Local Elections

[shortcircuit]

But roundtree, you know that Lamar knows what's best for all of us and there's no possible way that he could do anything wrong! And if we say otherwise he'll have the work dog write a bad story about us in the paper.

[eddie]

zhelton said:

If he does not control the BOE, why does he care so much about who the GOP appoints. Lamar is casting off responsiblity to avert blame. For example, the County Website used to say that the Commissioner is directly responsible for the Tax Assessors office.
web.archive.org/web/20050204121601/unioncountyga.gov/home.htm

Now it doesn't.

You are right, it was there a couple of weeks ago because I pointed it out, but gone now. I guess that comes under the ordinance of " Cover your A... As Necessary". Changing records again Lamar?

[shortcircuit]

I believe it's the Union County Governmental Finance Authority.

[eddie]

House Bill 798
By: Representative Twiggs of the 8th


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT


To provide for the board of elections of Union County; to provide for the rights, powers, duties, and authority of the board; to provide for appointment and terms of members; to provide for a chairperson; to provide for qualifications; to provide for appointment procedures; to provide for vacancies; to provide for resignation or removal of members; to provide for succession to certain powers and duties and to relieve the election superintendent of such powers and duties; to provide for certain oaths and privileges; to provide for compensation, offices, assistants, and employees; to provide for definitions; to provide for certain submissions; to provide for other matters relative to the foregoing; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:



SECTION 1.

Pursuant to Code Section 21-2-40 of the O.C.G.A., there is created the board of elections of Union County which shall have jurisdiction over the conduct of primaries and elections in Union County in accordance with the provisions of this Act, which board of elections is sometimes referred to as "board" in this Act.


SECTION 2.

The board of elections of Union County shall be composed of five members, each of whom shall be an elector and resident of Union County and who shall be selected in the following manner:
(1) Two members of the board shall be selected by the chairperson of the county executive committee of the political party which received the highest number of votes within the county for its candidate for President of the United States in the general election immediately preceding the appointment of the member. Each selection shall have been ratified by a majority of the members of the executive committee voting at a regularly scheduled meeting or at a meeting duly called and held for such purpose. Selected names shall be submitted to the governing authority of Union County for appointment as members of the board of elections for Union County;
(2) Two members of the board shall be selected by the chairperson of the county executive committee of the political party which received the second highest number of votes within the county for its candidate for President of the United States in the general election immediately preceding the appointment of the member. Each selection shall have been ratified by a majority of the members of the executive committee voting at a regularly scheduled meeting or at a meeting duly called and held for such purpose. Selected names shall be submitted to the governing authority of Union County for appointment as members of the board of elections for Union County; and
(3) The fifth member of the board of elections shall be appointed by the governing authority of Union County. Said member shall not be an officer or member of the executive committee of any political party at the time of such member´s selection or at any time during such member´s term of office as a member of the board of elections.

SECTION 3.

The members of the board of elections shall elect one of the members of the board to serve as chairperson of the board.


SECTION 4.

In making the initial appointments to the board, the governing authority of Union County shall appoint two members, one from each political party, for an initial term beginning on September 1, 2001, and ending on December 31, 2002, and two members for an initial term beginning on September 1, 2001, and ending on December 31, 2003. The one member appointed pursuant to paragraph (3) of Section 2 of this Act shall be appointed for an initial term beginning on September 1, 2001, and ending on December 31, 2004. Each member shall serve until a successor is appointed and qualified. Thereafter, a successor to each member of the board whose term of office is to expire shall be appointed to take office January 1 immediately following the expiration of such term and shall serve for a term of four years and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified


SECTION 5.

No person who holds elective public office shall be eligible to serve as a member during the term of such elective office and the position of any member shall be deemed vacant upon such member´s qualifying as a candidate for elective public office. Further, no immediate family member of an elected public official shall be eligible to serve as a member during the elected official´s term of office.



SECTION 6.

The appointment of each member shall be made by the appointing authority by filing an affidavit with the clerk of the Superior Court of Union County not later than 30 days preceding the date at which such member is to take office, stating the name and residential address of the person appointed and certifying that such member has been duly appointed as provided in this Act. The clerk of the superior court shall record each of such certifications on the minutes of the court, shall certify the name of each appointed member of the Secretary of State, and shall provide for the issuance of appropriate commissions to the members within the same time and in a manner as provided by law for registrars. If any appointing authority does not, in conformity with this Act, certify an appointment to the board within 30 days after the beginning of a term of office or within 30 days after the creation of a vacancy in that office, a vacancy shall be deemed to have been thereby created and the Governor, pursuant to Article V, Section II, Paragraph VIII(a) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, shall fill that vacancy by making the appointment thereto and shall certify it as provided in this section.

SECTION 7.

Each member of the board shall serve until his or her successor is appointed and qualified, except in the event of resignation or removal as provided in this Act, and shall:
(1) Be eligible to succeed himself or herself and have the right to resign at any time by giving written notice of his or her resignation to the governing authority of Union County and to the clerk of the Superior Court of Union County; and
(2) Be subject to removal from the board at any time, for cause after notice and hearing, in the same manner and by the same authority as provided for removal of registrars.


SECTION 8.

In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of any member before the expiration of his or her term, by removal, death, resignation, or otherwise, the governing authority of Union County shall appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the unexpired term, in the same manner as an original appointment to such post.


SECTION 9.

Before entering upon his or her duties, each member of the board shall take substantially the same oath as is required by law for registrars and shall have the same privileges from arrest.



SECTION 10.

The board of elections shall, with regard to the preparation for and conduct and administration of elections and primaries, succeed to and exercise all duties and powers granted to and incumbent upon the judge of the probate court pursuant to Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the O.C.G.A., the "Georgia Election Code," as the same now exists or may hereafter be amended, or any other provision of law.


SECTION 11.

On September 1, 2001, the election superintendent of Union County shall be relieved from all powers and duties to which the board succeeds by the provisions of this Act and shall deliver thereafter to the chairperson of the board, upon his or her written request, the custody of all equipment, supplies, materials, books, papers, records, and facilities of every kind pertaining to such powers and duties.


SECTION 12.

The board shall be responsible for the selection, appointment, and training of poll workers in elections, and such workers shall be appointed, insofar as practicable, from lists provided to the board by the county executive committee of each political party.


SECTION 13.

The chairperson of the board of elections shall be the chief executive officer of the board of elections and shall generally supervise, direct, and control the administration of the affairs of the board of elections pursuant to law and duly adopted resolutions of the board of elections. The board of elections shall fix and establish by appropriate resolution entered on its minutes, directives governing the executions of matters within its jurisdiction.


SECTION 14.

Compensation for the members of the board of elections shall be in the same manner as registrars as prescribed in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-212 of the O.C.G.A. Compensation for clerical assistants and other employees shall be such as may be fixed by the governing authority of Union County. Said compensation shall be paid wholly from the funds of Union County.


SECTION 15.

The governing authority of Union County shall provide the board of elections with such proper and suitable offices and with such clerical assistants and other employees as the governing authority shall deem appropriate.

SECTION 16.

The words "election," "elector," "political party," "primary," "public office," "special election," and "special primary" shall have the same meaning ascribed to those words by Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the O.C.G.A., the "Georgia Election Code," as the same now exists or may hereafter be amended, unless otherwise clearly apparent from the context of this Act.


SECTION 17.

It shall be the duty of the governing authority of Union County to require the attorney therefor to submit this Act for approval pursuant to Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.


SECTION 18.

Only for purposes of making initial appointments to the board, this Act shall become effective July 1, 2001. For all other purposes, this Act shall become effective on September 1, 2001.


SECTION 19.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

[fairplay]

I neglected reading this topic but I caught up tonight and have several comments/

Page I Manape reply 9 Your statement about the trailer being the only place to have what I call the Kangaroo court is not correct. I actually sent Lamar a registered letter (before hand ) suggesting several places that would be better because of the limited seating. Lamar wanted to limit the people and in fact had a list of participants that supported his stance on the issue, and filled the trailer with the exception of a few seats. People were turned away because of the limited seating. Eddie and I were only allowed to make brief statements at the beginning and were prevented from having our pertinent questions answered and were not allowed to play taped conversations that would have confirmed our statements. We had no idea who was coming to this hearing or how to prepare. He brought in , so called, experts from other counties and from the state tax assessors office and they all had a different method on how to run the office. It was a set up to try and make us look bad and it taught me a very valuable lesson. There seems to be no limit to what Lamar will do to get his way. It really sunk home to me when he pulled out a previously written, pre determined, statement and found us in error. The ironic thing that happened afterward was that the participants went home to their home offices and claimed on their expense accounts that they had been to a training session. If anyone would like to witness this kangaroo court I have a VCR copy of most but the end, for his office claims the tape ran out just before he pulled out his statement.

Page I Manape reply 13 You say I gave the tax assessors hell ? I asked for a true accounting of the people that challenged their assessments. They were not able to provide an accurate accounting Several counts were given and none of them were the same. In fact I have a letter from Lamar admitting they were not able to give an accurate account and refunded over 200 dollars to the UCCBC. In order for the state to accept our tax digest the amount of people protesting have to fall within state guidelines. My question is, and never has been answered is “How could they give the state an accurate count when there was obviously no accurate way to do it?”

[fairplay]

I found several statements that I wished to challenge but they were addressed by others farther along I am glad the BOE law was placed on the site and I wish to point out several things. Section 8 says Lamar was supposed to appoint a replacement for Bill Mackintosh for the remainder of his term. Which would have been 16 days. He failed to do so. My appointment was well within the 30 prescribed days on the 22 of Jan.
Lamars stated dislike of me and the republican executive committee tainted his judgment to where he tried to put a burden on our governor asking him to interfere with due process of law. I challenge anyone to point out the place in our house bill 798 where it gives Lamar the right to interfere with the republican party’s choice. This is that power thing again!
If you are familiar with Fannin county you will know that they are mostly republicans and at one time were in control of the BOE. Well our, and their, legislature at that time was Carleton Colwell a democrat. He wrote a bill that took away their power and put it in the hands of the people. He came up with this idea of 2 members from each party but where theirs differs from ours is that those four members decide on the fifth member. You see he didn’t want the governing party (republicans ) to have any majority control of the board. If you want to read its No. 774 (house bill 1103) 1985 I think this one feature goes a long way to taking it out of the governments hands. Only if those 4 members fail to appoint that 5th member within a specified time can the governing authority appoint anyone. I bet that hasn’t happened.. If there is a vacancy the board picks the successor not the commissioner. The section that I like the best and would have answered the problem that Lamar created is section 6 in their law which states: Each appointed or selected member of the board shall (4) Be subject to removal at any time, for cause after notice and hearing . In the same manner and by the same authority as is provided for the removal of registrars.

I don’t believe that Lamar has gained so much power that he can control our two judges and they are the ones who would make that decision not him. As it is he has charged me with terrible things and I have no way to defend my self. He has attacked my character and the letters he wrote have circulated through out the county and beyond. He as a dictator makes the charges and sadly a lot of people condemn me and reprimand me for things he says I am guilty of. What he has forgotten is that I will be meeting my Maker before too long and in the end I will only have to stand before him to answer for my life.

How will Lamar answer for his life?

[eddie]

eddie said:

zhelton said:

If he does not control the BOE, why does he care so much about who the GOP appoints. Lamar is casting off responsiblity to avert blame. For example, the County Website used to say that the Commissioner is directly responsible for the Tax Assessors office.
web.archive.org/web/20050204121601/unioncountyga.gov/home.htm

Now it doesn't.

You are right, it was there a couple of weeks ago because I pointed it out, but gone now. I guess that comes under the ordinance of " Cover your A... As Necessary". Changing records again Lamar?

To follow up on this, my post #1575, dated Aug. 11, 2007 referred to the Commissioner being directly responsible for the Tax Assessors as indicated on the County website that same day. Since that posting, the Tax Assessors listing has mysteriously disappeared from that website.

Also, after re-reading comments by ga peach, there is no question in my mind that it was written by none other than Lamar Paris. Man up Lamar and stop hiding behind a females' skirt.

[eddie]

I just happened to notice that the Local Elections topic began Aug. 4, 2007 with now 1,147 hits in less than one month. This is quite impressive as to the amount of interest in local elections. Perhaps there is hope after all. An informed public can and will bring about better government.

Everyone, please read carefully the previously posted Union County Board Of Elections Act and you will readily see what I have been telling you about. Basically it provides excessive control to the Local Governing Authority thereby denying the public the confidence of fair and equal elections. And I will again repeat myself in that it wolud still be just as unfair with a Republican Commissioner/Local Governing Authority.

[sometimeman]

Thank You Eddie and Fairplay. Union County has at least two people of honesty and integrity.

Lie mar, A.K.A. Ms. Peach, is an egomaniac! In, addition to being a liar and a thief.
People that defend such are bad for Union County.

[gapeach]

Also, after re-reading comments by ga peach, there is no question in my mind that it was written by none other than Lamar Paris. Man up Lamar and stop hiding behind a females' skirt.

Uh, excuse me. What did you say? Last time I checked I was definitely not Lamar Paris.

There you go, seeing Lamar behind every bush. ;D Bless your heart.

[bubblebutt2]

I copied and pasted directly from the Union County site before the change and the second is after change. Does anyone doubt now that he is not above changing records when he has to make them match his most recent b-- s-- ramblings ?

BEFORE (1st)
web.archive.org/web/20050204121601/unioncountyga.gov/home.htm


The Commissioner's office is directly responsible for the following departments:
Animal Control
Building Dept
County Engineer
E-911 Dispatch Center
E-911 Mapping & Building Permits
Fire Dept
Recreation Dept.
Road Dept
Tax Assessor
Transfer & Recycle Station
Blairsville Chamber ~ Union County Development Authority
Chamber's Calendar of Events ~ Blairsville Regional Airport


AFTER (Second)

www.unioncountyga.gov/home.htm

The Commissioner's office is directly responsible for the following departments:
Building Inspection
Building Permits
Environmental Enforcement
E-911 Dispatch Center
E-911 Mapping
Fire Dept
Recreation Dept.
Road Dept
Transfer & Recycle Station
Blairsville Chamber ~ Union County Development Authority
Chamber's Calendar of Events ~ Blairsville Regional Airport

It will take only a second to click on these before and after sites to see for yourself

[zhelton]

Much more correctly, gapeach is used by Lamar and a woman. Like maybe someone in his office or family. Sometimes the woman posts her own thoughts and sometimes she just posts the thoughts of Lamar.

[manape]

Whoaa!!! it's going to take my small brain a long time to sort through this stuff. I'm tired!

[manape]

zhelton said:

Much more correctly, gapeach is used by Lamar and a woman. Like maybe someone in his office or family. Sometimes the woman posts her own thoughts and sometimes she just posts the thoughts of Lamar.

Well, now, Oscar... is that a fact?

[oscarwho]

Much more correctly, gapeach is used by Lamar and a woman. Like maybe someone in his office or family. Sometimes the woman posts her own thoughts and sometimes she just posts the thoughts of Lamar.

Well, now, Oscar... is that a fact?[/quote]

Yes ape boy , true. I know you , but you and Wight don't know me ,YET .