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Lawsuit Is About Rights, Not Houle
On a recent Friday morning, my cell
phone rang. “Rick,” said the caller, “the peti
tion to overturn the decision to void Jerry
NeSmith’s votes in the [Athens-Clarke
County Commission] District 6 race is going
before the court. Some of us were talking,
and we were wondering...”
“No,” I replied before they could com
plete the sentence. “I have no interest in
running.”
“We just thought you would be an ideal
candidate,” my caller continued.
“That’s flattering. But it ain’t going to
happen.”
The next day, I got a call from
Jesse Houle, the runner up to the late
Commissioner Nesmith, who accidentally
died two days before the June 9 election.
Houle was the beneficiary of an ACC Board
of Elections ruling, on the advice of County
Attorney Judd Drake, that discounted the
incumbent’s 1,864 votes and made his
opponent, who earned 1,404 votes, the
winner. “Rick, are you planning to run for
the District 6 seat?”
Through my laughter, I replied, “No,
Jesse, I have no desire to be on the commis
sion. Where is this coming from?”
“There’s a rumor out that you are going
to run,” Houle said.
Kill the rumor, please. I have absolutely
no interest in being elected county commis
sioner, member of the Board of Education
or dog catcher. However, I do plan to sup
port Houle if and when a special election is
scheduled.
I feel my greatest contributions to this
community comes from providing youth
services and making people aware of issues
via my radio show. That is all the power
and influence I need. That influence is why
I think the people behind the petition to
overturn the original election outcome
asked me to join their ranks. Which I did,
and please allow me to explain why.
When first asked to sign the petition, it
was stated that Houle supported the ini
tiative. “How novel,” I thought. Here was
a candidate who realized that earning the
trust and confidence of the people in the
district would only come by vote and not
appointment. Here was a candidate who
respected the right to vote so much that he
would risk losing a second election. I’ve got
to support somebody like that. I’ll put my
name on that petition.
Little did I know that signing the peti
tion meant suing Houle and the Board of
Elections. I thought it just meant address
ing a bad law (even Drake admitted it was
subject to challenge) that disenfranchised
voters and worked to the benefit of the
political power structure. I did not see it
as conservative vs. liberal or Democrat vs.
Republican. I saw it, and still see it, as peo
ple being denied the chance to vote. I see it
as right vs. wrong.
I grew up in an American city where res
idents still do not have full voting rights—
Washington, DC. It was 1961 before those
living in the nation’s capital were granted
the right to vote for president of the United
States. It was 1974 when, for the first time,
Washingtonians elected a mayor. They still
do not have a U.S. senator, and their lone
member of the House of Representatives
cannot vote on legislation.
Based on that experience, I feel the law
that wiped out votes cast for NeSmith is as
vile as the one Gov. Brian Kemp is using to
try to deny voters the chance to elect some
one to replace retired District Attorney Ken
Mauldin. Different circumstances, same
results—people were denied the right to
select a political office holder by voting.
In the words of the recently deceased civil
rights champion C.T. Vivian, “Whenever
anyone does not have the right to vote,
then every man is hurt.”
So, everyone with heartburn over this
petition, it is not about you. It is far greater
than you. It is about preserving the right to
vote for everyone. I’ll take those yard signs
when you are ready, Jesse.
Rick Dunn
Athens
Don't Forget to Runoff
Voters, did you know there is a run
off election happening in Athens-Clarke
County on Aug. 11? Candidates from the
Democratic and Republican parties in the
9th Congressional District are competing
for spots on the November 2020 general
election ballot. Democratic voters in the 9th
District will choose between Devin Pandy
and Brooke Siskin. Republican voters will
cast a vote for either Andrew Clyde or Matt
Gurtler.
The 9th District encompasses parts or
all of 20 northeastern Georgia counties,
including northern Clarke County. Because
of this, the runoff election only affects
residents who vote in three of our county’s
precincts: 2A (J.J. Harris Elementary), 5D
(Athens-Clarke County Fleet Management
Building) and 1A (Winterville Train Depot).
If a voter is unsure if they are part of the
9th District, contact our office at 706-613-
3150, or visit mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.
do online.
As a registered voter living in the 9th
District, residents are eligible to cast a bal
lot in this primary runoff election at their
precinct on Election Day or during early
voting, which began on July 20. Voters who
cast a ballot in the primary must vote the
same party ballot in the runoff. For a voter
who cast a nonpartisan ballot in the June
primary, either party’s ballot may be chosen
during the runoff election. If a person did
not vote in June, then they may also choose
either party’s ballot for the runoff.
There is still time to request an absentee
ballot for the Aug. 11 Primary Runoff elec
tion. You do not need a reason to request
an absentee by mail ballot. Anyone may
vote this way. Voting by mail is encouraged
during the pandemic to reduce the spread
of COVID-19. Please contact our office at
706-613-3150 to request an application for
the absentee ballot or online at mvp.sos.
ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do. The application dead
line is Aug. 7.
If a voter eligible to vote in the Aug. 11
primary runoff chooses to vote in person,
early voting is being held at the Board of
Elections Office, 155 E. Washington Street,
through Friday, Aug. 7 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.,
except on Aug. 5 until 7 p.m. An additional
early voting site is open at Miriam Moore
Community Center, 420 McKinley Drive,
from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Aug. 5 and 10
a.m.-5 p.m. on Aug. 6 and 7. Precautions
against the pandemic are being strictly fol
lowed at the in-person voting locations.
Our staff gladly serves the voters of
Athens-Clarke County. Please feel free to
contact us about the upcoming primary
runoff election on Aug. 11, 2020. We enjoy
talking about elections and solving your
voting related issues.
Lisa McGlaun
The writer is an elections assistant at the ACC
Board of Elections and Voter Registration.
Give Parents a Voice on School Reopening
In light of the Clarke County school
board’s recent decision not only to post
pone the school year a month, but also to
incorporate virtual online-only classrooms
for the foreseeable (and undetermined)
future, we felt we needed to make our
voices heard during a time when those
voices seem routinely ignored. We under
stand the complicated decisions that must
be made during this unprecedented time,
and we have no interest in compromising
the safety and health of our children, our
teachers and our community. But rather
than clear, resolute leadership and widely
understood goals and benchmarks, it seems
as if decisions are being postponed, a mere
kicking of the can down the road toward
some hazy, indeterminate time in the
future. This indecision is throwing families’
lives into chaos.
Interim superintendent Xernona
Thomas has said, “We recognize the best
place for students to learn is in class, and
the district is working to resume in-person
instruction as soon as possible.” We are
encouraged by this sentiment but con
cerned with its vagueness.
Every day our children are not in school
is a day that they fall farther behind, and we
are forced either to pay for extra child care
or miss work entirely, not only suffering
severe financial consequences during an
already difficult time, but often derailing
careers women have been working decades
to establish. Working mothers who cannot
work from home—the cashiers, bus driv
ers, restaurant workers, janitors, nurses
and other service workers—are forced to
choose between two impossible alterna
tives: abandoning their children or losing
their livelihood. There have been many
well-documented studies from the CDC, the
American Academy of Pediatrics and other
medical and education organizations that
have made clear that the social, economic
and even medical costs of keeping schools
virtual indefinitely are too much to bear.
We love the schools of this community,
have committed to the promise and oppor
tunity of public school in Athens, and have
seen the benefits they have provided for
our children. But the longer they are out of
in-person school, the more we worry that
parents, backed into a corner by what can
seem like a lack of a commitment to in-per-
son learning as soon as possible, will be
forced to make choices outside of the sys
tem. This is the last thing anyone involved
should want.
We are not asking for a reckless rush to
in-person learning. We are asking for the
Board of Education to be more explicit,
open and accountable about its commit
ment to returning to in-person education
as soon as possible. And we are asking to be
part of the process.
We believe there are simple measures the
Board of Education can adopt to ease the
anxiety of Athens families. They are:
• Weekly updates on how the process of
moving toward in-person education is pro
gressing. We do not want vague generaliza
tions and long-winded bureaucratic rhetoric
on YouTube channels. We want concrete,
regular updates.
• Specific benchmarks that, when met,
will lead to ramping up preparation for
in-person schooling. These can involve
the rate of infection in the county and the
university, as well as scientific results from
other communities that have opened up
in-person schooling.
• Regular monitoring of surrounding
counties that have opened, like Oconee
County and Oglethorpe County, to see what
can be learned from their experiences, their
successes and their setbacks.
• Clear assurances that there will be no
more kick-the-can-down-the-road, cross-
your-fingers-and-hope postponements,
which only prolong uncertainty and lead to
concerns that there is, in fact, no concrete
plan at all.
• A voice in the process. We have watched
helplessly as people we do not know and are
not involved in the lives of our families and
our children have made decisions—or not
made decisions—on our behalf, that affect
our lives dramatically, without any solici
tation of any thoughts we might have on
the process. All CCSD stakeholders deserve
a transparent process in which they have a
voice.
We love this city, this county, this school
system, all of it: Teachers, parents, admin
istrators, coaches, cafeteria workers, bus
drivers, janitors... in many ways, our public
schools are the drivers of this whole com
munity, the place we have chosen to spend
our lives, to raise our families, to build our
businesses. We only want the best for it.
We feel that a clear, explicit, transparent
plan for getting our children back to school
safely is of the utmost importance. And we
ask that we, the parents of Athens, not be
forgotten: We ask that we be given a voice.
Alexa Stevenson, Hailey Campbell,
Genevieve Knox, Will Leitch, Bertis
Downs, Josh Brooks, Lillie Brooks, Hope
Cook, Chase Cook, Kari E. Abernathy,
Lucy Atkinson, Allison Hodge, Jason
Hodge, Rosemary Hunter, Katy Brodrick,
Todd Stichtenoth, Casey Stichtenoth,
Breckyn Alexander, Ginny Graham,
Amanda Eldridge, Amanda Hardee White,
Whitney Knowlton, David Knowlton,
Caroline Griggs, Hilari Reagin, Katherine
Little Odom, Georgia Anne Moore, Anne
Coppedge, Maggie Talley, Robin Roberts,
Susan Reynols, J McElhannon, Allison
Nealy, Jenny McCallen, Kyle Marshall,
Scott Talley, Marie Garau, Aphrodite
Douris, Emmy Scruggs, Courteny Lawrence,
Stephen Simmons, Ally Simmons, Patrick
Cates, Candice Treadway, Caroline
Copeland, Jeb Bradberry, Cameron
McElreath, Jean Sample Campbell, Mary
Jill Springer, Stacy Brown, Susan Banister,
Carol White, Jan Finney, Cameron Mulford,
Greg DeMent, Catherine Hardman, Leigh
Hubbard, Laura Hogan, Sarah Pittard,
Elizabeth Chastain, Amy Chisolm,
Andrea Welter, Traci Hudson, Lauren
Harrell, Ron Menzies, Cristi De Martino
Moore, Laura Fagrall, Ragan Garrett,
Heather Cates, Jennifer Barnhart, Leah
6 FLAGPOLE.COM | AUGUST 5, 2020