About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2018)
I2J OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Election security charges roil governor’s race BY BILL BARROW AND FRANK BAJAK Associated Press ATLANTA — The bruising race for governor of Georgia has been roiled by unsupported, eleventh- hour allegations from Republican candidate Brian Kemp, who is also the state’s chief election official, that Democrats sought to hack the voter registration system. His Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, said he is making a base less accusation to deflect attention from an apparently severe security flaw in the system Kemp is respon sible for overseeing. Here’s a look at the dispute, how it unfolded and what’s at stake. THE ALLEGATION Kemp asked the FBI on Sun day to investigate the Democratic Party, accusing it of trying to hack the system he controls as secretary of state. He offered no evidence in support of his request for a probe of the opposition. The FBI declined to comment. Kemp leveled the allegation after an attorney for election-security advocates notified the FBI and Kemp’s office on Saturday that a private citizen alerted him to what appeared to be a major flaw in the database used to check in voters at the polls. Independent computer scien tists told The Associated Press that the flaw would enable anyone with access to an individual voter’s personal information to log on to Georgia’s MyVoter registration por tal and alter or delete any voter’s record, potentially causing havoc. THE DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE Abrams on Monday called him a “bald-faced liar” who cooked up the allegation to deflect attention from his record of incompetence as secretary of state presiding over an antiquated, vulnerability-laced elec tions system. “There was never a hack,” she told a gathering at a Savannah union hall. “What was wrong is that he failed to do his job. He is abusing his power.” THE BACKGROUND The finger-pointing is the lat est turn in a campaign whose final weeks have been dominated by charges of voter suppression and countercharges of attempted voter fraud. Polls suggest Kemp and Abrams are locked in a tight race in a con test that has taken on historic sig nificance because Abrams could become the nation’s first black female governor. She has accused Kemp of using his post as secretary of state to make it harder for certain voters to cast ballots. Kemp has countered that he is following the law and that Abrams and advocacy groups are trying to help noncitizens and others cast bal lots illegally. Last month, a federal judge endorsed plaintiffs’ arguments that Kemp has been derelict in his man agement of the state election sys tem and that the setup is lacking in reliability. The atmosphere has left partisans and good-government advocates alike worrying that the losing side will not accept Tuesday’s results. HOW THE LATEST ALLEGATION UNFOLDED According to AP interviews and records released by the Georgia Democratic Party, a lawyer for election-security advocates, David Cross, notified both the FBI and Kemp’s counsel Saturday that a citi zen had alerted him to the flaw. The citizen also separately informed the Georgia Democratic Party, whose voter protection direc tor then sent an email to two Geor gia Tech computer security experts, one of whom sits on a commission created by Kemp. “If this report is accurate, it is a massive vulnerability,” wrote the director, Sara Tindall Ghazal. The online news outlet WhoW- hatWhy obtained copies of some of the correspondence and published a story about the system flaw on Sunday — just as Kemp’s office issued the first of two statements accusing Democrats of a “failed cyberattack.” That statement — bereft of spe cifics — remained prominent on his office’s main web page late Monday afternoon. VOTE ■ Continued from 1A out of concerns that a black woman could not win in Novem ber. Since then, she’s been a fund raising juggernaut, raising millions from beyond Georgia, and she’s drawn a parade of notable sup porters, most recently former President Barack Obama and media icon Oprah Winfrey. Abrams and voting rights advo cates have accused Kemp of using his office to make it harder for certain voters, particularly minor ities, to vote. Kemp counters that Abrams and affiliated groups are trying to help people, including noncitizens, vote illegally. Those tensions exploded in the home stretch after a private citizen raised concerns that the voter database Kemp is respon sible for as secretary of state is hackable, meaning a bad actor could potentially alter or delete a voter’s information in the files used to check-in voters at polling places. The citizen made his find ings available late last week to the state Democratic Party and to an attorney who flagged the concern to the FBI and to Kemp’s office. Before any of that became public, Kemp’s state office declared Sun day that it was investigating Geor gia Democrats. Kemp acknowledged to report ers Monday “a potential vulner ability that we found out about” but insisted the state’s election systems are secure. When pressed about the optics of using his office to investigate his opposition days before an election, Kemp said he “wasn’t worried about how it looks,” adding “this is how we would handle any investigation.” For her part, Abrams alluded to years of court fights with Kemp over voter registration rules. Dem ocrats also have blasted Kemp over 53,000 voter registrations that his office flagged as pending ahead of today’s election. Those voters will be able to vote, he says, as long as they show proper iden tification like every other voter. Kemp said he’s following federal and state election law. “I’ve got an opponent who not only is an architect of voter sup pression, but he’s a bald-faced liar,” Abrams told more than 200 people at a union hall for long shoremen who work at Savannah’s port. “I don’t use that term lightly. ...But when he was told on Friday that he had once again failed in his job, instead of fixing the problem he blamed the Democratic Party of Georgia. He made up a story like a 6-year-old trying to cover his tracks.” Abrams acknowledges the his toric nature of her candidacy. But, she said she doesn’t want that to drive the outcome. “I don’t want anyone to vote for me because I’m black,” she said. “And no one on the ballot needs a vote because we’re women. And I don’t even want you to vote for us just because we’re Democrats. You need to vote for us because we’re better.” SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Road Atlanta President and General Manager Geoff Lee operates a piece of heavy equipment Monday, Nov. 5, to begin demolition of the race track tower to make way for the planned Michelin Tower. Road Atlanta takes down tower Protests as South Hall subdivision gains approval BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Despite opposition from neigh bors, a 279-lot subdivision in South Hall at the intersection of LJ Mar tin Drive and Ponderosa Farm Road was approved Monday by the Hall County Planning Commission. After the development was approved, some neighbors chal lenged commissioners. A marshal asked the crowd to clear the room. Residents said they were wor ried the density of the project, 2.3 units per acre, would bring traffic and change the character of the area. “For us to keep taking our land and making it (planned residential developments) is a misuse of what we have in the south end,” Gina Pilcher said. “We need to start to slow that growth to the point where we can maintain some of our ruralness.” Another resident said he was concerned that lots in the subdi vision could sit undeveloped and become an eyesore. Neighbors asked commission ers to recommend larger lot sizes for the 121-acre subdivision. The commission did not add a condition about lot sizes but did recommend that houses be a minimum of 1,600 square feet. Bradley Dunckel of Rochester and Associates, speaking on behalf of the developer, said the houses would likely be priced in the mid- to high-$200,000s. The neighbor hood could be either age-restricted or a traditional subdivision. The planning commission’s rec ommendation will now go to the Hall County Board of Commission ers for a final vote on Dec. 13. BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Road Atlanta began demoli tion on its control tower Monday morning, making room for a new tower that will bear the Michelin name as the tire company takes over naming rights for the racing facility. In January, Road Atlanta will become Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The 750-acre facility in Braselton announced in October that Michelin North America would get naming rights, expand ing on an existing partnership. With that name change comes some other changes, including the new Michelin Tower, which will replace the old control tower built in 1970. “A lot has changed since 1970, but this building has not.... It has done great service for us. We’ve loved it,” Geoff Lee, president and general manager of Road Atlanta, said Nov. 5. The new tower is set to open at the 2019 Motul Petit Le Mans event next fall. The 48,000-square-foot Michelin Tower will have five stories, a rooftop viewing deck, a 300-per- son event space, 10 hospitality suites and an elevator — a fea ture that earned some cheers at the demolition event Monday. Carroll Daniel Construction and Rochester and Associates, both based in Gainesville, were chosen for the project. Lee said Road Atlanta wanted to support the local economy by working with area businesses. “This building will have not only a huge economic impact over time for the county and the surrounding area because of the business that we’re in, but it’s also helping for the moment because we’re creating jobs,” he said. Construction is expected to take almost a year. Before Michelin Tower opens, Road Atlanta will relocate some events and operations to other buildings on the property, according to spokeswoman Kelsi Miller. PUMPKIN ■ Continued from 1A “Jacob is a fun 16-year-old who loves his friends and is passionate about music and playing guitar. He loves to write and is known for poetry. His friends call him a comedian and just an all-around good kid, who loves God,” according to the Gofundme page. Michael Stevens, Jacob’s father, wrapped Fowler in a big embrace for his help at the scene. “It made all the dif ference in our son’s life. He wouldn’t be here now if Preston had not done that,” Jan Stevens said. Four charged in prostitution sting BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Three women face prostitu tion charges and one man faces a pandering charge after a weekend undercover operation by the Multi- Agency Narcotics Squad. Lt. Don Scalia said the operation happened Friday, Nov. 2, in the Buford area of Hall County. “Undercover officers targeted suspects engaged in online prostitu tion and pandering,” Scalia wrote in a news release. Three women from Dacula and Lula were charged with pros titution. A Lawrenceville man was charged with pandering and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer. Gainesville Police and various units from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the operation. Scalia said not much planning went into the operation, as the offi cers started after dark Friday and worked into the early hours of Sat urday, Nov. 3. “We were just going to test the waters and see how we could do on some of these new websites,” Sca lia said. Scalia said the sites targeted are similar to Backpage and oth ers previously targeted in inves tigations, but these new sites are harder to access. “We’re going to fine tune what we do a little bit, and kind of on a random basis just try these again and see how they go,” Scalia said. Key issues on Gainesville school officials’ legislative radar BY JOSHUA SILAVENT jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com Support for “wraparound ser vices” and concerns about poten tial changes to school calendars are among the top 2019 state legislative priorities officials with Gainesville City Schools approved on Monday, Nov. 5. “We did strike a few items off last year’s list, and added a couple this year,” Superintendent Jeremy Wil liams said. Officials said they would share the list of priorities next month with lawmakers representing Gaines ville and Hall County in the Georgia General Assembly. School officials have begun implementing new support services for students this year, including the addition of new social workers and a partnership with the United Way of Hall County to have a school social worker help coordinate the nonprofit’s Compass Center, which provides case management for families in need of services like access to health care, financial resources and basic needs. “I think it’s very important,” Board of Education member Heather Ramsey said. “We are a Title I school district (which means a large share of the stu dent body comes from low-income households), and the majority of our student population need these wraparound services in order to succeed.” Board member Willie Mitchell said these services allow schools and educators to identify stu dent needs outside of the class room and direct them toward support services. “One of my core beliefs over the years is that kids like a point of ref erence,” Mitchell said. Board of Education chairman John Filson said school officials have spoken with lawmakers about the implementation of wraparound services, as well as state efforts to expand things like mental health counseling in schools. “It will be good to follow up with that again,” Filson added. Also new on the priority list this year is the school system’s opposi tion to standardizing school cal endars statewide and officially launching the school year after Labor Day. A Senate study committee tasked with evaluating how a shift to a later start date would impact stu dents and families, regional econo mies that depend on the tourism and hospitality industries, and the interests of local school districts will deliver a report on its findings in December. Gainesville City Schools has 180 days of student instruction and 190 teacher days, including those for planning purposes. This calen dar allows students to complete final exams before the Christmas break and conclude the school year shortly after testing in May. Board members unanimously agreed that school calendars should be strictly left to local control. Other priorities: Another major priority for 2019 is how charter system funds are divvied. Williams said Gainesville City Schools receives about $750,000 each year with this funding stream. Ensuring it is equitable and that it is critical for mid-year budget adjust ments to be made to cover enroll ment growth. The list also includes priorities established in recent years, such as support for in-state college tuition for all high school graduates regard less of their immigration status; support for workforce training and development of students; support ing mid-term funding adjustments to support continued enrollment growth; and support for enhanced collaboration between the school district and local colleges and uni versities to reduce barriers to dual enrollment programs. Board member Sammy Smith said the priority list includes a “nice balance” for the appreciation of the work lawmakers have done, as well as requests for new support in 2019.
