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.

ATHENS, Ga. – Centerfielder Ben Anderson and first baseman Charlie Condon combined for four RBI Saturday to lead Georgia to a 9-5 win over fourth-ranked LSU in Foley Field.

LSU, which will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., completed the regular season 42-13 overall and 19-10 in conference play. The No. 3 SEC Tournament seed is LSU’s highest since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the event.

The 2023 SEC Tournament bracket, including all seedings and matchups, will be released Saturday evening. LSU will play Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. CT against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the winner of the No. 6 seed and the No. 11 seed.

The Tigers, the SEC’s No. 4 seed last season, have finished in the Top 4 in the overall SEC standings in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015. LSU’s second-place finish in the SEC Western Division is its best since the Tigers won the Western Division in 2017.

LSU in 2023 has its most SEC regular-season wins since the 2017 club won 21 SEC games, and the Tigers recorded their most overall regular-season wins since the 2015 club ended the regular season with 46 victories.

“We have very good players who compete very hard; they care about each other, and they care about winning,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “They’ve done a great job to put themselves in this position, and I think we’ll be prepared to play well from this point forward.”

Georgia, which earned the SEC Tournament’s final berth with Saturday’s victory, completed the regular season with a 29-26 overall record, 11-19 in the SEC.

Georgia starting pitcher Liam Sullivan (5-2) earned the win, as he worked 5.1 innings and limited the Tigers to three runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

LSU starting pitcher Javen Coleman (1-2), was charged with the loss as he allowed four runs – three earned – on four hits in 3.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

Georgia reliever Nolan Crisp picked up his second save of the season, retiring LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson on a fly ball to center field with the bases loaded to end the game.

“We’ve played our way into a great position to play all of our NCAA postseason games at home,” Johnson said. “We’re disappointed about the loss today, but we’ve put ourselves in great position to achieve our goals, and we’re excited about that.

“Playoff baseball is about being mentally strong and defaulting to your fundamentals and training. Today’s game will help us do that as we prepare for the postseason.”

LSU opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when leftfielder Tre’ Morgan launched a two-run homer, his seventh dinger of the season.

The Bulldogs tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning when designated hitter Fernando Gonzalez provided an RBI single, and Georgia scored an unearned run on an LSU infield error.

Georgia took a 3-2 lead in the third when Connor Tate hit a solo homer, his 16th of the year.

The Bulldogs struck for three runs in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by Anderson and a two-run homer by Condon, his 25th of the season.

LSU narrowed the deficit to 6-4 in the sixth when first baseman Cade Beloso’s unloaded his 11th homer of the year, and the Tigers executed a double steal with rightfielder Brayden Jobert scoring from third base.

The Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the frame with a bases-loaded walk to third baseman Parks Harber before LSU reduced the margin to 7-5 in the top of the seventh on third baseman Tommy White’s home run, his 20th of the year.

Georgia, however, scored two more runs in the seventh on a fielder’s choice grounder by rightfielder Dwight Allen and an RBI double by Anderson.

ATLANTA, GA — Grab a pair of binoculars Tuesday for a last-minute chance to see a rare celestial parade of five planets, a crescent moon and a star cluster in the western sky.

The alignment — led by the star cluster Messier 35 from the left, followed by Mars, the moon, Uranus, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury — starts about 20 minutes after sunset — that’s at 7:54 p.m. in metro Atlanta.

Right now, it looks like we’ll have partly cloudy skies in metro Atlanta Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Find out what's happening in Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Timing is everything. Venus doesn’t set until about 10:15 p.m. local time, but the views of Jupiter and Mercury are fleeting. “It will be important to catch them as soon as possible, before they disappear over the western horizon,” the Farmers’ Almanac wrote, adding the plants appear “to chase after the Sun.”

The planetary parade is a pretty big deal for folks fascinated by what goes on in the heavens.

Find out what's happening in Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted about it. “Don’t forget to look to the sky the end of the month for the planetary alignment, which will have at least five planets — plus the moon — all visible in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth.”

“I love that a guy who walked on the moon still looks up at the night sky and says, “Wow, that’s really cool.” ” one person said in response to Aldrin’s tweet.

One user pointed out that, technically, the alignment includes six planets, tweeting, “Everyone forgets to count Earth.”

“You just have to look down to see the sixth one,” someone else tweeted.

If you do plan to take it in, scout out a good location ahead of time. An unobstructed view from a perfectly flat vantage point with no obstructions is ideal, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, which recommends a water horizon. Just make sure there aren’t a lot of trees or buildings in the way. The darker the sky, the better.

The moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter should be easy to spot and are worth a trip outside to see on their own, the Farmers’ Almanac said, but to see Mercury and Uranus, you may need binoculars or a telescope. Binoculars don’t have to be expensive; the type birders use should work.

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

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