North Korea is once again in the news with the defection of a US soldier.  This news story reminded me of a favorite photo:  a satellite image of the Korean peninsula at night, with the South bathed in bright light and the North shrouded in darkness.  The photo provides a pictorial metaphor for the stark contrast between free and democratic nations and repressive and dictatorial nations.  And it reminds us that free, fair, and honest elections are foundational to our democracy.  Voting rights are sacrosanct.  Election design is not about minimizing costs or about wild conspiracy theories or about dishonestly achieving partisan political advantage.  Elections are about integrity and equal access to the ballot . . . or should be.

Many citizens on the left and right have warned about existential threats to democracy being perpetrated by their political opponents on the other side of the political spectrum.  Once, I thought such warnings to be vast exaggerations.  Not any more.  Over many months, I have researched and analyzed Milton’s two-year initiative to design and run its own elections.  From its murky beginning to the present day, Milton’s election initiative has been characterized by dishonesty, secretiveness, incompetence, and partisanship.  Whoever thought it was a good idea to allow sitting council members (Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig) and their partisan allies (e.g., Lisa Cauley, President of Fulton County Republican Women) to design and then interfere in planning/implementation of Milton’s elections?  Even Milton’s election consultant, Vernetta Nuriddan, repeatedly warned the City about this issue.

I believe Milton’s election initiative is so fatally flawed that it is impossible to have any trust and confidence in Milton’s running its own elections in 2023.  The damage is not repairable.  I believe the only option for Milton is to convince Fulton County to run the 2023 municipal elections.  This will require the city to eat a bellyful of crow and it will likely require intervention from county and state Republican leaders, like FuCo Commissioner Bob Ellis and State Representative Jan Jones.  However, at this point, FuCo-run elections are the most prudent and least risky option for the City of Milton.

So what can the average citizen do?  Following is some practical advice.

First, direct Miltonites to my blog. 

Second, write to the mayor, city council, the city manager, and city attorney and express your dissatisfaction with Milton’s election initiative and urge them to engage Fulton County to run Milton’s 2023 elections.  Following are their email addresses:

peyton.jamison@miltonga.gov, andrea.verhoff@miltonga.gov, carol.cookerly@miltonga.gov, juliette.johnson@miltonga.gov, paul.moore@miltonga.gov, jan.jacobus@miltonga.gov, rick.mohrig@miltonga.gov, steven.krokoff@miltonga.gov, kjarrard@jarrard-davis.com

Following is the letter I sent:

Third, come to city council and express your opinion.  You will need to complete a speaker card, which is easy to do, and submit it to the City Clerk.  City council meetings are held at city hall in Crabapple.  The address is 2006 Heritage Walk, Milton, GA 30004.  For directions, click this link:  Directions to City Hall.  The city maintains a calendar with all the key meeting dates and times:  City Calendar.  If you click on a meeting, additional links are provided to the meeting agenda, packet, streaming video, and other useful meeting information.

Fourth, encourage your friends and neighbors to engage.

Fifth, vote in this fall’s elections for candidates that will uphold ethics and election integrity in Milton.

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 proudly served my country as a US Navy nuclear submarine officer for nearly 8 years.) 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.