Savage tried to make his point Tuesday evening during a candidate forum conducted by the Cobb Republican Women’s Club by holding up several posters, but the moderator said that was against the rules.
“The ballot that I was going to show you has a statement added to it that says I’m the best candidate,” Savage told the audience. “That wouldn’t be fair, and everybody knows that. But the real ballot has a statement added to it saying the TSPLOST is really a good thing.”
The mock ballot Savage wanted to show the audience lists the names of the four candidates for chairman — Mike Boyce, Bill Byrne, Tim Lee and Savage. At the bottom of the poster, it reads: “Larry is really a great guy, a wonderful humanitarian, kind to animals and small children, picks up trash on the street and is always courteous to his elders. He is clearly the right choice.”
The Cobb Board of Elections website lists the official ballot language for the TSPLOST as stating: “Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight.”
The official ballot goes on to state: “Shall Cobb County’s transportation system and the transportation network in this region and the state be improved by providing for a 1 percent special district transportation sales and use tax for the purpose of transportation projects and programs for a period of 10 years?”
Commission chairman Tim Lee said he has no problems with the wording.
“That describes exactly what it is,” Lee said.
Georgia Secretary of State spokesman Jared Thomas said the responsibility for the language is Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s. Thomas passed along a statement Kemp wrote in describing why he authored the language the way he did.
“Ultimately, the language in the preamble is all referenced in the original legislation that was passed over three years ago,” Kemp said. “The preamble language exists for this reason and this reason only.”
Before his time ran out at the candidate forum, Savage ripped into the TSPLOST itself, first pointing out how the local county SPLOSTs have become permanent in Cobb County, with education SPLOST after education SPLOST and county SPLOST after county SPLOST continuing to be renewed by voters.
“Once again we’re told we have insurmountable problems that can only be resolved by voting for a new tax,” Savage said. “When we study the plan, we find that it doesn’t produce the advertised results. We find another temporary tax that will never end but will likely increase. We find the largest tax increase in Georgia history. We find real estate insiders who aren’t even subject to our meager state ethics laws. There’s a multi-million (dollar) ad campaign to convince us to vote yes, financed illegally in my opinion by involved interests who stand to benefit from the results if the TSPLOST passes. There’s no comment from our elected officials about this practice.”
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Both are big losers for Cobb County.
Tim Lee is a buffoon.
The TSPLOST is a scam.
I worked at the County under Bill Byrne, and trust me he will be way worse than Tim Lee. BB is the reason Hankerson is Czar and you know what the BiG D. has done to help employees!!!
Savage will ruin what is left of Cobb because he is clueless as to how government even runs.
Boyce has no political experience and we dealt with that same issue with 2 prior Chairmen, Secrist and Earl Smith. But at least both of them had common sense.
It will be 4 years of hell if Byrne is elected and you will not get raises and morale will drop even further when he starts firong any manager who does not kiss up to him and jump through the hoops.
But, Tim Lee did raise my taxes so I have to vote against him.
and NO to the TIA too; Cobb got shafted on that project list....we r spending $700 million for a train in Fulton county...REDICULOUS!!
Future textbooks should report the TIA referendum in the Atlanta region in 2012 as a perfect display of how the governing class completely exposed its inability to come clean with its constituency, preferring instead to impose an miserably poorly designed tax that won't solve the problems it says will be addressed, but will greatly succeed in lining the pockets of the governing class and their buddies...all while every one of us hands over an average of an additional $300 or more each year just for the privilege of being governed by these hacks.
An $8 billion dollar slush fund, and that is ALL TSPLOST is, apparently is a terrible thing to waste...and the governing class must have its money you know. (Its money, they think. Not ours.)
My contempt for the governing class at all levels continues to grow.
Just how far can these people go? Just how outrageous will their claims of correctness and wisdom be? Just how much will they demand in taxes from us, while delivering absolutely NOTHING? How much longer will we stand for their lies?
Ask these questions BEFORE you vote on July 31. Don't bother reading their scam-ballot language. Just check the NO box. Tell your friends and neighbors to do the same.
The Governor and Legislators made a big deal that this tax is to be the "peoples' choice" - and then they cheat on the ballot wording.
Kemp or somebody needs to go. MDJ please get to the bottom of this.
the State of Georgia have become under their respective current leadership.
The Secretary of State does not choose the Constitutional amendment ballot language. O.C.G.A. § 50-12-100 (2012). That task falls to the Constitutional Amendments Publication Board. That committee is comprised of the Governor, Speaker, and Lt. Governor. Any language they choose must be approved by 2/3 of their board (note the ballot amendment's Short Title is written by this board as well, see O.C.G.A. § 50-12-101). (2012).
Maybe what this spokesperson meant is that Kemp got out some crayons and scribbled down a suggestion for all of them. The reality is that he, as in himself, probably didn't write that either.
Mr. Gillooly, perhaps a phone call to Kemp's office will clear up this question.
Second, it would be worth asking the question of why on earth does Kemp want to tie himself to the sinking ship called T-splost(raising taxes)?
And third, isn't it tradition that the SOS stay neutral for this sort of thing?
It's not a very big step from this subtle kind of cheating to outright fraud and stealing the election. Can we at least have some neutral observers from Chile or maybe Brazil come in to monitor this election for fraud?
He earned his money honestly and was successful at his job.
Tim Lee filed for bankruptcy, now has the County's residents supporting him, his wife works for MUST and taxpayers support MUST. Plus, he carpeted Cobb County with artificial turf made by his only client.
So, who is the better manager?