The City of Decatur just provided this release from Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett…

On Tuesday, March 8, 2016 four of the five City of Decatur’s homestead tax exemption bills passed the Georgia House of Representatives.  With the previous adoption by the Georgia Senate on February 11, 2016, those four separate pieces of legislation will move forward for the Governor’s signature.  However, SB 343 that provided the most significant tax relief from school taxes to citizens 65 and older has been delayed to a later date upon a motion by Representative Beth Beskin of Fulton County.

Representative Mary Margaret Oliver who represents part of the City of Decatur challenged the motion arguing that Rep. Beskin’s efforts to punish Decatur’s older citizens based on Atlanta’s refusal to grant similar relief to seniors was pure partisan politics.  “I am hopeful we will be able to get over the partisan obstacle created solely by Representative Beskin. I believe the Republican leadership will ultimately be supportive of local control to support the success of the Decatur school system and good management,” said Rep. Oliver.  Rep. Beskin stated to Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett that her motion to table had nothing to do with Decatur or the legislation itself.

“The City of Decatur and the City Schools of Decatur appreciate all of the efforts of Decatur legislators who have worked hard to get these bills passed including Senator Elena Parent and Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver, Howard Mosby, Rahn Mayo and Karla Drenner,” said Mayor Garrett.  “Our delegation members understand the need for property tax relief, particularly for our seniors, and I hope the Republican leadership will also understand our position and consider the merits and value to the citizens of Decatur of the senior homestead tax exemptions.”  The homestead exemption legislation was supported by the Decatur City Commission and the Decatur Board of Education who were acting with the support of the residents of the City of Decatur, including members of the Lifelong Community Advisory Board, a very active group of senior homeowners and the business community.

“It is unsettling that legislation designed by Decatur’s elected officials for the benefit of Decatur’s senior citizens, that would have no impact on anyone other than Decatur residents, has been met with opposition,” said Board of Education Chair Annie Caiola, who added, “We encourage our residents to join us in voicing these sentiments to the Republican leadership. This also happened last year when Decatur’s proposed senior exemptions failed in the eleventh hour due to similar unprecedented maneuvers.  It is our sincere hope that CSD’s homestead exemption legislation will be quickly put back on track to pass.”

To voice your opinion about the City Schools of Decatur homestead exemption, please contact Rep. Beth Beskin ([email protected] ); Rep. Jan Tankersley ([email protected] );  Rep. Jon Burns ([email protected] ); Rep. Matt Ramsey ([email protected] );  Speaker of the House David Ralston ([email protected] ); and, copy Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver ([email protected] ).

Make sure they know that SB 343 would provide tax relief to senior property owners and that it is local legislation supported by the City Schools of Decatur, the Decatur City Commission and all of the members of the General Assembly that represent the City of Decatur.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Anyone else see this post on North Druid Hills Patch?

State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver filed a bill in the state legislature Monday that she said allows residents in the Druid Hills and Briarcliff areas to discuss and study cityhood over the next year – the first official step toward creating a new city.

Oliver’s bill, HB 665, does not include a map of a proposed city, and it’s short – about two sentences. It does not name a specific area, including Druid Hills, and says it intends only to create a city in DeKalb County.

This was mentioned at the last Decatur City Commission meeting.

Decatur’s State Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver and Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, along with State Senator Jason Carter are holding a “town hall meeting” at 6:30p in the city commisison meeting room at Decatur City Hall.

Patch says that HOPE scholarships are one potential topic of conversation, since Senator Carter has been pushing for changes to the scholarship programs –  including a cap on family income eligibility and downsizing the size of the commission’s staff – as recently reported by the AJC.

There’s also likely to be talk about the recent redistricting, which will provide future challenges for some state reps, especially Rep. Benfield.

All I can say is thank goodness for these AJC maps.

Sure, the Georgia legislature released their proposed new district maps last week, but it took a while before anyone really understood the implications.  I thought about just throwing up the map and letting the more geo-politically minded explain the changes, but I figured someone would give me a nice, sweet little summary for Decatur/DeKalb that I could point to.  Well, now it’s days later, and here’s the best thing I’ve found thus far – interactive AJC maps, where RED represents a “contested district” (two incumbents now represent the same district), yellow notes “new representation”, and green means the district remains unchanged.

Not a lot of green in ol’ Decatur when it comes to the House maps, as you can see from the above.  The “contested” area in red is a new vertical district, where Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield’s district has been combined with Howard Mosby’s district to the south.  Stuckey-Benfield said last week that her district had been “targeted by the Republican redistricting process” and that seems to have played out.

Elsewhere around Decatur, Mary Margaret Oliver would soon only represent a portion of the northwest part of the city (when before she represented most of the northside), while Rahn Mayo, who’s current district (PDF) is almost all south of I-20 would represent the largest % of Decatur voters, taking over the entire east side of the city.  Rep. Stacey Abrams’ 84th district, who currently represents the southeast corner of the city would be shifted to the west and out of the city entirely.

Of course, all of this is pending a federal court battle, due to the Voting Rights Act, but unless the Obama Justice Department decides to reject the maps, this seems to be the new political reality.

Oh!  And here are the Senate maps in case you’re interested, though for Decatur residents, Jason Carter’s District 42 continues to represent all of of the City of Decatur.

With Georgia’s 2011 legislative season well under way, the city of Decatur’s full list of legislators plan to hold a “town hall” style meeting at Decatur’s City Hall on Tuesday, February 1st from 6p-7p to hear from their constituents, according to a press release sent by Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield.

In addition to Rep. Benfield, Senator Jason Carter, Rep. Stacey Abrams, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd will be in attendance to listen and respond to concerns of Decatur residents regarding this year’s legislative session.

What are some of the hot topics in this year’s session?  Well I asked Rep. Benfield that very question!  Here is her response…

The tax issue is the biggie. If the Tax Reform Council’s proposal moves forward, we’ll be looking at greater sales taxes and taxes on services. That will affect everyone who buys groceries and numerous services – from plumbing to selling girl scout cookies to prescription drugs. All of these would be taxed under the new plan.

We’ll likely see some water legislation with a focus on increasing supply through reservoirs.

And education is always a hot topic, with funding for the HOPE Scholarship and pre-K programs to be at risk.

Additionally, Rep. Benfield hinted that she’s working on legislation that will “help Georgia breweries expand their businesses…to allow breweries and brew pubs more opportunities to promote and sell their product”.  However, she’s still working on a draft of that legislation, so we’ll have to be patient for more details on that front!

For more information about any of this, you can contact Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield at (404) 964-7025.

Carl forwards an email from State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver urging Georgia residents to attend a Sunday November 15th “sneak peak” airing of “Coal Country” at Push Push Theater in Decatur at 5pm.  The event is being hosted by the Sierra Club and five, count them five, State Reps (Mary Margaret Oliver, Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Elly Dobbs, Kathy Ashe, and Pat Gardner)

According to Oliver’s release…

The award-winning documentary features amazing footage of coal mining in the South and prompts discussion about the state of Georgia’s current and future energy economy.

…I am hosting this event to gain support and interest in HB 276, that I introduced last session to limit over time the importation of coal into Georgia from mountain top removal mines.

Here’s the summary on HB 276…

Read the rest of this entry »

State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) has proposed a bill before the state legislature that would push back closing hours to 2:30a for bars statewide.

Lord, talk about a symbolic gesture.

This rural, conservative state with no discernible problem with a 4a closing time will never back this bill.  Oliver can’t even get fellow Decatur State Rep. Stephanie Benfield to support her.  Banfield is quoted as saying, “This is a local county or local city commission issue, and I don’t think the state should be interfering in that.”

Oliver claims she just wants to talk state/local in the general assembly about this issue.  I say just another example of lonely and liberal Decatur screaming into the conservative ether.

Hattip: [InDecatur]