2006 WINTER NEWSLETTER
GEORGIA FOI ACCESS
GEORGIA FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION

WELTNER BANQUET 2006
Sen. Isakson pledges he will support open government;
Barnes drafts a Georgia constitutional amendment for it

By Tom Bennett

Atlanta, Jan. 29, 2006 – Neither party has a monopoly on it, and the support for greater open government in Georgia is bipartisan. A ringing declaration of the truth of that statement was made by U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican, and former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, at the Weltner Freedom of Information Banquet Jan. 28.

"I hope you will always hold me to my pledge of openness, so that Georgia can have the best government it can have," Isakson said. That’s a significant vow from a U.S. senator just completing year one of his first six-year term and soon to head back to Washington awash these days in openness-versus-privacy and free-speech issues.

His friend Roy Barnes went him one better, calling for what would be an FOI quantum leap -- an amendment to place open government in the Georgia Constitution.  "We can amend the Constitution of Georgia to assure the basic right of the people to have access to the dealings of their government," said Barnes, who was guest speaker for the evening.

He has given "a couple legislators" this 50-word draft: "All records and meetings of any government, authority or private corporation performing a public purpose shall be open and available to the people. No exception to this requirement shall be allowed unless adopted by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the General Assembly and approved by the governor."

Isakson and Barnes, the two titans of Cobb County government, began their political careers in 1974. They have functioned over the years as allies, despite being in different political parties.  "I traveled on Roy’s coattails in the legislature for two decades," Isakson said.  Barnes commented: "I hope the fact that Johnny and I are friends and have been for years will send a message to the current crop of politicians. It is that you don’t have to hate someone just because they’re in a different political party."

Isakson became the fifth person to receive the annual Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Award, presented by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.  I can’t tell you how much it means to get this award in the name of Charles Longstreet Weltner," he said. "To this day I remember Weltner’s courageous decision." (Weltner represented Atlanta’s Fifth District in Congress in 1966, but resigned his seat rather than sign a Democratic Party oath to support the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Lester Maddox, a segregationist.)  "I will just tell Betsey and the other members of the family who are here tonight that I will aspire for the rest of my life to be half the man Charles Weltner was," Isakson said.

Since taking his seat in the U.S. Senate last year, he has become a co-sponsor of a bill to strengthen the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.  Earlier, while a Georgia legislator, Isakson supported most of the bills brought by Barnes to improve the Georgia sunshine law in Title 50 of the code.  "The more the media knows what you are doing, the better off you are," Isakson said. "There is one thing you can’t do in a free society, and that is to manipulate the media. And you should never be able to do so."

The video tributes to the honoree each year produced by Dale Russell of WAGA-TV Fox 5 are always highlights. This time the Georgians honoring Isakson in the video included Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Barnes, Publisher Otis Brumby Jr. and Columnist Jim Wooten.

OPEN GOVERNMENT UNDER ATTACK

Barnes, the 2004 Weltner award recipeint, returned as guest speaker to give a chilling overview of the state of open government in Georgia.  "I am saddened to tell you that it is under attack," he said. "We now have well over 100 exceptions to the Open Records Act, and every session of the General Assembly brings even more."  A new open-records "battlefield," in Barnes’ words, has to do with how governments deal with performance of public duties by private corporations.

"The General Assembly should establish that no private group or corporation should be able to hide from public inspection any economic development project or the incentives that are offered. I can tell you firsthand that it does not hinder development in this state to allow the people of Georgia to know how their money is being pledged and spent."

OPEN GOVERNMENT HERO

Charles "Mickey" Feltus of Chamblee successfully sued DeKalb County government to open up records of federal testing of commercial aircraft at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport. He received this year's Open Government Hero award from Georgia First Amendment Foundation.  "I can tell you that information on any government that does not want to give it is difficult to get at best," Feltus said.  "Senator Isakson, the people of DeKalb County look forward to working with you on this issue."

The haven for wealthy private pilots also is a hoped-for expansion site for airline travel if the city of Atlanta, DeKalb County and airlines get their way. According to Feltus, the airport doesn’t comply with security safeguards.  "Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the safety of citizens has been a primary issue," Feltus said. "Information we have received tells us that the DeKalb County Airport may be jeopardizing that safety. No one knows what is operating at PDK twenty-five percent of the time."

DISTINGUISHED JUDGES IN ATTENDANCE

Charles L. Weltner was a chief justice of the Georgia Supreme  Court as well as a congressman, Fulton Superior Court judge, scholar and theologian. His  influence in the court still is felt. In the audience at the fifth Weltner Banquet were U.S. federal district judges Clarence Cooper and Marvin Shoob; retired Georgia Chief Justice (and ’05 Weltner Award recipient) Norman Fletcher; Georgia Supreme Court justice Carol Hunstein; Georgia Court of Appeals judges John H. Ruffin Jr., Anne Elizabeth Barnes and Debra Bernes; Fulton Superior Court judge Stephanie Manis; legislators David Adelman, Mary Margaret Oliver and Wendell Willard; and Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of  Investigation.

Tom Bennett is a GFAF volunteer.