigators, according to the GBI.
Both were booked into the Decatur County Jail. According to jail records, no bond has been set at this time.
Joseph Kelly, 38, of Climax, GA, has been arrested and charged with two counts of Child Molestation. His wife, Natalie Kelly, 44, also of Climax, has been arrested and charged with two counts of Cruelty to Children in the second degree.
The GBI investigation is active & ongoing.
Once complete, it will be given to the South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Chatham County Superior Court and State Court will convene in a new location, according to WTOC.
They will officially open to the community at the new Eugene H. Gadsden Courthouse on West Oglethorpe Avenue Monday.
All jury summons and court notices will now reflect this updated location.
If you have jury duty Monday you must report to this new courthouse.
According to the county website, the new facility is located at 400 W. Oglethorpe Ave, adjacent to the existing, J. Tom Coleman Courthouse. Together, the two courthouses form the Chatham County Judicial Complex. The Gadsden Courthouse will house the State and Superior trial court functions, while the Coleman Courthouse will continue to provide Probate, Magistrate and Recorder’s Court services.
The new building cost over $80 million in SPLOST funds and was 25 years in the making, according to the county.
The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office’s introduced a new Senior Assistance and Friendly Enforcement (SAFE) program, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.
The free program, which was launched Tuesday, is open to Whitfield County residents ages 60 or older and allows them to receive a daily phone call from a sheriff’s office representative Monday through Friday.
“The SAFE program is a community service initiative designed to promote the safety and well-being of senior residents in Whitfield County,” said Detective Brandon Fincher, who also serves as the sheriff’s office’s public information officer. “A sheriff’s office representative will talk to them, ask them how their day is going and be a consistent voice and person in their life that they can rely on to check in on them and make sure that they’re OK.”
Fincher said the program is primarily for residents who “don’t have family members to check in on them.”
“This is the first time that the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office has done a program like this,” he said. “We spent some time fine-tuning to make sure it’s going to be a reliable program and one that’ll be beneficial and successful to our seniors.”
Now accepting applicants, Fincher said residents can enroll by visiting whitfieldcountyga.com, clicking on the “Sheriff’s Office” link underneath the “Government” tab and clicking the “Senior Assistance and Friendly Enforcement (SAFE)” tab on the left-hand column.
Statesboro will receive a grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for low-income affordable housing, according to the Statesboro Herald.
The city of Statesboro has been awarded a $1,372,659 grant through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ 2025 Community HOME Investment (CHIP) Program.
According to a release from the city, the funding is earmarked for the construction of new single-family homes, aiming to provide housing options for very low- to low-income residents.
Statesboro was among 15 communities across Georgia selected to receive a portion of the $13.8 million allocated by the Department of Community Affairs for 2025 CHIP funding. Specifically, Statesboro is one of seven communities granted funds for new construction projects.
The lawyer for former Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley is demanding a payout and apology for Hugley, according to WTVM.
An attorney representing former Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley shared a letter Friday sent to Columbus city attorneys. The letter claims Hugley’s termination was discriminatory and states Hugley should be reinstated as city manager.
The letter also calls for a $213,278.52 payment and apology to be made to Hugley.
“We believe Mr. Hugley’s termination was in violation of various federal and state laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” writes Hugley’s attorney Scott Grubman. The letter goes on to cite remarks made by Councilwoman Charmaine Crabb in a recently released internal investigation by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office where Crabb was interviewed by an investigator. Crabb stated in March 2024 to investigators that she believed Hugley was involved in “mafia type behavior” and called on allies to use the public agenda to “intimate council into voting the way he would want us to vote.” Friday’s letter calls those remarks “baseless and defamatory allegations,” and maintains Hughley’s encouragement of church leaders to attend public hearings is completely lawful.
The letter’s demands are summed up: “To remedy these violations, we hereby demand that you reinstate Mr. Hugley to his prior position immediately, upon the same terms, issue a written apology, and pay him the sum of $213,278.52.”
Grubman concludes the letter by giving the city a deadline of June 6th to respond or “[we] will proceed with filing a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”
“I think this is a classic example of unlawful racial discrimination and employment discrimination,” [Grubman] said. “And I’m just really surprised and really saddened that this has happened.”
Grubman pointed to comments made by Councilor Charmaine Crabb (District 5) to investigators that were detailed in the sheriff’s report as an example of the racial discrimination he believes Hugley experienced.
Grubman plans to file a request for a public hearing before the city council for Hugley on or before next Friday’s deadline, he said. He hopes to use the opportunity to highlight what Grubman describes as “corruption” from Hickey.
Grubman previously accused Hickey of violating the code of ethics by trying to improperly influence the city’s decision about whether to award a pay raise to his wife, a corporal with the Columbus Police Department.
“We want transparency,” Grubman said. “We want sunshine. And we hope the hearing will accomplish that. We can’t say that for sure because, unfortunately, they’re the ones who control the hearing as the city council. But here’s what I can assure you: When there’s a federal racial discrimination lawsuit, they’re no longer going to have a choice because we will shine a light on their corruption.”
He points to the rumor that Hugley may run for mayor as one of the reasons he believes there’s been a sustained campaign against him. Hugley told the Ledger-Enquirer on May 20 that he was focused on finishing his time as city manager and didn’t know what he planned to do after retirement.
On the termination letter and city council vote, from the Ledger-Enquirer:
In the formal notice, which the Ledger-Enquirer obtained from the city attorney’s office through a Georgia Open Records Act request, the councilors mention “ongoing operational failures and lapses in oversight” in departments over the past several months, including Animal Control and Finance.
Councilors also cited Hugley’s decision to not place employees who were under investigation on administrative leave, which was “contrary to best practices and the Council’s expectations.”
The letter was signed by Councilors Charmaine Crabb of District 5, Glenn Davis of District 2, Byron Hickey of District 1, Toyia Tucker of District 4, Joanne Cogle of District 7, John Anker of citywide District 9 and Walker Garrett of District 8.
Brunswick City Commissioners will meet earlier than usual on Wednesday, according to The Brunswick News.
Jekyll Island has created an online tracker for diamondback terrapin nesting season, according to 13WMAZ.
Between April and July, diamondback terrapins leave the marsh in search of high ground to lay their eggs. That journey often takes them across the Jekyll Island Causeway, especially in the two hours before and after high tide.
Drivers are asked to be cautious during nesting season:
Follow posted speed limits on the causeway
Do not swerve to avoid turtles
Avoid stopping in traffic to assist a turtle
The Jekyll Island Authority monitors the causeway daily, and a new live tracking tool lets you follow this year’s activity.
The diamondback terrapin tracker shows where turtles have been spotted along the causeway, the time and location of each sighting, whether a turtle was alive, moved, or found after being hit, and updates from conservation staff.
This tracker helps researchers identify high-risk areas and gives the public a better view of how terrapins move during nesting season.
View the terrapin tracker here.
To report a terrapin in danger or a road safety concern, call the Terrapin Hotline at 912-270-8865.
The new dock at Cumberland Island National Seashore has opened, according to The Brunswick News.
The work was planned in coordination with Georgia Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to ensure the utmost protection of coastal, maritime resources, Park Service officials said.
Read the full article on the original site
