Georgia Today: Voting system gets high marks; Incumbent mayors win; Atlanta Open is ending

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Nov. 8. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Georgia's new voting system gets high marks from the Secretary of State. Following yesterday's elections, incumbent mayors in Savannah and Albany fend off challengers in their races. And Atlanta's men's pro tennis tournament is ending its run after more than a decade in the state. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The secretary of state's office says yesterday's municipal elections went smoothly across the state, thanks to Georgia's new voter registration system. Election Day also saw five counties pilot an update to voting machine software. GPB's Stephen Fowler reports.

Stephen Fowler: Earlier this year, Georgia's local election offices started using the Georgia registered voter information system, also called GARViS. It's a more streamlined system leading to faster check in times for in-person voters and less cumbersome for counties to use. 122 counties had municipal elections on Tuesday and used the new GARViS system. State officials say there were shorter wait times and fewer reported errors. Five counties also piloted a new software update to the Dominion voting system election equipment that fixed potential vulnerabilities. That full upgrade is expected to occur after the 2024 election cycle and the state says there is no concern for election security. In the meantime. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Caption

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson gives his 2022 State of the City address on Wednesday at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center in downtown.

Credit: City of Savannah

Story 2:

Peter Biello: About those elections: Voters in Augusta approved a half penny sales tax to fund the new arena. Albany's incumbent mayor fended off a challenge. Voters in Atlanta returned to office three of the five incumbents running for seats on the school board. We'll have more on that later in the podcast. And Savannah Mayor Van Johnson will have four more years to lead Georgia's oldest city. As GPB's Benjamin Payne reports, he cruised to a landslide victory yesterday in his bid for reelection.

Benjamin Payne: Some observers predicted a close race with Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter, but Savannah's mayoral election instead turned out to be an easy win for Van Johnson. Earning 77% of the vote, he defeated Gibson-Carter by a lopsided 57-point margin. Third-place finisher Theresa Davis drew just 3% of the vote. Gibson-Carter has been plagued by controversies during her term in office as one of Savannah's two at-large members of city council. Last year at City Hall, she used a homophobic slur to address Alderman Curtis Purty, who is openly gay. A major theme of Johnson's reelection campaign was civility, casting Gibson-Carter as a combative colleague who has turned city council meetings into disorderly shouting matches. Here's Johnson during his victory speech.

Van Johnson: I thank you for choosing dignity over drama, and I thank you for looking for the message instead of looking at the mess.

Benjamin Payne: Because Gibson-Carter chose to run for mayor instead of reelection as an alderwoman, she will no longer serve on the Savannah City Council next year. Taking her seat will be former Alderwoman Carol Bell, who came away with 51% of the vote in a crowded race that featured six other candidates. For Savannah's remaining seats on city council, all seven incumbents won reelection. As is typical for municipal off-year elections, voter turnout was low. In the mayor's race, just under 20% of the city's voting eligible population cast a ballot. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones says he wants to cut government regulations on businesses and give lawmakers more power over state agencies. Some parts of the Republicans plan announced yesterday remain unclear, but other parts are in motion, including a bill that would make it easier for people convicted of certain crimes to get occupational licenses. State senators also are considering plans to eliminate licenses for some fields or reduce license requirements. The proposals come ahead of the 2024 state legislative session.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: First lady Jill Biden spoke in Augusta today to highlight the White House's efforts to grow jobs. In a brief speech at the metal recycling plant Aurubis she touted six area companies that have promised to hire people. The Biden administration recently named Augusta as one of five national workforce hubs. The White House describes workforce hubs as public/private collaborations, concentrating federal investments launched during Joe Biden's presidency.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Protesters gathered outside Sen. Jon Ossoff's Atlanta office today. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports they're demanding the Democrat and state's first Jewish senator join their calls for peace in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Amanda Andrews: Around 50 people led by the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voices for Peace, called for a cease fire in Gaza, where over 10,000 people are reported dead. This the group's second Georgia protests since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that left 1,400 dead and more than 200 people kidnaped by Hamas. Jewish resident and activist Alison Glass says she campaigned for Ossoff and expects more from him.

Allison Glass: Especially our progressive elected officials, that they stand up, that they have the courage also to stand up and speak out for what they know is right. The continual killing and bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza has got to stop.

Amanda Andrews: Ossoff was not available to meet with the organizers, but earlier condemned the attack by Hamas on Israel. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Police arrested a Georgia man with an assault rifle in a park near the U.S. Capitol yesterday. The Capitol police chief says officers confronted 21-year-old Ahmir Merrell of Atlanta and used a stun gun after he refused to drop the weapon. It didn't initially appear he made any direct threats against members of Congress, and authorities don't believe there's an ongoing danger. Meanwhile, Georgia congressman Rich McCormick says he's temporarily shutting down his office in Cumming, north of Atlanta, because of serious threats of violence against his staff. Without elaborating, he said the threats were reported to Capitol Police.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia's state taxes on gas and diesel have been suspended again. Gov. Brian Kemp extended the tax rollback this morning of about $0.31 a gallon for gas and $0.35 a gallon for diesel. The suspension lasts until lawmakers return for a special session on Nov. 29. Kemp revived the fuel tax suspension in September. He and lawmakers rolled back the taxes for 10 months during his 2022 reelection campaign.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has become the first Atlanta mayor to chair Metro Atlanta's regional planning agency. The Atlanta Regional Commission voted Dickens into the two-year post today. The 52-year-old commission guides workforce development, transportation, natural resources and other planning for an 11-county region. It also steers tens of millions of dollars in federal funds. Dickens was the only nominee for that post. He says the city's challenges don't stop at the city limits, and he looks forward to moving the entire region forward. He'll replace the commission's current chairman, Carrie Armstrong, a real estate executive from Gwinnett County who has led the commission for nearly eight years.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Among the elections held yesterday were for five of the nine seats on the Atlanta school board. Three incumbents kept their jobs. One did not. And another school board member will head to a runoff in December. With me now to break down these results and explain what they might mean for the 50,000 or so students and their teachers is Capital B community engagement reporter Sydney Sims. Sydney, thank you very much for speaking with me.

Sydney Sims: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Peter Biello: Let's talk about the election itself, the mechanics of it. This is a new format, right? This election. Can you tell us about it?

Sydney Sims: In 2020, there was a policy change where they decided that Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education elections will happen on a staggered year. So essentially they will do odd numbers all together so that seats one, three, five, seven and nine and then the even numbers two, four, six and eight. And so one of the main reasons that they decided to do this is that they essentially didn't want any dead time where the board wasn't doing any major work. And they wanted it to be on years that the board was going to have to address major things that were coming up. And so one of those things are ... voting for the superintendent, selecting the superintendent, voting on the budget. And so this group that just came up, this election that we just had, this is the first group that has undergone this change.

Peter Biello: So let's talk first about the incumbents who won? Who were they and why do you think they ended up keeping their seats?

Sydney Sims: So we had a few incumbents that will return on the board this year. So we have District 1, which is Katie Howard. She ran uncontested. So easy, easy, breezy night for her going in. We also had District 5 returning to Erika Mitchell and then the at-large citywide seat for No. 9 would have gone back to Jessica Johnson. And so with these three ladies, I think pretty much my ideology and just being on the ground, talking to the community, I think they did the community engagement work necessary to retain their seats. I think their platforms were aligned with what were some of the community concerns for APS parents, stakeholders, everyone in general, were the issues I think, that they put at the top of their priorities this year. Another thing, with Katie Howard: I mean, even as an incumbent and running uncontested, she brought in a large amount of votes. So that just means that she's a person in District 1 that is interfaced with the community. It means that people are supporting her, really ready to come out to the polls and show their force behind her. And that really goes back to, again, that community engagement work that was really necessary to engage voters to the poll.

Peter Biello: So what about the incumbent who — who lost her seat? That's Michelle Olympiadas.

Sydney Sims: Yes.

Peter Biello: So Ken Zeff won that seat.

Sydney Sims: Yes. So Ken Zeff — Ken Zeff is an interesting guy, right? So he's a huge policy guy. He actually, during our investigation where we did a profile on Ken Zeff, we ended up finding out that Ken Zeff actually has done some federal work to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law. And so he also has a background in education, being the former superintendent of Fulton County schools. And so with coming in like that with a resume that is stacked, that looks like the things that people are saying they need from their educators, saying they need from the people representing their educators, the governing body of Atlanta Public Schools — and like we said, has over 84 learning sites, 50,000 students yearly. So I think the difference in Ken Zeff last night showed in really some of the work that he did on the ground in his election. Michelle Olympiadas wasn't really reaching voters, I think, necessarily where they wanted to be reached. One of the big things that people have a question about is this huge budget, $1.7 billion that the APS is going to be handling next year. And I think the big thing for Michelle Olympiadas was that people want to see that with those policy changes to see how that budget is really going to be redistributed and find ways for equitable education for students in APS, particularly the disadvantaged students in APS. And so I think when those questions were at the forefront for Michelle Olympiadas, in comparison to the answers that voters were receiving from Ken Zeff, I think she just essentially missed the mark. And I think voters at the polls reflected that, so...

Peter Biello: The race we haven't talked about yet is the one that's going into a runoff between challenger Alfred "Shivy" Brooks and current officeholder Tamara Jones. They had less than a percentage point separating them. A third candidate got about 4%. You've profiled Shivy Brooks. What's his deal? What's he about?

Sydney Sims: So Shivy Brooks has the opportunity, if elected, to do something historical for APS, and that would be to be the first active teacher to sit on the board in its 150 years of existence. And so that's a big thing, right? That's a major political thing. That's a major thing to run your campaign on. And I think Shivy really leaned into that during his campaign efforts. He's also a very homegrown guy. And one of the things that I think made him a little unique from other candidates in his campaign is that he has a pretty large platform. This is a guy that isn't shying away from the camera. This is a guy who isn't shying away from reaching voters on social media with this large platform. And he also has a huge background in community engagement work as well with some of his previous work that he's done with the People's Uprising, the Georgia NAACP. And then again, he is an active teacher, teaching economics and government over at Charles Drew High School in Clayton County schools. So I think with him running that campaign of being the first — in anything in society, we love the first. We love an underdog story. And so I think with him leaning into that, I think he really did give Tamara Jones a run for her money. But Tamara Jones stood tall. We cannot discredit her work that she put in. I think coming in when she was pressed with the hard questions, when she was pressed about certain things that she voted on, when it came to the line budget, she stood tall in her answers on the things that she voted against, the things that she voted for. And she explained them in a way that I think was pretty eloquent and again lined up with what Shivy was doing. So I do think going into the runoff, we will see a great matchup. The big thing for both of them will be to reengage their voting force to come back out, because, again, we saw less than 30,000 votes yesterday across the board, for five seats. And so we're going into a runoff. You have December. We're coming into a holiday season. People are tired of voting. We're in a perpetual state of voting in Atlanta.

Peter Biello: We always seem to be.

Sydney Sims: We're always voting. And so, again, it's going to take a lot for these candidates to really get down on the ground and go knock on the doors again, go have those spaces, meet people where they are to really engage their voting force.

Peter Biello: Big picture, what is this election going to mean? We know some of the races now. With the composition of the board that we know about coming in for this new term, what's it going to mean for the schools? Like, is there any particular policy decision that — that students and teachers and parents are waiting to see how it will shake out? Or is this a little more subtle?

Sydney Sims: The first job that this board will come in and majorly do is select a superintendent, which is a big feat. APS has had a revolving door of superintendents in the last few years, and it's something that parents have a concern about. It's something that community holders, stakeholders have a concern about. It's something that the state itself has a concern about because we're wanting to make sure that we're electing and selecting qualified people to represent a school district like APS. Another thing that I think is going to be a major concern and a major issue for the community coming in for this board is how they're going to utilize that $1.7 billion budget. That is a historical number for APS. And so looking at some of the things and issues that APS [has]: low literacy rates, a high economic disadvantaged student population. We know that APS has the dollars and parents are going to be looking to see how board members are voting and improving with that money.

Peter Biello: Sydney Sims is a reporter for Capital B, talking about the results of the Atlanta Public School Board election. Sidney, thank you so much for speaking with me.

Sydney Sims: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: State wildlife officials say all five of Georgia's stocked trout streams are now open. The State Department of Natural Resources seasonally stocks trout in North Georgia streams to support the state's fishing industry. The agency says trout fishing has a $172 million annual impact in Georgia.

Story 11:

Peter Biello: Next year's Atlanta Open will be the last for the 15-year-old tennis tournament. The governing body of men's professional tennis, the ATP, said today the Atlanta Open is one of six tournaments at its level being retired. Three of the six are being upgraded to higher-level tournaments, while Lyon, France and Newport, Rhode Island, will join Atlanta in being retired completely. The Atlanta Open's tournament director thanked the city for wonderful memories and said he hopes to bring professional tennis back to Atlanta in some form. About 40,000 fans attended the annual summer tournament in Atlanta's Atlantic Station, creating an estimated $10 million impact for the region.

Story 12:

Peter Biello: In other sports news. Atlanta United's playoff hopes remain alive after their 4-2 win over the Columbus Crew last night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Giorgos Giakoumakis, who was announced as the 2023 MLS Newcomer of the Year, finished with a goal and two assists. The series now heads back to Columbus for the deciding Game 3 match on Sunday.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit GPB.org/news and make sure you subscribe to this podcast. We're planning on being back in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. If you've got feedback or a story idea, we would love to hear from you. Email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news