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HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO
Republicans and their friends try again for non-partisan elections
“Nixon in 2(MM): He's not as stiff .as Gore."
If the non-partisan elections vote rain-,
rodded through the Athens-Clarke County
Commission at a called meeting last week
becomes law. local Republicans can act on
the above bumper sticker’s political advice
without losing a shot at local candidates in
the primary.
With the present partisan (party label)
elections, citizens must choose Iwtween the
Democratic and Republican primaries. A
voter who wants to cast a ballot for a state
or national Republican primary candidate is
thereby shut out of the Democratic primary,
where most of the contested Athens-Clarke
County races are run. This is a sore subject
with local Republicans and a satisfaction to
Democrats.
Demonstrating just how big a difference a
new mayor and one new commissioner can
make, the commission once again took up
the question of non-partisan elections last
week anti split five-five. Mayor Doc Kid ridge
broke the tie in favor of non-partisan elec
tions for mayor and commission.
Two years ago. Doc FJdridge, then the
District 7 commissioner, spearheaded the
effort for non-partisan local elections, and
the commission also split five-five on the
issue. Then-Mayor Gwen O’Looney broke
that tie. voting against non-partisan elec
tions. This time around Republican Linda
Ford sits in the District 7 Commission seat.
Doc Kldridge is mayor, and the five-five tie
vote broke the other
way as Kldridge got
the chance to
accomplish, through
his first tie-breaking
vote as mayor, what
he set out to do two
years ago.
The commission
voted to ask the
local legislative delegation to introduce a bill
stipulating that the mayor and commis
sioners run for office without party designa
tions and party primaries The effect would
be that mayoral candidates and commission
candidates would run for their respective
seats in the November general election
without first running in a party primary and
without political party labels.
Democrats, who are the majority party
here and can generally count African-
American voters among their ranks, have
opposed the change in voting procedure.
Republicans and those sympathetic to their
party have supported non-partisan elections.
I.ast week's vote was only the first step in
bringing about non-party local elections For
the change to become law. it must be passed
by the Georgia General Assembly as w hat is
called “local legislation." Most local legisla
tion is passed without debate if it is
requested by the legislators representing the
area affected. The legislators representing
Athens-Clarke County — Senator Paul Broun
and Representatives Louise McBee, Keith
Heard and Ralph Hudgens — require that
any local legislation they sponsor must have
the unanimous sup(>ort of the delegation.
Rep. Heard, a black Democrat, has said
that he will not support the non-partisan leg
islation, in which case it would be dead for
this session. The delegation is scheduled to
discuss the legislation early this week. And
its supporters are hoping that Heard will at
least agree to 'egislation allowing local
voters to decide the issue themselves in a
referendum.
"After a few years, what
you'll have is a clique, and
nobody else can be elected."
— District 1 Commissioner Charles Carter
Local Republicans pushed hard two years
ago in favor of non-partisan elections. At last
week’s called meeting, where several promi
nent Democrats spoke against non-partisan
elections, the Republicans mounted no orga
nized support. They knew that the commis
sion had already made up its mind and that
the votes for passage, with help from the
mayor, were as good as tallied. To show just
how confident everybody was. City-County
Attorney Krnie DePascale ran the requisite
newspaper notice of intent to introduce local
legislation five days before the called
meeting at which the commission actually
voted to request that such legislation be
introduced.
Fourth District Commissioner John
Barrow fought a rearguard action at the
called meeting, trying to amend the motion
to make it call for a referendum, but his
amendment was voted down. Barrow then
tried to illustrate that what the commission
was doing was piecemeal charter revision.
He made a motion that the terms of commis
sioners be shortened from four years to two
years. The mayor became visibly angry,
ruling Barrow’s motion out oi order
District 8 Commissioner Ken Jordan said
later that he had no idea that there would
be a called meeting to approve non-partisan
elections, and he stated at the meeting that
there was no need for such a rush, that
such a change to non-partisan elections, if it
came, should come about in a referendum
during a regular
election year,
instead of an off-year
such as next year
would be.
“When you have
it in an off-year elec
tion. what you get is
not the average
voter," Jordan said,
Jordan also said that "If anyone in Clarke
County has made local politics partisan, it
was the local Republican leadership Mike
Hamby had to resign from the chairmanship
when he wanted to support Doc Kldridge for
Mayor."
District 3 Commissioner Alvin Sheats,
who is black. sa»d in the meeting that non
partisan elections would dilute the minority
vote and “drive a wedge" between the black
community and the rest of the community.
District I Commissioner Charles Carter
voted against non-partisan elections and
commented later that non-partisan elections
would give incumbents the advantage. “After
a few years." Carter said, “what you’ll have is
a clique, and nobody else can be elected.
Whoever can raise the most money is the
one who can be elected."
New District 7 Commissioner Ford, on the
other hand, said that when she was cam
paigning last fall. “This is the issue people
asked me about the most."
District 10 Commissioner Cardee
Kilpatrick said after the meeting that non
partisan elections “seems tc be what the
people want." In regard to the Republicans.
Kilpatrick said, "I don’t believe that getting
local candidates builds up the party." She
hastened to add. “I am a dyed-in-the-wool
Democrat."
Kilpatrick said she knows people “who
have stood there in the election office with
both forms in their hands trying to decide
whether to run as a Republican or as a
Democrat."
w continued o.i pone 7
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