Perdue fires ethics chief
Perdue continues to put in his “own team” on Ethics Commission
(Atlanta) Gov. Sonny Perdue started his term by stacking the State Ethics Commission with what his spokeswoman called “his own team,” and today that team fired Georgia’s top ethics watchdog, Edward “Teddy” Lee, the longtime Executive Secretary of the Board. Perhaps it was revenge for allowing Gov. Perdue to be the first governor in state history convicted of an ethics violation. Perhaps it is a continued attempt by Gov. Perdue to grab power from all aspects of state government. Regardless, Gov. Perdue has been running roughshod over any and all checks and balances built into the ethics system since he came into office in 2003 – when he sought the “unprecedented ouster” of the entire Ethics Commission and when he tried to force Teddy Lee to resign, as was noted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial, “Perdue's ethics proposals a sincere disappointment.”
“Gov. Perdue shot the ethics watchdog right after he became the first Governor in Georgia history to be fined by the Ethics Commission,” said Bobby Kahn, Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “It is a sad day for ethics and independence in Georgia.”
A Brief History of Gov. Perdue’s Power Grabs:
Perdue Sought the “Unprecedented Ouster” of the entire State Ethics Commission and the Removal of Executive Secretary Teddy Lee in 2003. One of Perdue’s four ethics bills in 2003 sought the “unprecedented ouster” of the State Ethics Commission. Perdue asked for the resignation of Teddy Lee, the Executive Secretary, even though state law requires the commission to hire and fire the executive secretary. He successfully forced the premature resignation of one Commissioner. [“Perdue's ethics proposals a sincere disappointment,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2/24/2003]
Perdue Makes Failed Bid to Become State’s Top Legal Official; Tries to Grab Power from Elected Attorney General. In an unprecedented move Governor Perdue “ordered” Attorney General Thurbert Baker to stop carrying out his constitutional duty to defend Georgia statutes in court, trying to block Baker from defending Georgia’s redistricting maps in front of the US Supreme Court. Perdue wasted taxpayer dollars suing the Attorney General, losing first before a Fulton County Superior Court Judge and later in the Georgia Supreme Court, both of which rejected Perdue’s power grab. [Cook, “Justices to hear Perdue's appeal,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/22/2003; Pettys, “State Supreme Court sides with Baker in battle with Perdue,” Associated Press, 9/4/2003]
Perdue Tries to Shield His Deal Cutting from Public Scrutiny. Gov. Perdue is pushing HB 218. Sam Griffin, the conservative editor at the Bainbridge Post-Searchlight wrote that the bill “slams a lid of secrecy on what state and local governments can hide while negotiating with private economic development prospects concerning disposition of public property and concessions.” [Griffin, “Who protects them?” Bainbridge Post-Searchlight, 2/11/2005]
Perdue Attempted To Usurp Powers from Judicial Branch. Perdue called a special session of the General Assembly in 2004 in an effort to get control of the Judicial Branch’s budget. Perdue wanted to cut the Judicial Branch’s spending and bring the control of the indigent defense program under his control. The problem lies in the fact that under state law Perdue has no control over the judiciary’s budget, and must pass its requests onto the Legislature with no changes. When Perdue was denied control over the program he vetoed the budget and called the Legislature into a special session. [Salzer and Badertscher, “Legislators' return may not end fight,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/9/2004]
Perdue found guilty of overstepping authority on multiple occasions. “For the second time in two weeks, a judge has ruled that Gov. Sonny Perdue has overstepped the authority of his new office. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane on Monday voided an executive order signed by Perdue in March removing Columbus attorney Jim Butler from the Board of Natural Resources. Perdue gave the seat to a longtime friend, Macon businessman Ben Porter. The judge's order reinstates Butler and bars Perdue and other state officials from ‘interfering in any way or manner whatsoever’ with Butler's board service until the expiration of his term on Jan. 1, 2005.” [Badertscher, “Judge voids Perdue's order for DNR board,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/22/2003]
Perdue goes out of his way to use secret meetings to fire school board members. “Perdue canceled a meeting with the full [school] board scheduled for Thursday after reporters started asking questions about it. Under state law, a meeting of the full board with Perdue would have been open to the press and public. Instead, he chose to ask for their resignations a few at a time so the meetings would be closed.” [Salzer, “Perdue asks resignations of 4 on state school board,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/10/2003]
Perdue’s Inspector General Tries to Give Perdue Authority To Abuse Taxpayer-Owned Air Fleet. One of the first and only acts of Inspector General James Sehorn was to write a memo justifying Perdue’s use of state aircraft for personal trips. Sehorn, who was appointed by executive order by Perdue, likened Perdue’s trips to those taken by the President on Air Force One, citing the need for the President to fly on a special plane as a reason for Perdue to use taxpayer-owned aircraft for political campaigning and personal matters like hunting trips. Attorney General Thurbert Baker had to stop Perdue’s abuse by issuing a ruling telling the Governor that private use of state aircraft is prohibited by the Georgia Constitution. [Cook and Badertscher, “Perdue's sky travel clarified; On public plane, 'state business' only acceptable,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2/13/2004]
Perdue steps in When a Law Enforcement Agency Investigate Contributor. When the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs was investigating one of Perdue’s campaign contributors – Bill Heard Chevrolet – over misleading advertising following “scores of consumer complaints”, Perdue intervened. According to John S. Smith III, former consumer affairs administrator, Perdue’s chief financial officer – Tommy Hills – approached Smith about the investigation into Perdue’s financial backer and asked: “Can’t you make this go away right now?” Smith was later fired by Perdue. [Judd, “'Can't you make this go away?'; Consumer office reports heat from governor's staff,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/27/2005]
Perdue Tries to Take Over State’s Pork-Barrel Spending. Perdue’s office issued an email in early December 2004 to legislators, soliciting requests for local assistance grants and asking that they be directed through the Governor’s office. (These projects have typically arisen from the appropriations process in the state Legislature.) Rather than creating a business-like efficiency, Perdue seems to have acquired a taste for dictatorial power, grasping to control as many of the purse strings himself as he possibly can. As Rep. Tom Bordeaux told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “This is just one more brick in the wall of hypocrisy the Republicans will be building for the next two years in this state. In 14 years in office, I don't ever remember a governor encouraging me to take some money when I left for home.” [Salzer, “State's fiscal outlook meatier; Revenue rise stirs hunger for pork,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/9/2004]
(Atlanta) Gov. Sonny Perdue started his term by stacking the State Ethics Commission with what his spokeswoman called “his own team,” and today that team fired Georgia’s top ethics watchdog, Edward “Teddy” Lee, the longtime Executive Secretary of the Board. Perhaps it was revenge for allowing Gov. Perdue to be the first governor in state history convicted of an ethics violation. Perhaps it is a continued attempt by Gov. Perdue to grab power from all aspects of state government. Regardless, Gov. Perdue has been running roughshod over any and all checks and balances built into the ethics system since he came into office in 2003 – when he sought the “unprecedented ouster” of the entire Ethics Commission and when he tried to force Teddy Lee to resign, as was noted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial, “Perdue's ethics proposals a sincere disappointment.”
“Gov. Perdue shot the ethics watchdog right after he became the first Governor in Georgia history to be fined by the Ethics Commission,” said Bobby Kahn, Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “It is a sad day for ethics and independence in Georgia.”
A Brief History of Gov. Perdue’s Power Grabs:
Perdue Sought the “Unprecedented Ouster” of the entire State Ethics Commission and the Removal of Executive Secretary Teddy Lee in 2003. One of Perdue’s four ethics bills in 2003 sought the “unprecedented ouster” of the State Ethics Commission. Perdue asked for the resignation of Teddy Lee, the Executive Secretary, even though state law requires the commission to hire and fire the executive secretary. He successfully forced the premature resignation of one Commissioner. [“Perdue's ethics proposals a sincere disappointment,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2/24/2003]
Perdue Makes Failed Bid to Become State’s Top Legal Official; Tries to Grab Power from Elected Attorney General. In an unprecedented move Governor Perdue “ordered” Attorney General Thurbert Baker to stop carrying out his constitutional duty to defend Georgia statutes in court, trying to block Baker from defending Georgia’s redistricting maps in front of the US Supreme Court. Perdue wasted taxpayer dollars suing the Attorney General, losing first before a Fulton County Superior Court Judge and later in the Georgia Supreme Court, both of which rejected Perdue’s power grab. [Cook, “Justices to hear Perdue's appeal,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/22/2003; Pettys, “State Supreme Court sides with Baker in battle with Perdue,” Associated Press, 9/4/2003]
Perdue Tries to Shield His Deal Cutting from Public Scrutiny. Gov. Perdue is pushing HB 218. Sam Griffin, the conservative editor at the Bainbridge Post-Searchlight wrote that the bill “slams a lid of secrecy on what state and local governments can hide while negotiating with private economic development prospects concerning disposition of public property and concessions.” [Griffin, “Who protects them?” Bainbridge Post-Searchlight, 2/11/2005]
Perdue Attempted To Usurp Powers from Judicial Branch. Perdue called a special session of the General Assembly in 2004 in an effort to get control of the Judicial Branch’s budget. Perdue wanted to cut the Judicial Branch’s spending and bring the control of the indigent defense program under his control. The problem lies in the fact that under state law Perdue has no control over the judiciary’s budget, and must pass its requests onto the Legislature with no changes. When Perdue was denied control over the program he vetoed the budget and called the Legislature into a special session. [Salzer and Badertscher, “Legislators' return may not end fight,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/9/2004]
Perdue found guilty of overstepping authority on multiple occasions. “For the second time in two weeks, a judge has ruled that Gov. Sonny Perdue has overstepped the authority of his new office. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane on Monday voided an executive order signed by Perdue in March removing Columbus attorney Jim Butler from the Board of Natural Resources. Perdue gave the seat to a longtime friend, Macon businessman Ben Porter. The judge's order reinstates Butler and bars Perdue and other state officials from ‘interfering in any way or manner whatsoever’ with Butler's board service until the expiration of his term on Jan. 1, 2005.” [Badertscher, “Judge voids Perdue's order for DNR board,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/22/2003]
Perdue goes out of his way to use secret meetings to fire school board members. “Perdue canceled a meeting with the full [school] board scheduled for Thursday after reporters started asking questions about it. Under state law, a meeting of the full board with Perdue would have been open to the press and public. Instead, he chose to ask for their resignations a few at a time so the meetings would be closed.” [Salzer, “Perdue asks resignations of 4 on state school board,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/10/2003]
Perdue’s Inspector General Tries to Give Perdue Authority To Abuse Taxpayer-Owned Air Fleet. One of the first and only acts of Inspector General James Sehorn was to write a memo justifying Perdue’s use of state aircraft for personal trips. Sehorn, who was appointed by executive order by Perdue, likened Perdue’s trips to those taken by the President on Air Force One, citing the need for the President to fly on a special plane as a reason for Perdue to use taxpayer-owned aircraft for political campaigning and personal matters like hunting trips. Attorney General Thurbert Baker had to stop Perdue’s abuse by issuing a ruling telling the Governor that private use of state aircraft is prohibited by the Georgia Constitution. [Cook and Badertscher, “Perdue's sky travel clarified; On public plane, 'state business' only acceptable,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2/13/2004]
Perdue steps in When a Law Enforcement Agency Investigate Contributor. When the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs was investigating one of Perdue’s campaign contributors – Bill Heard Chevrolet – over misleading advertising following “scores of consumer complaints”, Perdue intervened. According to John S. Smith III, former consumer affairs administrator, Perdue’s chief financial officer – Tommy Hills – approached Smith about the investigation into Perdue’s financial backer and asked: “Can’t you make this go away right now?” Smith was later fired by Perdue. [Judd, “'Can't you make this go away?'; Consumer office reports heat from governor's staff,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/27/2005]
Perdue Tries to Take Over State’s Pork-Barrel Spending. Perdue’s office issued an email in early December 2004 to legislators, soliciting requests for local assistance grants and asking that they be directed through the Governor’s office. (These projects have typically arisen from the appropriations process in the state Legislature.) Rather than creating a business-like efficiency, Perdue seems to have acquired a taste for dictatorial power, grasping to control as many of the purse strings himself as he possibly can. As Rep. Tom Bordeaux told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “This is just one more brick in the wall of hypocrisy the Republicans will be building for the next two years in this state. In 14 years in office, I don't ever remember a governor encouraging me to take some money when I left for home.” [Salzer, “State's fiscal outlook meatier; Revenue rise stirs hunger for pork,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/9/2004]
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