Nothing drives special elections like the special interests. That’s wrong. Worse, it allows only a handful of people to dictate how we are to be taxed for as much a five years. Unfortunately, current Georgia law allows both county Boards of Commissioners and Boards of Education to schedule special elections when no one is paying attention, almost always assuring passage of the tax or bond issue. You only have to look at the recent SPLOST vote in Cobb County, and our own $170 million school bond referendum earlier this year for proof that this deliberate plan to pass tax issues works.

In November, I will be submitting to my fellow commissioners a resolution allowing for special elections only to fill vacancies for elected office holders and in the case of a valid court order, such as the funding of a new jail, and nothing else.

My reasoning is simple: people are not paying attention in March or September on voting issues. Their focus is on paying their bills and making sure they raise their children right. Consequently, they tend to miss out on special elections. In November, everyone is paying more attention to issues regarding government. That is why we need my proposed resolution passed.

I hope that you will all join me in asking that our BOC approve this resolution without exception or modification. While this will be sufficient to fix the problem at the Board of Commissioners level, it will not restrict our school board in continuing this shameful practice.

To that end, I have requested that our local state legislative delegation propose and support changing Georgia law to reflect my local resolution, so that the special interests are taken out of the special election process. We deserve to vote on tax issues during Presidential or gubernatorial elections in November only, not during primaries or special called election dates. My proposal does not restrict the ability of local governments to ask for voters to approve tax and bonding referenda; it merely puts the onus on them to do their scheduling and financial work on a set schedule of every other November. And more importantly, it allows for as many people as possible, even those that are considered “uninformed” by some, the ability to cast their vote when it is best heard.

Please get in touch with your local state rep or senator, and let them know you want them to champion this legislative change in 2006. And demand from them an explanation if they choose to preserve the status quo. Their stance could be the difference in who you choose to vote for next year.

Amos Amerson - mailto:hamerson@alltell.net

Tom Knox - tknox@legis.state.ga.us

Jack Murphy – jmurphy@legis.state.ga.us

Chip Pearson - cpearson@legis.state.ga.us

Bill Stephens - bstephen@legis.state.ga.us