Before the primary election on July 20, supporters of the SPLOST renewal were saying that we had to renew the SPLOST or else we would end up paying higher property taxes. The SPLOST renewal passed.

Well, I opposed it, but at least it won’t fall back on property taxes, right?  Wrong. On August 10 the Board of Commissioners raised the millage rate (unnecessarily), which upset a lot of people.

There is a public hearing on August 24 to discuss the 2011 budget, which, given the number of people outraged over the millage rate increase, will probably be a crowded event. On Thursday the 19th, some concerned citizens are meeting to discuss the hearing. More information on that is available here.

The next time you’ve actually got a say in what taxes you pay, remember the SPLOST renewal. Remember the Paulding County Board of Commissioners. Remember how taxes were raised even though we passed the SPLOST. Then vote accordingly.

Following some good advice, I’m going to refrain from commenting on yesterday’s election results for a few days, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about my friend Daniel Stout.

I met Daniel last fall, a few weeks before he decided to run in the special election for the 19th district in the Georgia House.  I helped with his campaign in the special election, and I worked even more diligently for him in the recent primary and runoff elections.

During his time in the General Assembly, Daniel stood firm – under extreme pressure from other Republicans – against increases in government. He remained true to his word to his constituents, and he proved to us all that it really is possible to elect a true fiscal conservative.

I was with Daniel the day he received that despicable mailer from Steve Golden. When I was furious, Daniel calmed me down and insisted we not lash back in anger. When he read what I wrote about Steve Golden, he called and asked me to back off. And after the primary, when Golden apologized for the mailer, I saw Daniel respond in love with complete forgiveness.

When Daniel got juicy bits of information about Paulette Braddock that would have hurt her campaign, he insisted that we not go public with it. He had promised a clean campaign, and he was determined to run a clean campaign – no matter how his opponents ran theirs.

Throughout this past year, I have seen Daniel Stout in victory and in defeat. I’ve seen him when he’s been viciously attacked, and I’ve seen him respond in grace. I was present when he was addressing crowds, and I’ve been with him when nobody else was around. In every one of these instances, I have seen what real integrity in a man looks like.

I am honored to know Daniel Stout and to be able to call him a friend. Being around Daniel has taught me a lot about myself, and I’m a better person because of his example. Whether you supported Daniel in this election or not, I hope you’ll go out of your way to get to know him. You may find him challenging you to be a better person as well.

It’s runoff time, and there are some Paulding-specific races in the runoff that you need to make sure you’re aware of before you go vote.

District Attorney
The District Attorney race will be on all Paulding County ballots since it’s a county-wide election.  Incumbent Drew Lane is up against challenger Dick Donovan.  I’m afraid this race is one where the best candidate didn’t make the runoff, which is unfortunate.

Going solely on qualifications and experience, I think Drew Lane has the better hand in this race, but if you’re a Donovan supporter, I don’t particularly care to get into a debate over it.  I’m not a big fan of either candidate.

House District 19
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it as much as I need to: there’s no reason for anyone who professes to be a conservative to vote for anyone other than Daniel Stout in this race. I’ve reviewed Daniel’s endorsements, spoken with him personally about what he believes, and I’ve scrutinized his voting record.

Daniel has done an excellent job representing our district, and If you live in House District 19, I urge you to vote for Daniel Stout this Tuesday.

County Commissioner Post 2
Commission Chairman David Austin has taken out ads in the local paper supporting Todd Pownall and blasting Beverly Cochran for being someone who takes a government paycheck. If you’re thinking that’s a bit ironic since Commissioner Austin has a job that draws a government paycheck, you’d be correct.

The choice in the Post 2 race is clear. Beverly Cochran is obviously the better candidate, and if you live in Post 2, I sincerely hope you will support her on Tuesday. I hope Beverly gets a chance to serve on the Board of Commissioners; I believe she’d serve Post 2 very well.

County Commissioner Post 4
Tony Crowe and David Barnett face each other in a runoff in Post 4.  I wasn’t thrilled with either of these guys in the primary, and several readers here contacted me to say that I was wrong about them.  I’m still not overly thrilled with either candidate, but if I were a Post 4 voter, Tony Crowe would get my support.

For the record, I don’t doubt that Barnett is a nice guy, but from what I’ve seen of him and from when I’ve heard him speak, I don’t believe that he is what Paulding County needs on the Board of Commissioners.

In May when the race in House District 19 was picking up steam, Steve Golden promised that he would run a clean campaign.  This week Steve Golden broke his promise.

Steve Golden sent a mailer to District 19 voters that is deceitful, underhanded, and is in blatant disregard for the promise he had made.  Isn’t it ironic that to question Daniel Stout’s integrity, Steve Golden had to compromise his own?

Does a man’s word mean anything anymore?  It does to Daniel Stout.

Daniel has insisted that those helping with his campaign refrain from negative attacks on his opponents. It was out of respect for Daniel’s wishes that I said nothing about his challengers when I posted about the District 19 race in my “Who’s on Your Ballot?” series.

Daniel Stout has kept his word and has run a clean, positive campaign. Steve Golden has shown the entire district that he cannot be trusted.

Earlier today I asked Daniel about the votes Golden called into question.   On the accusation of missing 45 votes in the session, Daniel explained this when Paulette Braddock brought up the issue at the Chamber of Commerce debate. Daniel’s response, which you can watch for yourself here, was:

“I’d like to rebut Ms. Braddock’s claims that I missed a great number of days at the capitol. I missed a day – with the Speaker’s permission and approval ahead of time – because the FDIC was coming in to audit the bank. For the first day they were there, I needed to be there to introduce them to the credit files, and so I did miss a day. I don’t know exactly how many votes there were that day – maybe 40 or 45 – but it wasn’t an irresponsible missage of votes. I just wanted to clarify that.”

On Daniel’s vote against the regional transportation plan, Daniel told me that he liked the bill and would have voted for it, but during his campaign he made a promise that he would not vote for it. Steve Golden is berating Daniel Stout for honoring a promise to his constituents.

On the missed vote for a constitutional amendment blocking the Obama health care legislation on the day Daniel was excused, Daniel told me they would have brought up the issue later in the session, but they didn’t have enough votes to pass it.

Steve Golden is smearing the good name of a great representative by twisting his facts and telling half-truths.

Let’s talk about issues. Let’s talk about our candidates. Let’s talk about what’s good for the state and the county. But let’s not stoop to the level of Steve Golden by lying to voters and by breaking the promises we make.

There is one referendum on the ballot in Paulding County for the July 20 elections – the SPLOST renewal. This is a hot topic with people around the county, so I’ll just give you my opinion and let that be all for this post.

SPLOST is the extra 1% sales tax we pay in Paulding County to do a bunch of stuff around the county. Police cars, road projects, etc.

The argument for the tax is that we need the money and that if we don’t have the tax, we’ll have to get the money in property taxes.

The argument against the renewal is that the county already has too much of our money and that we need to cut government back so that SPLOST isn’t an issue.

I’m in the camp voting against the renewal.

As far as taxation goes, I’d prefer a consumption tax over a property tax any day. I like the method of taxation with SPLOST. My issue with the renewal is that I’m not convinced Paulding County is spending its money appropriately, and until spending is under control, I’m not interested in volunteering more money in taxes.

When our local government is spending wisely and is still low on cash, then I’d be willing to consider something like SPLOST. Until then, I’ll opt to keep my 1% and vote no on SPLOST.

If you follow this blog much, you’ll know it’s not much of a secret who I support in the House district race.  I’ve previously written about Daniel Stout, and I’ve been (and will continue to be) active with his campaign. He’s a great representative, and we need to keep him in office.

Daniel is running against two other candidates, Steve Golden and Paulette Rakestraw-Braddock. Because of my involvement with the Stout campaign, I’ve chosen not to say anything specific about either challenger.

Daniel votes for smaller government and lower taxes.  (His voting record – in detail – is available online here.) He stood up to the Republican leadership – under heavy pressure – and refused to vote for that absurd hospital tax.  (He was, by the way, the only Paulding representative from the House or Senate to vote against that tax.)  Daniel scored 100% on the Americans for Prosperity score card that was recently released.

Daniel is one of the few people in Atlanta with the courage to stand on principle in every instance. There really is no reason for someone who values limited government and lower taxes to consider anyone other than Daniel Stout in the District 19 race.

I recently picked up a Flip video camera with intentions of recording some of the happenings at political events I attend.  It’s a good way that some of you non-political folks can hear directly from the people that represent us.  So today I setup an Uphold Liberty channel on YouTube and posted these first two videos.

(I would have posted as a single video, but YouTube has a 10-minute limit.  Instead, I separated it into two videos.  Both videos are Georgia Senator Bill Heath at the Paulding Republicans meeting on 6/19.  The first is his campaign speech.  The second is Heath answering a few questions after his speech.)

(If you’re reading this in Facebook or don’t see the embedded videos, you probably need to click through to the original post to see them.)

The final Post Commissioner race in Paulding County this year is Post 4.  There are 4 candidates in the Post 4 race:

Jason Anavitarte – young, sharp mind with experience cutting taxes on the Doraville City Council.

David Barnett – local businessman whose family has been in Paulding County for a long time.

Earl Cosgrove – older gentleman, new to Paulding County, good background on water issues.

Tony Crowe – local building inspector whose family has been in Paulding County for a long time.

This is an interesting group of candidates.  I don’t see a lot of difference between Barnett and Crowe. I’m sure they’d both disagree with that statement, but when I’ve heard them speak, they sound pretty much like the same candidate – a good old boy wanting to further his family’s influence in the county.  No thanks.

Cosgrove is a nice guy, but I’m not sure he’s what the county needs.  He seems strong on water issues, and water issues are big issues this election cycle, but he can be polarizing and doesn’t seem to resonate with younger voters.  And a lot of the older voters are likely relatives of Barnett or Crowe.

Jason Anavitarte, on the other hand, looks to be a solid candidate and would get my vote if I were in Post 4.  He’s got quality experience on city councils and is very much for lower taxes and a fiscally responsible government.  Jason has obvious leadership potential, and Paulding County would be fortunate to have him on the Board of Commissioners.

Next up in the spotlight is the Post 3 Commissioner race.  We’ve got 2 candidates in this race.

Tommie Graham – “Taxing Tommie” is the incumbent and was one of the votes to raise taxes this last time around.  He’s been Post 3 Commissioner since a special election in 2008.

Vernon Collett – local businessman (and friend) that I mentioned in this post last month.

No surprise here really, but I’d pick Vernon in this race.  He’s a solid candidate and would serve Paulding County well.

Next up in my “Who’s on your ballot?” series is the Paulding County Post 2 Commissioner race.  I’m not in Post 2, so I haven’t really looked too deep into this race, but I have seen the candidates and have heard what they have to say.

The candidates for Post 2 Commissioner are:

Beverly Cochran – has been Executive Assistant to the Paulding County Board of Commissioners and Ex-Officio Clerk for a long time, was previously VP of Paulding Chamber of Commerce.

Adam Gregory – pretty sharp local small business owner, isn’t afraid to say what needs to be said, even if you don’t want to hear it.

Todd Pownall – Paulding County good old boy, said he’d give back his salary to offset furlough days for the first 2 years of his term.

Like I said, this is one of the races that won’t be on my ballot, so I don’t really know who I would support.  I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be Todd Pownall though.  Hey, instead of giving that salary back ($24k/year), how about getting serious about cutting the county’s budget and saving the taxpayers some money?  But I digress.

Beverly and Adam both have some pretty strong points in their favor.  If you’re in Post 2, take some time to get to talk to both of them before you make a final decision.  They’re both very nice people and are very easily accessible.