Will Gov. Deal Succumb to Old Fashioned Georgia Cronyism?

Pressure on to fill DeKalb school board

Posted: 6:58 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, 2013

By Greg Bluestein and Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  From today's AJC:

Wanted: Six new DeKalb County school board members willing to untangle the needs of one of the state’s most troubled school districts. Must be politically savvy, knowledgeable about finances and educational policy and palatable to Republican leaders. The pay is $18,000. No election required.   (...)  

“They should be looking for individuals who understand the community and who, if appointed, will be viewed by the public as competent, capable and committed to student achievement,” said state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta. “It is also critically important that this process be inclusive and not driven by politics or cronyism.”

*********  But, can Georgia do the "no cronyism" thing?  We have some serious concerns, especially after seeing and hearing this phone conversation, sent by a group called "Better Georgia."  ******

Transcript of the telephone call:  (to listen to the audio of this portion of the call, click here.)

Taxpayer: I understand. Since we’re on the phone and we have broached the subject I’d like to know where you stand on, do you believe Chip Rogers is worthy of that position?

Sen. Gooch: No, sir. I’ve told a few other people this and I’ll tell you the same thing. We’re in the Legislative branch. As you probably understand the three branches of government at the federal and state level.

We budget for the entire state government but we don’t tell the governor who to hire and who to fire. That’s his job, totally.

We don’t have any responsibility for hiring and firing employees.

Now I could cut $150,000 out of that budget if I had enough votes to go with me. We could have amended that budget and we could have taken $150,000 out of the Georgia Public Broadcasting budget but they probably would have cut somebody else’s job, to be honest with you. In fact, they probably would have cut three or four employees and kept him.

Because we don’t have any control over who they would have fired. That was more of a political move on the Democrats’ part.

Taxpayer: I understand that was a political move on the Democrats, and I understand what they were trying to get at. And I understand the fallout that could have happened.

What I’m trying to get across to you is that I would appreciate if you would bring some political pressure to bear on it. Get some of your Republican cohorts, or fellow senators and talk to Nathan Deal. Say that this is making us look bad. Because it does, it makes Georgia look real bad when that kind of cronyism is going on.

Sen. Gooch: Well, we sent that message to him privately. We don’t do it in front of a TV camera because of respect for him and his position.

You don’t go down here and fall down on your sword on things you really can’t change and you want to fight the fight that needs to be fought but that wasn’t one you’d want to fight in front of a TV camera.

That’s one you’d talk about behind closed doors.

And to be honest with you, Chip Rogers and I — I wouldn’t call us friends but we were acquaintances for two years.

He was the Majority Leader in the Senate. I respected him. He was a conservative from Cherokee County. I got along with him well but there were a lot of disagreements I had with him and one was the way we ran the Senate for the last two years.

It wasn’t functional at all.

So we moved him out of that position in December — November. And that’s when he decided to quit.

And he took the job with the governor’s, you know, influence there on that Georgia Public Broadcasting.
So we didn’t support him doing that.
The Senate did not support it. The House did not support it.
But it is the discretion of the governor who he hires and who he puts in places like that and all his appointments.
Some appointments he makes we have to confirm in the Senate but most of those are board appointments like the DOT or the Board of Regents or so forth.
But that’s not one we had any control over.
We can show our displeasure by it but if we do it in a disrespectful way then he can come back on us in other ways and punish us or put us in a bad position in our district.
We tend to pick our battles. As bad as it was, the way it happened, it does smack of cronyism. And it wasn’t a smart move on his part.
But I don’t …

Taxpayer: Well, I guess the political fallout is for him then, huh?

Sen. Gooch: That’s right, that’s exactly right.

And I just want to let you know I’m embarrassed by that remark that my aide made and it shouldn’t ever happen. That’s just not the way I operate. If you know me personally, you know that’s not me.

Taxpayer: I’ve actually met you.

Sen. Gooch: OK.

Taxpayer: I have nothing against you, it did perturb me coming from a public servant. And so I decided this person needs to be told that ‘I’m the boss.’

Sen. Gooch: I respect that greatly. I understand where my position is. I am a voice of the people in the 51st district and I respect that process so I would never respond to an email like that. 

Taxpayer: well I appreciate your time and calling me, Sen. Gooch and you have a great day.

Sen. Gooch: I appreciate it. Bye, bye.

The audio presented in the video above has not been edited in any way. The telephone conversation was cut down to only the portion that addresses Gov. Nathan Deal’s appointment of Chip Rogers. To listen to the entire, uncut telephone conversation, visit this link.

***********  Let's hope the commission Gov. Deal appointed to recommend the appointments are smart enough to do the right thing for the children and not for the politicians or we'll be right back in front of a judge, or worse - SACS - in no time.   SACS has said they are willing to work with the new board, but only if there is a genuine effort to make real reform and real change that is in the best interest of the children of DeKalb County.  Let's hope this nominating committee gets it right.  And, then let's hope Gov. Deal is wise enough to know whether or not they got it right before  he makes those appointments to our board.  And, if he doesn't, let's hope that our voters understand how urgently we need them to show up at the voter polls in July 2014 to make sure WE, the VOTERS AND TAXPAYERS, can get it right for ourselves!  *****************  

Here's how to apply!

Reminder:  Here's how to apply, by 5 p.m. TODAY for the open board seats.  EVERYONE lives in ONE of the SUPER-DISTRICTS, both of which are up for grabs.   If you are not planning to apply, please inform everyone you know who is duly qualified with common sense and book smarts, and appears to like children at least more than they like their cell phone, so that they might consider it.  Thank you!

Applicants should send the following information to dekalbschoolboardnominations@georgia.gov:

1. Legal name, contact information and home address

2. District seat for which one is applying

3. Resume or brief biography

4. Statement of interest

The panel will accept applications until TODAY (MARCH 6) at 5 p.m.