Atlanta, Ga. - October 12, 2012 - Senate Democrats are calling on Governor Deal to stop the stacking government agencies with campaign donors and allies.
"The public wants open, fair and transparent government practices, not cronyism and insider sweetheart deals," said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Steve Henson. "In order to run any agency the right person should have the appropriate skills, qualifications and background. This is true in private industry and should be true for government."
Henson and his colleagues said the recent push by the Governor's office to place Debbie Dlugolenski Alford in the position of Director for the Georgia Lottery was another attempt to stack agencies and boards and puts at risk education funding. He said that future of the HOPE scholarship, paid for by lottery funds, cannot be risked by choosing an unqualified person to run the agency.
"Unlike her predecessors, Alford has no background in lottery systems. Yet, like many other recent appointments by the Governor, but she does have a background of contributing to Republican campaigns. We can find no evidence of a real national search for a new director," said Sen. Vincent Fort, Whip of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Fort said simply posting a job description on a few Web sites is not a meaningful national search for a position of this stature.
Democrats say Gov. Deal is developing a track record for promoting his allies to state positions. In recent months, Deal ushered Toby Carr into the directorship of the Georgia Department of Transportation as Planning Director. Carr, A political adviser to Gov. Deal, Carr has no previous transportation experience.
Deal also appointed former State Senator Jim Butterworth as Adjutant General, Georgia National Guard. Deal advanced Butterworth six ranks to make this appointment. The job required a Two-Star General. Butterworth had left the Air Guard with the rank of captain.
Virgil Williams who contributed $15,800 to Deals gubernatorial bid in 2010 is leaseholder and operator of Lake Lanier Islands Resort. Deal agreed in August to spend $ 4.5 million to buy and rehabilitate a well to primarily serve the Lake Lanier Resort.
Democrats pointed out that Deal's ramrod approach to staff choices and budgets have meant resignations by qualified staff, insider deals and a surge in state control.
"Whether we are talking about the state ethics commission budget cuts, charter schools lawsuits or the resignation of a lottery board member last week, we are seeing a troubling trend. The people are losing control of our state government to the rule of a few insiders," Fort said.
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