Published Sunday, February 07, 2010

Coweta 'Tea Party' opposes Perdue's plan to appoint officers

The Newnan Times-Herald

Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposal to appoint -- rather than elect -- four statewide constitutional officers ran into opposition Friday from both sides of the aisle.

Associated Press reports that critics from both parties said the plan was unlikely to win the needed two-thirds vote in the Legislature and would consolidate too much power with the state's chief executive.

Coweta County area "Tea Party" activists strongly condemned Perdue's proposal.

"Tea Party Patriots of Georgia and Coweta have spoken out strongly against this," said Wendy Bloedt of the Coweta Tea Party Patriots.

She and the Tea Party sent out a press release saying that the proposal represents nothing less than "Perdue's attempt to take electing power away from the citizens of Georgia by removing the ability to elect four Constitutional offices, and amend the Constitution to grant that power to the Governor to appoint those positions."

Those offices would include Insurance Commissioner, Labor Commissioner, Agriculture Commissioner, and School Superintendent.

Julianne Thompson, state coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, said, "We are all for the idea of the governor and Legislature streamlining state government, but -- with all due respect -- giving the governor more power is not the way to do it.

"If Governor Perdue and the Legislature truly want reform and a more efficient government, then we call on them to pass zero-based budgeting," she said. "We call on them to eliminate state departments that are not necessary. We ask for sunset laws on all state agencies to prove they are performing efficiently, and we ask for ethics reform. These are issues we support and will stand with them on."

Denise Ognio, a local coordinator with the Coweta Tea Party Patriots, agreed.

"We didn't question issues for so long," she said. "Surely we've learned through all of this the importance of the people's will! Things don't necessarily begin as corrupt, but this idea of a Georgia governor making appointments to such crucial offices only invites corruption in the door! We don't know who the next governor will be. We don't know what the core values of the governor 10 years down the road will be! It most definitely does shift power -- away from the electorate!"

This was one issue on which representatives from both parties seemed to agree, for once.

"I have serious reservations about taking power away from the people like this," state Sen. Tim Golden, a Valdosta Democrat, said.

Perdue's plan would hand the governor the power to appoint the state schools superintendent, labor commissioner, agriculture commissioner and insurance commissioner. Those posts are currently elected. The change would take place in 2014, after Perdue leaves office.

It would require a constitutional amendment, which means that should it receive the needed supermajority in the state Legislature, it would then need to be approved by voters, according to the AP. The plan must also pass muster with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act, according to the state Attorney General Thurbert Baker's office.

A spokesman for Baker said Perdue did not seek their counsel on the proposal.

Georgia's longtime state Agriculture Commissioner, Tommy Irvin, said Friday that the proposal was a "terrible idea."

"You would not have an independent agriculture commissioner, as I've been," said the Democrat, who was first elected in 1969.

"Let the people vote."

Republicans were among those who were skeptical, the AP reported.

House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey called it "very doubtful" that voters would give up their right to have a say.

"Traditionally the voters, once they have been given the right to vote on something, they are reluctant to take that right back from themselves," the Atlanta Republican said.

State Rep. Jill Chambers, an Atlanta Republican, called the chances of the Legislature giving more power to the governor "slim."

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter questioned Perdue's timing, saying lawmakers are already more than one-fourth of the way through their legislative session and Perdue has less than one year left in his final term.

"Why now?" asked Porter. "Possibly this is something that should be looked at but there are so many other things -- jobs, transportation -- that reorganizing state government in this way is not a high priority."

Still, the plan has supporters.

"It's like the president picking his cabinet. The governor should have the same privilege," state Sen. Jeff Mullis, a Chickamauga Republican, said. "It might help (the governor) to control the budget better."

Charles Brasch III, a Newnan native who is now in the Atlanta insurance industry, also said the governor's plan should be given a fair hearing.

"Maybe the governor can appoint qualified people instead of the ones that make the most campaign dollars and win the popularity contests," he said.