(Updated September 11, 2023)

(Update: The consultant who was forced upon City staff by Moore and Mohrig was terminated 2 1/2 months later and another consultant was hired. You really cannot make this stuff up. For the full story, click on the following links: Election Interference (Part 3):  Termination of Election Consultant and Hiring of New Consultant . . . City Is Reaping What Moore, Mohrig, and Lunatic Fringe Have Sown and Election Interference (Part 4):  Council Terminates Elections Consultant in 7-0 Vote and Cowardly Mohrig Lies About “Informal” Committees)

Miltonites deserve a government as great as the people that live here.  Right now, as you will read, local government is failing you.  Basic election integrity hangs in the balance.  The only way citizens can right the wrongs discussed herein is to engage.  The first step in engagement is to forward this email or the MC blog link.

Yesterday, in Part 1 of this post, I discussed the work of Milton’s Election Feasibility Committee (EFC).  The EFC was officially disbanded in late 2022.  However, as you will see, 3 of the 4 players continued to exert influence over Milton’s election process—mostly in the background.  The 3 players in this second chapter of this story are Council Members Rick Mohrig, Council Member Paul Moore, Republican activist Lisa Cauley (President of Fulton County Republican Women).  A fourth player, Karen Dubin (Recording Secretary of Fulton County Republican Women) emerges from the shadows to (try to) influence the hiring and work of the election consultant.  A key task of this Gang of Four seems to have been to influence the hiring of an election consultant that they (thought they) could secretly control.  They did succeed in hiring their favored consultant; however, the consultant refused to follow their partisan script. Today’s post (Part 2 of Election Interference) will discuss the hiring and subsequent engagement of that consultant, Vernetta Nuriddin. 

As you read this ask post, ask yourself:

1. Is the level involvement by Council Members Mohrig and Moore in the hiring of an election consultant appropriate?  Is it legal/ethical?  At what point does this sort of interference become election tampering?  Who was feeding partisan activist Karen Dubin information about the contract negotiations with the consultant?  Did Rick Mohrig cross a line and coach the consultant in her contract negotiations with the City?  Was Mohrig essentially negotiating against the City?  And the big question:  Should Rick Mohrig play any role (beyond referring a candidate) in hiring a consultant for an election in which he might be running?  Even the consultant seems to have a problem with Mohrig’s involvement in her hiring, warning City Manager Krokoff (during contract negotiations):  “I told him (Rick Mohrig) that incumbents cannot participate in the administration of their own elections.  No way around that fact.  I promised I would call so I did.”
2. Has the City erred in allowing council to dictate specifics of the election?  Ms. Nuriddan seems to think so.  She seems to believe once the City appointed an Election Supervisor and passed a certain date (February 1, 2023) that council interference is prohibited/restricted.  She seems to imply that Krokoff should no longer be bringing decisions to council for their approval and that such meddling by council is perhaps illegal.
3. Why are political activists (without any official role) trying to influence the consultant outside of the public process?  Why are these activists demanding that their input be kept secret from staff and the public?  Are these activists actually being assigned tasks by the City?  Are there established agreements to provide such services?  Or is this another example of an “informal” (i.e., not guided by any regulation) arrangement like the EFC itself (in its early days)?
4. Do you get a sense that both Ms. Nuriddan and the City were forced into a contract by Mr. Mohrig and Moore?  Why?  Did the Gang of Four believe they could continue to exercise control from the shadows?  Clearly, this issue comes to the fore when Krokoff directs Nurridan to cease all communications with council and the community.  Ms. Nurridan had long been warning about running a loose and leaky process, even before she was hired.  She also expressed concern about undue influence of council and individual council members in election design.
5. Given that the City is just now forming committees to write election rules, is it reasonable to believe the City can be ready to administer fall elections?  Will rule-writing extend beyond qualifying in late August?  Is it fair to not have a full set of complete rules before qualifying?
6. Given all that has transpired since the murky inception of the EFC, could any reasonable citizen—regardless of their party/partisan affiliations—have any trust and confidence in the integrity of Milton’s elections?  Should Milton go on bended knee to Fulton County and request Fulton County run Milton’s municipal elections is 2023?  Is it too late to step back from the brink (as Milton’s sister cities wisely opted to do)?

As you can see, there is a lot of mischief, dysfunction, and dishonesty to cover in this blog post.  So let’s get on with the story.  Fast-forward to the January 2023. 

At this time, Vernetta Nuriddin comes to the attention of Council Members Rick Mohrig and Paul Moore (Team M&M).  (It should be noted that many of Mohrig’s emails came from his personal email address, even though he was conducting city business.  This has been a long-running problem with Mohrig and demonstrates his propensity for non-transparency.  He was called out for the same issue in 2015.)

January 6-9, 2023.  Ms. Nuriddin was introduced to Moore and Mohrig by Karen Dubin, a Republican activist who plays a prominent role later in this story.

Let me stop here to provide some impressions of Ms. Nuriddan.  Ms. Nuriddan is a kind of a folk hero in Republican circles.  This is because she is a Democrat who crossed party lines and provided the deciding vote that removed Richard Barron, Fulton County’s election chief.  And for this, I applaud Ms. Nuriddan for her intelligence and courage.  Furthermore, it is important to note that Ms. Nuriddan seemed at times reluctant to take on the Milton election consulting work.  This may be because Ms. Nuriddan had not previously consulted and she did not have actual experience running an election and she has a day job as an Education Specialist in Atlanta’s charter schools.  However, my sense is that Ms. Nuriddan’s reticence had at least partly to do with poor practices being applied by the City in its election work . . . undue influence, lack of rigor, secretiveness, etc.  I must admit that while I found (like staff) Ms. Nuriddan’s qualifications to be thin, I admire Nuriddan’s consistent integrity and her willingness to call out and warn against less-than-ethical actions she was witnessing in Milton.  You further get a sense that Rick Mohrig used a carrot-and-stick approach with Ms. Nurridan.  The “stick” was Mohrig heavily pressuring both City Manager Krokoff and Nuriddan into a kind of political forced marriage.  The carrot was Ms. Nuriddan’s compensation increased from $17K to $25K.  (If Mr. Mohrig was helping Ms. Nuriddan negotiate with the City on price or scope, that would seem a serious ethics violation.)

January 15 – 25, 2023.  In the wake of Dubin’s introduction, Mr. Mohrig and Ms. Nuriddin communicate and eventually meet.  Ms. Nuriddin provides Mohrig with a resume; excerpts are provided below.

February 9, 2023 – It is important to understand that during the first 3 months of 2023, Roswell, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs were all considering running their own municipal elections.  These cities and Milton were considering pooling efforts and resources, including naming a regional election superintendent.  (Johns Creek determined running their municipal election would cost more than under FuCo . . . the exact opposite conclusion from Milton.)  Officials in these other cities stated that given the complexity of the task and the risk involved, they did not feel they had the time and resources to ready themselves for the 2023 election.  To nudge them in the right direction, Fulton adjusted costs downward for FuCo to run municipal elections.  Also, FuCo is implementing reforms (some state-mandated) that should reduce their on-going costs while improving performance.  Milton’s sister cities all stepped back from brink while Milton recklessly leaped into the election chasm.  Privately, a few officials in Milton’s sister cities told me that the benefits to be gained were not worth the investment, ongoing costs, and the risks.  They also believe that the initial furor around election integrity (in the wake of the 2020 presidential election) has died down to the point that the political pressures are minimal and the other North Fulton cities will likely stick with FuCo.  They believe local running of municipal elections is no longer a worthwhile cause.  They believe Milton was reckless to proceed alone.  I agree.  Unfortunately, my sense is that the Gang of Four still believes the Milton election project is their ticket to fame and fortune within the Republican party. I believe it is more likely they will become political pariahs in the Republican Party once the revelations in this blog gain a wider audience.

February 13-14, 2023:  Nuriddan finally made contact with Assistant City Manager Inglis and City Clerk Lowit.  In communications with Inglis, Nuriddan mentions Milton as the model for North Fulton in 2025.  Inglis and Lowit both interview Nuriddan and decide she is not suitable for the consulting project.

February 28, 2023.  In late February, the City determines the scope of election consulting work.  The cost will nearly double from a budgeted $13,000 to $25,000.  (Both numbers are ridiculously low resulting in elimination of the most capable firms and consultants.)

March 8, 2023:  Mohrig intervenes to countermand the decision by Inglis and Lowit.  Mohrig makes a personal request that City Manager Krokoff interview Nuriddan.  This is the beginning of a campaign by Mohrig (and Moore) to pressure both Krokoff and Nuriddan to consumate a consulting contract.  At this point, with its sister cities bailing out, there is no time to waste.  Milton is flying solo and has a short runway.  However, a lot of time is wasted (nearly 3 months before a consultant is hired) partly because of Mohrig and Moore’s micro-mangement of the consultant hiring.

March 13, 2023:  Nuriddin and Mohrig exchange a shocking set of texts.  There is a lot here that is worth considering.  First, Nuriddan opines that she believes Krokoff is planning “on the county conducting Milton’s elections” and states “It’s the only logical decision.”  Nuriddin is asserting this because Krokoff is the Superintendent and as such, she believes it is his (and only his) decision to make.  Second and more importantly, it is revealing that the consultant (Ms Nuriddan) that Mohrig wants to hire and succeeds in getting hired believes Milton should NOT run its elections.  Mohrig argues that Krokoff cannot  ignore council’s direction.  However, Nurridan does not back down and asserts that “council cannot direct anything regarding its own election.  It may vote to approve the city mgr’s recommendation for election supt. but that’s it.”  This is a position that Nuriddan consistently states and defends throughout her communications in this blog.  Essentially, Nuriddan is warning Mohrig that he and council need to be careful about meddling in elections and dictating to the Elections Superintendent, which is Krokoff.  I assume Nuriddan knows what she is talking about; otherwise the City should not have hired her.  This issue of the supremacy of the Elections Superintendent is a critical one.  Mohrig finally accedes her point, but states he still wants her to help the city with implementation.  He just doesn’t get it.

March 28, 2023.  The City provides a short summary of the consultant qualifications it is seeking.  A key selection criterion is significant experience with conducting municipal elections. Nuriddan does not seem to have this experience.

March 29, 2023.  It is at this point that Lisa Cauley makes an appearance.   In an extended text, Cauley complains to Council Member Andrea Verhoff.  Cauley is right, except the problem is that hiring the consultant is complicated.  The City has set a budget amount that is far too low to interest most qualified consultants.  And in fact, 3 consultants/consulting firms turned down the city.  And unfortunately, Rick Mohrig and Paul Moore are gumming up the works with their micro-management of the consultant hiring.

April 3, 2023.  It is at this point that Mohrig turns up the heat on Krokoff and gets more aggressive in pushing Ms. Nuriddan.

April 13, 2023.  However, the City Manager is simultaneously dealing with more important critical path issues.  Krokoff wants to make some sensible changes (e.g., using scanners; adding a 3^rd polling location) but gets denied by council.  The stance of Milton’s tin-foil-hat hyper-partisans (that regularly come to council and rant) is that the recommendations of the EFC must be followed verbatim.  (However, as later blog posts demonstrate, these partisans are hypocritical . . . . they are fine with changes that reduce voting access for certain voters.) They do not understand the wisdom of allowing the Elections Superintendent to assess risk-return and make reasonable adjustments to the EFC design.  Krokoff subtly advises council that risks (for example, voter disenfranchisement?) exist that he is reluctant to discuss in a public forum that require reasonable adjustments.  Council rejects his recommendations.  It is back to the drawing board; more time is lost.  It is at this time that Krokoff also warns council that significant variances exist relative to the original business case; the predicted savings are shrinking . . . and it is likely they will continue to shrink . . . no business case survives contact with reality. (Note: Later blog posts document steady and substantial reduction in alleged cost savings.)

April 14, 2023.  Mohrig now appeals to Nuriddan, encouraging her to apply.  Nuriddan throws out a price of $17K.  It is concerning that matters have proceeded to a point where price is being negotiated and City staff have not been looped in.  More interesting is that Nuriddan again warns Mohrig about his actions now that the election cycle has started (February 1).  Mohrig never understands (Ms. Nuriddan’s position) that, as an elected official (especially one up for re-election in the Fall), he should not really be involved at all in the election design and planning, including hiring of consultants.  At this point, Nuriddan believes the Elections Superintendent (and his staff) should be the sole decision-maker; council must butt out.  Mohrig’s (and Moore’s) cluelessness in these matters is stunning.

April 14, 2023:  Mohrig pesters Krokoff again.  Mohrig seems bound and determined for Milton to hire Ms. Nuriddan.  However, Krokoff has other thoughts.  Krokoff’s two primary election staff have rejected Ms. Nuriddan and he has also reviewed her qualifications and found them wanting.  He needs a better solution.

April 21, 2023:  Krokoff offers a reasonable alternative solution (early hiring of poll managers and using them to write the rules), but he is immediately shot down by Moore and Mohrig.  It is important to note that 5 other council members either supported the alternative or deferred to Krokoff to do as he thought best.  However, Mohrig and Moore both object strenuously and ultimately get their way.

Following is Moore’s pushback on using the poll managers as consultants. And note that Moore mentions Ms. Nuriddan’s “price tag is around $30K.” This is considerably more than the $17K price floated by Nuriddan just one week earlier in texts with Mohrig.  How does Moore know this? Why are council members broaching such matters with a potential consultant?  Is this appropriate?  Ethical?  Is this sort of interference undermining the city’s negotiating position?  Is it the case that council members are actually working with/for the consultant and negotiating against the city?

Krokoff pushes back hard stating that Ms. Nuriddan did not meet the minimum qualifications for the position.

Not to be deterred, Moore rebuts Krokoff.  Moore states emphatically “If we have NO other reasonable choices, Vernetta is a ‘reasonable’ choice . . . at the right price.”  Game, Set, Match for Moore.  Nuriddan is forced on Krokoff.  It is incredible to me that Moore and Mohrig feel they should manage Krokoff this closely.  I have worked with dozens of boards and never witnessed a board forcing a consultant on their organization’s leader.  Never.

April 24, 2023.  Mohrig—always a day late and a dollar short—weighs in 3 days late and also pushes hard for Nuriddan.

April 23-24, 2023:  During this time, Mohrig rants in text messages to Council Member Jacobus and even suggests a council member should participate in interviewing Nuriddan.

April 27, 2023:  Finally, Krokoff and Nuriddan made contact.  Clearly, Nuriddan is concerned about Mohrig’s intervention in her potential hiring stating:  “I told him (Mohrig) that incumbents cannot participate in the administration of their own elections.  No way around that.  I promised I would call so I did.”  Nuriddan is nothing if not consistent in her concerns about election tampering.

May 2, 2023.  Krokoff finally relents and Nurridin is engaged in contract negotiations.  Note that the price has increased from $17K to $20K after originally being budgeted at $13,000.

May 9, 2023:  Lisa Cauley again pops us in texts from Mohrig to Krokoff.  It seems Mohrig has tasked Cauley to work with State Assembly Representative Jan Jones, but Jones smartly waves off Cauley and demands an elected official request her assistance.  This is first email indicating that Cauley is being assigned official tasks by the City government, but in what (if any) official capacity is unclear.  This use of such off-the-books supernumeries, particularly political partisans, (especially for elections design/planning) should be troubling to citizens.

May 12, 2023.  Karen Dubin, who introduced Mohrig to Nuriddan, now re-enters the picture when contract negotiations are underway with Nuriddan, who complains about Ms. Dubin’s “inappropriate” late-night text message “demanding that I sign the 26 pg contract.”  Nuriddan is rightfully annoyed and rightfully upset that someone (Mohrig?) is sharing information with Dubin . . . a violation of confidentiality and likely of Milton’s purchasing rules and possibly undermining Milton’s negotiating position.  Nuriddin again expresses concern about sloppy and unethical processes at Milton stating “I warned against talking about elections outside public forums.”  She correctly wants to maintain discipline around citizen participation; integrity demands participation occur within the boundaries of the public process.  Clearly Nuriddan is wary of the potential influence of partisans (and council members) outside of the established process.  Following is Nurridan’s dialogue with Krokoff, with Dubin’s text (the black text box) attached:

May 17, 2023:  Below is an email from Krokoff to council notifying council of a price increase from $20K to $25K (up from the original $17K and budgeted $13K).  There must be a back story here.  Did meddling by Dubin and Mohrig  undermine the city’s negotiating position?  Or was Nuriddan getting cold feet and she was advised to ask for more money (by Dubin or Mohrig or someone else?)  Or did Ms. Nuriddan realize that the clock was ticking and Milton had no other inexpensive option, so she leveraged her improved negotiating position?  Or did she realize that the project’s return to her did not match the risk she was perceiving (e.g., interference from partisans and council members)? This situation certainly warrants some investigation.  It sure seems like negotiations around this contract were sloppy and included information being passed to Ms. Dubin.

Moore and Mohrig readily approved of the price increase.  This is ironic considering they voted down adding a 3^rd polling location because of costs (<$5000 per year) and have been similarly penurious when it comes to other elements critical to election service levels.  Following is Moore’s response:

May 18, 2023.  Mohrig also approved the price increase, which was nearly 100% over the the City’s budgeted amount:

June 6, 2023:  Finally, Ms. Nuriddan was engaged.  Unfortunately, many months were wasted at least partly because of Moore and Mohrig’s micro-management of hiring.

June 8, 2023:  Almost immediately, issues seem to have emerged with Nuriddin’s communications with council and the community.  Nurridin was directed by Krokoff not to discuss any “business related to your contract” with council members or citizens.  Perhaps based on Nurridin’s many cautions about strict process discipline (over many months), Krokoff finally “got religion” around election integrity.

June 21, 2023:  More direction was provided to Nuriddan from Krokoff about communications with the Secretary of State’s (SOS) office.  It would seem Krokoff is concerned (maybe nervous?) about SOS scrutiny, although it would seem SOS involvement might be prudent to keeping Milton’s elections out of the ditch.  Unfortunately, as a long-time watcher of Krokoff, I believe he has serious blind spots concerning government transparency . . . he’s mostly against it, despite protestations to the contrary.

June 21, 2023:  In the below email, Nuriddan admits to some major gaps in her election knowledge about paper ballots.  More importantly, Nuriddan reveals that her mission in Milton stems from direction she seems to have received from some Fulton County Republican operatives.  The Milton elections project is part of a larger partisan initiative to locally run all municipal elections in North Fulton.  (Nuriddan alludes to the same in an earlier text message.)  This is troubling.  Milton should be running its elections because it is the right thing to do, not as part of some broader partisan strategy.  I have always felt Milton’s elections project was viewed by its strongest advocates as their ticket to fame and fortune in the Republican party and had little to do with high ideas of improving and strengthening democratic institutions in Milton.

June 27, 2023:  Lisa Cauley once again pops up, with Ms Nuriddan seeking to appease Ms. Cauley by allowing her to attend some sort of elections meeting.  The perceived need to offer mollifying gestures to Ms. Cauley is troubling. 

June 29, 2023:  However, 2 days later, Ms. Nuriddan is back to her typical integrity-focused mindset.  Below are two texts from Nurridan to Krokoff.  These are perhaps the most disturbing of the communications (among the many disturbing communications) in this blog post.  Ms. Nuriddan indicates that Dubin and Cauley are seeking to influence her work outside of the normal public participation process and further that Ms. Nuriddan is to keep their influence a secret.  Ms. Nuriddan is having none of it.  As she has consistently done over many months, Nuriddin expresses her discomfort  with issues of integrity and undue influence (from partisans and council members).  Also troubling in these texts is the assertion that Krokoff has been assigning action items to Cauley.  Furthermore, it is unclear what Mr. Krokoff thinks is so funny (with his ha ha’s) about a very serious matter.

June 30, 2023:  It is fitting perhaps that the very last text from my ORRs is about the Milton Coalition.  I must confess that I was pleased when I saw this text from Ms. Nuriddin about the Milton Coalition . . . proof that I am achieving my awareness mission.  I find irony in Ms. Nuriddan’s failure to recognize that I am exposing the very issues (e.g., poor process discipline, lack of integrity) that she has been warning about over her several months of communicating and working with Milton.

If you have made it to the very end of this blog post, I commend you.  I have spent many hours researching and creating this post.  I love Milton and feel it is my obligation to expose the clear mischief that has been perpetrated in Milton through the elections design, planning, and implementation process.  My hope is that Miltonites will take notice and act now that the ugly truth has been revealed.

Advocating for free, fair, and honest elections,

Tim

Note:  I have long prided myself on keeping the Milton Coalition Blog strictly non-partisan.  In local politics and governance, I have always prioritized principles over party, politics, and partisanship.  This is partly because I believe partisanship does not translate well to the local level.  And in any case, elections in Milton are supposed to be non-partisan.  I will continue to adhere to non-partisanship with my blog posts.  However, because of the partisan sensitivities around elections, I feel compelled to explain my political leanings to demonstrate my independence and objectivity.  I am an independent, Libertarian-leaning, Constitution-loving, patriotic, Ronald Reagan Conservative and proud of it.  (I served as a US Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer for nearly 8 years earning both the Navy Achievement and Commendation medals.) However, right is right.  Basic rights and fairness are at stake.  The election issues I am exposing transcend party and politics.  I refuse to stand by and let certain council members and political partisans destroy the fairness and integrity of Milton’s elections.