Atlanta Archives – Brambleman

DeKalb Commission moves ahead with Board of Elections audit

Above: Line for early voting at Tucker Library, Oct. 27, 2019 Jonathan Grant @Brambleman DeKalb’s Board of Registrations and Elections is in drastic need of an upgrade–increased staffing and technological improvements, obviously. It has operational and leadership issues as well, as people who deal with the Board can attest. And did. Eight DeKalb residents showed up today to speak in favor of an audit and election reform. One of today’s speakers, Whitney McGinniss, made the news last fall over her absentee ballot issues in DeKalb and provided a brief recount today. As a regular Board observer, I had a few things to say, as well (see below). The audit proposal for the Board, moved forward by DeKalb County Commissioners Larry Johnson and Mereda…

A meeting in Tweets: DeKalb GA Board of Elections OCT 11 2018

Early Voting starts October 15. Check out the schedule below. Coverage of a meeting where nothing much happened, but some interesting facts were stated. I just gotta say: the DeKalb Board of Elections has transparency issues. Skittish about sharing info, a board member showed me a document, but would not let John Askins take a photo of it, even though the paper had been distributed to members and discussed IN AN OPEN MEETING. Jeebus. Note: Last month, @DeKalbVotes reported 40,000 voter registration applications pending and is receiving absentee ballot requests at the rate of about 500 a day. Big Number: @DeKalbVotes docs show 158K voter registration applications in 2018 through Sept. That month, DeKalb received >20K apps thru Secretary of State and almost 7K thru…

Georgia fiction: Read a sample of the award-winning Brambleman

BRAMBLEMAN A Novel by Jonathan Grant Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Popular Fiction Print and eBoook versions available wherever books are sold KINDLE edition only $6.99! Download the Prologue and Chapter One of Brambleman to read at your leisure. PLOT DESCRIPTION: Down-and-out Atlanta writer Charlie Sherman has no idea what madness awaits him when a mysterious stranger convinces him to finish a dead man’s book about a horrific crime that’s gone unpunished for decades. What Charlie inherits is an unwieldy manuscript about the mob-driven expulsion of more than 1,000 blacks from Forsyth County, Georgia in 1912. During the course of his work, Charlie uncovers a terrible secret involving a Forsyth County land grab. Due to its proximity to Atlanta, the stolen farm…

Sydney, the vote-grabbing dog

After a town hall meeting the other night, a woman told me she was torn between supporting John Noel and his Democratic primary opponent in a statewide Georgia Public Service Commission race —until she received John’s flyer. It has a lot of information, but it was this picture on the front that convinced her to back John, because a man with a dog like that is a man worth voting for. BTW, the lady is a veterinarian. It’s true. Sydney is a great dog. I think she laughs a lot. Her tale and whiskers make her look like a dog from a fantasy story, and the expression she has in the photo? Pretty much constant. She is one happy dog. It is…

Atlanta City Council President, Fulton Chairman endorse John Noel for PSC

Above: Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore and Democratic PSC candidate John Noel A solar-powered rainy day Sunday’s afternoon showers couldn’t stop John Noel and dozens of supporters from celebrating his Earth Day Birthday outside the Democratic Public Service Commission candidate’s west Atlanta home, where he received strong endorsements from Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore, Fulton County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts, and others. Pitts, who is running for re-election, pledged cooperation and support for John on the campaign trail. “John gets it,” said Moore, succinctly summing up his knowledge of energy and environmental policy, as well as what it takes to be a leader. Having known John for two decades, she talked about his influence on her political career and praised “his maturity and understanding.”…

Sorry, Fran. There will be Sunday voting in DeKalb (but Tucker Rec is out)

UPDATE: Download the complete early voting schedule from the DeKalb Board of Elections website. Despite public protest over the proposed shuttering of Tucker Recreation Center as an early voting site, the DeKalb Board of Elections voted today to approve staff’s early voting plan, which included a break away from using the center. So, no advance early voting starting April 30 in Tucker, although Tucker Library will open for voting May 14-18. After discussion, the Board voted 4-0 to approve Director Erica Hamilton’s proposal, which remained unchanged from the staff plan put forward at last month’s meeting. There will be only three advance early voting polling locations opening April 30: Dunwoody Library and the Board’s Memorial Drive offices will keep 7 a.m.-7 p.m.…

Brambleman

Georgia politics, history, and other stuff

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