The first candidate for statewide office made it to my office this week. Brian Kemp of Athens wants to be Georgia’s next Secretary of State.
You might remember that Mr. Kemp was unsuccessful in taking the agriculture seat from long-time commissioner Tommy Irvin in the last election. He carried the banner for the Republican Party.
He and I share some common friends and from them I hear he is the type of person we need representing us in Atlanta. He told me one of the first people he visited upon arriving in Valdosta was Deb Cox, our election superintendent.
“I wanted to know about her needs in the local office. I also asked her about early voting,” he said. This visit shows him to be an astute politician. He recognizes the need to learn from the people on the front lines.
The popularity of early voting is going to change how we run campaigns, he said. Where candidates spend their money will no longer be dictated by the Election Day vote. He explained that early voting is a part of his campaign strategy.
The secretary of state office is not just about elections but is responsible for managing corporation registrations, the licensing of some professions, regulating the sales of securities and maintaining the state’s archives. Brian Kemp is a small-business owner and a former state senator so he has a good understanding of the workings of the office.
While we talked, I shared with him that a now-deceased aunt had been the personal secretary to one of Georgia’s most renowned secretary’s of state, Ben W. Fortson. He was in that job for 37 years dying in office in 1979 without ever facing opposition in seven elections.
My aunt was there in 1947, his second year in office, when he became involved in the “three governors controversy.” He and the wheelchair he was confined to since an accident in 1927 took center stage in this unbelievable page of Georgia history.
In a 1963 series, “Men in Power,” published in the Atlanta Constitution, Celestine Sibley wrote: “Fortson has done more to dramatize for school children and many grownup voters one artifact of state government than any history teacher could hope to do. The great seal of Georgia, which is kept in his office safe, didn’t mean much to anybody until 1947, when Eugene Talmadge died before he could take office as governor and his son, Herman, now U.S. Sen. Talmadge, and the lieutenant governor M. E. Thompson, both claimed the office. Without the great seal, neither man’s official actions could be properly attested. And until the courts acted, nobody could find the great seal. Fortson had it hidden under the cushion of his wheelchair — ‘sitting on it like a setting of duck eggs,’ he says.”
Lieutenant Governor Thompson from Valdosta won the governor’s office through a 5-2 Georgia Supreme Court decision but lost the job in a 1948 special election to Herman Talmadge.
Brian Kemp is on his way to the state capitol and from our visit and from what I hear from his friends, I am sure he would get my aunt’s vote.
What We Think
From the publisher: Brian Kemp’s road to secretary of state
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Shame in Berrien County
Unfortunately for Sherrie Williams of the Berrien County school-based health clinic, she talked to The Times and praised the program that she oversees. This pride in her work led to the loss of her job.
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Grading policy: A second chance?
In clarifying the Lowndes County Schools’ controversial grading policy, Superintendent Dr. Steve Smith spoke of second chances.
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Be up to any weather challenge
Georgia’s Severe Weather Awareness Week starts today and runs through Friday. The idea behind the week is to prepare Georgians for weather emergencies and how to keep these situations from becoming tragedies.
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Parents and schools
There is a lot of talk lately about school systems and grading policies, and how all of a child's problems come back to a lack of parenting. But is it really that simple? Can it be a case where the school systems are so focused on the problem few that the majority of students are ignored?
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Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To Brooks County High School engineering and technology teacher Don Morgan and his students. They recently received national attention for their work with biodiesel fuel. They collect used cooking oil from area fast-food restaurants then process this oil into biodiesel. Morgan hopes to next interest the Brooks County school buses into running on the fuel created in his class. This classroom not only prepares students for the future but may prepare all of us for an alternative energy source.
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Take me out to the ball park
The Valdosta State baseball season begins today. The Blazers host Lindenwood at 2:30 p.m. Nothing beats quality baseball played in warm weather with a great venue like Billy Grant Field.
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What We Think: Signing Day
Wednesday was National Signing Day, the day when high school athletes across the country make official announcements about what school they’ve chosen to sign with.
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School policy fails expectations
Lowndes County Schools recently implemented new grading guidelines for students. These guidelines have left many parents upset ...
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Just the facts, please
The Times has taken some hits this weekend following the reporting of the Rev. Floyd Rose’ rally on Saturday concerning the car which drove into a home, killing an infant on New Year’s, and an incident at Pinevale Learning Center. Some police officers think the VDT is not being fair, and Rose accused the VDT of not printing the facts, but the facts are as follows:
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Fathers teaching daughters
It began as a small gathering for fathers and daughters. It has become one of Valdosta’s most popular social events of the year.
Several years ago, Jeff Stewart co-founded the event with his wife, Becky, as a way for him to give a special night to his two daughters. Other fathers of First Presbyterian Church liked the idea and the Father-Daughter Valentine Dance was born. - More What We Think Headlines
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Shame in Berrien County
