Running for Office? Qualify This Week!

Decatur Metro | August 31, 2009 | 4:05 pm

City Commission candidate James Radford points out a discrepancy on the city’s website that almost cost him his candidacy.

Amongst the vast sea of 6-point font that is the city of Decatur’s website is the Elections & Voting page with two conflicting statements.

The first is this…

Qualifying is held no earlier than 8:30 a.m. on the second Monday in September and shall end no later than 4:30 p.m. on the following Friday in odd-number years. A notice of candidacy and affidavit can be obtained, completed and returned to the Decatur City Clerk during this period.

Grammar and spelling?  Check!  Semi-confusing date and time frame?  Check!

Accurate?…umm….well, scroll a bit further down the page and…

The opening date for qualifying will start Monday, August 31, 2009 beginning at 9:00 A. M., and continuing until Friday, September 4, 2009 at 4:30 P.M.

Oh dear.  But that’s not the second Monday of September in an odd-numbered year!!

Radford found the error on the city’s site after Kyle Williams tweeted that he had filed for his candidacy this morning.  (Commence unfounded rumors of a Williams/Radford coalition)  The city has already told Radford that they are correcting the error.

So, if you’re running for the city commission or the school board get your patriotic pa-toot to the City Clerk’s office this week!  Oh and don’t forget your $144.00 (city commission) or $35.00 (school board) qualifying fee.

With those fees in mind, here’s a suggested political slogan for any CSD candidates: “Why am I running for the CSD Board of Ed? Because the city commission was too damn expensive!”

Voters love a frugal candidate.

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5 Responses to “Running for Office? Qualify This Week!”

  1. Steve says:
    August 31, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    I think Georgia law is what actually governs this, not City code.

  2. James Radford says:
    August 31, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    Decided to pull out one of these law books strewn about the office here. Seems that the August 31 date is correct in light of Georgia law. To wit:

    O.C.G.A. 21-2-132 (d)(3): Each municipal superintendent shall designate the days of the qualifying period, [. . . which] shall commence no earlier than 8:30 am on the last Monday in August and shall end no later than 4:30 p.m. on the following Friday.

    Kind of a weird statute, as the superintendent doesn’t really have much discretion to “designate the days” if the statute sets out exactly what the days must be. Interesting.

    I’m looking at the statutory history to see where the “second Monday in September” language may have come from, but couldn’t find it. I’d be very interested to know. In any case, glad I realized this. Hope this info will be helpful to any other potential candidates.

  3. James Radford says:
    August 31, 2009 at 6:02 pm

    Sorry, one more point of legal nerdery. I think one way to read O.C.G.A .21-2-132(d)(3) is that the qualifying period has to begin sometime on or after the last Monday in August, but then must end the Friday following whenever it begins. And not necessarily that the period must run between the last Monday in August and that following Friday. So, the superintendent could have the discretion to begin qualifying on the second Monday in September, but it must then end “at 4:30 p.m. on the following Friday.” This seems to be a case of poor statutory construction.

  4. Rob P says:
    August 31, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    Frugal candidate. Funny DM. I filed today, too. I’m hoping others step up and file for all three school board positions that are open. As DM pointed out, it’s only $35.
    Rob P
    Rob Pope for School Board
    http://www.robpope.org