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You Should Vote Tuesday, December 5.

Yes.  This Tuesday.  It’s run-off day here in Georgia.  Polls are open from 7 AM until 7 PM and your vote matters not only to your fellow citizens but directly to your pocket book.  The big race is for Georgia Public Service Commission.  These are the folks who decide how much you pay for electricity and other services.

This is a statewide election between Chuck Eaton and  David Burgess.    Both men have not been the best candidates.  Eaton’s website indicates he thinks he can do something about our natural gas prices, which the PSC no longer regulates.  He’s worried the prices have gone up and yet at the same time he wants more of the market solutions that have brought us our current problems.  Still he has pledged to take no money from the industries he regulates.

Burgess is chair of the PSC and has taken industry money.  Still he’s the more experienced of the two.  He has 24 years of experience working in the utility regulation field.  Burgess, however, has voted with the Utilities against keeping rates lower repeatedly.  Yes, eventually if the cost of raw materials goes up and if the demand goes up, price needs to move to meet it.  However, Burgesses financial connections to the industry create a cloud through which his true motives are tough to discern.

Ultimately, voters have to decide how vigilant they are willing to be.  If they are willing to do the work, they should re-elect Burgess and hold his feet to the fire.  Make him use his knowledge and contacts in the industry to leverage greener, more cost-effective output.  Let’s just hope that Georgians are willing to pay enough attention.

After all, in the long term, the more green we put into our energy system, the more green we’ll all have in our wallets.

In the past year Atlanta companies have been bought-out at an incredibly fast clip. What does this mean for our economic health? Does it matter to lose a headquarter if you gain that ready cash? Sure, there’s a status change from HQ to division but I wonder if on balance we come out ahead?

Last November, Cisco bought Scientific Atlanta for $6.9 billion, followed quickly by the acquisition of Georgia Pacific by the private company Koch. In the last few months IBM bought ISS and California-based McKesson bought Per-Se for $1.3 and $1.8 billion respectively. All told, over $30 billion in wealth from California, New York and Kansas to shareholders that one would assume are largely locals. Some is going to growing the next generation where ISS’s Chris Klaus’s Advanced Computing center opened at Georgia Tech last month. How much of this money will be used to fund the next startup or expand a new company? As for the remaining divisions, we already know IBM is pouring money into expanding ISS and Cisco is using SA to push IPTV, are the others benefiting as well?

If this is good news, there’s more to come: $80 billion for BellSouth and $8 billion for Delta. If it’s bad news, what would happen if those go and the oft-rumored sale of SunTrust? What do you think? Are we really good at growing attractive companies or are we struggling?

I guess as long as the talented people stick around town while we gain a tremendous amount of wealth that has to be a recipe for long-term success.

Now that Sonny has been re-elected, he can do a lot more things without having to worry about fighting all the same battles. Apparently, that may include the Lovejoy line! For those of you who have forgotten, The Lovejoy Line from downtown Atlanta to Lovejoy (at the southern most point in Clayton County) was supposed to already be up and running! Now, apparently, they’re supposed to be ready to go by 2009.

The problem is that Sonny has already proved himself fickle and fey on support for the line. He looks south, sees committee chairs who might throw tantrums and backs down. Certainly more pressure from Metro Atlanta will not help. But Metro pressure from another city might help and that’s Macon.

Yes, Macon. The City in the center of the state has long term prospects tied up with the Lovejoy line. According to planning done by the GDOT, the Lovejoy line is a first step toward building commuter rail to Macon. Macon has a lot to gain. They have several tourist spots which are underutilized and commuter rail would bring scores of day trippers eager to get out of the traffic and Atlanta for a day and enjoy a more traditional southern city. The rail could provide the kind of re-birth that has driven Chattanooga.

Macon, along with Griffin, Warner Robins, and other smaller cities would provide the non-Atlanta political muscle to get regional rail moving quickly. Once started, this would also likely give momentum for the Brain Train, which the state desperately needs.

Pressure for these trains need to come from both ends of the line and from the people who will be the riders on them, and with a complete Republican sweep, the farther they live from Atlanta, the better.

In the final analysis, people should vote for Mark Taylor to be the next Governor of Georgia.  He is more likely to develop regional rail.  He is more likely to fully fund educational progress in this state.  He’s more likely to veto silly bills from the legislature, and PeachKids is a good idea.  He’s better than the current Governor.

That being said,  Taylor is running a lousy campaign.  He never mended fences with Cathy Cox.  His idea for eliminating parole is crazy.   He has not talked about how he will fund his new initiatives and he never put the muscle behind registering the 100,000 new voters he challenged Georgians to register.

Still, unlike the current Governor, he has not lost 3 car plants.  He did not promise a regional train line and fail to put his political muscle behind it, nor did he have his friends in the legislature pass a law specifically designed to benefit him.  He was always for changing the flag and did not deceive the people who elected him after he won.

There is also the larger sense.  Sonny Perdue has no vision.  That’s why his campaign is based on “What’s on Your Sonny Do List”?

That’s followship, not leadership!

Georgia needs a strong hand at the helm.  Roy Barnes was certainly bombastic, loud, and perhaps even a little arrogant, but he had a vision and a plan.  Perdue won precisely because he didn’t have a plan.  His has been a governorship of minding the store not making it stronger and more vibrant.

Mark Taylor wants improved educational access to schools, affordable prescriptions, and comprehensive health care for all Georgian Children.  Like it or don’t like it, but the guy has an agenda.  You know what benchmarks he’s using and how to measure them.  He believes he knows how to make Georgia better and that confidence alone sets him ahead of Perdue.

This is a ‘Throw The Bums Out’ area of electoral politics. The Public Service Commission oversees regulated monopolies and utility services in Georgia. They tried deregulating Natural Gas and everyone’s bills skyrocketed. People whom they regulate are allowed to donate money to their campaigns, so occasionally, you just have get new blood in there. Firing the old blood will even get us a new Commission Chair and Vice Chair!

David Burgess is the current chair and district 3 representative (Fulton, Dekalb, Clayton) and has supported many of the rate increases and expansions of fees sought by Georgia Power. While we do need more electricity, and while it is important for Southern Company to remain profitable, limiting junk fees on consumers is important. The price ought to be the price. Building another nuclear plant in Georgia may be the right thing, but a persuasive argument is yet to be made. Burgess, as chair of the commission, has not pushed for that. Instead, Voters should choose Chuck Eaton. Eaton will consider steps to lower natural gas costs, to improve the port of Savannah for improved fuel delivery, and require utilities to become more efficient. He’ll also have the chance to work in tandem with Bobby Baker to really have a consumerist approach to the commission and ask tough questions before giving Georgia Power the okay to issue the bonds to build a new power plant Georgians would have to pay for whether it ever runs or not.

In the district 5 race, Dawn Randolph represents some great new blood. First, she is not taking any Utility money nor donations from their executives. Second, she has a firm commitment to generated re-newable energy solutions in Georgia. Lastly, she has a firm commitment to an open process. Right now, deals are made in private meetings to which the Public is unwelcome. Randolph will end those. She has tremendous experience managing local government agencies and has a background in energy and environmental issues. She’s the right choice.

Georgia has a Republican Legislature, Governor, and State School Superintendent. With everyone playing for the same team, things should get better, right? They haven’t. We spend less per pupil now on education than we did 4 years ago. More kids are dropping out than ever. They’ve repeatedly tried to cut arts funding in the schools. Teachers are leaving the profession like mad.

Clearly Kathy Cox is not the answer. This does not even begin to address the silly mistakes, nor her plans to run for Congress (most likely against David Scott).

That makes David Chastain the easy choice. He wants to change the Superintendent’s role so that the State School Board makes the hire. There would be strict professional qualifications and the appointment would run across gubernatorial terms. He also wants Charter schools to be easier to start and dissolve so that successful ideas work quickly and we can stop ones that don’t. Chastain also wants to seek some ways to make the Superintendent’s office more responsive to local needs rather than being the top down office he has perceived it to be from both Democrats and Republicans alike.

Chastain has thought carefully about his plan. He’s vetted it with education professionals. He wants to follow what more successful states have done.
We should support him. (And if you need one more reason? At least his plan does not start by quoting Whitney Houston.)

Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond has been amazing at his job.  Georgia’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund has the best bond rating in the nation.  It’s the most solvent and Thurmond has been able to increase the amount we can pay those folks who are getting laid off from Ford and GM.  He’s also worked to lower the burden on Georgia’s companies and keep Delta flying.  He’s successful and he still wants the job.  Let’s let him keep it.

Thurbert Baker is among the most low key Attorney Generals we’ve ever had.  In Georgia, the decisions of the Attorney General are law until a court directly addresses them.  That’s a big stick and Mr. Baker wields it softly.  He’s careful and diligent.  His peers respect him so much that he was elected as the President of the National Association of Attorneys General.  Mr. Baker is one of the last vestiges of Governor Zell Miller.  Governor Miller (as opposed to the less pragmatic Senator he became) looked out for the practical matters of improving the lives of Georgians first.  Mr. Baker has solidly kept that tradition alive. 

Mr. Baker’s opponents rally around hot button issues of whether to post the 10 commandments in schools.  Mr. Baker quietly stands to assure that Georgians can see what our government is doing and that our sunshine laws are preserved.  Mr. Baker knows when to bring the heat and when to keep cool.  The last thing you want is a hot headed Attorney General. 

Keep Thurbert Baker as A.G.

If there is one candidate running for election this year that has absolutely earned your vote, it’s the Honorable Jim Martin. No one running for any office in Georgia has better record of public service, accomplishment, or honesty. This guy is up there with Jimmy Carter.Now he’s running for Lt. Governor and deserves the support of all decent people. Mr. Martin has served as a State Legislator both in the house and the Senate. he’s been a committee chairman, and then he left. Why? Because he was asked to do a very difficult thing. Jim Martin cleaned up the state Department of Human Resources.

Martin is campaigning on 3 key issues: Keep transparency in government, end predatory lending practices, and improve our business climate by strengthening Georgia’s health care and education system.

The primary job of the Lt. Governor is to preside over the Senate. In that role, Martin can directly address the first two points of his agenda. The current Governor and House Speaker very much want the power to hide negotiations from the public over matters with businesses. It’s a bad deal for the public and Jim Martin has already stopped it once. As President of the Senate, he can make sure that nothing passes that will darken the corridors of power.

Financial companies see a gold mine in Georgia. With the growth of the housing market here they see a chance not only to reap the benefits of lending, but lending with the intent to foreclose. They start with a low rate and then raise the rate on undervalued property so they can force the owner to foreclose and read the benefit of selling it out from under the owner. As Lt. Governor, Martin can stop this and assure that lending bills meet a high standard of consumer protection.

Furthermore, should anything happen to the next Governor, You could not ask for a better care taker than Jim Martin. He has executive experience, civic experience, legislative experience, and no one cares about Georgia more.

Vote for Jim Martin.

Will Atlanta Re-boom?  That’s the question defining one of the big, upcoming battles about the city.  Cousins Properties thinks Atlanta will have over 800,000 residents by 2020 and wants to build housing to suit them.  They also want the infrastructure to support that.

The Atlanta Regional Commission thinks that even by 2030, Atlanta’s population will only be a little beyond 600,000.  By contrast, they believe Gwinnett County will have nearly a million residents.

The question comes directly into where to invest resources, and where you invest resources ultimately determines what life will be like for people who live in the region. Regrettably, given the nature of the current government structure the ARCs vision is more likely to come to pass, but it’s not a foregone conclusion.

If the ARC is assumed to be correct, then we’ll need to build a ton of roads, lots more subdivisions, our traffic will be hell and if we have any chance of ever facing the EPA with a straight face, we’d better start building regional rail at a record pace.  We better also completely rewrite our water use plans because small growth in the city, but huge suburban growth means more water usage.  What will happen is that our growth will be limited not by our own planning but by smog and water limits that the Federal Government will have to enforce to preserve people’s safety.

If, however, we take the Cousins estimate and build it, we’ll have our own urban ‘Field of Dreams‘.  Develop the infrastructure for 800,000 people with the housing, the services, and transportation needed, and they will come.  Even if they don’t come by 2020, the city will gain a reputation as being well built and ready for growth.  That attracts business, which is what is needed to keep attracting able people to the region.  With new businesses moving to Atlanta, everyone will benefit.  Even the outlying counties will see a stronger region with a larger tax base and demand for housing and services in their restaurants.

The question is really one of vision.  Do we want our governments to follow the trends they see and try to keep playing catch up?  Or do we want them to seize this opportunity and weave an urban fabric with a strong central core that works?  Really.  Would you rather live in Detroit?  Or Chicago?