About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2024)
rrm city dope Climbing the Ranks RANKED CHOICE VOTING, COURTHOUSE ELEVATORS AND MORE NEWS By Blake Aued news@flagpole.com The Athens-Clarke County Commission narrowly approved a resolution last week that could do away with costly and often sparsely attended runoff elections. The resolution in support of ranked choice voting, also known as instant run offs, passed 6-5, with Mayor Kelly Girtz breaking the tie. The resolution doesn’t commit ACC to implementing ranked choice voting—where voters rank the can didates in order of preference instead of choosing just one—but asks the state legislature for permission to explore the possibility. “This is just us saying to the state legislative body, could we have this option?” Commissioner Melissa Link said at a called voting meeting Dec. 17. If the legislature approves, the local government would gauge public opin ion, consult the ACC Board of Elections and possibly hold a countywide runoff before making the change, Link said. Turnout for runoffs in down-ballot races can drop precipitously—for example, just 160 people voted in a June runoff for a school board seat after 893 voted in a May three-person race. “The numbers drop so, so low for those runoffs,” Commissioner Carol Myers said. “This would allow more people to be involved in the decision making process.” Commissioner Dexter Fisher, who voted against the resolution, said the public has not been consulted, a cost analysis hasn’t been done, and ranked choice voting could confuse the public. “We need a deep dive into this and really find out what the community thinks,” he said. That’s exactly what the resolution would accomplish, Girtz said in casting the tie breaking vote. “This is an opportunity for us to do that next level of exploration,” he said. Link, Myers and commissioners Jesse Houle, Patrick Davenport and Ovita Thorn ton supported the resolution (despite Thornton’s previous statement that she would no longer support any resolutions). Fisher was joined by commissioners Tiffany Taylor, Allison Wright, John Culpepper and Mike Hamby in opposition. Houle cited the cost of runoff elections as a reason to support ranked choice voting: ACC has spent $537,000 on runoffs since 2020, according to a memo from the man ager’s office. “I think there are better ways we could spend half a million dollars,” they said. Houle also noted that Georgia has already instituted ranked choice voting for overseas and military voters, because of the tight timeframes for sending out and returning those ballots by mail. Several Athens residents have been pushing the mayor and commission for the resolution in recent months. However, ranked choice voting faces an uphill battle under the Gold Dome. During the last leg islative session, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones intro duced a bill to ban it, and House Speaker Jon Burns told reporters at a recent gather ing of lawmakers at UGA that there is little appetite among Republicans for any major changes to elections next year. Loving an Elevator The commission will spend $4.5 million to repair broken elevators and make other repairs at the county courthouse, even though it’s slated for a top-to-bottom reno vation within the next few years. The inmate elevator was installed in the 1970s, and the manufacturer stopped servicing that model in 2001. Both of the public elevators have been on the fritz at various times for the past few years as well. None of them are currently working. Because parts are not available, it will take an estimated seven months to make the repairs. ACC officials had hoped to cannibalize parts from one elevator to keep the other running until the courthouse undergoes a full renovation as part of an upcoming space modernization project. $78 million in sales tax revenue from SPLOST 2020 is budgeted to build a new judicial center and turn the existing courthouse into city government offices. But that project is still years away. In addition to the elevators, ACC is also replacing the courthouse’s aging HVAC system, replacing the roof and making other, smaller upgrades. The total cost is $4.5 million. “The vast majority of these projects are things that would need to be done as it’s converted to an administrative building,” assistant manager Andrew Saunders told commissioners at their Dec. 17 agenda setting meeting. A vote on the expenditure is scheduled for Jan. 7. The commission will also vote next month on recommendations for safety improvements to Newton Bridge Road. Property tax growth from new develop ments like General Time is being set aside for infrastructure along the corridor, and so far the tax allocation district (TAD) is taking in about $200,000 a year, according to Girtz. That funding could be used as col lateral for a loan or to pay back bonds, he said. A committee of property and business owners is recommending roundabouts at Kathwood Drive and Vincent Drive, a road diet study, additional lighting and construc tion of sidewalks to make the corridor safer. “As a parent who’s driven this corridor 10,000 times, taking a kid to the ballpark [the Holland Youth Sports Complex] is not optimally safe,” Girtz said. Other items up for a vote in January include: a design for an $8.3 million recov ered material processing and reuse facility, to replace the current outdated recycling center; an all-way yield sign at Boulevard and Nacoochee Avenue; a concept plan for a sidewalk along Sycamore Drive; a con tract to design a sidewalk, crosswalks and shared-use path along Lexington Road; $62,000 in funding for the Athens Land Trust and East Athens Development Corp. to provide housing counseling for low- income homebuyers; a $1.7 million grant application for intersection improvements at Oglethorpe and Hawthorne avenues; and accepting $420,000 from the Athens Downtown Development Authority to build a pocket park at the Costa Building parking lot on Washington Street. Yalamanchili Sworn In as DA District Attorney-elect Kalki Yalaman chili was sworn in on Dec. 16, although he won’t officially take over as Athens’ top prosecutor until Jan. 1. Judge Lawton Stephens—who swore in Yalamanchili as an assistant DA 12 years ago—administered the oath of office, with fellow Superior Court judges Lisa Lott, Eric Norris and Patrick Haggard, other local judges, Police Chief Jerry Saulters, other law enforcement officials and a number of lawyers also present in Stephens’ packed courtroom. Yalamanchili had to pause to com pose himself as he thanked his parents for the opportunities they provided and his wife, Caitlyn, for sacrifices she made in allowing him to run for DA. He promised to make Athens “a safe community that applies the law equally to all people.” The defense attorney ran as an independent in the November elec tion, defeating progressive Democrat Deborah Gonzalez, the incumbent, by casting himself as a more moderate and competent alternative. With the support of Republicans as well as thou sands of Kamala Harris voters, Yala manchili received 59% of the vote in Clarke and Oconee counties combined. One of the main criticisms against Gonzalez was that she was never able to fully staff her office, operating at times with as few as three or four attorneys out of 16 funded positions. Yalamanchili told Flagpole that he is already forwarding resumes to Athens- Clarke County Human Resources, and that he hopes to bring in about six new AD As within the first couple weeks of his term. Holdovers hired by Gonzalez will also be given a chance to stay, he said. © THIS MSIIIH WOKLH by TOM TOMORROW OR—JOIN A PERSONALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM CONSISTING ENTIRELY OF BorSi Biff, you are SO very insightful! WITH THE MIRACLE OF A.I., You CAN ALREADY CREATE IMPROVED VERSIONS OF YOUR EXES' Oh, Biff! I was so foolish to ever break up with you! WHO KNOWS WHAT WONDERS AWAIT US IN POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT! IT CERTAINLY ENHANCES my EN JOYMENT OF A FILM, KNOWING THAT NO ACTUAL HUMANS HAD TO ENDURE THE TORMENT AND UN CERTAINTIES OF THE CREATIVE PRO CESS to MAKE it.' PERHAPS SOON YOU'LL EVEN BE ABLE TO IGNORE UPSETTING NEWS— AND READ PLEASANT STORIES GENERATED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU! WOW! ALL THE GLOBAL PROBLEMS THAT CONCERNED ME WERE IM MEDIATELY SOLVED—AFTER MY PREFERRED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WON THE ELECTION! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL "DAD" ABOUT THIS! Kalki Yalamanchili was sworn in as district attorney Dec. 16 before a packed house in Judge Lawton Stephens’ courtroom. DECEMBER 25, 2024 & JANUARY 1, 2025 ■ FLAGPOLE.COM 5 *foM 202M... JOIN SPARKY’S LIST: thismodemworld.com/subscnptions
