Cat-Fight in Gwinnett and the Chairman’s got legal troubles

So there has been this battle playing out at my mail box for the past several week. Seems that one of the Gwinnett county commissioners decided she would try and oust the sitting chairman in the GOP Primary. That then left her seat open, and three “Republicans” are vying to replace her.

So, the persona dramatis are:
Chairman Charles Bannister
Commissioner Lorannie Green, who is challenging Bannister
Former Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter, who is running for Green’s seat
Carol Hassell, also running for Green’s seat
Bruce LeVell, Member of the MARTA Board, also running for Green’s seat.

The cat fight has been between Lasseter and Hassell. LeVell has been staying above the fray.

Hassell claims Lasseter made Duluth “A sanctuary city”. Oooh, Brown people. Be scared. Lasseter then sends out a piece claiming that Hassell “boasted in a local meeting (Sourced as “North Atlanta GOP Women’s Group”) that she voted for Barak Obama”.

Hassell then responded by saying she voted for Obama “to stop Hillary”. Um Hello? Wasn’t there an interesting and somewhat contested election on the GOP side? Hassell then lost my vote by attacking Lasseter for allowing Walmart to open in Duluth. Personally the anti-capitalist anti-walmart rhetoric is the real proof Hassell is a Democrat.

Meanwhile LeVell is either so far behind in internal polling that the two women ignore him, or he’s not listening to consultants, because his message has consistently been positive and pointing to his accomplishments, his vision, and his goals. I don’t share his vision and goals – in particular the Gwinnett equivalent of the Bridge to Nowhere: the Brain Train, but I’ve got to admire him for staying out of the mud. I’ll be voting for him on Tuesday.

Unofficial score in the district 1 race:
Lasseter: 4 mail pieces, 2 positive, 2 negative
Hassell: 4 mail pieces, 4 negative
LeVell: 3 pieces, all positive

The real money is being spent in the knock-down drag out fight for Chairman. Six pieces from Green, 5 from Bannister, and thats only since I started collecting them as supporting material for this post. The issues in the Chairman’s race seem to be 1) Evil Brown People moving into our neighborhood and taking our jobs; 2) Who voted to raise whose salary; 3) A Plan to eliminate all property taxes in the county (sound familiar?) and 4) More evil brown people WHO DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH.

Can you tell that the illegal immigration issue is a non-starter with me?

I will probably vote for Green. Not because her slogan “Leadership for a Change” is all that good. My wife wondered if she wasn’t trying to ride Obama’s coattails. Not because she’ll rid our county of the Evil Brown People and leave us with vacant neighborhoods, depressed property values, and millions of QT taqitos to dispose of. I think her tax plan has some merit. Green is also an engineer, and I tend to trust them over life-long politicians (Bannister spent many years in the Gold Dome before becoming commission chairman). Finally, I think she is right on Bannister’s leadership. Based on the mailing I’ve received from him, he has spend the last four years posing for pictures at the 316/85 construction site.

Oh, and a little birdie just told me that Bannister is now under investigation(Added: AJC Story) by the Gwinnett Solicitor’s office (The solicitor is like a DA for non-felonies) for the use of the State Seal in a non-official capacity. You see, Bannister sent out a mailer that proported to be the “Official Gwinnett Conservative Republican Voter Guide” and used the state seal on it. Oops – can’t do that. And Bannister is using The Stoneridge Group, one of the biggest direct mail firms in the state (They did Casey Cagle’s work in 2006). Sure, Keith Gross might make that mistake – its not like Gross has spent much time in Georgia politics. Stoneridge should know better.