Georgia Today: President's Day in Plains and Jimmy Carter's influence, judge denies 'Cop City' pause

 

 

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Google Podcasts

 

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, Feb. 21. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Presidents Day in Plains, Georgia takes on special meaning. Plus, the story of how Plains' only medical clinic came to be thanks to the former president. And a judge denies the request to pause construction on the controversial police training facility. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

 

Story 1

Peter Biello: With former President Carter in hospice care, yesterday's Presidents Day observance in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, took on extra meaning. Many of those in attendance reflected on Carter's time in office and his accomplishments afterwards. GPB's Grant Blankenship reports from Plains.

Grant Blankenship: The centerpiece of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is the former Plains High School, Carter's alma mater. And today, the old auditorium with its folding wooden seats was decked out, as it has been for over a decade on Presidents Day. But flags, red, white and blue bunting and memorabilia belonging to historian Laurence Cooke laid out for his presentation.

Laurence Cook: You know, it's ironic today that that I'm giving this presentation on the lesser-known presidents because we're here in President Carter's hometown and President Carter's one of the best-known presidents. And I would say as a historian, I'll make the statement: I believe he's the best-known president around the world.

Grant Blankenship: Cook says Carter loves these talks about the nearly forgotten details of presidential history and is usually here on Presidents Day. This year, of course, is different. And so Cook says he was tempted to change course.

Laurence Cook: But I knew that President Carter would want me to stay with the planned program and not make it all about him.

Grant Blankenship: In conversation around Plains, people echoed the theme of a selfless Jimmy Carter again and again. Like Carter, Rebecca Davenport is a fan of these Presidents Day talks in Plains, and she has her own piece of memorabilia, a 1977 Carter inaugural pin hanging from her sweater.

Rebecca Davenport: He's our only president from Georgia, so why not wear it today, right.

Grant Blankenship: And it's not a replica. It's the real deal.

Rebecca Davenport: Isn't that crazy? And so I'm celebrating him today.

Grant Blankenship: So what is she celebrating?

Rebecca Davenport: I think his concern for the underdog, as someone who might have had a controversial presidency, but afterwards, I think the whole country can confirm that we admire him and his spirit.

Grant Blankenship: Bernadette Backhaus and Spencer Horn were passing through Plains on vacation when they stopped in the main street across from where out-of-town journalists are already gathering. Baucus says they like to cram as much history as they can into these road trips. And they came today with knowledge of Carter's condition.

Bernadette Backhaus: Yeah, we were in the hotel room last night, just sitting in the room, just watching TV, and we looked at our fans and we were like, Oh my God, he's, you know, he went into hospice care, you know, just kind of sad.

Grant Blankenship: Walker says she's read a few of Carter's books and she wishes more people saw him the way she does.

Bernadette Backhaus: Well, I mean, how do I say this? He was definitely into human rights, the respect of people and things like that. And it's just a shame people don't consider him a good president with what — what he did do.

Grant Blankenship: Like Backhaus, Angelique Chemin says she was shocked by the news that Carter's in hospice.

Angelique Chemin: I mean, it's it's kind of breaking my heart. And I feel very sad for his wife and his family to, to have such a gentle, sweet soul, you know, leave our world.

Grant Blankenship: For Chemin, it's Carter's lived example of the central tenet of his Christian faith that inspires.

Angelique Chemin: You now, as they say in the Bible, love, everybody never says love everybody, but it just says love everybody.

Grant Blankenship: It's a lesson Chemin says she hopes she remembers even after Carter passes away. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Plains.

 

Story 2

Peter Biello: The state senator representing Plains is joining others, offering love to Jimmy Carter and his family. Lawmakers did not meet yesterday due to the Presidents Day holiday. So Democrat Freddy Sims of Dawson was the first to address on the floor the announcement that Carter had entered hospice care over the weekend.

Freddie Sims: Everyone in Plains, Georgia, knows President Carter as Jimmy. He is a role model, a leader, a trailblazer, and an unmistakable gentleman with loads of strength.

Peter Biello: Sims says it's an honor to represent Plains in the Carter family, which he has done since 2009.

 

Story 3

Peter Biello: And as the town of Plains celebrates the life of former President Jimmy Carter. One local health care clinic wouldn't be here without him. GPB's Sofi Gratas reports from Plains.

Sofi Gratas: Dr. Michael Raines is the only primary care physician in Plains, which, like most of southwest Georgia, is medically underserved. He's been in the area for over 30 years now.

Michael Raines: Oh, I got to fill that out. Okay, hold on.

Sofi Gratas: five years ago, he got a call from the Mercer University School of Medicine to come practice in Plains. Former President Jimmy Carter wanted to reopen his hometown clinic.

Michael Raines: So, I mean, we were busy from Day 1.

Sofi Gratas: Since then, Mercer's opened four more rural clinics.

Michael Raines: President Carter, he's been a lifesaver for a small town because most of these small towns are drying up and going away.

Sofi Gratas: The Carters moved back to Plains in the 1980s. Last weekend, Jimmy Carter was placed in hospice care at the family's home in town for GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas in Plains.

 

Story 4

Peter Biello: A Georgia Senate committee approved a sports betting bill late yesterday and sent it to be scheduled for a full Senate vote. SB 57 would allow sports betting online and in-person at kiosks and would be overseen by the Georgia Lottery. The bill's supporters are relying on a legal opinion from former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton, who said that a constitutional change is not needed to legalize sports betting since it would be overseen by the Georgia Lottery. And as a result, the bill would only need a simple majority in the state House and Senate to pass rather than the two-thirds majority a constitutional amendment would need. Other sports betting bills in the House and Senate propose a constitutional amendment.

 

Credit: File

Story 5

Peter Biello: A record number of guns were intercepted last year at airport checkpoints across the country. The TSA intercepted more than 6,000. That works out to roughly 18 per day. And Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson had the most with 448. That number is actually less than the year before, as the airport made a significant effort in 2021 to address guns intercepted at checkpoints. Experts say it's not so much more would be hijackers, just that more Americans are carrying guns.

 

 

Story 6

Peter Biello: A Fulton County judge has denied a lawsuit asking to pause construction on a controversial future police training facility in Atlanta. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

Amanda Andrews: Amy Taylor lives across the street from the future police training center and serves on the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee overseeing its development. She filed the suit, along with the South River Watershed Alliance, and DeKalb District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry. It involves an appeal on the land disturbance permit, allowing construction to begin just days after it was approved and claims the project would pollute a river on the land. Commissioner Terry says he's concerned by evidence showing this project could harm the environment.

Ted Terry: It would be nearly impossible to do major development in this area without impacting the larger rivershed, and that is the greatest concern because remediating streams and rivers is an incredibly expensive project.

Amanda Andrews: Construction could still be stopped depending on what the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals decides in early March. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Peter Biello: Yesterday on the program, we spoke with Nicole Morado, a former member of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee. She shared her views on how well the committee has lived up to its mission. And you can find that conversation on yesterday's edition of Georgia Today.

 

Story 7

Peter Biello: And after we spoke with Nicole Morado, we sat down with the chair of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee, Allison Clark. We've heard Nicole Machado describe her thoughts on how well the committee has lived up to its mission to make sure these questions and concerns about the police training center are heard. What's your take? How well has the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee fulfilled its mission?

Allison Clark: I think we've done a pretty good job. At the end of the day, our role is to ensure that our communities have input relative to the development that set to to come just down the street from us. And so in our activities, we have weighed in on things that have a direct impact, including explosives that are — or that were removed from the site plan. The firing range having been moved further away from the residential areas. We have asked for a 100-foot tree buffer around the facility, which will help mitigate noise as well. And so these are the types of things that are a direct impact on local residents that we've been able to put forward for, you know, on behalf of those residents.

Peter Biello: When we spoke to Nicole Morado, she said she had asked for information about how the police would be trained there and she said she didn't receive any specific details on the training. Did you get any specifics on how the police will be trained there? Did you receive any information on tactics?

Allison Clark: Not necessarily in that way. So our role as a CSAC is advising on the development of a training facility, but not necessarily the programing aspects of the actual curriculum. The training is determined by an outside entity, and there are committees and councils through the city of Atlanta and beyond that allow community to have input on what that picture looks like.

Peter Biello: Just want to put a finer point on that. Where should people go if they are concerned specifically about the tactics, the kind of training that police will be learning there?

Allison Clark: Sure. They would have to go through through the city of Atlanta, through City Council. I don't remember the name of the committee specifically, but there is a committee that deals specifically with policing and gives community members an opportunity to give input on that.

Peter Biello: With respect to environmental concerns, the environmental assessment that was done was done by a company hired by the developer. One member of the committee was hoping to broaden the scope of their environmental assessment, but that broadening was not done, correct?

Allison Clark: That's correct. There was a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 study completed. The Phase 1 scope was actually the larger or I guess the Phase 1 is what set the footprint for what would be evaluated in Phase 2.

Peter Biello: So why not broaden the scope as that now former member had hoped to do so that you could have the full picture before providing your advice?

Allison Clark: That would really be a good question, more or less for the APF. But what I can say from the committee perspective is we were brought in to provide recommendations on the actual police training center — or the Public Safety Training Center — site. And so I don't know that we sit in a space where we can ask them to evaluate land that is not part of their lease. A portion of the land is leased to them for this training center site, and a portion of the land is not leased to them for the training center site. And so what I understood to be the case is that that committee member wanted to see evaluation done on the other portion of the property. I think we're kind of in a gray area. Our committee stops at the training center development, and so we didn't give pushback to further evaluate the property that was not part of our scope.

Peter Biello: Does that feel strange to you not having that particular piece of information on this project's environmental impact?

Allison Clark: As a member of the committee? It does not feel strange as a member of the community that has a concern for what is happening around us, I do want to ultimately see that there will be some environmental study on that additional property. I don't think that that falls within the scope of our work as a CSAC.

Peter Biello: What do you think's the biggest misunderstanding about the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee?

Allison Clark: I think one of the biggest misunderstandings is that we are an oversight body. And I think that often it is — I think often people believe that we should — or that we can — make decisions on how things will go forward. And the reality is, is that we can make recommendations on how things go forward. And to date, our recommendations have all been accepted.

Peter Biello: All of your recommendations have been accepted?

Allison Clark: All of our recommendations have been accepted to date.

Peter Biello: Except for the broadening of the scope of the environmental assessment like we talked about earlier.

Allison Clark: So when I said that all of our recommendations have been accepted, I'm referring to the recommendations that the committee was able to get behind as a majority.

Peter Biello: I see.

Allison Clark: And I think, you know, one of the the or the misconception around our committee is that we are all in agreement on the training center development. We're absolutely not all in agreement on whether or not it should exist. But what we do is we are working to do the best job that we can to make sure that the voices of our community and the are heard and that the impact on our community is a positive impact. And I think sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle because the louder voices are those who simply would like to see the development go away. And that's not our space. And we're often attacked as a committee or sort of scapegoated at times, you know, as as the means of advancing that. And that's not our our position. We are there to ensure that our communities, who largely did not have a voice, now do have a voice.

Peter Biello: Mm hmm. As far as I understand it, there is no ban on speaking to the media among members of the committee.

Allison Clark: There is no ban on members of the committee being able to speak to the media.

Peter Biello: And no plans for one.

Allison Clark: Absolutely no plans for one. I think that's a — that is definitely a misconception.

Peter Biello: Okay.

Allison Clark: The the one thing that we do ask is that when committee members do speak to the media, that they do so in a way that's honest and truthful.

Peter Biello: Your husband's in law enforcement. So has that informed your thinking at all about this project?

Allison Clark: Well, my husband's role in law enforcement, I'm sure, has to some degree informed my thinking. I think all of us are informed by our circumstances and lived experience. However, his role in law enforcement is entirely separate from Atlanta police and this project. I think I am most informed by this, really by my lived experience and by in many ways the black experience with respect to policing. I want to be clear that even my husband, being a Black man in law enforcement, we are all very aware of the challenges in policing and it is not lost on me that there is space for and a need for reform. And I think that part of even my drive to see this facility move forward is that for reform to take place, there has to be a place, an adequate and appropriate place — for training to happen. I've heard a lot of commentary about this being some militarized training site. I don't see how we escalate to something that becomes militarized unless the view of policing is already that the training is militarized. This facility does not change the manner in which policing or police are trained to make it any more militarized than it already is.

Peter Biello: Well, Allison Clark, chair of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee, thank you so much for coming in and speaking with me. Really appreciate it.

Allison Clark: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

 

Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks, as always for tuning in. Be sure to tune in tomorrow. The best way to do that, of course, is to subscribe to this podcast, so take a moment now. And that way we will be updated in your podcast feed for tomorrow. And remember to leave a review, if you like this podcast, that will help other people find us. And if you've got feedback, please do let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

——

GPB's Georgia Today newsletter hits your inbox on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with top stories from around the state featuring news, politics and more. Subscribe here.