While laws are being made under the gold dome, it appears laws are being broken elsewhere. It was Juvenal who asked the still-pertinent question, “Who shall guard the guardians themselves?”

We have yet to find a satisfactory answer to that question, but the people of Irwinton and the remainder of Wilkinson County would like to know. Wilkinson County Tax Commissioner Kevin Rauscher has been arrested by the GBI on two charges, according to WMAZ TV’s website. Rauscher was charged with theft by taking and possession of the painkiller hydrocodone.

According to the Wilkinson County website:

As defined by state law, the Tax Commissioner is responsible for the administration of the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant

Wilkinson County - Image via Wikipedia

Credit on real property taxes, the billing and collection of current and delinquent ad valorem taxes due the State, Board of Education, and County on real and personal property. Disbursements of collections are made periodically to the proper taxing authority pursuant to the regulations set by Georgia law.

The Tax Commissioner is also responsible for the billing and collection of ad valorem taxes due the State, Board of Education, County, and Municipalities at the time of tag/decal sale. Disbursements of these taxes are also made to the proper taxing authority as prescribed by State law.

Also, pursuant to State law, the Tax Commissioner is responsible for the collection and disbursement of mobile home taxes, public utility taxes, and timber taxes.

The Tax Commissioner also collects and disburses real and personal property taxes for the City of Allentown, Danville, Gordon, Irwinton, Ivey, McIntyre, and  Toomsboro.

Wilkinson County is located east of Macon and Bibb County in Middle Georgia and Northwest of Dublin and Laurens County. According to the 2010 census, the county population is 9,563, a decrease of more than six percent from the population shown in the 2000 census.

This story was recently made available and is still developing. The amount of funds Rauscher allegedly took is still under investigation. Updates will be available on the WMAZ-TV website.

On the heels of the admission that thousands of dollars of water bill payments were missing, the small town of Rhine, Georgia, is reeling from another blow to its reputation. Rhine Police Chief Kip Cravey was arrested today on completely unrelated charges. The Dodge County News has the story:

Cravey was arrested by agents of the Oconee Drug Task Force as the result of an ongoing narcotics investigation by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, Eastman Police Department and the Oconee Drug Task Force.

Cravey of Eastman is facing at least two charges and may face additional charges. Cravey has been charged with one count of unlawfully distributing schedule II narcotics after he allegedly furnished more than two dozen “Soma” pills to another person during the investigation.

Cravey is a former candidate for Dodge County Sheriff and served as a deputy sheriff under former Dodge County Sheriff

Dodge County, GA - Image via Wikipedia

Lawton Douglas. Douglas is currently serving time in federal prison for charges related to voter fraud.

Over $7,000 in missing water bill payments appears to be unrelated to the Cravey arrest. According to discussions during the Rhine City Council meetings on December 1st, former Rhine employee June Sheffield had agreed to pay restitution to the town of less than 500 people. Sheffield; however, in a December 14th interview with The Dodge County News editor Chuck Eckles, stated she did not take the money and would clear things up in January. 2012. To date, it appears the city has filed no charges with the authorities.

Rhine is located in Dodge County just north of the Telfair County line. Both complete stories are available on The Dodge County News website.

Yesterday I joined Senator Renee Unterman at a meeting aimed at solving Georgia metal theft problem. Senator Unterman organized the meeting and was kind enough to let me attend. I will be working with Rep. Jason Shaw on a bill in the House while Senator Unterman will work in the Senate. It should be pointed out that many scrap dealers are doing the right thing. Some are not and thus we have a problem. Thieves are stealing manhole covers, cars, trailers, they’re stripping copper wire from vacant homes and buildings, they’re stealing historical markers, shopping carts and road signs. We are even seeing urns stolen from cemeteries. Sadly there are some unscrupulous scrap dealers turning a blind eye to obviously stolen stuff.

Randy Travis was on hand yesterday and filed the report you see below. He had previously done two reports on metal theft (see here and here).

Last month the Judicial Nominating Commission started accepting name submissions to fill the vacancy on the DeKalb County Superior Court (formally the Stone Mountain Circuit) caused by Judge Hancock’s resignation. Anyone can submit a name, and apparently, somebody submitted the name of Michael L. Rothenberg, and there is only one person by that name who is a member of the Georgia Bar.

If Rothenberg’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he has a long history with PeachPundit that includes trying to run for an office for which he was not qualified, dropping out of that race, then running again in 2010 and making the runoff before being sued in federal court and by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged fraud.

In 2008, Rothenberg ran for Superior Court and Erick questioned his eligibility.

After initially arguing that he was indeed eligible, Rothenberg later ended that campaign. Erick congratulated him on making the right decision and wrote, “I hope in 2010 he will run.”

Rothenberg did indeed run in 2010, and made the runoff against Courtney Johnson, who won the election. Between the general election and the runoff, Rothenberg was accused of running a ponzi scheme in a federal lawsuit seeking the return of $1.35 million “invested” with Rothenberg.

Rothenberg called the lawsuit “nothing more than a political hit job on me.”

He said the lawsuit’s allegations were “absolutely outrageous, slanderous and completely untrue, completely untrue.”

On November 18, 2010 the Daily Report ran a story that Rothenberg implied that his campaign was supported by Congressmen Hank Johnson and John Lewis and State Senator Jason Carter. All three of those elected officials denied having endorsed Rothenberg.

On November 29th, the AJC reported that State Representative Mike Jacobs withdrew his personal endorsement of Rothenberg based on concerns over the private lawsuit. That article also reported that DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer (R-Smokerise) denied having endorsed Rothenberg, despite her picture appearing on Rothenberg’s mailings under the heading “Endorsed By”.

Liz Carter, the Republican Candidate for the Fourth Congressional District, had the day earlier emailed  a number of DeKalb Republicans stating that she had not approved the printed endorsement that Rothenberg attributed to her and was asking people not to vote for Rothenberg in the runoff.

Both DeKalb Libertarians stood by their endorsement of Rothenberg.

After losing to now-Judge Johnson, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Rothenberg, alleging that his “investment” scheme violated the ’33 and ’34 Acts.

[As an aside, let this stand as a lesson to the political opportunists and scalawags who seek to destroy America by robbing Georgians of our God-given right to vote in runoff elections. Absent the runoff election, this might not have all come out and Rothenberg might have been elected. And it would have been your fault when a Superior Court Judge was indicted for fraud.]

According to the SEC complaint and press release:

The Commission’s complaint alleges that between at least February 2010 and March 2010, Rothenberg, through Four Five, used misrepresentations and omissions of material fact to induce investors to participate in a secret and allegedly risk-free trading platform or trading facility. This trading platform or trading facility purportedly involved transactions among international banks that would generate substantial return on a recurring basis. Specifically, Rothenberg represented that the trading platform would produce returns in excess of 300% every fourteen days. Rothenberg and Four Five also represented to investors, both orally and in writing, that the majority of their funds would remain at all times in Rothenberg’s attorney trust account, and that all funds invested, along with the profits, would be returned to the investors at the conclusion of the trades. [Emphasis added]

As a result of a settlement of the SEC charges, Rothenberg’s right to appear or practice before the agency has been suspended. His website also is suspended.

As part of the settlement, the SEC found that:

contrary to Rothenberg’s representations that investor funds would remain in his attorney trust account, Rothenberg began disbursing investor funds within days of receipt of those funds. Between March 2010 and October 2010, at least $210,000 in investor funds were transferred to a bank account designated for contributions to Rothenberg’s judicial election campaign. Rothenberg used another $190,000 of investor funds for personal expenses. Although Rothenberg ultimately returned approximately $910,000 to investors, he misappropriated at least $800,000 of investor funds. [Emphasis added.]

And according to the SEC’s press release:

Defendants were also ordered to pay disgorgement, pre-judgment interest and a civil penalty in amounts to be resolved upon motion of the Commission at a later date, and directed that for purposes of that motion, the allegations of the Commission’s Complaint shall be deemed true. Defendants consented to the entry of the order without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission’s Complaint.

Not sure why the video isn’t showing up. Here’s a link to the video, and the article.

State officials launched an investigation after an unusually high number of absentee ballots were cast in the July 2010 primary election. “As a result of their grand jury findings 12 individuals were indicted in that particular matter and we will be trying that case in a court of judicial law instead of a court of public opinion so that will be pending this next year,” said District Attorney Joe Mulholland.

CNN’s Gena Somra tells the story of two young Nigerian women brought to America on the promise of an education only to find themselves serving as domestic slaves and beaten on a regular basis. This story isn’t from some far away place or in some poverty stricken area, it took place just up the road from me in Suwanee.

Kudos to US Attorney Sally Yates for putting this monster away. Also take note of the people who helped the victims. These vicious crimes are happening right under our noses and we need to keep our eyes open and help when we can.

Creative Loafing recently published an article about human trafficking in Atlanta, and earlier this year the Georgia Legislature passed HB200 aimed and fighting human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

On a related note, last Sunday night I went to a screening of a documentary called “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls” at Church of the Apostles in Atlanta. The documentary focuses on the global sex trade and the young girls tricked, kidnapped, and even sold by their parents into the sex trade. In the film your learn that human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world today and that the average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14, a fact that challenges the notions that prostitution is a victimless crime or that young prostitutes get into the trade willingly.

Sex trafficking and human trafficking are serious problems right on our doorstep.

Crime against students at Georgia Tech has been in the news a lot lately. Most recently a rape was reported on the Tech campus. Atlanta and Tech officials have stepped up security on campus.

These crimes have stirred up the debate again over allowing guns on college campuses. Rep. Sean Jurgenson plans to introduce such legislation in the upcoming Legislative session, according to WGST.

Cherokee County Republican Sean Jurgenson says it’s in response to a number of recent attacks against students at schools in Atlanta.

Similar efforts to legalize firearms on Georgia college campuses have failed in recent legislative sessions.

Is this a good idea? Discuss.

For your Tuesday evening reading pleasure I present to you the story of a Birther who thought voting President Obama out of office wasn’t good enough. A Georgia man named Darren Wesley Huff was convicted today in Knoxville of “ferrying guns across state lines in a plot to take over the Monroe County courthouse.”

Testimony showed Huff openly discussed going armed to Madisonville in protest of the arrest of so-called “birther” Walter Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick was arrested and later convicted of disorderly conduct when he tried to make a “citizen’s arrest” of grand jury foreman Gary Pettway, who had refused to allow a grand jury to consider treason charges against President Barack Obama. Birthers believe the president is not a “natural born citizen” and is, therefore, ineligible to be president.

Green noted, however, that no armed takeover of the courthouse took place, and Huff kept his guns locked in a toolbox in his truck during the entirety of his stay in Madisonville.

Prosecutors countered Huff and his fellow supporters were outgunned and outmanned by a slew of law enforcers and the plot, therefore thwarted. His intent, they insisted, is what was at issue in the case.

According to The Blaze, the plan was to take over the Courthouse and stay there until Obama was forced from office.

In a case that’s garnered international attention, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole has denied clemency for Troy Davis. The execution could come as early as Wednesday.

Calls for Davis to be spared execution have been made by numerous dignitaries, including former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI Director William Sessions, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher and Larry Thompson, the former deputy U.S. attorney general. Davis’ advocates, including Amnesty International and the NAACP, have used social media to rally worldwide support. Last week, Davis’ supporters presented the parole board with the names of more than 663,000 people asking that Davis be granted clemency.

This is the fourth time the state of Georgia has set an execution date for Davis. On three prior occasions, he was granted stays — twice just hours before his execution was to be carried out.

On one occasion, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and ordered an extraordinary hearing, giving Davis the chance to clearly establish he was an innocent man. But a Savannah judge, after hearing two days of testimony, ultimately ruled that while Davis’ new evidence “cast some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors.”

His legal appeals are exhausted, so his latest last-ditch effort before the parole board appears to be his last chance to be spared execution.

A 22-year old Macon man, apparently decided that it was easier to “borrow” a taxi and drive to Wendy’s than walk. Gene Cornett states that the cab was parked in a vacant lot near his home with the keys inside.

According to the story on Macon.com, the vehicle had been reported stolen before it was located at the Wendy’s restaurant on Gray Highway. Cornett was with the taxi at the restaurant.

Feel free to add any observations about the nature of alleged criminals or cab-drivers who allegedly leave keys inside the vehicles or whether Cornett’s punishment, if charged and convicted, should result in a penalty that includes a lot of pedestrian activity.

Catoosa County Magistrate Judge Anthony Peters didn’t hear good news today from the Georgia Supreme Court.  They have upheld the recommendation by the Judicial Qualifications Commission to have him immediately and permanently removed from office.  To catch you up to speed, he admitted to smoking pot, caused a ruckus in the Catoosa County Courthouse after a heated argument with his boss, Chief Magistrate Sonny Caldwell, and various other incidents.

An excerpt of the Supremes’ statement from Jim Galloway:

Peters admitted much of the misconduct at a hearing in April before the Judicial Qualifications Commission but said he felt he’d been disciplined “enough” by having been placed on paid administrative leave since June 16, 2010.

“Notwithstanding Judge Peters’ personal belief that he has already received appropriate discipline, the record reveals that Judge Peters has not sought treatment for his admitted drug problems and has done nothing to show that he has any ability to live up to the high standard of conduct expected of members of the judiciary in Georgia,” the opinion says.

“Instead, he spent his time while on administrative leave publicly disparaging the Chief Magistrate Judge and the Sheriff of Catoosa County and endangering the life of a confidential informant by exposing his identity. Such willful misconduct is clearly ‘prejudicial to the administration of justice [and] brings the judicial office into disrepute.’”

“The public deserves much more from its judicial officers,” today’s opinion says, “and those judicial officers who cannot give the public what it deserves – confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary – do not deserve to continue to hold judicial office.”

It’s unfortunate to see someone’s problems, especially one who is a public official, unfold in public.  It’s also unfortunate that the public is subjected to this drama.  I wish the judge well, and I hope that he and the county can move past this quickly.

According to the FBI, Atlanta is a hub for human and sex trafficking. Today a summit was held in Atlanta to discuss the issue.

More than 400 federal, state and local law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and state officials sought solutions to the problem on Monday at a summit on human trafficking hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia at Georgia State University.

Proposals for combating human trafficking ranged from creating a day center where prostitutes can receive help to increasing training for law enforcement officers on how to recognize victims during traffic stops and sex sting operations.

As you may recall, Georgia passed a tough new law dealing with human and sex trafficking.

Via AJC:

Big Brother is coming to Atlanta. Or is it a watchful eye that will make walking city streets safer?

On Monday, the Atlanta City Council approved a measure to network and monitor thousands of public and privately owned security cameras throughout Atlanta.

Estimated start-up costs are the mid $2 million range, funded by federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. As expected, the city has no idea of annual operational costs, but “…the Council is committed to establishing virtually blanket video monitoring of the city.”

While this will surely stabilize the revenue stream generated by citing non-poop-picker-uppers in Piedmont Park, it may also drive criminals (and their more heinous acts) out of camera range. Actual crime isn’t reduced, just rearranged.

This is sure to stir up a hornet’s nest of opinion. Have at it.

Strategic Vision, the public relations and polling outfit that is to political polling what Beverly Hall is to public education, apparently still hasn’t learned how to make good decisions. In 2009, uber-pollster Nate Silver used some black-belt math to accuse Strategic Vision of “cooking the books” with their polls. While there’s no empirical evidence of that, the odds are that Silver was correct. (ProTip for anyone buying polls: Get the crosstabs or get your money back.)

Pulled over for speeding on the Georgia Mountain Parkway in April 2010, and found to have expired insurance, Strategic Vision’s co-founder David E. Johnson chose poorly. According to the police report quoted in the North Georgia News (Hometown newspaper of Blairsville, Suches and Union County since 1909) Johnson tried to drive off, and

“…Johnson’s vehicle accelerated while the deputy was leaning in the vehicle, which threw the deputy to the ground. The deputy got in his patrol vehicle, turned on his lights and siren, and pursued Johnson. After a short distance, Johnson stopped again.”

Running from the police is a bad idea. As Chris Rock says: “If the police have to come and get you, they’re bringin’ an azz-kickin’ with them.”

But Johnson then doubled down on his bad decision, according to the report:

“Johnson got out of the vehicle, but instead of showing his hands and laying on the ground, he squared off in a three-point shooting stance toward the deputy with a black object in his hand. The deputy pointed his weapon at Johnson and told him to drop the object.
Johnson dropped what turned out to be a black cell phone.” (Emphasis added.)

Drawing down on a police officer with a cellphone is illegal AND a violation of Darwin’s Law. Johnson is lucky to be alive.

Johnson entered guilty pleas to the susequent charges of speeding, fleeing and attempting to elude, and obstruction of officer, and nolo contendere on the insurance charge, and was sentenced to 5 years probation with a margin of error or +/- 4 months.

Not long after Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing her daughter Caylee by a Florida jury, I began receiving email petitions urging me to back “Caylee’s Law.” To date I’ve received over 100 such emails from constituents. The petition was formed at a website called Change.org (BTW, most of the email I receive in my legislative email account comes from Change.org), and to date over 1 million people have emailed their Representatives. Here is the text of the petition:

Greetings,

On July 5, 2011, at 1:15 pm CST, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee Anthony. The only charges she now faces are four counts of falsifying police reports, each of which only carries a 1 year prison term. Since she has been in jail since August 2008, she will be out of jail ENTIRELY too soon.

I’m writing to propose that a new law be put into effect making it a felony for a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker to not notify law enforcement of the disappearance of a child within 24 hours of the time that they know the child is missing, so proper steps can be taken to find that child before it’s too late.

This way there will be no more cases like Casey Anthony’s in the courts, and no more innocent children will have to go without justice.

The case of Caylee Anthony was tragic, and there is no reason for another case like this one to hit the courts. Let’s do what is necessary to prevent another case like this from happening.

One of my colleagues, my friend B.J. Pak, says he will push such a bill. I plan to support it (pending of course on the exact wording of the bill), but I do realize legislation crafted in response to an outrageous situation can cause more problems than it solves.

What do you folks think?

The AJC reports today on a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Michael Rothenberg, who ran unsuccessfully for DeKalb Superior Court in 2010.

The SEC complaint appears to originate with the same transaction that birthed a federal lawsuit against Rothenberg just before the December 2011 runoff election.

The SEC alleges that Rothenberg transferred $169,o00 of money from defrauded investors to his campaign account. In November, the Fulton Daily Report noted Rothenberg denying having transferred the funds in questions to his campaign.

But long before the November general election, there were other warning signs.

In 2008, Michael Rothenberg announced his candidacy for another seat on the DeKalb Superior Court. Erick Erickson, writing on Peach Pundit challenged Rothenberg’s eligibility. Rothenberg and his Campaign Manager/attorney responded in the comments with their version of his qualifications.

Two days later, Erick published a lengthy analysis and concluded that Rothenberg did not meet the statutory requirements to hold the office of Superior Court Judge at that time. This would not be the last time Rothenberg had no comment.

Rothenberg ultimately withdrew from that race over his qualifications. Erick wished him the best and said “[we] hope to see him run in two years.” Erick’s wish was fulfilled.

On November 18, 2010 the Daily Report ran a story that Rothenberg implied that his campaign was supported by Congressmen Hank Johnson and John Lewis and State Senator Jason Carter. All three of those elected officials denied having endorsed Rothenberg.

On November 29th, the AJC reported that State Representative Mike Jacobs withdrew his personal endorsement of Rothenberg based on concerns over the private lawsuit. That article also reported that DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer (R-Smokerise) denied having endorsed Rothenberg, despite her picture appearing on Rothenberg’s mailings under the heading “Endorsed By”.

Liz Carter, the Republican Candidate for the Fourth Congressional District, had the day earlier emailed  a number of DeKalb Republicans stating that she had not approved the printed endorsement that Rothenberg attributed to her and was asking people not to vote for Rothenberg in the runoff.

Both DeKalb Libertarians stood by their endorsement of Rothenberg.

After Courtney Johnson won the runoff election with 61% it wasn’t clear how much of her victory could be attributed to the last news cycles of the election.

But precinct-level returns shed some light.

Mike Jacobs’s district comprises eleven precincts in North DeKalb. During early runoff voting, Rothenberg ran the table here, carrying 66% of the vote and all but two of the eleven precincts. On election day, voters gave Courtney Johnson 56% of the vote, a twenty-three point gain over the weekend, and she carried nine of eleven precincts.

Courtney Johnson won the rest of the county handily, approaching 90% in a number of precincts. But it is instructive to view the sea-change in voter sentiment in reaction to a news story about candidate ethics.

Disclaimers: I was a consultant to Mike Jacobs during this drama. On November 1, 2010, I recevied a payment for robocalls from Michael Rothenberg’s campaign. That expenditure appears never to have been disclosed.

The Outdoor Advertising Association is working with the Juvenile Justice Fund to display a series of ads raising awareness of the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

The ads warn that pimps and buyers could face five years to life in prison under Georgia’s tough new crackdown on child trafficking.

It urges residents to text “DEMAND” to 313131 for more information.

State Rep. Mike Jacobs garnered some headlines when he introduced what he described as a “skeletal charter” for a proposed City of Brookhaven. Some liberal crackpots oppose even discussing the idea.

Jacobs plans a second town hall meeting to discuss cityhood on Tuesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Lupton Hall on the Oglethorpe campus, located at 4484 Peachtree Road.

I had previously held reservations about incorporation, thinking “we don’t need another layer of government” and being overall pretty satisfied with the current level of county services. But as of today, count me firmly in the “Yes” category.

When I was leaving the house to get lunch, I saw a neighbor kid rounding the corner with what appeared to be my lawnmower. I parked, and went out back, where the lawnmower should have been and it was gone. I walked back to the corner, and there was my lawnmower, pushed up in the side yard of the house in which I believe the kid currently stays.

I called the police, told them what happened, including the facts that I saw it happen and know where the suspect lives. After some information was taken down, I was told that someone would call me back later to take a report over the phone.

WTF doesn’t just stand for “Winning the Future.”

I called the North Precinct and asked if I could talk to someone since I knew who the crook is and where he lives. They sent out an officer who is a credit to the county and a comfort to this taxpayer.

Last night I listened to a story on NPR in which Mark Fisher, an editor at the Washington Post, discussed a burglary at his home and his local police department’s inability to take mere property crimes seriously. Fisher made the point that letting property crimes go might lead to an escalation to violent crime. There does appear to be a correlation between the rates of property crimes and those of violent crimes.

One opponent of the incorporation efforts told a reporter that “including the Buford Highway area in the new city in order to gain the area’s tax base would also bring in crime.” and “[t]he new city of Brookhaven is going to have one of the highest crime rates around.”

But my experience with the DeKalb County Police Department’s apparent policy that “we’ll call you back and take a report if it’s just a property crime,” is the strongest argument for incorporation.

It’s not that the officers on the street don’t want to fight crime. The officer who responded to my call did everything he could and made it clear that he will follow up. The problem is the distribution of resources, and that is a political problem.

State Rep. Tom Taylor, who served on the Dunwoody City Council and helped set up that city’s police department, shared with us some of his experiences with respect to police resources and the cost of local government.

Before Dunwoody incorporated, the area contributed approximately $13.1 million to the annual police budget in DeKalb County and the county placed one or two active patrols in Dunwoody on any given shift. In the year after its incorporation, the new City of Dunwoody’s entire annual police budget was a little more than $5 million, which paid for at least seven active patrols per shift.

It is unclear for the time being whether a City of Brookhaven is financially feasible, and it will remain unclear until a Carl Vinson Institute Study is undertaken. But given what we currently know about DeKalb County’s financial condition and law enforcement priorities, we should take the step of funding the necessary study.

For what it’s worth, Mike Jacobs is a client of mine. In keeping with Peach Pundit’s policy of avoiding potential conflicts of interest wherever possible, I had not attended to address this issue here.  After a request from management earlier today and subsequent conversations, they decided my first person account was the best way to address this need.  So, here’s what I saw. Make of it what you will.

This afternoon, in front of about a hundred people, Governor Deal signed into law HB200, Representative Edward Lindsey’s anti-human trafficking bill. Below is video of Jim Reese of the Atlanta Mission (who hosted the event at the My Sister’s House facility), Rep. Lindsey, First Lady Sandra Deal and Governor Nathan Deal.

Here is Governor Deal’s press release and here is video of Senator Renee Unterman speaking about HB200 (courtesy of Todd Rehm). Unterman has been at the forefront of the battle against the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Todd Rehm also has some photos of the bill signing ceremony.

11Alive’s Doug Richards caught up with former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell.

Monday, Bill Campbell attended an Atlanta Press Club event — not exactly the venue to maintain a carefully guarded low profile. For a while, the former mayor seemed to be at its center — accepting hugs and handshakes and posing for photos.
“Well, I never really left Atlanta. This is my home,” Campbell told us.

But as Bill Campbell knows better than most, he did leave Atlanta after he left the mayor’s office nine years ago. He practiced law full-time in Florida. Then he went to federal prison, then a halfway house, following a tax evasion conviction.

“They could catch you or me or anybody else on that,” said city councilwoman Cleta Winslow.