SPRING 2005 NEWSLETTER
GEORGIA FOI ACCESS
GEORGIA FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION

Speaking as one, newspapers condemn HB 218's bid for development secrecy

By Tom Bennett

Atlanta, March 1, 2005 -- Georgia newspapers spoke with a single voice in the 2005 General Assembly to stop House Bill 218.

The following were gathered from news services and reprinted in a flyer that was distributed in the Georgia Senate. With them were editorial-page columns by Jim Wooten and Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also opposing House Bill 218. To reprint examples is surely to leave someone out; Georgia F.O.I. Access apologizes if we have done so, and agrees to print any additional editorials on this subject. Send them to gfaf@mindspring.com

Here are the examples of opposition to HB 218 of 2005:

SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: There's no free lunch

There's no question that competition for new jobs is cutthroat. Cities compete against cities; states compete against states. Industries play one city and state against another. The stakes --- tax breaks, infrastructure investments, paychecks, company profits --- are high. But the realities of the free-market system, which we embrace, don't trump the people's right to know what public officials are doing on their behalf. Everyone in this corner of Georgia wants to land a big industry for the state-owned mega-site in west Chatham County, once eyed by DaimlerChrysler. But Georgians have the right to know what they have to give up to get it. They're smart enough to know there's no free lunch, or free industries.

THE ALBANY HERALD: Need time to weigh in

Although most companies conduct their business behind closed doors, they realize when they are dealing with a local or state governmental entity information is subject to becoming public at any point. When tax incentives, public land or tax monies are being committed, the public should have an opportunity to weigh in.

THE MACON TELEGRAPH: Vote no to HB 218

It's no wonder a recent national survey found today's school children don't understand or appreciate the rights granted them by the First Amendment. It seems their parents, particularly those in a position to help strengthen or weaken the ideals set forth in the amendment, don't either. While it may seem innocuous and even helpful to economic development folks, it is a bad bill. If passed, it will undercut the principles of open government. Here's our call to action: Legislators need to vote no to HB 218 and other superfluous attempts to weaken Georgia's Sunshine Laws. Citizens need to demand they do.

COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER: Hogs headed your way

Remember the Taylor County hog farm controversy in the late 1990s? Residents were made aware of plans to build a huge hog farm in their area, and set out to prevent it from happening. The issue eventually went to the Georgia Supreme Court. But the residents prevailed. Under HB 218, if a large meat-packing company wants to raise hogs in your area, all it has to do is get cozy with the right government official and, presto! The first notice you'll have will be the strong odor of "economic development."

THE BLACKSHEAR TIMES: Hardly life improvement

Gov. Sonny Perdue says he wants a state government that improves the lives of everyday Georgians. Keeping secret the possibility that a landfill, a foul-smelling industry or some other unattractive development might be built next door to your home would not qualify in most peoples' minds as an improvement in their quality of life. Many of Georgia's poor, rural counties have been preyed upon by outside developers looking for communities, hungry for payrolls, that might be willing to give up relatively cheap land for the promise of jobs. The catch is that too often those jobs are in industries that pollute, involve dirty or hazardous products or have other unattractive aspects. Communities certainly have a right to pursue such industries if they so choose, but the residents who live there need to be aware and not have such businesses creep in under a veil of secrecy.

THE TIMES-HERALD (NEWNAN): Expect unwanted results

There are many businesses and industries that citizens of many communities would not want located in their area. We shouldn't give politicians and deal makers the chance to go behind close doors and cut any deal they want. If we do that, our state will get some unwanted results. Many places don't want chicken processing plants, landfills, dirty industries, adult bookstores --- the list could go on and on. If this law is approved, citizens will not know what business or industry is coming to their neighborhood until after the deal is struck.

THE HERALD-LEADER (FITZGERALD): Don't eat this baloney

Proponents of the bill point to the 2002 negotiations between Chrysler and the state to build a plant near Pooler as a case in point. Although Chrysler, which never chose a site, says it had no bearing, South Carolina, which was competing for the plant, did not have to reveal anything. Lawmakers claim Georgia was placed at a disadvantage. Baloney! Do state and local elected officials get such an enormous jump in IQ once elected that their lofty decisions are too far above our ability to grasp? Of course not. The less they have to be bothered by answering to us, the more they like it.

THE CAIRO MESSENGER: Want to know what's up

It is our hope that our state leaders will be proponents of open government and not opponents. Look at it this way, if your elected officials were offering to give a chicken-rendering plant water for half price as an enticement to build the plant near your home, wouldn't you want to know before any agreements were made and signed? We would.

THE NEWS OBSERVER (BLUE RIDGE): Taxpayers blindsided

What this bill actually does is open the doors for taxpayers to be blindsided by something they do not want, and sets the stage for corruption to flourish. Georgians have seen politicians get rich because they had the inside track on property a developer wanted. HB 218 would fuel such possibilities.

THE WALTON TRIBUNE (MONROE): Frightening and sad

In Walton County, we saw how the system currently works last year when officials at public meetings discussed, and ultimately approved, millions in tax abatements for a Wal-Mart expansion. If House Bill 218 becomes law, such deals can be cut in private, with the public having no idea of what is being done with its tax dollars. That legislators believe what happens with tax dollars should be kept secret is frightening and sad.

WAYCROSS JOURNAL-HERALD: Especially vulnerable

If HB 218 becomes law, Georgians living in the state's 57 rural counties will be especially vulnerable because of the overall lack of zoning in the unincorporated areas of these counties. They will be kept in the dark until the activities of their own economic development associations until the project is a done deal or abandoned.

 
House Bill 218 was tabled in the Senate Feb. 24, according to the Georgia General Assembly web site. This bill was sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens of Garden City near Savannah, a seven-year veteran, and the freshmen Billy Horne of Newnan and Mike Cheokas of Americus.