Tag Archive for 'Karen-Handel'

Unanimous—Jim Powell Lives!!!! (In The 4th District)

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Wilson
on October 30, 2008
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The Georgia Supreme Court today ruled in Handel v Powell that Jim Powell, candidate for the Public Service Commission, District 4, was qualified to run.

You can read the entire opinion here, or this excerpt:

The superior court determined the Secretary made such an error of law when she concluded that the candidate’s homestead exemption on property outside the District was sufficient to determine that the candidate did not reside in the District.3 We agree with the superior court that the Secretary committed an error of law that authorizes reversal of the Secretary’s decision.

The Secretary acknowledged in her decision the existence in OCGA § 21-2-217 of “a set of rules” to be followed in determining residency to qualify to run for elective office, but employed only one of the fifteen rules contained in the set, the “homestead exemption” subsection. When the issue is the residence of a person desiring to qualify to run for elective office, OCGA § 21-2-217(a) directs that the rules contained therein are to be followed “so far as they are applicable[.]” The facts of the case at bar call into consideration at least seven of the fifteen rules: Subsections 1, 2, 3, 4.1, 6, and 9, as well as the homestead exemption rule found in subsection 14.4 but the Secretary’s decision did not take into account any of the applicable rules other than the homestead exemption rule. The Secretary’s analysis had the effect of elevating the “homestead exemption” rule of OCGA § 21-2-217(a) above the remaining rules contained therein, effectively eviscerating their application in any case questioning the qualifications of a candidate for elective office should the candidate own a home on which a homestead exemption is enjoyed. A statute must be construed “to give sensible and intelligent effect to all [its] provisions and to refrain from any interpretation which renders any part of the statute meaningless.” R. D. Brown Constrs. v. Bd. of Educ. of Columbia County, 280 Ga. 210, 212 (626 SE2d 471) (2006). Had the General Assembly intended such a preeminent role for the homestead exemption in determining the residence of a person desiring to qualify to run for elective office, it would have so stated in OCGA § 21-2 -217(a). Inasmuch as the superior court did not err when it reversed the decision of the Secretary, we affirm the judgment of the superior court.

Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.

Jim Powell, Candidate for Georgia Public Service Commission

Published
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Wilson
on September 25, 2008
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You would think that a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission would not stir much controversy. Some people probably don’t even know we have a Public Service Commission, much less candidates for seats on it.

Jim Powell is seeking to replace Angela Speir as the commission member from District 4. Speir, a Republican, is not running for re-election. Powell is running as a Democrat and if successful, would be the only Democrat on the PSC.

You may be aware that last week the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs announced that it was cutting the funding for the Consumer Utility Counsel which represents the little guy before the PSC. Due to a budget shortfall caused by our troubled economy, the Governor asked all state agencies and departments to cut their budgets by 6% (Education was 2%, I think) across the board. Well, when it came to the lawyers for the ordinary citizen, the cut wasn’t 6%, it was 100%.

I think it was last year that the PSC cut back on the part of its staff that represented consumers’ interests in opposing rate increases. I tried to find something on this, but could not, so I could be wrong, confused or just plain stupid, but my point is that it seems consumers and their interests don’t get much consideration from or at the PSC, or at least less and less.

But, Jim Powell is involved in much more than a campaign for a seat on the PSC. He is also having to fight with Georgia Secretary of State, Karen Handel. After Powell qualified as a candidate, a question was raised as to whether or not he was a resident of District 4. Now, that is something the Secretary of State is and should be concerned with and Handel did what she should have done. She referred the issue to a hearing before an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge). The ALJ found that Powell was a resident of District 4. Handel disagreed and overruled the ALJ. Well, you know what happened next. Powell had to appeal the matter to the Superior Court of Fulton County which ruled in Powell’s favor. Powell wins! Well, not exactly.

Handel has now appealed the Superior Court ruling to the Supreme Court of Georgia. I have interviewed Karen several times and I am a little surprised. She seemed to be a practical person with some common sense, but she did her job when she referred the matter to an ALJ for a due process hearing. Arbitrarily overruling the ALJ and then pursuing an adverse decision by the Superior Court gives the distinct impression of partisanship and is a waste of taxpayer money.

Handel’s conduct is even more questionable when you consider that she apparently made the decision to disqualify him on the Thursday before the primary election on Tuesday and did not even tell Powell he was being disqualified. Powell found out by rumor over the weekend and had to hire a lawyer and run to the courthouse on Monday to stay on the ballot. Sleazy Karen, pure sleaze. We deserve better than that.

Hang in there Jim.

 
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Karen Handel, Georgia Secretary of State: Elections, Contractors and Scams!

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Wilson
on January 27, 2008
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Karen Handel has been in office just over a year. With more than 700,000 corporations registered in Georgia, her office is always busy. In her first year, there were over 300,000 corporations that were delinquent in paying their annual registration fees. In trying to update the list of active corporations, all of them had to be contacted and told to pay up or go away. The result, Karen’s office collected over $2 million in delinquent fees.

As SOS, Karen’s office covers a lot of territory: Archives, Elections, Corporations, Professional Licensure Boards, Securities, Vital Records. You can find a lot of quick links on the Home Page.

Karen warns of a scam making the rounds in Georgia. A lot of people have received documents from a corporation by the name of “Georgia Corporate Compliance” offering to prepare documents and provide services under the pretense they are required by the law. The information may look official, but it is not. IT IS A SCAM and you should notify the Secretary of State’s office. Karen has asked the Attorney General’s office to investigate further.

For more information on what is going on in the SOS office, check out the Newsroom.

Between now and July 1, 2008 a lot of effort is being directed at licensing tens of thousands of general contractors in the State. Georgia was one of the last states to regulate contractors, both commercial and residential. The new requirements provide minimum standards regarding proof of competency and financial responsibility. Anyone dealing with a general contractor should definitely read the Rules applicable to contractors.

And then, of course, there are the elections, beginning with the Presidential Primary on February 5, 2008. There has been a lot of controversy about the electronic voting machines and paper ballot verification. Georgia won’t have paper ballot verification any time soon, but Karen offers a lot of assurance that the machines and processes used in Georgia will give us an accurate vote.

A lot of the problems with electronic voting machines are the result of human error. Some states simply don’t go to the expense of providing the manpower and training to insure that machines operate properly. Karen will have the manpower on election day to be able to have a representative of her office in any precinct in the state within an hour of any report of a problem. There will also be monitoring of absentee ballots.

As for the paper ballot, you may recall there was a pilot project in the 2006 general election. You can read the official report on this project. Because of the enormous expense and changes in technology, most of the states are not going forward with any plans to implement paper ballot verification. You can find out more about this issue nationwide at electionline.org.

Not only that, but everyone expects the federal government to enact minimum federal standards for voting machines and paper verification. There is no need to guess what those standards will be and purchase expensive techonology that may not end up being what is required. Karen also advised that there is a bill in Congress to change voting processes by the November 2008 elections. Karen thinks this would be impossible to accomplish in such a short period of time and irresponsible in even attempting to do so. For more information on verified voting, check out VoteTrustUSA.

By the way, Karen wants to make sure that everyone brings their Photo ID to the voting precinct.

 
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Interview with Karen Handel, Republican candidate for Secretary of State

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on November 3, 2006
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Karen Handel, Republican candidate for Secretary of State

 
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Interview with Karen Handel, Candidate for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State

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on August 3, 2006
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Karen Handel, Candidate for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State discusses her campaign and asks for your vote in the Run-Off Election on August 8, 2006.

 
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Interview with Karen Handel

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on July 14, 2006
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Karen Handel is a Republican and currently Chairperson of the Fulton County Commission, a position which she has held since 2003. she is seeking the nomination for Secretary of State.

 
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