AC repair inCrescent, GA

ADDS online record of county taxes paid through 2022; ADDS links to Georgia Constitution, Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), Georgia tax liens; ADDS unpaid taxes as disqualifying to run for or hold office

Georgia Department of Revenue online records show that Clayton County District 3 Commissioner Felicia Franklin has several tax liens dating back to 2018 on her Jonesboro home. Yet on March 4, 2020, Franklin swore in her Declaration of Candidacy and Affidavit that she owed no state taxes—which carries a felony false statements penalty for those who file the affidavit.

Under state law, unpaid taxes disqualify a candidate from running for or holding office, unless the candidate has made arrangements or a payment plan with the Department of Revenue. At the time Franklin ran for reelection, she still owed two years’ back taxes to the state, and she owed a third year after the election:

The affidavit reads in part, “I am not a defaulter for any federal, state, county, municipal or school system taxes required of such officeholder or candidate if such person has been finally adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to owe those taxes, but such ineligibility may be removed at any time by full payment thereof, or by making payments to the tax authority pursuant to a payment plan, or under such other conditions as the General Assembly may provide by general law (pursuant to Ga. Const. Art. II, Sec. II, paragraph III); I will not knowingly violate any provisions fo the Georgia Election Code (O.C.G.A. § 21-2) or the rules or regulations adopted thereunder…”

Franklin was reelected while she owed the State of Georgia $4,761.30 in taxes and a total of $5,074. As of press time, online tax lien records show Franklin still owes that money to the Georgia Department of Revenue. Attempts to reach Franklin by phone, e-mail, and in person before press time were unsuccessful.

Franklin, who frequently lectures county staff and other commissioners on “fiduciary responsibility,” also has a case pending in June before the Georgia Ethics Commission about numerous campaign expenditures and payments. Franklin’s case was to have been heard at the March meeting until she obtained counsel the night before to bump the hearing to the next quarterly meeting.

According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, the state put a lien of $2,696.28 on Franklin’s Jonesboro home on May 23, 2022. A payment of $2,823.85 is due on May 23, 2023, with interest to accrue after that date:

Franklin’s home has another Georgia tax lien for $2,065.02 dated January 28. That payment of $2,251.14 is due on May 23 to avoid additional interest:

Franklin’s Clayton County taxes show as having been paid through 2022.

Recently, Franklin lectured a forensic auditor from Mauldin and Jenkins, David Roberts, after he presented findings that BOC and department head travel expenses, as well as commissioner aide expense records were “inconsistent.” Some of Franklin’s travel and aide expenses were among those that came under scrutiny. While dressing down Roberts during the public meeting, Franklin asserted that she herself had had experience as an internal auditor. The Clayton Crescent was not able to confirm Franklin’s claim and Franklin did not respond to our request for more information about when, where, and for whom she had performed in that capacity.

Franklin, who is employed as an insurance agent, briefly held an active Georgia real estate license. According to the Georgia Real Estate Commission, Franklin passed the licensing exam but failed to complete education requirements. She was licensed as a salesperson on August 3, 2018. The following year, on August 4, 2019, Franklin’s license was listed as “lapsed-education not completed.” On August 17, 2020, her license was reinstated as active until May 25, 2022. That day, her license reverted to inactive status through May 31, 2022. On June 1, 2022, her license was listed as “failed to renew-lapsed.”

The Clayton Crescent attempted to contact Franklin by voicemail message, e-mail, and in person at BOC headquarters. According to the receptionist, Franklin’s constituent aide, Kayla Collier, said Franklin was out sick.

Tagged: affirmation, Georgia Dept of Revenue, taxes

The Clayton Crescent asked candidates who are running for the Georgia House District 75 seat vacated by former Rep. Mike Glanton to answer some questions about their priorities and key issues like the jet fuel tax, education, firearms, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights.

All three candidates—Herman “Drew” Andrews (D), Della Ashley (R), and Eric Bell II (D)—got the survey at the same time and all responded. Each question required a short answer and candidates were told that overly long answers (more than a few sentences or a short paragraph) would be edited for space.

You can see candidate filings with the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission and Clayton County’s EasyFile portal.

How long have you lived in District 75?

What do you do for a living?

What other appointed or elected offices have you held, if any?

What other elected offices have you run for, if any?

Have you filed your January 31, 2023 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report?

Have you filed any Two-Day Reports for campaign donations of $1,000 or more?

Have you filed a Declaration of Intent (DOI) to receive campaign contributions?

Have you filed an Affidavit of a Candidate’s Intent Not to Exceed $2,500 in Contributions and/or Expenditures?

What are the two most pressing issues you hope to address if you are elected to House District 75?

When is the last time you spoke with members of the Clayton County Legislative Delegation?

What are your thoughts about Clayton County getting a share of airport revenues? How might the county do that?

How will you work with members of the other party, whether within the delegation or from other counties, to help Clayton County develop new business sectors, and what might those be?

Monday, March 6 was Crossover Day at the Gold Dome. What bill or bills are you watching closely this session and why?

What legislation would you consider to address firearm safety?

How do you think people from outside Clayton County perceive us?

What do you see as Clayton County’s most pressing education needs?

Are you familiar with the needs and concerns of Clayton County’s LGBTQ+ residents and their families? How will you address them?

What are your thoughts on HB1, the Georgia Pro-Birth Accountability Act?

What else do you want District 75 voters to know about what you plan to do if elected?

Candidates’ campaign websites

Tagged: Della Ashley, Eric Bell, GA House 75, Herman "Drew" Andrews

Here’s a look at which committees are meeting at the Georgia Assembly this week.

You can watch these committee meetings via livestream and they are stored for you to watch later if you miss the meeting.

If you want to attend these meetings in person, here’s a map of the Capitol building (the “Gold Dome”):

And here’s a map of the Capitol Hill complex:

Keep in mind: all buildings have security checkpoints and require you to show a valid photo ID (like a Georgia driver’s license).

Meeting rooms in the Gold Dome are listed as CAP; those in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building are designated CLOB.

If you want to demonstrate on Capitol Hill, be aware that sticks, even on signs, are prohibited. You might need a permit if you are staging a large demonstration. See the Capitol and Grounds Exhibit and Event Guidelines:

Parking is extremely limited. You are strongly encouraged to take MARTA (get off at the Georgia State MARTA train station and walk through the state office building side to the street, then to the Gold Dome, about two blocks).

All schedules are subject to change but were correct as of press time. For last-minute updates, double-check https://www.legis.ga.gov/schedule/all before you go.

To see all current legislation for this session, including previous versions of individual bills, visit https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/all.

To find your state representative and senators, check your My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/.

Look up and contact your Georgia House representative and state senators.

Monday, Jan. 23

Tuesday, Jan. 24

Wednesday, Jan. 25

Thursday, Jan. 26

Read about the Capitol Building’s history and architecture

Check out the Georgia Capitol Museum (home of the two-headed calf)

Schedule an event in public space on the Capitol Grounds

Tagged: Committee Hearings, Georgia Assembly, Georgia Capitol, State Committees, Subcommittee Hearings

Willie Fritz, who led Tulane to a 10-2 record and the right to host the American Athletic Conference championship game this season, remains the front-runner to become the new head coach at Georgia Tech.

Reports earlier Sunday indicated the deal between Fritz and Georgia Tech was imminent, but as of Sunday night, an agreement was not in place between the two sides. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said “all indications point” to Fritz becoming the Yellow Jackets’ new coach, but that it “could take a few days to complete” a deal.

I need to clarify and retract my earlier tweet about the Georgia Tech coaching search and will accept all grief directed my way. My understanding is that a deal is not in place. However, all signs point to Willie Fritz as Tech’s next head coach.https://t.co/QMpUjP9SUa

— Ken Sugiura (@ksugiuraajc) November 28, 2022

If Fritz heads to the Yellow Jackets, it isn’t immediately clear if he will coach Saturday’s AAC title game against UCF at Yulman Stadium. Even if he does, it would seem unlikely if he coaches the bowl game, which would likely be the Cotton Bowl if the Green Wave defeats the Knights to become the highest-ranked champion of the Group of 5 schools.

Georgia Tech was looking to move quickly after season’s end to manage both sides of the transfer portal, which re-opens next week. And indeed, this came together quickly, as Fritz’s name only became connected with the opening in recent days and, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, interviewed on Sunday.

Georgia Tech fired athletic director Brent Stansbury and head coach Geoff Collins in late September after a 1-3 start. The school named J Batt as its new athletic director last month, with his first task to hire Collins’ replacement. Batt spent the last five years as executive deputy director of Athletics, chief operating officer, and chief revenue officer at the University of Alabama.

Fritz, 62, led Tulane to three bowl games in his first six seasons before the breakthrough 2022 campaign.

After going 2-10 in a challenging 2021 campaign that began with Tulane spending nearly a month in Birmingham, Alabama, and losing a marquee home game with Oklahoma because of Hurricane Ida, Fritz was able to keep his team primarily intact and make key acquisitions in the transfer portal era, and the result was an eight-win improvement – a performance that is likely to garner Fritz consideration for national coach of the year awards.

After getting expected lopsided victories over UMass and Alcorn State to begin the season, Fritz got a marquee win at Kansas State on Sept. 17, 17-10, that became even more magnified when the Wildcats moved into the top 25.

On Oct. 16, the Green Wave entered the top 25 for the first time since its undefeated 1998 season and has remained there for seven consecutive weeks.

Friday’s 27-24 victory at Cincinnati not only earned Tulane the right to host next weekend’s American Athletic Conference championship game, but gave the Green Wave its first victory over a team ranked in The Associated Press poll since 1984 in 62 tries, snapping the longest such active streak among FBS schools.

Fritz has ties to Georgia, having coached two seasons at Georgia Southern before accepting the Tulane position in December 2015. He went 18-7 with the Eagles.

In this, the third season of nine or more wins in the last 49 years Uptown, the Green Wave’s head coach could be departing on the heels of that success.

In 1998, following an 11-0 regular season, Tommy Bowden left Tulane to accept the Clemson job.

In the spring after a 9-3 season in 1979, Larry Smith left Tulane to take the job at Arizona.

And now, it appears, Willie Fritz could be joining the list.

Decision for Fritz to leave Tulane for Georgia Tech makes sense

Fritz is 62 years old, so if he is going to move, the veteran coach who has not yet had a Power 5 job has little time left to attain one.

Crescent Communities this week announced the debut of RENDER by Crescent Communities with the commencement of construction of RENDER Covington. The exact address was not disclosed.

RENDER Covington will be closely followed by communities in other cities throughout the Sunbelt region in the weeks ahead.

“With the introduction of the RENDER brand and product, Crescent Communities will leverage design and construction efficiencies to enhance the company’s ability to continue delivering thoughtful design, well-appointed homes and amenities, and local character at an attractive price point for residents,” the company said in a press release. “RENDER communities will be developed in suburban neighborhoods, allowing residents convenient access to area amenities and employment with more approachable rents compared to those in high-density urban markets.

The RENDER community amenities will include centralized lobby and leasing areas, self-service package areas, fitness centers, and multipurpose rooms that can serve as coworking lounges. Abundant outdoor spaces will provide opportunities for residents to grill, dine, socialize, swim, and relax. Select locations will also offer dog parks.

“Our expansion into new suburban markets with RENDER was fueled by the continued growing demand for quality multifamily housing in areas outside of the urban core,” Jay Curran, President of Multifamily at Crescent Communities, said. “We knew we could bring our resident-oriented approach and design expertise into these markets and offer renters thoughtfully crafted communities rich in character, but at a more approachable price point. The RENDER product will allow us to scale the offering and bring more homes to the market faster while keeping the renters’ desire for beautiful homes with amenities they desire at the forefront.”

The first community of 315 apartment homes, located in Covington, GA, will be known as RENDER Covington and will offer a three-story scale consistent with surrounding single-family homes. The community will be located 40 minutes east of Atlanta’s urban core with access to the Eastside Trail, a 2.5-mile multi-use greenway trail that runs from Chimney Park to Eastside High School. The main street within RENDER Covington will be named “Delk Drive,” as a tribute to Cheryl Delk, one of the largest proponents and driving forces behind the Eastside Trail and a beloved Covington community member.

Fortune Johnson will oversee construction, with architecture led by Dwell Design Studio. Construction is slated to begin in early 2022, with the first homes delivered in late 2023.

Crescent Communities has plans to continue growing its footprint in the greater Atlanta area with more announcements to come. In addition to the construction of NOVEL Midtown and NOVEL West Midtown, which are currently underway, RENDER Covington will be Crescent Communities’ eighth multifamily family investment in the Atlanta market.