(Last Updated July 3, 2025)

Bit and Pieces is a new feature of the blog. It is intended for readers that want to dig deeper into Milton politics and government . . . to read the story-behind-the-story. Each piece has a title and a notation of when the post was last updated. Postings are in reverse chronological order, with the most recent posts at the top. Please feel free to reach out to me with topics you might like me to address.

Subscribe to the Blog. For readers who desire to subscribe to the blog (which means you will get an email of blog posts when they are published), click on the menu icon in the upper lefthand corner of the home page. Scroll down to the FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL section, enter your email, and click the FOLLOW button.

*****************************************************************************************

July 3, 2025 — Reactivating Milton Coalition Blog

In the run-up to the 2025 City of Milton elections, I am reactivating the Milton Coaltion Blog. Minimally, I will provide a page that provides information–without any commentary–on the candidates, including links to their campaign websites, FB pages, and other social media sites, Milton Herald profiles, etc.

I will wait to see how the campaign unfolds to determine how much additional reporting and analysis I provide to my blog readers. This is my tenth year of blogging. I am guided my three principles: 1) telling citizens the truth employing only facts and logic, 2) advocating for good governance, especially strict adherence to the rule-of-law, and 3) promoting the prerogatives of citizens (over the priorities of Milton’s special interests). That’s it. I am committed to combatting Milton’s long-warring factions and fostering a new way forward focused on policy, principles, and process. The drama and chaos, fostered by Milton’s former elected officials, must never again be allowed to hobble good governance.

*****************************************************************************************

November 7, 2023 (posted 6:45 pm) – Elections Analysis and Predictions

I’ve noticed a heavy volume of readers coming to Bits & Pieces.  I assume readers are coming for the elections analysis and predictions.  Here goes . . .

This 2023 election is difficult to size up for several reasons that I will discuss . . . reasons that make predictions tough.  2017 was much easier even though I have more and better data this time around.  In 2017, I was on Laura Bentley’s eight-person campaign team.  Over nearly two years, Laura, Julie Bailey and I (assisted by many citizens) led a concerted campaign primarily focused on land use.  We were opposed by Bill Lusk and Matt Kunz . . . and to a lesser extent by Karen Thurman and Rick Mohrig, who often voted with Lusk and Kunz.  We galvanized the citizenry in opposition to several ordinances and rezonings.  Over time we developed a large cadre of engaged citizens that were willing to speak at council, write letters to the city, etc.  We won most of the battles we fought . . . and in so doing, generated a lot of political capital that we spent on Laura’s election.  I knew that we would win decisively.  I kept a dashboard of various metric:  sign counts, Facebook followers/likes, blog traffic, email stats, etc.  Based on this dashboard, I predicted Bentley would beat Lusk 72% to 28%.  I was off by one percentage point . . . Bentley only garnered 71% of the vote!  Importantly, it was a surge election.  A historical record high of 4500 total votes was cast.  This was evidence of a large surge of voters that were frankly fed up with Bill Lusk.  Compare 2017 to 2019 when only 2,500 votes were cast in a low-energy election, where Bentley’s momentum carried Paul into office . . . although the low vote count and smaller margin of victory was starting to reflect a wave of dissatisfaction with Bentley (and Moore) that became a tsunami by the 2021 election when, facing certain defeat, Bentley wisely chose not to run.

This dissatisfaction has ebbed ever higher since then, such that my current raw numbers show the potential for a 75:25 election or even an 80:20, but a lower total vote count of maybe 3,250 to 3,500 votes.  I am basing this mostly on an assessment of actual early voters.  I am seeing much higher levels of votes for Cranmer.  However, I must admit that I have somewhat less visibility into Mohrig voters, so am surely undercounting the oppositional vote . . . perhaps significantly.  I also believe Mohrig will do a bit better on election day than during early voting because election day voters tend to be older and more traditional, so more likely to vote Mohrig’s way.  Also, Julie Bailey sent an email blast that I countered . . . and I believe may net out in Cranmer’s favor.  Why?  Because Julie’s email list is ancient; she has no place (like the blog) to send voters; and she has not nurtured her support base as I have.  And perhaps most importantly, Bailey is supporting a Rick Mohrig that she despised for years . . . a Rick Mohrig that she had advised voters against supporting . . . surely those voters are puzzled by Bailey’s embrace of Mohrig.  Frankly, I also find her change of heart incomprehensible.  Julie knows Rick is lying about Ebenezer, dodging his vote on the Hopewell sewer extension, and otherwise demonstrating a lack of integrity about his record.  (I knew Bailey would likely come out for Mohrig after last night’s council meeting for reasons I’ll perhaps discuss after the election . . . I employed a tactic that I think worked . . . we’ll see.)

So what makes this election difficult to evaluate?  First, both of Milton’s long-warring factions—Lusk & Kunz vs. Bailey, Bentley & Moore—lined up behind Mohrig.  Are pigs flying outside my window?  Yes, this support is incredibly odd and you would think perhaps a bad omen for Cranmer (and Cookerly) . . . but you would be wrong.  These two fractious factions are largely spent forces.  They have worn out their welcome in Milton.  Most Miltonites are tired of food-fight politics and ready to move to a new generation of leadership focused on citizen priorities and strategic objectives . . . and not nonsense.  And these five dinosaurs of Milton politics have a least a vague awareness of their irrelevancy . . . and I would contend their undesirability . . . with citizens.  That is why they didn’t endorse Mohrig . . . a certain kiss of death only Bailey belatedly chose to deliver.  To make matters worse, Milton’s factions aligned with a Lunatic Fringe that has alienated the vast majority of Milton with their regular tantrums at council.  These unwashed radicals care only about hand counting paper ballots and little else, especially the issues that matter to citizens, like smart land use and parks.  However, with so few friends, Milton’s factions do not have much choice of allies.  However, these sorts of devil’s bargains never work out.  I learned this the hard way by aligning in the past with a few of Milton’s crazies . . . useful idiots in the short-run, but harmful in the long run.  This is all to say that Milton’s factions have been waning in influence for 6 years and cannot bring many votes to Mohrig.  Same with the Lunatic Fringe . . . the noun “fringe” being the operative word.  Their loudness and rude behavior make them seem a bigger presence than they are . . . they really number only a few hundred at the most.

Additionally, Milton has been in the news a lot . . . and most of that news has been bad . . . and Mohrig has been at the center of most of it.  And I believe Miltonites—at least the ones who vote—have been paying attention.  If so, I find it difficult to believe even a large minority would vote for Mohrig.

Nevertheless, I have witnessed several municipal and state elections where very poor candidates/campaigns registered 30+% of the vote, so there is that to consider.  So I am going to assume that Mohrig will break at least 30% and probably higher, but I don’t think he will make it into the 40s.  I do expect a modest surge that will bring the vote count to around perhaps 3,500 (at the outside), so that would also argue for a more modest victory margin.  So my prediction is 61-64% for Cranmer and 36-39% for Mohrig.  I have mostly tracked the Cranmer-Mohrig race, so my confidence in Cookerly-Gordon prediction is lower and based mostly on intuition.  I think Cookerly will do a few (3-4?) points better than Cranmer, so maybe 65-68% for Cookerly to 32-35% for Gordon.  I don’t feel real strongly about these projections, but there they are . . . stay tuned . . .

If Cranmer and Cookerly do prevail, the victory will be more impressive than the 2017 blow-out in that this election represents a complete re-alignment of Milton’s politics that was not even conceivable six months ago.  I will explain in a later blog post.

*****************************************************************************************

October 23, 2023 – Milton Herald’s Election Web Page: An Excellent and Objective Resource For Voters and Concerned Citizens

Following is a link to the Milton Herald‘s web page dedicated to Milton’s Elections.

Milton Herald: Milton Elections Web Page

The Milton Herald‘s election web page is an excellent resource. It has timelines and links to most of the Milton Herald‘s articles on elections. It also includes articles about elections activity in greater North Fulton. For a local newspaper, the Milton Herald has provided incredibly in-depth coverage of Milton’s elections, especially since Amber Perry was assigned the Milton beat. The Milton Herald has published 63 articles since its elections coverage began in August 2021. I have assembled an chronological compendium of the Milton Herald articles that you can download. The Milton Herald has been an important resource for me, especially the early reporting that occurred before I was paying full attention.

******************************************************************************************

October 22, 2023 – City Violates Open Meetings Law . . . Yet Another Black Eye For the City . . . and Yet Another Reason to Vote For Cranmer

The Milton Herald published a story late Friday about an un-advertised meeting among all seven council members and the City Manager that occurred on September 18^th.  This meeting violated local and state open meetings laws. 

Milton Herald: Milton Held Secret Election Meeting . . . Mayor Apologizes

This meeting was exposed by former council member Laura Bentley.  Ms. Bentley’s (undated) letter to the city is attached.  Ms. Bentley also appeared before council at last Monday’s city council meeting.  She blasted the city for its lack of transparency.  Following is a link to a video of Ms. Bentley’s comments.  Forward to 00:07:15.

This ad-hoc meeting occurred after an advertised meeting at Avalon to discuss the Windward Parkway/Ga. 9 master plan (a District 3 priority that Mohrig has ignored).  My understanding is this after-meeting behind closed doors was convened by the City Manager.  The meeting was unadvertised.  No opportunity for public input or public observation was provided.  No record of the meeting was kept.  This is WRONG.

I am an equal opportunity critic.  Accountability must be enforced.  Corrective action must be taken.  And, in fact, a first step toward rectifying this situation was taken with a statement from the mayor at the conclusion of general public comment.  The mayor took responsibility for the transparency violation and recommended corrective action, including publishing meeting minutes based on attendees’ recollections.  These actions seem reasonable.  However, I suspect these actions will not be enough.  Why?  Because Ms. Bentley is pursuing a political agenda that really has nothing to do with good governance and has everything to do with scoring cheap political points.  And I would point out that Ms. Bentley seems to know more about what transpired in this meeting than the rest of us lowly commoners.  Is the transparency that Ms. Bentley claims she’s concerned about itself being violated to provide Ms. Bentley with privileged access to information?  I, myself, will withhold judgment until the city provides more information about the nature and content of this unadvertised meeting that was supposedly about elections. (Note: Apparently, no decisions were made.)

Unfortunately, in Milton, there is nearly always a back story.  A central goal of the blog has been to expose these backstories based on my knowledge of and experience with city government.  And in this situation, there is a lot going on that would not be obvious to casual citizen observer.  So let me connect some dots for you . . .

First, for years, I have been a harsh—and more importantly, consistent–critic of the City of Milton.  I think Milton can and should do much more to proactively maximize transparency.  Principles of good governance, like transparency, empower citizens.  And it was with these principles in mind that I and other citizens enthusiastically supported Ms. Bentley’s candidacy for city council in 2017.  Ms. Bentley ran on a platform of “shifting power to citizens.”  However, once in office, Ms. Bentley did nothing to empower citizens . . . and in fact, she supported measures to concentrate power in council (like gutting Milton’s Charter Commission and opposing periodic town hall meetings with council) . . . and enable the unethical behavior that she now opportunistically rails against at council.  Oh!  The irony and hypocrisy . . .

Similarly, since leaving office, Ms. Bentley has not been terribly concerned with ethics.  For example, she seems to not care that Milton’s Election Feasibility Committee met many times in secret . . . keeping little/no records of these meetings . . . meetings where decisions were made about elections, which are foundational to free and fair government.  And there are many other instances of Ms. Bentley turning a blind eye to egregious ethics violations at the city.  So, it is fair to say history demonstrates Ms. Bentley lacks credibility on this and other ethical matters.  Her ethics are purely situational . . . unlike me, she is NOT an equal opportunity critic.

So if Ms. Bentley is faking concern about ethics, what game is she playing?  Well, it comes down to one word . . . politics.  Ms. Bentley is using a legitimate and serious ethical problem to score (cheap) political points.  However, I am confused about how she, Moore, and Mohrig intend to capitalize on the poor ethics in this situation.  Bentley’s allies, Moore and Mohrig, are equally implicated in this ethics picadillo . . . as were all council members . . . as all were present.  Everyone knows from Ethics 101 that such unadvertised meetings (involving a quorum) are forbidden.  Any one of the other seven participants could have–and should have–protested and shut down the meeting before it commenced.  Readers know that I have been highly and often critical of the City Manager, but in this situation, I believe he only bears equal (or perhaps a bit more) culpability.  Clearly, Mohrig/Moore/Bentley and their conspiratorial comrades are gunning for City Manager Krokoff in the aftermath of his exposure of Mohrig’s repeated and serious elections and campaign misbehavior.  And they would like to also impugn Mayor Jamison.  So this is an attempt—quite lame in my opinion—to drag others into Mohrig and Moore’s ethical quicksand.  A swing and a miss. Better luck next time . . .

It is critical to point out a key difference between the latest ethical wrongdoing and Mohrig and Moore’s long chronicle of ethical wrongdoing.  The Mayor readily admitted the ethical violations (by himself, council, and the city manager) and recommended prudent measures to rectify the situation.  (Charlie Roberts on the DRB did the same.)  Contrast this admission of culpability and suggestion of corrective measures with Moore and Mohrig’s responses to much more numerous and serious ethical breaches . . . theirs is a strategy of constant denial and endless deception . . . a strategy of admitting nothing and always dodging accountability . . . a classic Washington DC approach.  Moore and Mohrig have become Milton’s Menendez and (George) Santos. 

This latest ethical disgrace provides yet another reason to elect Phil Cranmer and reject Rick Mohrig.  It comes down to this.  Do voters want a city government that honestly admits to its ethical shortcomings and humbly addresses them (under Phil Cranmer) or do we want a city government that doggedly denies its ethical shortcomings and ignobly ignores them (under Rick Mohrig)?

Again, it is unclear how Ms. Bentley wants to use this ethics issue?  I chalk up her letter and comments to desperation.  In the end, Bentley’s synthetic over-the-top outrage over ethics is meant to change the subject away from Rick Mohrig’s terrible record.  It is a distraction that is meant to dupe citizens.  It won’t work.  Citizens are smarter and more engaged than Ms. Bentley has ever realized . . . and that is why she, Moore, and Mohrig and their confederates have consistently lost in the court of public opinion.  There is power in the truth.  Principles and character matter. 

******************************************************************************************

October 14, 2023 – Just Published . . . The Case AGAINST Re-electing Rick Mohrig:  His Terrible Record

A few days ago, I published The Case FOR Electing Phil Cranmer:  A Committed and Decent Community Servant with a Positive and Uplifting Vision For Milton.  Following is the link to the blog page that I published:  The Case FOR Electing Phil Cranmer  The blog page includes a one-page Phil Will pdf flyer that can be distributed to friends and neighbors.

I just completed and published a blog page The Case AGAINST Re-electing Rick Mohrig:  His Terrible Record.  This blog page required a lot of time and research as Mohrig’s record is not only terrible, but quite long.  Following is a link to the blog page:  The Case AGAINST Re-electing Rick Mohrig The blog page includes a pdf of the blog page that I encourage readers to distribute to friends and neighbors. We need to expose Mohrig’s poor record

*******************************************************************************************

October 14, 2023 – Appen Media Milton City Council Debate . . . Initial Impressions . . . So Much Mohrig BS.

I know citizens are busy, so you may not have time to watch the whole debate.  If you have just 5 minutes, I would suggest that you watch Cranmer and Mohrig’s closing statements.  Cranmer was crisp and specific.  He did not pull his punches.  Cranmer painted a stark and compelling contrast between himself and Mohrig.  Cranmer called for an end to damaging partisan drama in Milton. It was masterful.  Conversely, Mohrig gave a bland, mealy-mouthed, and uninspiring closing statement.  Mohrig came across as just another stereotypical say-nothing hack politician. I even saw some of his comrades grimacing, including a few of his Partisan Drama Mamas (aka the Real Housewives of Milton). Following is the debate link. The closing statements begin at 1:37:00.

Milton City Council Candidate Debate.

I am going to launch right in.  We need someone on Council who doesn’t believe citizens are idiots.  With several of his answers tonight, Rick Mohrig clearly assumed debate attendees could not see through his transparent lies. We’re utter and complete idiots.

Lie#1. The clearest example was his answer about Election Integrity.  Mohrig asserted the City Attorney’s letter to the Georgia State Elections Board “exonerated” the massive misconduct that has permeated Milton’s elections initiative.  The City Attorney is Milton’s defense attorney.  Of course, he is going to argue that the City did nothing wrong.  Duuuuuh!  A defense attorney cannot “exonerate” his client.  Only a judge/jury can exonerate a defendant (i.e. the City of Milton) and that judge/jury is the State Elections Board.  Paul Moore has used the same argument . . . he also believes the citizens he serves are incredibly stupid and gullible.

Milton needs city council members that respect the intelligence of citizens and are not constantly trying to snow them.  Milton needs Phil Cranmer.

Lie#2. Mohrig continues to insist that he was the “deciding vote” in the Ebenezer Rezoning.  This is a very bold lie, even by Mohrig standards.  I did a whole blog post debunking this deception.  Here you go:  Facts are Stubborn Things . . . Truth Belies Mohrig’s Heroic Myth About Ebenezer Rezoning. Following is a photo of Mohrig’s vote to approve the Ebenezer rezoning.  Under heavy public pressure, he would backtrack two months later and vote to disapprove the rezoning.  Mohrig must be coerced to do the right thing for citizens . . . same with adding a third polling location.

Lie#3. When asked whether he had ever voted to extend sewer, Mohrig simply didn’t answer the question.  It was a lie by omission.  The answer is (at least) two times he has voted to extend sewer.  In fact, the last time sewer was extended, he voted for it . . . even though he promised (in writing at a political blog) that he would never extend sewer.  I wrote an entire blog post on this sewer extension that includes 1) a photo of him raising his hand (timidly) to approve the extension and 2) a link to the video of the vote.  Following is a link to the blog post:  Sewer Creep:  Mohrig Touches Third Rail in Milton Politics and Will Finally Pay the Price in 2023 Elections. Following is a photo of Mohrig’s vote to approve sewer extension the last time that it was extended in Milton.  The property is just south of Vickery Crest on Hopewell Road.  The sewer extension more than doubled the density that was allowed under AG-1 zoning:

(I will continue to append to this post. Much more to come. Stay tuned . . . )

*******************************************************************************************

October 3, 2023 – Political Fringe’s Tantrum at Council . . . Welcome to the Political Farside

(In publishing this blog post, I am exercising my right to political free speech.  I created this blog in 2016 to express my opinions and that is exactly what I have done and will continue to do. If you don’t like it, go to . . . uh . . . elsewhere.)

Call me crazy but I am going to give free publicity to my adversaries on the extreme political right.  For over two years, a small group of political radicals have been goose-stepping into council to rant and rave.  Seig Heil Baby!  Their numbers have shrunk over time.  Last night, only eight zealots strutted to the podium to spew propaganda to self-congratulatory applause.  However, what they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in noxious noise and nonsense.  It was quite a tantrum.  Actually, these comic comrades have become quite funny to watch.  They are a lot more (Charlie) Chaplain than Fuhrer.

However, on a more serious note, I URGE ALL MILTON CITIZENS TO WATCH LAST NIGHT’S VIDEO OF GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT AT CITY COUNCIL.  I am posting the video below.  If Rick Mohrig and Helen Gordon win election to council, these angry citizens are the people that will be calling the shots in Milton.  Nothing substantive will get done. Citizen priorities will be ignored. Nonpartisan Milton will sink into a partisan swamp. You might want to think about it.  Start the video at 12:30.  Grab some popcorn and treat yourself to nearly 40 minutes of uber conspiratorial, odd, and delusional dribble from the local political Farside.

Please return to this post as I will be publishing all of the videos of these council outbursts dating back to July 2021. 

(Also, I will soon be publishing some documents from my archives that I have been keeping tucked away for special occasions . . . documents that will make some current/former council members and some political activists very uncomfortable.  I like to keep my powder dry, but the time has come to use it. Stay tuned . . . .)

********************************************************************************************

September 30, 2023 – Milton Herald Front-page Article About to Rock Political Scene in Milton

The Milton Herald and Amber Perry have done an exceptional job over 2+ years covering Milton’s election initiative, publishing over 4 dozen (often in-depth) articles and opinion pieces.  Below is a sneak preview of next’s week’s bombshell article in the Milton Herald.  I submitted the original Open Records Request (ORR) that uncovered this election misconduct.  On September 12th, based on that ORR, I published an in-depth post explaining the misconduct exposed by the City Manager in his email to the mayor.  Following is the link:  Elections Interference (Part 5):  City Manager’s Insider Perspective Reveals a More Deeply Flawed, Biased, and Dishonest Process Than Milton Coalition Investigation Uncovered.  Led by Council Member Rick Mohrig, the partisan members of the Election Feasibility Committee (EFC) disrespected, marginalized, and eventually excluded staff from the committee’s work.  Staff’s risk analysis was deleted.  Some costs were excluded or underestimated . . . this includes costs for staff’s time devoted to elections design, planning, preparations, and conduct.  City Manager Krokoff has stated that biases of some non-staff committee members were such that the committee’s work resembled a justification exercise rather than a true feasibility study.  The final report was not provided to citizens for comment or input and was never put to a full committee vote.  The final report was also not provided to council in advance of first presentation.  I strongly believe that the EFC’s final report was so flawed and biased that Council was led astray and accordingly made the wrong decision to proceed with running its municipal elections . . . a decision that has brought much shame on the city and one that will end up costing the city more to self-run its elections than would have been the case if Fulton County ran Milton’s elections . . . higher costs at much lower service levels:  fewer voting locations; reduced voting days/hours; and only 1 early voting location.

These revelations come on top of many other damning revelations . . . including that the EFC initially met in secret and kept no records of these meetings.  After disbanding, some EFC members continued to exercise undue influence . . . mostly in the shadows . . . this includes forcing on the city manager an elections consultant who did not meet minimum qualifications and who was later terminated.  Considering all the egregious election misbehavior, I believe the city has no choice but to launch a full-scale and wide-ranging independent investigation of Milton’s election experiment.

********************************************************************************************

September 30, 2023 – Appen Media’s Milton City Council candidate debate is October 4^th. This is a real give-and-take debate, which means Rick Mohrig won’t show up. He won’t and cannot defend his record. On September 27th, he participated in a rigged “candidate forum” organized by one of his political cronies. The fake forum was a complete bust. I will soon be appending my original blog post about the fake forum, based on additional research, attendee accounts of the actual forum, and the aftermath. The deception is even worse than I originally described. The forum is the poster child for the dishonesty that has permeated Milton’s election project. Following is a link to the original blog post about Mohrig’s rigged debate: Busted!!  Deceptive Candidate Forum Instigated by Mohrig Crony . . . A Clumsy and Transparent Political Set-up That Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test I am quite sure that the citizens of Milton are too smart to fall for Mohrig’s deceptions and will not re-elect Mohrig . . . just as they rejected him in 2007 in his only previous competitive race. We’ve seen this movie before and walked out . . .

********************************************************************************************

September 25, 2023 – Council Member Rick Mohrig and His Hypocritical Sycophants Lost Elections Battle . . . Ironically Over . . . Election Integrity.

*******************************************************************************************

September 24, 2023 – Latest Threatening Texts to Mayor Jamison

Following are the latest threatening texts to Mayor Jamison.  Citizens, there is clearly a mentally unbalanced political partisan in Milton.  I firmly believe that these texts have to do with Milton’s municipal elections.  I further firmly believe a toxic political environment has been created in Milton that encourages rabid radicals to try to intimidate elected officials through death threats.  Through its exposure of wrongdoing in Milton, the Milton Coalition blog has been a strong antidote to the political venom coursing through Milton’s body politic.  I will continue to stand up to the underground and undemocratic forces that are attempting to create partisan chaos in Milton’s intentionally (per the city charter) non-partisan politics and elections.

There is an active and ongoing criminal investigation into these threats to Milton’s mayor.  I urge anyone that might have useful information to come forward with it. When it comes to threats of violence, all Miltonites must come together to stop this political insanity.

Advocating Against Political Intimidation,

Tim

Note:  Mayor Jamison has directly provided all the threat texts to me in the hopes of catching the perpetrator(s).  The Milton Coalition Blog is perhaps the best platform right now in Milton for quickly and broadly disseminating this information.  In just the first 24 days of September, the blog has been viewed over 4,000 times.  In addition, blog emails sent this month have been read nearly 1500 times.

********************************************************************************************

September 19, 2023 – Milton Citizen Demands Mohrig’s Resignation in Powerful and Persuasive Rebuke Over Election Integrity and Loss of Voters’ Trust and Confidence

Before voting in this year’s municipal elections, you owe it to yourself to watch one citizen’s comments at Monday’s city council meeting. Advance to minute 13 to watch the pertinent video, which is 5 minutes long. If this video does not convince you that Council Member Rick Mohrig needs to be turned out of office, then nothing will convince you.

The Milton citizen taking the podium delivered a forceful and stinging dressing-down of Council Member Rick Mohrig. It was compellingly argued that through his misconduct over many months, Mohrig has completely undermined voters’ trust and confidence in the integrity of Milton’s elections . . . Mr. Mohrig’s only decent and honorable course of action is resignation. More and more Milton voters are coming to the same conclusion. Election integrity demands Mohrig’s ouster.

Below, I am attaching a letter sent to city council, the city manager, and the city attorney by the same citizen that spoke before council. The letter closely follows the speech delivered on Monday night but provides more detail. (I highlighted certain passages.)

Voting For Election Integrity,

Tim

********************************************************************************************

September 16, 2023 – Election Interference (Part 6):  Sequenced Emails Raise Questions of Election Integrity and Mohrig’s Ethics

Attached is a pdf providing sequenced emails with commentary that explain in detail the latest scandal swirling around Council Member Rick Mohrig.  This includes misuse of city resources for political purposes; meetings with poll workers; and false claims of computer hacking that have diverted scarce city resources.

********************************************************************************************

September 13, 2023 – Top Milton Coalition Downloads . . . Citizens Paying Attention . . . Vieweing Source Documents

With the Milton Coalition Blog, I try to be as transparent as possible.  However, even my passion for transparency has its limits.  Accordingly, I am careful about how much I share about blog statistics.  However, with the death threats against the mayor, I feel it is helpful to provide more visibility into aggregate traffic and behavior at the blog.  (Note:  My blog does NOT provide any data on individuals, but only aggregate data for all visitors.) 

I believe the MC blog has a wider reach than any other platform in Milton, so I felt compelled to quickly broadcast the details of the death threats against the mayor.  My hope is that Miltonites will reach out to law enforcement with information that might help to apprehend the threat perpetrator.  As you can see from the above table, download statistics indicate that 474 citizens have viewed the death-threat police report.

Based on their downloads, many citizens also showed an interest in my story (click on link):
Mohrig Violates City Charter By Directing Staff . . . Using “Governmental Authority To Suppress a Political Opponent” . . . Read City Manager’s Admonition and Advisory Memo to Staff

Excerpts from the City Charter and from the City Municipal Code that supported my blog post were downloaded over 750 times.

Readers also downloaded Milton Family First’s letter to the Georgia State Elections Board 348 times, so citizens are clearly showing an interest in Milton’s election fiasco.  The article was posted August 10^th.  Following is a link to the blog post:
Milton Families First Strikes Fast and Hard With Letter Requesting State Investigation of Milton’s Elections

Lastly, readers downloaded the documents Council Member Rick Mohrig submitted to “substantiate” his estimates of elections cost savings over 300 times each.  Of course, readers who examined these documents almost certainly drew the same conclusions that I drew . . . Mohrig did not and cannot substantiate his cost savings claims . . . and did, in fact, engage in falsehood.  Par for the course. Following is a link to the original post:

Mohrig Fails to Substantiate Exaggerated Elections Cost Savings . . . Just More Elections Dishonesty . . . Milton May Actually Pay More For Much Less Service

I provide all my source documents so that readers can draw their own conclusions and so that readers can also fact-check my blog posts.  As you can see, readers often do consult the source documents.  And I can count on one hand the number of times that readers (all of them were allies) identified factual inaccuracies (that I promptly corrected).

Arrogant politicians in Milton believe that citizens do NOT care . . . that they do NOT pay attention . . . that they are NOT informed.  These bigheaded politicians are dead wrong.  The Milton Coalition Blog proves otherwise.  As always, I appreciate the support of my readers.  Your engagement with the blog motivates me to continue to shine a bright light on Milton government and politics.  Thank you.

********************************************************************************************

September 12, 2023 – WSB News Report on Threats Made Against Mayor and His Family

Following is a link to WSB’s video about threats made against Mayor Jamison and his family:

WSB Video News Story

If you want to read the story at WSB, following is the link (that also provides the video):

WSB Written Story with Video Link

Following is a YouTube video of WSB story:

*********************************************************************************************

September 11, 2023:  9-11 Reminds Us That Threats to Our Liberties Are Real and Ever Present . . . Even Locally . . . As Evidenced By Milton’s Election “Feasibility” Debacle and Its Aftermath

9-11 provides citizens an opportunity for reflection on America and what it stands for.  America was founded on a proposition that all people are created equal, and as such, are endowed with certain inalienable rights . . . among these are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The First Amendment specifies five of the most important rights, including free speech and the right to protest.  Government is instituted to secure our rights . . . and the Constitution establishes the architecture for government.  After considerable deliberation, the Founders determined that a democratic republic was the best form of such government, meaning elections would be a key element of the architecture and the right to vote would be counted among our fundamental rights.

Elections are foundational to proper functioning of our democratic republic . . . and for elections to be effective in rendering consent of the governed, elections must strictly hew to certain principles:  fairness, integrity, transparency, rigor, and equal access.  Unfortunately, none of these principles were applied in Milton’s recent election design.  An undemocratic lunatic fringe hijacked Milton’s election design process.  Some of these radicals fly the American flag upside down . . . if that gives you any sense of their mindset.  And of course, one of Milton’s far-right (or far left) crazies has become so enraged that he/she has resorted to issuing death threats against the mayor and his family.  For the lunatic fringe, elections are not intended to express the will of the people but rather are a malleable instrument to be mendaciously molded to achieve narrow political objectives.  This was most clearly evidenced in vociferous objection to a third polling location in Milton’s District 3 . . . a crystal-clear example of discriminatory election design.  (BTW, I work in higher education, so have been personal witness to similar far-left crazies that are using similar tactics to hijack universities’ curricula.)

9-11 involved anti-democratic enemies beyond our shores who still seek to take America down.  However, 9-11 should also cause us to reflect on anti-democratic enemies within . . . dangerous radical elements on the far right and left extremes of the political spectrum.  For these radicals, manipulating elections is a means for achieving their distorted despotic vision for America.

**********************************************************************************************

September 11, 2023 (Updated September 13th) – Miltonites Paying Attention . . . Demanding Return to Sanity and Peaceful Non-partisanship

Since my posting on Friday about death threats to Mayor Jamison and his family, the Milton Coalition Blog has been viewed more than 2200 times.  Separately, the email of the posting has been opened more than 200 times.  Over 800 readers have clicked through to the blog from outside sources, including Reddit and Facebook.  I sent an email alert to over 2,000 Milton Coalition petition signers.  More than 71% of recipients have opened the email alert and 22% have clicked through, with many others reaching the blog from search engines.  (The below screen shot shows the number of visitors and views at the blog just for September 8, 2023 . . . a Milton Coalition record high.)

These figures have far outstripped statistics for any other posting in blog history and far exceeded my expectations.  I am humbled by the trust and confidence of readers.  I am humbled by the kind words many of you have expressed in support of me and the blog.  The blog requires a lot of time and effort.  My engagement in politics has cost me over $15,000 out of my own pocket.  It pleases me that my investment has yielded positive results for my community.

This volume of readership means Miltonites are paying attention.  And based on comments from readers, citizens are deeply troubled by the deep and worsening dysfunction at Milton City Hall . . . dysfunction that has increased to the point that death threats are being made against the mayor.  Unfortunately, these threats were predictable.  Milton has been steadily sliding downward for 2 years.  It began with Milton’s project to design non-partisan elections, which infected Milton’s government and politics with a partisan plague that has continuously eroded citizen trust in local government.  The elections project allowed a lunatic fringe to establish a beachhead in Milton city government that they have exploited to inflict much damage to good governance.  These radicals were provided cover and legitimacy by Council Members Rick Mohrig and Paul Moore.  However, Moore and Mohrig and their hyper-partisan supporters overreached when they eliminated a District 3 polling location in favor of a District 2 polling location . . . and then adamantly opposed adding back a District 3 polling location.  (District 3 is where Milton’s Democrat voters and black & brown voters are concentrated.) 

Their narrow 4-3 victory (in early May) to deny a third polling location did not sate Milton’s lunatic fringe.  They were out for blood.  Two weeks later (in mid-May), the lunatic fringe showed up in force at city council.  In general public comment, Milton’s election radicals ranted and raved for 25 minutes with Milton’s mayor as their primary target.  This was not spontaneous; it was organized.  It reminded me of a mob hit, and in retrospect, it was a harbinger of future death threats.  It was a sorry spectacle.  And I highly doubt that this attack would have occurred without Moore and Mohrig’s tacit approval.  This exercise in saber rattling was meant to send a message to the mayor (and those that would dare vote with him) that Mohrig and Moore and their acolytes were the dominant power in Milton’s government and politics.  However, Mohrig and Moore overplayed their hand.  This gratuitous piling-on was the last straw for me, for many Milton citizens, for two on-the-fence insurgent candidates for Milton City Council, and for Mayor Jamison.  At this time, because of the gross District 3 injustice, Phil Cranmer and Doug Hene felt a civic duty to (respectively) challenge Mohrig and Moore.  And of course, it was at this time that I began exposing the gross dishonesty, non-transparency, unfairness, partisanship, and incompetence that permeated Milton’s elections project.  And it was this exposure of rampant misbehavior and malfeasance that catalyzed a public outcry and ultimately forced council to quickly backtrack and to add a District 3 polling location.  My investigations have continued to shine a bright light on misbehavior in Milton city government.

The District 3 controversy precipitated a dramatic realignment of Milton’s politics with Mayor Jamison and Council Member Johnson swinging behind the insurgent candidates Hene and Cranmer, while Council Members Verhoff and Cookerly were impelled to a political middle ground.  With Moore out of the race, I expect both Cookerly and Verhoff will gradually and organically align with Cranmer and Hene.  In just 3 months, because of their own mistakes—a result of astonishing hubris—both Mohrig and Moore had reversed their political fortunes.  Moore opted not to seek re-election and Mohrig is best described as mortally wounded . . . the political equivalent of the walking dead.

Citizens are once again engaging in Milton and demonstrating that they, not dissembling and arrogant politicians (and their partisan sycophants), wield the ultimate power in Milton.  I am pleased to have played in small role in this citizens’ rebellion.  However, there is more work to be done by me and by citizens.  Come November, Rick Mohrig must be unceremoniously kicked out of office.  I have faith in the rectitude and intelligence of Milton’s voters, so I am confident that Mr. Mohrig will receive his deserved comeuppance at the ballot box.  It will be condign punishment for a politician who believes it was ethical for him to design the election in which he is running.  And with Mohrig’s demise will come the rout of Milton’s lunatic fringe . . .  and finally a return to peaceful non-partisanship and political sanity.

********************************************************************************************

September 8, 2023 – Milton Herald:  Milton Mayor Receives Death Threats

Today, the Milton Herald posted an article on the death threats against the mayor and his family.  Following is a link to the article:

Milton Mayor Receives Death Threats

********************************************************************************************

September 5, 2023 – Mohrig’s Silence About Elections and Ethics Speaks Volumes . . . 31 Election Infractions (and Counting) . . . Need More Reasons Not to Re-elect Mohrig?

Council Member Rick Mohrig has finally created a re-election campaign website.  And frankly, it is exactly what you would expect from him.  Mohrig is running on “experience,” and his two platform planks are standard fare for Milton politicians:  1) fiscal responsibility and 2) preserving Milton’s rural character and ensuring smart growth.  Blah, blah, blah.  It’s all very vanilla and poorly articulated.  As always, the perennial backbencher Mohrig is phoning it in.  In actuality, Mohrig has not been fiscally responsible (more in a later blog post) and his record on overdevelopment has been unequivocally poor, as I have discussed in 2 previous blog posts:  Facts are Stubborn Things . . . Truth Belies Mohrig’s Heroic Myth About Ebenezer Rezoning and Sewer Creep:  Mohrig Touches Third Rail in Milton Politics and Will Finally Pay the Price in 2023 Elections.  It’s fair to say Mohrig’s experience (aka his record) is dismal.

However, what most attracted my attention at Mohrig’s campaign website was not his bland platform planks . . . or even his multitudinous lies.  Rather, what attracted my attention was Mohrig’s silence on two issues . . . issues Miltonites currently care the most about . . . and they are:  Milton’s elections disaster and Milton deep problems with ethics/integrity/accountability.  These two issues (+ trivial HOA matters) have dominated city council’s agenda over the past 2 years. Mohrig’s silence speaks volumes.  Mohrig’s record on both issues is both abysmal . . . and indefensible . . . and he knows it.  So watch Mohrig as he continues to dodge these issues, by ignoring them or changing the subject. 

Milton’s elections initiative has been Mohrig’s signature failure.  In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Mohrig took up the cause of municipal elections and became the leader of a quasi-fascist lunatic fringe that successfully strong-armed Milton into Milton self-running municipal elections.  The impetus was restoring election integrity (which Mohrig now denies) . . . ironic because Milton’s elections initiative has been mired in dishonesty, non-transparency, unfairness, and partisanship (and incompetence) . . . so much so that Mohrig now falsely claims his only motive was cost savings.  However, even Morhig’s cost savings assertion has been disproven.  Click on following links for detailed analysis of elections cost savings:

July 29, 2023 – Exposing Exaggerated Elections Cost Savings Projections at Milton City Hall

August 17, 2023 – Mohrig Fails to Substantiate Exaggerated Elections Cost Savings . . . Just More Elections Dishonesty . . . Milton May Actually Pay More For Much Less Service

When all costs are included and accurately estimated, Milton will likely pay more for municipal elections (than under Fulton County) . . . and with more voter difficulty/inconvenience:  fewer voting days and hours; fewer polling locations; no options to early vote outside Milton; and different dates/hours/locations for odd vs. even numbered election years (municipal vs. county/state/federal elections).

At the blog, you can read about the many dishonesties and missteps surrounding Milton’s election initiative.  I have now written a total of 13 posts (and counting) that detail Milton and Mohrig’s election malfeasance.  So yes, Mohrig does not want to discuss his elections fiasco with voters.  He knows that as Miltonites discover the truth, they will certainly reject his re-election.  Why would Milton re-elect a representative that did the following?

1. Designed the election in which he is running.
2. Met in secret to design elections.  Failed to provide any public notice (even a city calendar entry) for at least 4 Election Feasibility Committee meetings.  Failed to provide opportunities for public participation/observance for these meetings.  These are violations of Georgia’s Open Meetings Act.
3. Maintained no records of the first four secret meetings—a violation of Georgia’s Open Meetings and Open Records Act.
4. Recommended reducing polling locations from (Fulton’s) 8 locations to only 2 locations.
5. Eliminated a polling place for his own district (District 3) and then adamantly opposed adding back a District 3 polling location.
6. Approved significantly reduced voting days and hours (compared to Fulton County).
7. Recommended and approved elimination of early voting outside Milton, including in Alpharetta.
8. Recommended and approved a suboptimal early voting location (Crabapple) that makes voting especially inconvenient for District 3 voters.
9. Appointed Lisa Cauley, a political partisan activist with no elections experience/expertise, to the election feasibility committee (EFC).  And approved appointment of another partisan activist (and Trump fake/alternate elector) to the EFC.
10. Ignored citizen complaints about the partisan make-up of the EFC.  Made no changes to EFC membership.
11. Did not livestream or record any EFC meetings.
12. Consistently used private email to conduct city business with other EFC members who also used private emails.
13. Approved a falsified, misleading, and poorly substantiated elections business case that grossly and intentionally underestimated costs by deliberately not including and underestimating costs.  Provided little sourcing/substantiation of costs.  Provided no estimate of staff or contingency costs.
14. Assented to elimination of a discussion of elections risks in the final EFC report.
15. Allowed significant alteration of city staff’s EFC final report, eliminating all discussion of risk and staff costs.
16. Approved an election design and business case that will may yield little/no cost savings and will likely cost more than Fulton County-run elections when all costs are considered.
17. Pushed staff aside in the preparation of the EFC’s final report.
18. Provided no opportunities for public input on the EFC’s final report.
19. Failed to hold a committee vote on the EFC’s final report.
20. Falsely asserts that the EFC was not subject to any local or state laws because it was an “informal” committee – an entirely fictional construct that has no basis in law and was debunked by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
21. Was criticized by Georgia Secretary of State for the EFC’s failure to obey Georgia’s Open Meetings and Open Records Act.
22. Continued to interfere and tamper with Milton’s elections after the EFC disbanded, even after he was warned by Milton’s elections consultant.
23. Assigned elections tasks (unknown to the public) to Lisa Cauley, an EFC member and partisan activist, after the EFC had disbanded . . . allowing Cauley to act in a quasi-official, behind-the-scenes role
24. Failed to provide text messages in response to an Open Records Request.  These records were only obtained because other parties to the same text messages did comply with the Open Records Request.
25. Micromanaged and interfered with the hiring of Milton’s election consultant.
26. Forced an elections consultant upon the city who was ultimately terminated.
27. Made patently false and grossly exaggerated claims of impossible elections savings ($250,000) that have been disproven.
28. Failed to provide substantiation of claimed ($250,000) elections savings in response to an open records request.
29. Wasted precious city resources, money, and time through his interference.  Months of time have been lost.  Another consultant had to be hired to assist Milton’s Election Superintendent, further increasing Milton’s elections costs.  Legal costs have been incurred because of Mohrig’s interference.
30. Voted in early August 2021 for Milton to run its municipal elections.  Given what we now know to be the risks, complexities, and costs of running local elections, such a move would have cost Milton a lot of money and would have been an implementation disaster.
31. Caused, through his actions, a complaint to be filed against the City of Milton with the Georgia Elections Board.

There is so much Mohrig malfeasance, it is overwhelming. There are additional infractions, but readers should get the point.  (I will continue to add to this list, so check back from time to time.)  Mr. Mohrig is silent about elections because of his many wrongful actions which have caused Milton’s elections initiative to be an utter and complete failure.

The above (31) infractions also explain Mohrig’s silence on ethics, integrity, and accountability.  His elections actions demonstrate his haywire ethical compass and his complete lack of integrity.  To make matters worse, Mohrig (along with Laura Bentley) has been Paul Moore’s Defender-in-Chief in Moore’s shameful ethics scandal.  He was a chief witness for the defense. He voted against Milton’s ethics panel’s recommended punishment for Moore for his conviction on 3 ethics charges.  After Moore’s conviction, Mohrig also voted FOR Moore’s appointment as Mayor Pro Tem.  Mohrig has never once condemned Moore for his ethics violations; rather, he has refused to support and defend Milton’s ethic process and panel.

********************************************************************************************

September 3, 2023 – Lunatic Fringe in Milton . . . We all Know You’re Out There . . . You’ve Got to Blame Someone For Your Own Confusion

A favorite song of mine by the band Red River (and their only hit) is called “Lunatic Fringe.”  Following is a link to a video of the song:  Lunatic Fringe Song Video

Surprisingly, there is a Lunatic Fringe in Milton and it has more adherents than the average Miltonite might realize.  These cranks and flakes scurried out of Milton’s cracks and crevices when local government took up the matter of running its municipal elections.  Unfortunately, with the elections initiative, the City gates were welcomely thrown open to these barbarians by Council Members Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig (and Laura Bentley).  For two years, this group of extreme partisans has been indulged by Milton’s city government.  They have become increasingly emboldened . . . running amuck in Milton City government and making a mockery of good governance. Secret elections meetings; election tampering; backroom machinations . . . you name it.

Citizens must be careful not to underestimate these radicals.  While relatively small in numbers, their impact is amplified by their irrational exuberance, their noisiness, and their willingness to resort to extremes to achieve their objectives.  They do not think or act like average Miltonites or average Americans.  They care nothing for democratic institutions or the rule of law.  They live in self-created, belief-confirming echo chambers. They are allergic to facts. They typically operate in secret and in anonymity; they despise transparency.  They care nothing about election integrity or voting rights; they care only that their candidates and their agendas prevail . . . by whatever means necessary.  Many have given up on America and its founding principles.  Currently, they are rallying around Council Member Rick Mohrig, who has served as their chief advocate and protector.  However, in the 2023 elections, I am confident that the vast majority of Milton’s voters will reject their extreme partisan ideology and their threat to good governance in Milton.

Following are the lyrics to Lunatic Fringe with resonant themes bolded:

*********************************************************************************************

August 29, 2023 – Answer to Question of Who Blasted Mohrig . . . Say Goodbye to Milton’s Dinosaurs . . . And Hello to Milton’s New Reality

(I am also posting the below answer at the original blog post: Blog Post: Who Wrote Letter Blasting Mohrig. I am attaching the un-redacted letter at the end of this post.)

If you guessed Council Member Paul Moore was the author of the letter blasting Rick Mohrig about ethics, backroom dealings, non-transparency, and operating outside of the rules . . . then congratulations! You’re right!

Moore’s letter was written in 2007 when Moore was chairman of the Planning Commission.  The letter was published at the popular (but now defunct) Access Milton blog just one day before the 2007 municipal elections.  At the time Mohrig was running against Alan Tart in the only competitive race of Mohrig’s political career. 

Previously, in 2006, Mohrig slithered onto council without any competition in Milton’s first-ever election.  Based on Mohrig’s conduct while on council (i.e., the sort of stuff Moore mentions in his letter), Alan Tart challenged Mohrig in the 2007 election.  Despite Mohrig running a very dirty campaign (including appeals to partisanship . . . which I believe he will try again in desperation), Mohrig was resoundingly defeated by Tart. Unfortunately, Mohrig returned to council through appointment (when a seat was vacated by Lance Large due to a job relocation) and then ran unopposed in 3 elections.  We’ve now been stuck with Mohrig for over a decade and the lack of accountability at the ballot box shows in his poor performance and unethical conduct . . . and his general disconnectedness from the concerns of average Miltonites.

Why is this email important?  For the past 2+ years, Moore and Mohrig have been joined at the hip and engaging in the same misbehavior that Moore describes in his 2007 letter:  secret Election Feasibility Committee (EFC) meetings; backroom machinations in developing EFC recommendations and in hiring an elections consultant; Moore’s conviction on 3 ethics charges; intrusion into trivial HOA issues; etc.

In the period 2006 to at least 2017, Moore and Mohrig were bitter rivals.  They were members of the two opposing factions that have been battling each other since Milton was founded.  These factions spent more time fighting each other and advancing personal and special interests’ agendas than effecting citizens’ priorities.  Dirty politics were the norm.  Often it was positively middle school . . . silly non-stop drama.  Neither side cared much about the rule of law and both sides promiscuously approved zoning variances.  Regrettably, I was duped into helping the Moore-Bentley faction.  However, I broke with Laura Bentley and Moore, when upon Bentley’s election, I witnessed Moore and Bentley resorting to same misbehavior they accused their rivals of engaging in . . . actually much worse misbehavior.  That was the Old Reality (that Moore, Bentley, Mohrig, and Lisa Cauley longingly pine for).  That was Milton 1.0. 

I find it interesting that Milton’s two long-warring blocs are now aligning with each other.  Politics certainly does make for strange bedfellows, but the Moore-Mohrig snuggle-up is the strangest I’ve ever witnessed in Milton’s political history.  However, it makes sense in the context of power politics.  Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.  Both of Milton’s ancient factions are so weakened that their mutual survival requires they become kissin’ cousins.  It is a classic case of the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend.  And in this case, the enemy is (positive) change in Milton . . . a third way forward that forever excludes Milton’s endlessly antagonistic and tiresome factions.  Moore, Mohrig, Bentley, and Cauley are fighting a losing battle against the tides of change.  Just like the real dinosaurs 65 million years, Milton’s political dinosaurs are doomed . . . a meteor of change has struck Milton . . .

. . . Phil Cranmer and Doug Hene offer a clean break with the past (that hopefully the remaining members of council will embrace).  They offer a new generation of forward-thinking leaders with fresh ideas and strong moral compasses.  Both are senior business executives who will bring much needed expertise and experience to council.  Milton desperately needs Principled Leadership in Milton, characterized by respect for the rule of law, integrity, accountability, transparency, process rigor, fairness, courage, and a strategic mindset.  No more wading into trivial HOA issues.  No more shameful ethics problems.  No more elections interference.  No more extensions of sewer.  No more hyper-partisanship.  Now is the time for Milton 2.0.  Citizens, that is the NEW REALITY.  Out with the old, in with the new.  Onward and upward Milton . . .

I love ending this post with the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds . . . a true team of rivals!

********************************************************************************************

August 27, 2023.  Thanks Readers . . . Blog Reaching New Heights . . . Good Governance Is on the March

I want to pause my blogging to thank my loyal readers, most of whom are Milton citizens and voters.  You are reason that I invest so much time in the blog . . . and it does take many hours (away from my work, family, and friends) . . . and much money . . . roughly $15,000 over the past 7 years.  However, my blogging is for a great cause:  truth, justice, and good governance in municipal government.

Currently, blog viewership is higher than ever.  Based on aggregate data, I estimate that each blog post receives 400 to 600 views, taking into account both readers that directly visit the blog and subscribers that read emails of my posts.  I am seeing volumes even higher than in the run-up to the historic 2017 election (that set voting participation records in Milton) . . . and that is saying a lot.  I attribute the high blog traffic to citizens’ concerns about 1) council’s lack of strategic focus; 2) serious ethical misbehavior in city government; and 3) most importantly, Milton’s dishonest, partisan, incompetent, and non-transparent elections design and planning . . . epitomized by council’s deleting a polling place for District 3 (in favor of a District 2 polling place) and then refusing to add back a District 3 polling place.  Just 8 days after I exposed this egregious injustice, you—the citizens of Milton—coerced Council into adding a third polling location.  Thank you and congratulations!

Considering Milton’s population of 30,000+ registered voters, 400 to 600 views per blog post may not seem like much.  However, considering only 7 – 14% of registered voters go to the polls for municipal elections, such viewership is impactful.  I believe viewership probably translates to a 2+ times multiple of readers, so 800 – 1200 regular or semi-regular readers.  Significantly, the blog requires effort and thought from readers, so blog readers are Milton’s most committed citizens . . . citizens who vote, who write to council, who show up to speak at council, and who otherwise engage local government . . . and who are willing to exert influence in their social and professional circles.  This is evidenced by consistent email open rates of 250+%, which means readers are abundantly sharing blog posts. It is also evidenced by the Milton Coalition blog posts ranking high in search results for local politicians and political activists . . . hopefully, reinforcing government and political accountability.

My intention was never to write for the masses of Milton.  Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are for the mostly disengaged masses.  Discussion on such social media platforms usually resembles a food fight more than an intelligent debate, with memes being the primary currency of argument.  I will let partisan activist Lisa Cauley (operating under her anonymous nom de guerre of Grayce Land) and her mean-girl minions create and post mindless partisan memes in their secret Facebook group.  I would rather engage publicly in intelligent and spirited dialog . . . using polysyllabic words and complete sentences.

My intention was always to cultivate an audience of smart and engaged influencers.  And I knew to do so, I had to create reasoned, often detailed posts that relied on primary source materials, which I always provide so that readers can do their own research and draw their own conclusions.  I also knew that factuality is critical.  After 7+ years of blogging, I can count on one hand the number of times readers—all of them friendlies–wrote to me about factual errors (that I promptly corrected).  NEVER once have my adversaries, who often accuse me of disinformation and “fake news,” alerted me to a factual error at my blog.

Readers, thank you again for your loyalty and more importantly for your engagement with local government.  You have made—and are making—a positive difference through your efforts on behalf of good governance.  Any credit for change you ascribe to me really and truly belongs to you.  Thank you.

Advocating For Citizens and Principled Local Leadership,

Tim

*************************************************************************************************

August 26, 2023.  Two Competitive Races in Milton.

Well, candidate qualification week concluded yesterday.  There will be two competitive races in Milton:  District 1 and District 3.  It was a week that had local political junkies (like me) on the edge of their seats. 

District 2.  Qualifying began with a political prequel:  Paul Moore’s announcement that he would not run for re-election on the day before qualifying (at what was supposed to be his campaign kick-off).  Moore cited a “new reality” in Milton that he did not explain.  (Former Council Member Bentley has also cited a new “experience” in Milton . . . an odd non-resonant phrasing.)  I agree with Moore, but I suspect his and my perspectives on this new reality are very different . . . however, that is a blog post for another day.  Moore’s withdrawal means District 2, Milton’s most competitive district, will not be contested.  DRB committeeman Doug Hene will claim the District 2 seat.  There was a lot scrambling around to find a candidate to challenge Hene, but the Moore-Mohrig-Cauley camp could not find anyone they could dupe into committing political suicide (as perhaps they have in District 1).  Hene ran a masterful shock-and-awe “pre-campaign” that backed down the ever-stubborn Paul Moore.  Impressive.  The logical District 2 replacement candidate would have been partisan Lisa Cauley, but Ms. Cauley operates most comfortably in Milton’s political shadows and alleyways.  She epitomizes “leading from behind.”  And in any case, Cauley is a spent force in Milton due to her central role in Milton’s election dysfunction and dishonesty.  She has been demoted to ordinary private citizen and I suspect may lose her Republican leadership positions for botching things so badly in Milton.  I believe Ms. Cauley had a duty to run considering her insistence on 2 polling locations probably sunk Moore’s already badly-damaged candidacy.

District 3.  Hallelujah!  District 3’s race will be competitive for the first time since 2011.  Mohrig has slid onto council 5 times without competition . . . once by appointment and 4 times in uncontested races.  The one time he had competition, he lost badly . . . after running one of the dirtiest and most partisan campaigns in Milton’s history (more about that in future blog posts.)  Mohrig is the last of the political dinosaurs in Milton . . . the last person standing in the way of a new Milton:  non-partisan, strategically focused, ethical, accountable.  Mohrig’s opponent is Phil Cranmer, a decent and dedicated fellow who has diligently served (as Mohrig’s appointee) on the Milton Parks and Recreation Board for 8 years.  My understanding is that over the past 2 years, Phil became increasingly concerned about shenanigans at council.  However, Cranmer’s tipping point was Mohrig’s staunch opposition to providing a convenient District 3 polling location . . . Mohrig and Cranmer’s OWN district.  Cranmer is running a very strong campaign . . . knocking on doors, smart social media posts, good sign coverage.  Conversely, it seems Mohrig is beginning from a cold start . . . no money, no website, no social media presence, etc.  He does have a lot of one thing . . . a very long and poor council record.  Despite vowing never to extend sewer, he has done so twice.  He has waded into trvial HOA issues.  And of course, he has demonstrated a complete lack of integrity with his actions related to Milton self-running its 2023 municipal elections.  It is boggles the mind that Mohrig believes it is ethical for a council member to design an election in which he will run.  I don’t think Mohrig has a prayer if Cranmer runs a halfway decent campaign.

District 1 provided the real shocker.  A political unknown, Helen Gordon, stepped forward on Friday to challenge Council Member Carol Cookerly, who did not have competition in her previous two races.  Cookerly was caught flat-footed . . . without signs, a website, a social media presence, etc.  Ms. Cookerly probably should have invested in a pre-campaign strategy (website, social media, etc.) to deter competitors.  I suspect Cookerly’s unreadiness influenced her opponent’s calculus.  However, I suspect that other factors around Milton self-running its elections might also be factors in Ms. Gordon’s candidacy . . . time will tell.  I am going to withhold judgment about this race until I learn more about Ms. Gordon.  We will learn soon enough who is behind Gordon’s candidacy, why she is running, and what she stands for . . . early signs are not encouraging.

Following is a link to the Milton Herald’s article about Milton’s election races:

Milton Herald: Here are the Milton City Council Candidates

*************************************************************************************************

August 22, 2023.  Orwellian Mohrig:  Too Dangerous For Milton . . . Elections have been Moh-rigged.

I strongly assert without any intention of hyperbole that Council Member Rick Mohrig is a danger to democracy and basic rights in Milton.  His speech at council on Monday night should frighten citizens. Milton’s elections have clearly been Moh-rigged.   

His defense of his actions and the actions of the Election Feasibility Committee (EFC) have a distinctly Orwellian ring.  Mohrig engages in not-so-clever wordplay—Orwellian Doublespeak—to justify his and the EFC’s actions. 

Doublespeak is language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words (source:  Wikipedia).  We find this Doublespeak in Orwell’s novels . . . and in Rick Mohrig’s often absurd and asinine pontifications.  You might remember the twisted maxims from Animal Farm—for example, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”  I was reminded of Doublespeak on Monday night when Mohrig stated that labeling a committee as “informal” allows such a committee to essentially operate outside of the law . . . to basically do anything it wants and keep no records of what it did.  Mohrig also twists the English language to assert that because municipal elections are non-partisan, it is ok for partisans to design them when just the opposite is true . . . because municipal elections are non-partisan, partisans should not design them.  Mohrig finds no contradictions or conflicts (of interest) in he and Paul Moore designing elections in which they will run.  (BTW, the Milton Municipal Code explicitly prohibits elected officials from appointment to committees.)  Mohrig also sees no problems with his continued interference in elections planning after the EFC disbanded, including his assigning tasks to Lisa Cauley, another EFC member.  He waves off his intrusion in the hiring of an elections consultant as a kind of irrational exuberance.  He casually dismisses criticisms that his use of personal email for city business is unethical, even though he has previously been criticized for this exact issue.  Only through public coercion did Mohrig grudgingly agree to add a third polling location in District 3 where Milton’s black and brown (and Democratic) voters are concentrated.  Mohrig’s opposition to a District 3 location was clearly discriminatory and partisan . . . and an affront to equal voting rights/access and election integrity.

It is clear that Mohrig has no respect or regard for the rule of law, democratic tenets, the Constitution, or fundamental good governance principles–including election integrity and voting rights.  Mohrig is a leader of a North Fulton lunatic fringe that has exercised undue and outsized influence over Milton’s elections . . . a fringe that seems to have melted away as Milton has fallen deeper and deeper into elections dysfunction and dishonesty . . . a fringe that has infected non-partisan municipal elections with partisan doctrine.  It would be condign punishment (and ironic) for Mohrig to be removed in the 2023 elections that he helped design.  Milton’s voters need to send a clarion message that they will not tolerate elected officials (and their hyper-partisan cronies) designing their own elections.

*************************************************************************************************

August 21, 2023.  Paul Moore Opts Not to Seek Re-election

Today, at what was supposed to be his campaign kick-off event, Paul Moore announced he will not seek re-election to his council seat.  Moore indicated he only made this decision this past Thursday morning.  I am told that Moore cited pending litigation as one reason for his withdrawal from the District 2 race.  I assume he is referring to his being sued for costs and fees associated with his long-running ethics case.

I do not have much insight into the factors that went into Moore’s decision not to run.  Certainly, Doug Hene was going to be a formidable candidate . . . perhaps the toughest in Milton’s history.  Hene has raised over $100,000 in campaign funds.  And my understanding is that Hene has commitments for nearly 300 sign placements and 40 meet-and-greets.  Quite impressive, particularly for an insurgent candidate.

Below is Moore’s withdrawal announcement at Facebook.

I wish Mr. Moore well in his future endeavors.  I do believe that Mr. Moore served the community well for most of his term on the Planning Commission.

*************************************************************************************************

August 11, 2023. Laura Bentley to Lead Fundraising For Paul Moore . . . Fooling Some of the People All of the Time

On June 22, 2023, Paul Moore established a Moore for Milton Candidate Committee to raise funds for his campaign.  Laura Bentley is the Chairperson of this committee according to the filed Declaration of Intent (DOI) to Accept Campaign Contributions, so it seems Bentley is being charged with fundraising for Moore’s campaign.  I am attaching a screen shot from the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission website that provides information on the committee.  I am also attaching the committee’s DOI.  Given Moore ethical troubles and issues, the Moore For Milton Candidate Committee warrants close monitoring.  I will provide citizens with all required reports generated by this committee as well as updates on money raised, money expended, etc.  Usually, these reports provide a lot of detail, including individually listing donations > $100 . . . including the name of the donor.  Right now, Moore is highly radioactive, so it will be interesting to see which Miltonites have the temerity to contribute to his campaign.  I am perplexed how anybody with integrity and good sense would give to Moore’s campaign, considering his conviction on 3 ethics charges; his untoward actions in the design/planning of Milton’s elections; and his intrusion into minor HOA matters.  Chalk it up to the old saying about “fooling some of the people all of the time.”

Note:  In a later B&P post, I will discuss ethical issues I have with Bentley leading a fundraising effort based on Ms. Bentley’s 2017 campaign and some other events around that campaign’s financing.

*************************************************************************************************

August 7, 2023.  Embarrassed to Call Milton Home? 

Following is the latest from the AJC political journalist team.  Moore and Mohrig have turned Milton into a laughingstock with their non-stop middle-school drama at City Hall.  The article mentions both the Paul Moore “ethics scandal” and “election mismanagement and voter suppression.” As the AJC correctly states:  Moore and Mohrig are “at the centers of those dramas.”  Yes, it has become increasingly embarrassing to claim that you hail from Milton because of the high jinks at Milton City Hall. Following is the AJC article:

MILTON DRAMA. Don’t let the manicured lawns and million-dollar farmhouses fool you: There’s plenty in Milton that isn’t picture perfect.

Let’s start with an ethics scandal and allegations of election mismanagement and voter suppression by some members of the Milton City Council.

Credit: Courtesy City of Milton

Now add a new political action committee called Milton Families First, which advocates “for government transparency and accountability, strengthening public safety, and promoting responsible growth.” With a municipal election looming, the PAC is also designed to unseat the members of the council at the center of those dramas: Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig.

The PAC is funded in part by Tony Palazzo, the Milton businessman who filed an ethics complaint against Moore. That charge led Moore to sue Palazzo for filing the ethics complaint in the first place.

PACs are commonplace in statewide and congressional races, but they’re unusual at the city council level. So continue to watch this space. We have a feeling this isn’t over.

*************************************************************************************************

August 3, 2023. Information on Milton Family First (MFF).

Yesterday, I published a blog post on Milton Families First (MFF).  I am not connected in any way with MFF, but I support MFF’s mission and goals.  Milton needs a government watchdog group. 

Some readers reached out to me about MFF and were seeking more information.  I am not an expert in Independent Committees, PACs, etc. . . . nor do I plan to become an expert.  However, here is what I found on MFF.  The Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission has a great website where you can find information on committees that have registered with the Commission.  Following is the link:

Georgia Campaign Finance Committee Search Tool

I searched for MFF and found this:

I also downloaded MFF’s eFile registration.  It is attached. MFF is required to file periodic reports to the Commission.

Following are some screenshots from Georgia’s laws that provide information on Committees.  The table at the bottom of this post shows some of the similarities and differences between PACs and Independent Committees.  (The table is from 2019, so the contribution maximums in 2023 are higher than shown in the table.)

*************************************************************************************************

August 1, 2023. Moore and Mohrig Bring A Pox on the House of Milton . . . A Steady Stream of Bad Press.

Geeeeeez . . . It seems that every week another negative story about Milton finds its way into the newspaper.  Perhaps, the news story is the latest installment in the Paul Moore ethics scandal.  Or maybe, it is another chapter in Milton’s never-ending epic saga about how to NOT conduct a free, fair, and honest election.  Or maybe it is about City Council’s intrusion into minor HOA affairs.  Since July 24th, there have been 4 negative stories. (See links to latest stories below.) There is one common denominator in all these stories . . . the lead actors are Council Members Paul Moore and/or Rick Mohrig . . . Milton’s Frick and Frack of government dysfunction and bad behavior.  And hopefully it is becoming clear to Milton’s citizens that the only way to stop the steady stream of bad press is to stop Moore and Mohrig in their quest for re-election.  Two good alternatives have emerged:  Doug Hene and Phil Cranmer.  Miltonites should all cheer when the November 2023 headline reads:  “Moore and Mohrig Defeated in Landslide Vote for Good Governance.”

Accusations of Election Tampering Raise Questions of City Council Purview

Milton Officials Backtrack and Add Third Polling Site

State Court Closes Book on Milton Councilman’s Ethics Saga Denying Appeal

Consultant: Milton Erred in Removing District 3 Polling Place

*************************************************************************************************

July 31, 2023. One-Stop Shopping for Candidate Information.

Today, I published a new page at the Milton Coalition Blog providing a complete compendium of candidate information that includes campaign websites, campaign Facebook pages, LinkedIn profiles, etc.  I also posted a link that provides all campaign finance reports for elected officials and announced candidates.  As with previous elections, the Milton Coalition Blog will likely be the only website that provides candidate information in one place.

2023 Elections: One-Stop Shop For Candidate Information

*************************************************************************************************

July 31, 2023. Important Voting Information:  Times, Dates, Locations . . . And A Lot of Confusion. 

At its July 24^th meeting, City Council approved a municipal elections ordinance that specified:  Milton’s qualifying period; advanced voting days and hours; election day date and hours; and voting locations.  See below screen shots.

Milton voters should understand Milton will ONLY run municipal elections, which ONLY occur in odd-numbered years.  Fulton County will STILL run elections in even-numbered years.  It will certainly be confusing for voters.  I believe the elections complexity will suppress overall voting in both municipal and in FuCo-run elections . . . and perhaps that was the main driver for Milton’s election initiative . . . and perhaps that was why the Elections Feasibility Committee (EFC) was packed with partisan activists (with no elections expertise and operating non-transparently).

The advanced and election day polling locations for FuCo elections are completely different from Milton’s polling locations.  Accordingly, voters will need to keep track of the year to figure out where to vote.  And to add to the confusion, the ONLY early voting location for municipal elections will be Milton City Hall (not the Milton Library).  Voters will NO longer have the option of early voting anywhere else, including Alpharetta.  (In recent elections about 40% of early voting occurred outside Milton . . . 30% of it in Alpharetta and 10% at Fulton County’s 22 other early voting locations.)  The inconvenience will be greater for District 3 voters who will no longer have the nearby Alpharetta option for early voting and will have to trek across Milton to early vote in Crabapple . . . an area many may never have visited given traffic patterns in the area.  (Crabapple is not ideal for an early voting location.  Because of traffic patterns, the most logical early voting location is the Hwy 9/Windward/Deerfield area, but nothing about Milton’s elections initiative has been logical . . . or honest . . . or fair.)  Thankfully, due to public outcry (fostered by the Milton Coalition blog) against obvious voter disenfranchisement, Council backtracked and added a District 3 election day polling location (after replacing it with a District 2 polling location).  Interestingly, the EFC recommended only 2 polling locations . . . in Districts 1 and 3, not in District 2.

Advanced voting days and hours between Milton and Fulton also significantly differ.  To reduce confusion and maintain service levels, in December 2022, the EFC recommended that Milton voting days/hours mirror FuCo’s voting days/hours.  The EFC recommended 206 advanced voting hours.  However, the City of Milton reduced early voting hours to 149 hours (a nearly 28% decrease), by reducing both 1) the number of days of early voting (eliminating Sunday voting) and 2) the number of hours early polling locations are open . . . thereby increasing odd vs. even year confusion even more. (Note: The EFC actually was incorrect about FuCo’s voting hours, which only totaled 162 hours . . . that the EFC got this basic fact wrong is a testament to the committee’s incompetence, as is the EFC’s shoddy business case.)

Yes, elections in Milton will be confusing.  And adding even more confusion, in odd-numbered years, if there is a county/state/federal item on the ballot, Milton has not decided whether 1) both Milton and FuCo will run separate elections (with different locations/days/hours) or 2) Fulton County will run these elections.  Miltonites may have to vote at two different polling locations with different days/hours of operation.

The year-to-year confusion begs the question why Milton chose to self-run its municipal elections to achieve minuscule savings realized only by drastically cutting service levels (i.e., reducing polling locations/days/hours). Answer: Milton running its own elections was always mostly driven by the partisan objective of avenging the “stealing” of the 2020 presidential election and was part of a broader North Fulton elections strategy.

Qualifying is when candidates submit forms declaring their intention to run and they pay their qualifying fees.  This results in their names being added to the ballot

Municipal Early Voting – Single Option, Reduced Hours.  Milton’s only early voting location will be Milton City Hall (not the Milton Library).

Election Day Voting:  12 Hours and Three locations . . . All Different From Fulton County.  There will be three election day polling locations in Milton (one in each district):  City Hall (District 1); Milton City Park & Preserve (District 2); and Milton Public Safety Complex (District 3).  My understanding is that the City will mail voters instructions about where to vote.  (Note:  These locations are all different from Fulton County’s polling locations at which voters will vote in even-numbered years.)

*************************************************************************************************

July 29, 2023.  Chronological Compendium of Milton Herald Articles on Milton’s Elections Initiative. 

The Milton Herald has done an incredible job of reporting on elections initiatives in Milton and greater North Fulton County.  The Milton Herald has published an incredible 43 articles over the past 2 years, including a few great op ed pieces.  It was the Milton Herald that broke the story that Milton’s Election Feasibility Committee had been meeting in secret for months, with maintaining any records of its discussions.  I am including a compendium of hyperlinks to all the Milton Herald’s articles.  It is impossible to read these articles and not conclude that Milton’s process for designing and planning its elections fundamentally lacked rigor, transparency, and honesty.  It is impossible to read this sad saga and maintain any trust and confidence in Milton’s self-running its municipal elections.

1. 08-11-2021:  Milton considers future path to conduct its own elections
2. 08-11-2021:  Letter: Supervision of elections requires careful thought
3. 10-26-2021:  Milton residents continue push to ‘fire’ Fulton County from running city’s elections
4. 01-10-2022:  Fulton County elections director’s employment status remains undecided
5. 01-14-2022:  Fulton County Elections Board faces funding challenges
6. 04-22-2022:  Milton formalizes committee to research election feasibility
7. 06-20-2022:  Milton Election Feasibility Committee sets ground rules
8. 07-22-2022:  Milton election committee member subpoenaed in 2020 vote probe
9. 08-08-2022:  Milton looks to model city for election guidance
10. 08-26-2022:  Milton residents question partisanship of elections committee
11. 09-12-2022:  Records draw more questions about Milton election committee
12. 09-19-2022:  Milton elections panel makes progress
13. 11-16-2022:  Milton opens door for municipal election operations
14. 12-11-2022: Milton elections committee prepares final presentation
15. 12-11-2022:  Milton elections panel presents findings, including polling costs
16. 12-21-2022:  Milton will run its own elections in 2023
17. 01-25-2023:  North Fulton cities rush to run their own elections
18. 01-30-2023:  Roswell will talk elections tonight at special public meeting
19. 01-30-2023:  Roswell pushes to run its own municipal elections
20. 01-31-2023:  Roswell advances plan to break from Fulton County elections
21. 02-04-2023:  Opinion: Cities may cede election decisions to six people
22. 02-06-2023:  Fulton County offers to match 2021 municipal election costs
23. 02-10-2023:  North Fulton mayors meet to discuss municipal elections
24. 02-28-2023:  Impact Johns Creek talks municipal elections
25. 03-01-2023:  Johns Creek will not run its own municipal elections
26. 03-16-2023:  Roswell joins Johns Creek in scrapping municipal election bid
27. 03-17-2023:  Alpharetta to talk municipal elections at Monday’s work session
28. 03-23-2023:  Alpharetta still undecided on 2023 municipal elections
29. 03-28-2023:  Alpharetta sticks with Fulton County for November elections
30. 04-14-2023:  Milton officials begin shaping municipal elections plan
31. 04-18-2023:  Alpharetta seals deal for Fulton County elections
32. 04-19-2023:  Secretary of State talks election security at Johns Creek chamber event
33. 05-03-2023:  Milton opts for two Election Day polling places, will likely hand-count ballots
34. 05-05-2023:  Data: Milton’s Democratic voters face longest polling commute
35. 05-19-2023:  Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight accuses Milton of suppressing minority voters
36. 06-07-2023:  Opinion: How a city can paint itself into a corner
37. 06-08-2023:  Milton hires former Fulton County elections official to help run city operation
38. 06-12-2023:  Milton seeks poll workers for 2023 municipal elections
39. 07-10-2023:  Milton seeks election help from volunteer committees
40. 07-10-2023:  State guidelines govern Milton’s election sojourn
41. 07-14-2023:  Milton hosts Q&A session with possible poll workers
42. 07-24-2023:  Consultant: Milton erred in removing District 3 polling place
43. 07-25-2023:  Milton officials backtrack, add third polling site
44. 08-01-2023: Accusations of Election Tampering Raise Questions of City Council Purview
45. 08-22-2023: Milton Replaces Elections Consultant

*************************************************************************************************

July 29, 2023.  Reflections on July 24th City Council Meeting:  Baseless Accusations of “Disinformation”

I promised I would provide my reflections on the citizens who spoke in General Public Comment at Monday’s (July 24^th) City Council meeting.  So here goes . . .

There were 4 speakers, including me.  The other three speakers came to Council to blast me and the Milton Coalition blog.  I must confess that I was pleased that I struck a nerve in these three citizens.  One was Lisa Cauley.  I had to pinch myself to keep from laughing at Ms. Cauley’s dark and foreboding warnings about a dangerous “undercurrent” in Milton.  This was an interesting choice of words coming from Ms. Cauley . . . considering the lack of transparency and backroom machinations that have plagued Milton’s elections design and planning process over the past two years.

All three speakers spoke of the blog as being a source of “disinformation” and “falsehoods.”  And recently, the blog was also accused of promulgating “fake news,” a throwaway term that highlights the imbecility of its users.  When I hear “fake news,” I think . . . is that all you’ve got . . . certainly you can do better than just name-calling . . . how about a rational argument for your position?

Quite a few citizens contacted me and pointed out that not one of the speakers provided a single example of the alleged disinformation being disseminate.  Why?  Because there is NO disinformation at the blog.  In my comments, I even offered to these critics that I would correct any factual error they discovered.  I went further and invited these critics to submit a blog post for consideration.  Of course, I have not heard hide-nor-hare from any of them.

I suspect these critics have spent very little time at the blog.  In response to my offer to correct factual errors, one speaker complained that the blog does not allow readers to leave comments.  This is simply NOT true.  The blog has Contact page with a contact form.  My email address is also provided at the blog.  Citizens contact me all the time. The speaker was correct that I do not allow public comments at individual blog posts.  This is because I do not want the blog to digress into a verbal food fight that is the norm on other social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter.  For years, critics have tried to pull me down into the mud, but I’ve mostly resisted engaging them on social media (and have regretted the few times I did engage . . . intelligent debate is impossible on social media).

Overall, I was pleased by these critics speaking at council.  They are their own worst enemies.  Every time they speak, they impugn their credibility and hurt their cause.  Of course, Ms. Cauley made exaggerated cost savings projections that I will delight in discrediting at the blog.

Note:  My policy is to not name private citizens in my blog.  Milton benefits from citizens engaging local government . . . even citizens that are clearly misguided and ill-informed.  I do not want to discourage any citizens from such engagement, so refrain from naming names at the blog.  I only name Ms. Cauley at the blog because she is a prominent political activist who figures importantly in the elections story.  Cauley is President of the Fulton County Republican Women, was a member of the Elections “Feasibility” Committee (EFC), and has been allowed since the EFC disbanded to function in an odd quasi-official capacity, which is troubling.  Ms. Cauley has acquired/been granted and exercised power within Milton’s government.  Accordingly, Ms. Cauley is fair game.

*************************************************************************************************

July 24, 2023. False Accusation of “Fake News” and Access to Responses to All 7 ORRs Showing Election Interference

See below post on Milton Lemonade Stand. I normally ignore these sorts of trite posts.  However, it is the political season, so I can’t resist responding . . .

Ms. Webb is likely referring to the Milton Coalition Blog. As a veteran of Milton politics, I can’t help chuckling when I see these mindless posts that take all of 2 minutes to create. Of course, “fake news” is a tired, politically-loaded phrase meant to actually deter people from doing their “own research” . . . or thinking.

Clearly, Ms. Webb has not really spent any time at the Milton Coalition blog.  Otherwise, Ms. Webb would know that I always provide all my source materials to readers so that they can do their “own research” and draw their own conclusions.  And at the end of this post, I am providing links to the city’s responses to my 7 Open Records Requests (ORRs) on Milton’s elections initiative.  This will allow Ms. Webb and any other citizen to go to the source materials and draw their own conclusions.  There is power in the truth . . . as John Adams stated:  “Facts are stubborn things.”

I have never wavered in my mission for the Milton Coalition blog.  My mission is 1) to provide thorough analysis and intelligent commentary on politics in Milton and 2) to promote good governance and principled leadership in Milton.  My target audience are intelligent, engaged, caring citizens that care about the rule of law and good governance.  Over time, I have slowly assembled a large and loyal community of smart, civic-minded readers that amplify my message through exerting influence in their social and professional circles.  This includes forwarding my emails and blog links.  I take pride in the small role I have played in citizen education and engagement . . . even those citizens who strongly disagree with me.  We benefit from honest, thoughtful debate.  And I am confident that if Ms. Webb spends the time to do her “own research” she will become a loyal reader and advocate for good governance.  In the spirit of factuality, fairness, and intelligent debate, I sent the following message to Ms. Webb:

Ms. Webb:

Several Milton citizens alerted me to your most recent Facebook post at Milton’s Lemonade Stand.  I assume your are referring to the Milton Coalition Blog.  I have responded to your post at the Milton Coalition Blog on my “Bits and Pieces” page.

Ms. Webb, in the spirit of honest, fair, and intelligent discussion/debate, I make to you a two-part offer. 

First, I make the same offer to you that I make to all my readers (both friend and foe):  Please notify me of any factual errors in my blog.  I will promptly correct any such errors (and alert readers to the correction).  I try my best but I certainly am fallible.  Since I began blogging in 2015, I can count on 1 hand the number of factual errors identified by readers—all of them friends.

Second, I offer you an opportunity to address readers of the Milton Coalition Blog about Milton’s election initiative.  Feel free to submit a post for me to publish.  I am posting links to the City’s responses to my Open Records Requests (ORRs) at the Milton Coalition Blog so that you can do your own research and draw your own conclusions.

Advocating For Good Governance and Elections Integrity,

Tim

A single citizen, Laura Bentley, responded to Ms. Webb’s post . . . with a thumbs-up like.  Ms. Bentley is a former city council member and current member of Milton’s Board of Zoning Appeals.  I supported Ms. Bentley in 2017 and believe my support was dispositive in her election.  I split with Ms. Bentley in 2018 when it became clear to me (and most of her supporters) that she was not going to honor her campaign promises (e.g., to shift power to citizens) or uphold the principles so many of us fought for in 2015-17.  I made the same offer to Ms. Bentley that I made to Ms. Webb in the above letter.  However, I doubt I will hear from either Ms. Webb or Ms. Bentley.  I believe neither care about facts or honest debate.  Perhaps I am wrong. We’ll see.  I am working on an detailed blog post on Ms. Bentley’s rise and fall in Milton politics, so stay tuned . . .

Following are links to the city’s responses to 7 ORRs pertaining to Milton’s elections initiative:

The first link is to Appen’s ORRs.  Only 3 are relevant to elections.  You may need the following code to access the responses:  377329.

Request Number: PRR-220-2023

This second link is to 4 follow-up ORRs that I submitted.  Some of the texts provide shocking evidence for the need for better governance in Milton:

2023 Tim Becker Discovery Records

*************************************************************************************************

June 26, 2023.  Hene Looking to Deliver Knock-out Punch? 

Yesterday (see June 25^th entry immediately below), I opined that Paul Moore would NOT run for re-election and provided a number of reasons for my position.  One reason was the formidability of his announced opponent, Doug Hene. 

Today, I am even more convinced of the strength of Hene’s candidacy based on his fundraising.  Since filing his June 12^th Declaration of Intent to raise and spend money for his campaign, Hene has raised a whopping $38,000 and is aiming to hit $50,000 by June 30^th when his first Campaign Finance Report must be filed.  By Milton standards, this is an amazing accomplishment.  Hene’s current war chest exceeds the amount Paul Moore raised and spent in his 2019 campaign.  Hene’s fundraising is all the more impressive because he is the insurgent.  Incumbents have myriad advantages in fundraising. 

Let’s face the facts.  Hene only recently announced his candidacy.  He does not yet have a campaign website or Facebook page.  His only public statement of his positions was his candidacy announcement, which honestly did not give citizens much insight into Mr. Hene and where he stands on various issues facing Milton.  Accordingly, I believe that right now, much of Mr. Hene’s appeal is that he is not Paul Moore.  There is more risk in backing an insurgent.  That so many people would give Hene so much money seems to imply an overwhelmingly strong anti-Moore (and Rick Mohrig) sentiment in Milton. 

Hene’s strategy to deliver a knock-out through a clear demonstration of widespread and enthusiastic public support, as reflected in his fundraising, is a brilliant move.  Hene’s fundraising accomplishment will have the added advantage of dissuading some Moore supporters from public support for Moore.  And it might ultimately persuade Moore not to seek re-election, lest he become the political equivalent of road kill in Milton.  Moore might spare himself a humiliating public flogging at the polls that he so richly deserves (and many of us would like to witness).

*************************************************************************************************

June 25, 2023.  Two Questions:  Will Paul Moore Run For Re-Election?  Should Paul Moore Run For Re-election?

My answers to these 2 questions are respectively No and Yes.  And my answers are probably opposite of what readers might expect based on my previous blog posts.  I predict Moore will not run for re-election, but I hope he will run.  Let me explain.

Paul Moore and I were friends and political allies.  In fact, Paul and I were core members of former Council Member Laura’s Bentley’s 8-person campaign team, which always met at my home.  I think I know Paul relatively well.  I broke with Paul Moore (and Laura Bentley) over what I perceived as dishonest and unethical behavior and a general failure to uphold the fundamental principles of good governance and to keep campaign promises.

Will Paul Moore Run For Re-election? I have to believe that despite his misbehavior in office, Moore still maintains some semblance of rationality.  And this presumed rationality underlies my belief that Mr. Moore will retire from council to “spend more time with his family.”  There are also some indicators that Moore will not run.  First and foremost, surely Mr. Moore realizes he is politically radioactive.  Moore’s conviction on three separate ethics charges is especially troublesome.  Miltonites are too wise and morally upright to re-elect a convicted ethics violator and I suspect Paul knows that.  Many people, especially other politicians, will not want to be too closely tied to Moore.  This means that the many endorsements and contributions lavished upon Moore in 2019 will likely not be forthcoming.  (Mr. Moore’s next campaign finance report, which I will publish, might be telling in this regard.)  People want to back a winner and Paul has little chance of winning.  And remember that campaign finance reports are public (and I will publish all of them); bigger donors (>$100) must be individually identified in campaign finance reports.  Second, Mr. Moore has not yet announced his candidacy and hosted an early and grand campaign kick-off, which has become standard practice for incumbent politicians . . . a way to lock in money and endorsements to scare off potential competitors.  Third, Doug Hene, who has announced his intention to run for Moore’s seat, is likely much more palatable to Mr. Moore than his enemies on the White Columns HOA board.  I feel relatively certain that Mr. Moore would run if a WC HOA board member announced his/her candidacy.  Moore’s feud with his HOA is a shameful and never-ending saga.  Fourth, at least on paper, Hene seems a formidable candidate.  He currently serves on Milton’s Design Review Board, and he appears to be a fine, upstanding and accomplished citizen.  Lastly, given Moore’s long history in Milton politics, Moore knows that Milton voters historically have taken a dim view of wayward council members and have not been shy about forcing such politicians into early retirement.  Mr. Moore’s transgressions have been many and obvious; he faces an angry electorate that understands and prioritizes integrity and accountability.

I must confess that I do feel strongly about my prediction that Mr. Moore will not run.  Certainly, there are contraindicators that would at least indicate Moore is keeping his options open.  For example, my sources tell me that Moore is showing up at more political networking events (than in the past).  Also Mr. Moore played a part in making voting more difficult for District 3 voters—the same voters that would most likely to vote against him.  And Mr. Moore may also believe (perhaps mistakenly) that he has many political chits he can cash from various constituents that he has advocated for.  And perhaps Moore believes political activist Lisa Cauley can bring significant firepower (political shock troops, etc.) to his campaign . . . I’m skeptical.

In my mind, whether Moore runs or not really comes down to whether Mr. Moore’s hubris eclipses his rationality and judgment.  This is a tough call, as I have witnessed a Paul Moore increasingly untethered from reality and ethics, such that he may pigheadedly go down with his ship . . . not unlike what another incumbent who ran for re-election in 2017 and was trounced unmercifully in the biggest election blowout in Milton’s history . . . an incumbent who carried much less political baggage than Moore carries.

That gets us to the second question: Should Paul Moore Run for Re-election?  I strongly believe Moore should run for 3 reasons. 

First, Milton benefits from competitive elections that force debate and discussion.  And the District 2 race is particularly important, as the central issue is integrity and accountability.  This is an issue worth discussing and debating.

Second, citizens deserve an opportunity to give Moore a painful and public political spanking.  As a long-time analyst of city politics, I believe Mr. Moore to be the worst elected representative in Milton’s 17-year history, even considering that the competition for this dishonor is decidedly stiff.  I know that I speak for many citizens when I assert that witnessing Moore’s humiliation at the polls would be an exercise in catharsis.

Third and most importantly, a defeat of Paul Moore—especially a blowout (which I predict)—would send an essential message to Milton’s city government—both elected officials and staff–that accountability and integrity matter.  It would send a clear message that local government’s poor performance over the past 1+ years will not be tolerated by citizens. 

*************************************************************************************************

June 19, 2023. Four More Variances For the Northwest Corner of Birmingham Crossroads?

This is my second post today. My earlier post on the death of Josh Chang immediately follows. In this post, my focus is on tonight’s city council meeting–specifically, the application for variances for the NW corner that, if approved, will dramatically increase the intensity of use of this property. I want to warn citizens that you may see some political theatre tonight. Both Mr. Mills, the applicant, and Council Member Paul Moore are both old political hands in Milton and even Fulton County before Milton founded in 2006. In fact, Mills and Moore belonged to the Birmingham-Hopewell Alliance that created and negotiated the Crossroads overlay that the proposed variances are intended to circumvent.  They are keen to all the tricks played by developers at Council. Also, disgraced Mr. Moore is facing (should he elect to run) a very steep uphill climb to re-election, so he desperately needs some rabbits to pull out of his political hat.  However, Moore must also be careful that he doesn’t catch another ethics charge. I believe Moore is treading on ethical thin ice and there are citizens that might be inclined to file an ethics complaint against him if he participates in tonight’s hearing.

There are a number of ways Mills and Moore might manage tonight’s events to appear the heros.  Following are some options.  You may see a hybrid of these options.

Option 1:  Mr. Moore asks some really tough questions but ultimately votes for the variances . . . or you may see Moore drive the council toward approval and then abstain. 

Option 2:  You may see some “grand bargain” achieved.  Developers often ask for much more than they know they should be granted or they can achieve.  It is a classic strategy in high-low negotiations.  In giving up elements of their proposal they don’t care about or can do without, they can posture as taking the High Road.  Council members will like this because they can brag that they struck a hard bargain.  I have seen this many times in Milton, and it seems to work in snowing citizens.

Option 3:  Moore will get a good read on council’s likely vote.  He may let others speak first and engage only if needed.  And if he believes the votes are there for passage of the variances needed, you might see Moore abstain or even vote against the variances (to provide some insulation from an ethics charge . . . the defense would go something like this:  “well, I voted contrary to the alleged conflict of interest.”)  Moore may only vote if he believes his vote is needed to approve the variances.

I am likely missing some potential stratagems that might be used tonight.  However, I wanted to ensure I went on the record in advance of the meeting with my predictions about how the hearing might play out.  To date, the gradual transformation of the Crossroads NW corner (including the AG1 land, which is most of the property) through variances into a high intensity commercial development has been successful . . . quite easy when council flagrantly disregards its own strict variance ordinance.

*************************************************************************************************

June 19, 2023. Unfortunately, Chang’s Death Highlights City Government’s Lack of Focus on Public Safety

Today, I published a blog post about the tragic and needless death of Josh Chang. My sense is that, if the City responds at all, they will slough it off as an isolated incident and no way indicative of any problems at the City. However, it is anything but a one-off event, but rather is indicative of deep and serious issues at City Hall. At my blog post, I mentioned that I would be publishing a blog post about a serious public safety issue that I raised and the City ignored.  Following is a preview of my future post.

In late 2020, a citizen contacted me about a traffic hazard that I then raised with the City.  The issue was visual obstructions at Birmingham Crossroads.  I alerted the City to parking immediately east of 7-Acre restaurant that obstructed the northern view of vehicles traveling west to east at the 4-way stop at Birmingham Crossroads.  And I provided photos.  The danger is that cars traveling west to east will be t-boned by cars traveling north to south, causing serious injury or death.  Because of the obstructed views resulting from sometime large vehicles parked very close to the roadway, this sort of accident is more probable.  Such vehicles in close proximity to the road (and presumably in the ROW) also create a hazard not unlike the hazard that killed Josh Chang and for which the City is now being held liable for $30+M.  The city replied by actually providing me with responses from the state DOT that confirmed the dangers, with the GADOT stating that the parking was not permitted, that the parking did not comply with state law, and that the parking constituted a safety hazard.  So what did the City do?  The city explained away the state’s response and did nothing.  I offer this as proof that Mr. Chang’s death is indicative of a culture at City Hall where public safety is not prioritized . . . with predictable consequences . . . injury and death on Milton’s roadways.  Recently, City Council actually passed an ordinance that will make it virtually impossible to install speed detection signs in subdivisions, thus increasing the likelihood of injury and death on Milton’s streets.  This ordinance is indicative of a City government that has become untethered from citizens’ concerns, even about public safety. Worse, I believe the speed detection ordinance was politically motivated and a sad example of elected officials prioritizing politics over public safety.

*************************************************************************************************

April 18, 2023: Elections Feasibility Study Highlights Issues of Both Competence and Integrity In Milton City Government.

In September, I was heads down on a project in Memphis and missed the Milton Herald’s article on Milton’s Election Feasibility Committee. It is excellent. I highly recommend reading it. Following is a link to the article:

https://www.appenmedia.com/news/records-draw-more-questions-about-milton-election-committee/article_f9b9c926-32b3-11ed-bbc5-03d73302ff24.html

In the past, I have felt the Herald’s reporting to be often lacking in depth. However, I’ve begun to take notice Amber Perry’s reporting. She wrote the piece on elections and seems to be a truly earnest reporter seeking the truth and digging deep to find it. It is difficult to read the article without laughing . . . that is, until you realize that elections are serious business that obviously the City is not taking seriously . . . otherwise, how can you explain the troubling, sometimes comical, elements of Ms. Perry’s article. For example, no one seems to know how Mr. Amick was appointed to the elections committee or who appointed him. Mr. Krokoff seems to have a poor memory on this and other issues; it is possible he is protecting someone. Or maybe it is just the standard incompetence that Miltonites have come to expect from City Hall. Even more problematic are the issues around operations of the committee behind closed doors before it was “formalized” . . . a fact the State Attorney General’s office found troubling. And there is much more . . . read the article

I plan to write a much longer piece on Milton running its elections. I attended the hearing where the feasibility committee presented its findings and was underwhelmed. I also watched last night’s election implementation update. I already had a lot of great material for a blog post, but Ms. Perry’s article adds even more fuel to the fire. If it was the City’s intent to cast serious doubt on its elections feasibility process, it has succeeded admirably.

In theory, I am not opposed to the City of Milton running its own elections. However, an extra high standard of competence and integrity is required where elections are concerned . . . and clearly Milton has fallen far short of these standards. Ironically, a key driver of Milton’s election study was lack of confidence and trust in Fulton County’s management of elections (which I cannot defend). However, if Milton’s election feasibility study is an indication of how Milton will fare in running elections, Miltonites should be worried. We may be jumping from the pot into the fire. I will expound on this piece in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned . . .

************************************************************************************************

March 16, 2023: Milton Coalition Blog is Critical to Local Government Accountability . . . Please Encourage Caring Citizens To Visit the Blog.

If a reader does an internet search on a Milton City Council member’s name and “Milton, GA,” the first page of search results will typically include a link to the Milton Coalition blog. (The same is true if you insert the names of City Manager and City Attorney.) This placement is a direct result of the volume of views at the site. I invest NO money in manipulating search engine results. Why are these search results important?

First, high placement in search results indicates that Milton’s citizens are frequenting the Milton Coalition blog. They care and want to be informed. The Milton Coalition website is an antidote to the City’s constant stream of self-congratulatory propaganda that aims at keeping you fat, dumb, and happy. (I am proud that the MC Blog typically ranks higher in search results than the City of Milton’s Facebook page.). Even just a handful of engaged and informed citizens are threat to the status quo.

Second, high placement of the Milton Coalition blog in search results makes thin-skinned politicians uncomfortable. These search results are seen by the wider public. Hopefully, the Milton Coalition Blog exposure pressures these politicians to be more principled and more responsive to citizens–i.e. more accountable.

This critical accountability function of the Milton Coalition Blog is especially important because few mechanisms of accountability exist in Milton. With the Paul Moore ethics scandal, the City has demonstrated that our city administration and council have no interest in enforcing accountability . . . they are not even willing to support and defend their own ethics panel. Furthermore, in the past few years, Council has taken a number of actions to reduce accountability . . . actions meant to SHIFT POWER AWAY FROM CITIZENS and concentrate power in City Council. For example, Council voted to disband the mandatory 5-year convening of the Charter Commission–one of the few checks on City Council. City Council has also limited general public comment to just 10 minutes. And City Council has refused to take up the matter of Town Hall meetings, a government best practice that would allow citizens to directly dialogue with Council and the City Manager. Council has also refused to consider prudent election reform that might increase accountability through the ballot box. In Milton, elections provide little accountability as less than 25% of city council elections are competitive . . . there are many actions Council could take to increase election competitiveness, but has refused to consider.

What is the upshot of this post? Well, I am requesting your help in pushing the Milton Coalition blog to the top of search results for city government officials. Please understand that the blog entails for me a lot of investment of time and assumption of significant risk. Several local politicians have engaged in behind-the-scenes efforts to discredit me and take me down. However, I am still standing strong for the Rule of Law and for Milton’s citizens. However, I need your help and support. I need for my readers to recruit other readers, so that the Milton Coalition blog can continue to serve as a non-partisan mechanism for truth . . . a means for holding local government accountable.

*************************************************************************************************

March 10, 2023: Council Members Should ALWAYS Recuse Themselves from Matters Involving Their HOA.

With the Paul Moore ethics scandal, it is easy to get lost in the weeds, like the legal technicalities around what constitutes a “financial interest”, etc. However, the legal minutiae obscure the most fundamental question in this scandal: Is it appropriate for a Council Member to ever involve himself in his/her HOA issues that come before City Council? I believe that the answer is a definitive NO. Such involvement will always predictably evoke suspicion and outrage by residents on one side of the issue. And with ethics, it is important that Council Members avoid even the appearance of impropriety. It is important to err on the side of caution. Milton needs council members that can rise above petty HOA issues and represent all citizens equally. This seems to be common sense, but apparently was lost on Paul Moore; actually, Mr. Moore himself had doubts about whether he should participate in discussion about the WC speed sign issue. I believe he took a calculated risk that Mr. Palazzo would not file an ethics complaint . . . he was wrong and now he needs to pay the price.

There is precedent for recusal from HOA matters. When Council took up the matter of road abandonment (to allow Crooked Creek to gate its community), Council Member Joe Longoria (a Crooked Creek resident) did recuse himself from the council’s deliberations and vote. That was the ethical course of action.

Many adjustments need to be made to strengthen Milton’s ethics law, such as eliminating its Wrongful Use clause. Another needed revision is mandatory recusal of Council Members from matters involving their HOA.

*************************************************************************************************

February 25, 2023: Miltonites Increasingly Paying Attention.

Yesterday, the Milton Coalition blog logged over 100 views. I suppose at some point, citizens tire of the constant stream of propaganda churned out by Milton’s PR machine. Eventually citizens tune out the City’s endless look good/feel good Facebook posts and emails that heap praise upon the city for “winning” this or that “prestigious” (but actually meaningless) certification, award, honor, etc. With the City’s information blackout about the Paul Moore ethics scandal, citizens are seeking objective venues for information. Some local news outlets do provide an alternative to the City’s fairytale version of Milton, but they cannot provide the in-depth analysis required to truly understand the issues faced by the City and the associated (usually unseemly) back-stories.

I am pleased citizens are waking up to the reality of Fake Milton. The time is right for a reawakening in Milton. In 2023, citizens will have an opportunity to clean house and replace two City Council members: Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig. They should do so with extreme prejudice. All three council members are vulnerable for their stances on the Paul Moore ethics scandal. The City’s dithering in opening green space to citizens (and several other pressing issues) should also energize voters to reject the status quo.

Thanks for visiting the blog. Thanks for your continuing moral support. Please stay tuned.

*************************************************************************************************

February 24, 2023: Support Good Governance in Milton . . . Become a Subscriber . . . It’s Free.

If you are reading this, you likely are an informed citizen that cares about improving the municipal government in Milton. If so, I encourage you to subscribe to the blog. It is free. Each blog post that is published will then be delivered to your inbox. It is easy to subscribe.

First click on the following link to go to the Milton Coalition Blog: https://miltoncoalition.blog/. Then click on the three-bar menu icon in the upper lefthand corner. Scroll down to the section entitled FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL, enter your email, and click/press the FOLLOW Button.

Thanks for subscribing. Happy Reading, Tim

*************************************************************************************************

February 16, 2023: State of City Address Ignores Enormous Elephant in the Room: Paul Moore Ethics Scandal

Years ago, I quit watching the national State of the Union addresses, which had become tiresome and tedious. The transparent applause lines, endless standing ovations, and shameless pandering are nauseating. And unfortunately, a lack of civility has increasingly crept into the audience responses, making these speeches that much less appealing.

Milton is no different. On Wednesday night, Mayor Peyton Jamison delivered Milton’s State of the City Address, which was a drab, not particularly well-attended (except by other politicians) but polite affair. I forced myself to watch the speech and, even though my expectations were low, I was nevertheless underwhelmed. The speech was typical of the formulaic confectionaries we have come to expect from the political class. All style and no substance. Worst of all, Mayor Jamison’s speech lacked honesty. He ignored the enormous elephant in the room: the Paul Moore ethics scandal. The White Columns Traffic Calming Devices issue and the resulting ethics scandal have dominated and marred Mayor Jamison’s first year as mayor–whether he cares to admit it or not. Pretending that ethics is not a problem in Milton will not eliminate the issue and will likely create more headaches for the City. Mayor Jamison’s failure to mention ethics fits neatly with the City’s information black-out concerning the ethics scandal. So far, the only information that has been provided to citizens about the ethics hearings is what is legally required . . . and nothing more.

It has become increasingly clear that while Mayor Jamison makes speeches and cut ribbons, the real power in Milton rests with Paul Moore. Council Member Moore is driving the bus; the mayor and Milton’s other council members are merely passengers. This was predictable. As the late Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once said: Weakness is provocative. And Paul Moore has a bloodhound’s nose when it comes to sensing weakness. At the May 2, 2022 city council meeting, Mr. Moore hijacked the proceedings to pursue a personal agenda against his HOA Board. Mayor Jamison appeared helpless. A hearing about a simple cost-sharing agreement was turned into a circus, with Moore as ringmaster and Mayor Jamison shunted aside . . . a bit performer in a sideshow . . . weak and ineffectual. Mr. Moore was able to push through a motion that erected 4 additional hurdles for the White Columns board thereby delaying for 90 days a decision on the cost-sharing agreement. More importantly Mr. Moore’s antics served to bring Mayor Jamison to heel. Since the hearing, Jamison has bent over backwards to accommodate Paul Moore, including nominating Moore to serve as Mayor Pro Tempore (i.e., his number 2 on Council).

In his speech, Jamison spewed the usual blather about putting citizens first. I am perplexed that he can make such statements with a straight face while at the same time not acknowledging Milton’s ethics problems . . . or even mentioning ethics as important to him and the City. Ethics are a cornerstone of good governance. Mayor Jamison ignores ethics and more generally good governance at his peril. His slavish support for Paul Moore will not play well with citizens and will only embolden Mr. Moore-a bull who carries around his own china shop. I believe ethics will be the central issue in the upcoming 2023 City Council elections. The mayor and City Council have lined up with Paul Moore and against citizens and ethics. I do not think it will end well for Milton’s establishment politicians. Miltonites have not been shy about turning out political scoundrels, once they are understand the truth.

*************************************************************************************************

July 15, 2022: Going Backwards . . . Triviality and Pettiness at City Council

During the time that I was involved in Milton city politics, the issues we addressed were serious. Citizens that backed the Milton Coalition were fighting ordinances and rezonings that would have increased density and significantly degraded Milton’s quality of life. For 2+ years, we mobilized the community to show up at council and be heard. These battles were hard-fought, but we usually won . . . and through these victories, the community won. And through these victories, we amassed political capital that we used to elect Laura Bentley and Paul Moore to City Council. We were confident that Laura and Paul would safeguard and build upon our victories and continue to address serious threats to the community. Citizens would no longer have to regularly register protests at City Council. Laura and Paul would have the community’s back.

Unfortunately, immediately after Laura’s election, Paul and Laura turned their backs on the community to pursue personal and cronies’ agendas, most notably the approval of 28 variances at Birmingham Crossroads that have negatively impacted the most rural parts of Milton. The progress that so many of us fought for was quickly reversed.

(More to come . . . )

*****************************************************************************************

July 15, 2022: Understanding Council Members . . . Think Middle School

There is a tendency when trying to understand local politics to assume that local politicians think, feel, and act like you think, feel, and act. In my case, I believed that City Council members, particularly those I was aligned with (e.g., Laura Bentley and Paul Moore), were logical, cared about the community, and were principled. Nothing could be further from the truth. To understand local politics and to be effective in engaging local politicians, it is important to understand their mindsets and motivations. And unfortunately, in Milton, the mindset and motivations of our local politicians are positively middle school. And this has been the case since the City’s founding.

Since 2006, two factions have been battling each other for supremacy: the Lusk-Kunz faction and the Bentley-Moore faction. Unfortunately (for citizens), this battle is based mostly on personality, with each side vying to be the “coolest” table in Middle School lunchroom; their battles often resemble food fights more than serious policy debates. Both sides have little regard for principles of good governance or following a rigorous process. However, even on issues of policy, there is little real difference between the two factions. Policy is really driven by personal agendas or the special interests each side represents. Both sides have had periods of ascendency. For quite a few years, the Lusk-Kunz faction reigned supreme. However, with the 2017 election, the Bentley-Moore faction gained the upper hand–unfortunately, with my help–and have done great damage to the community.

(More to come . . . )

*************************************************************************************************

July 12, 2022: Whither Laura Bentley?

It seems that former Council Member Laura Bentley’s self-exile has ended . . .

Recently, Bentley was appointed to the BZA by Council-Member Paul Moore. An interesting choice considering that Ms. Bentley has not been cleared of ethics charges lodged against her with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission . . . charges very few Miltonites know about and which I will discuss more in a future post. And the appointment is all the more interesting because of Mr. Moore’s recent ethics difficulties stemming from his intrusion into White Columns HOA issues . . . the subdivision where he currently resides.

And coincident with her appointment, Ms. Bentley has begun aggressively publishing at her political Facebook page, which has been dormant for many months. And the posts are the typical Milton politician’s goobledy-goop: Let’s keep Milton rural, protect our equestrian heritage . . . Blah! Blah! Blah! Good for getting elected, but just empty promises for most politicians in Milton, most especially Laura. It’s hard to make the case that you are an advocate for preserving rural Milton, when you supported 28 variances at Birmingham Crossroads that did so much harm to the most rural parts of Milton. One Bentley post was especially interesting:

Too bad that Ms. Bentley did not have this mindset when she decided to support a concert music venue at Birmingham Crossroads that sometimes blasts music that can be heard 1.5+ miles away.

My intuition, honed through my involvement in local city politics, tells me that Laura is likely positioning herself for another run at City Council. Ms. Bentley’s identity is wrapped up in local politics. Ms. Bentley’s appointment to the BZA and her recent Facebook postings are likely not coincidences. Or to quote Yogi Berra: That’s too coincidental to be a coincidence.

It may be that Council Member Moore, who is now damaged goods because of the ethics charges against him, will resign before his term ends. If such a resignation occurs 6+ months before the end of his term, City Council can appoint a successor to fill the remaining term. That successor can then run with an “I” (Incumbent) next to her name–often an advantage. However, it also may be the case the Mr. Moore will seek re-election (I suspect he will lose . . . and I will certainly do what I can to ensure he does) and Ms. Bentley will seek to exact her revenge against her District 2 successor, Juliette Johnson. (See my posts on the Painted Horse to better understand the unfair and harsh treatment Ms. Johnson and her family received from Mr. Moore and Ms. Bentley.) Hopefully, Ms. Johnson is not naive to these recent developments regarding Ms. Bentley.

(More to come . . . )

*************************************************************************************************

January 16, 2022: City Council: Glorified Community Service?

It is often the case that candidates for Milton City Council, particularly candidates new to politics, will tout their community service in their campaigns. And I have often heard both first-time candidates, as well as long-serving council members, refer to service on city council as a continuation of their community service work–e.g., volunteering at school or working in a non-profit charity. And I suppose that in a certain sense, elective office can be viewed as serving the community, although city council members are paid. However, to view elected office primarily as a more glorified or more substantive form of community service is to fundamentally misconstrue and trivialize the grave obligations inherent in representing citizens. And to adopt such an unserious attitude toward governance is actually to do disservice to the community. After all, government is a serious business that deserves serious representatives who clearly understand their responsibilities.

A critical point of departure of government from community service is that government is granted police powers. This is a key distinction that underlines the seriousness of elective office. Police powers mean that the government has monopoly on legal coercion . . . and this includes a monopoly on legalized violence. In consenting to be governed, citizens give up some liberties in exchange for societal order and stability by investing government with such police powers . . . powers that government should exercise judiciously (but sadly often does not, even in Milton). A key responsibility of elected officials is to ensure accountability in the use of these powers–that is, to ensure such powers are not misused or abused; that such powers are applied fairly and without prejudice . . . that no one, not even their friends–actually, most especially their friends–are not above the law. And in fact, Milton’s city council members take a solemn oath to perform this duty to uphold the law.

“I do solemnly (swear) (affirm) that I will faithfully perform the duties of (mayor) (council member) of this city and that I will support and defend the Charter thereof as well as the Constitution and laws of the State of Georgia and of the United States of America.”

It is simple oath with a singular focus . . . a simplicity and singular purpose that makes its message compelling and clear: The duty of our city council members is to uphold the rule of law. And when they do not take this duty seriously–for example, when they trivialize elected office as just another flavor of community service–council members commit a grave disservice to the Milton community and its citizens.

*************************************************************************************************

January 15, 2022: Advice to New Council Members: Maintain Professional Distance From Krokoff (Last Updated July 12, 2022)

When Steve Krokoff was promoted from Police Chief to City Manager, I had high hopes for the City. Krokoff assured me and other citizens that he would take his role as head of Milton’s “executive branch” seriously. In this role, he would “stay above the fray” . . . his words. And I assumed a criminal justice professional–at least an honest and professional one–would care a lot about how things get done . . . process would be critically important. And Krokoff in an email to me assured me that process was his passion. However, over time, I realized that Krokoff was blowing a lot of smoke up our collective rear-ends. I saw example after example of an “executive” (quotes intentional) that demonstrated incompetence, poor leadership, questionable integrity and little concern for citizens. I saw an executive that seemed singularly focused on “protecting the city” and “playing politics.” Under the City Manager Krokoff regime, increasing distance has been put between citizens and their government . . . consent of the governed has been attenuated. Deep moats have been dug between citizens and their government. Early on, Mr. Krokoff began showing his cards. One of his first acts as City Manager was to modify Milton’s ethics ordinance to provide up to $5000 to cover legal costs for staff and Council members against whom ethics complaints had been filed. None of our sister cities provide such legal assistance, perhaps because they see such a provision as a hurdle to the filing of legitimate ethics complaints.

I’ll have much more to say about Mr. Krokoff as I continue this post. However, suffice to say that new City Council members need to keep professional distance from Mr. Krokoff. They may have to show him the door. That is made more difficult if they’ve established a chummy relationship with Krokoff, as has been the case with some current council members. I believe new council members–if they are objective–will soon come to realize that there are serious problems down at City Hall and that much of the dysfunction can be traced back to poor leadership . . . resulting in a toxic culture of incompetence and corruption (by which I mean staff intentionally disregarding the law in its recommendations to Council and selective under-enforcement and over-enforcement of Milton’s laws).

*************************************************************************************************

January 1, 2022: New Year . . . Same Old Politics

Well, it is a new year in Milton. I wonder what New Year’s resolutions have been made by Milton’s illustrious city council members. I hope that their top resolution is to improve good governance in Milton. Good governance is foundational to good policy . . . an axiom of government that has been mostly lost on Milton’s politicians since the founding of the City. However, there might yet be hope for Milton. Three new council members will be sworn onto Council at the next Milton City Council meeting. Hopefully, at least one of these new council members will have the courage and wisdom to promote principles of good governance: honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and primacy of the rule of law. And my hope is that the new council members will reject Milton’s two factions: Lusk-Kunz vs. Bentley-Moore. It is helpful that Laura Bentley is no longer on council and has been replaced by a citizen that has experienced firsthand Milton’s personality politics (practiced by Ms. Bentley). Hopefully, the middle school machinations that have plagued Milton’s politics since the city’s founding are rejected in favor of mature adults making reasoned decisions based only on strict interpretation of our laws and citizens (vs. Special Interests) prerogatives. Time will tell . . .

*************************************************************************************************

December 7, 2021: Lame-Duck Final Push To Effectively Ban Farm Wineries – An Amazing Feat of Hypocrisy and the Epitome of Double Standards (Last updated July 12, 2022)

I attended Monday’s Milton City Council meeting and spoke for the first time in 3 years. I felt compelled to speak (about farm-wineries). Although I continue to follow important issues at the City, I quit actively engaging in city government at the end of 2018, when it became clear to me that the candidate that I helped elect (some would say my role was dispositive), Laura Bentley, was not going to honor her commitments to voters, particularly her promise (one of 3 platform planks) to “shift power back to citizens.” Furthermore, it was clear that Laura was not going to uphold the principles and policies that so many of us had fought so hard for in the run-up to her election. At the Crossroads alone, Laura supported all 28 variances and a special use permit that did irreversible damage to the Crossroads, to good governance, and to citizens’ trust in Laura. In less than a year, Laura had squandered all of her political capital. Laura went from being the most powerful, most respected politician in Milton to just another dissembling and promise-breaking Council member. And this gets me back to why I spoke before Council . . .

As Laura’s rolls off council (along with Mayor Lockwood and Council Member Longoria), there is a rush to pass a slew of text amendments to Milton’s zoning laws. Given that there will be 3 new council members taking their oaths in January, it seems prudent that Council not address such important issues on their way out the door. Such actions are an affront to good process and disrespectful toward the incoming council members. And I say this as a supporter of some of the amendments, such as repeal of CUP (Community Unit Plan) zoning, which developers have used (or have attempted to use) to achieve have-it-their-way zoning. Eliminating CUP zoning reduces the power of Council . . . and thereby does in a certain sense shift power back to citizens. However, what caught my eye were text amendments meant to regulate, but I would contend effectively prohibit, farm-wineries. These amendments seem to be just another dreary chapter in the Moore-Bentley crusade against the Painted Horse and more generally against farm-wineries (although my sense is that the Painted Horse is grandfathered under laws in place before these amendments). It is a battle that has become very personal, and at times positively middle-school. We deserve better from our elected representatives. The Painted Horse crusade is absurd when compared to Matilda’s, which was the main message of my comments before Council. And oddly, the two council members that led the charge for Matilda’s, Paul Moore and Laura Bentley, are the same council members leading the opposition to the Painted Horse and farm-wineries. Even for politicians, it is an amazing feat of hypocrisy . . . and the epitome of double standards. You can watch my public comments by clicking on the following link and advancing to 1:27:30:

YouTube Video of 20211206 Milton City Council Meeting

In my comments before Council, I focused on a few areas. First, I pointed out the differences in approaches to parking between Matilda’s and farm-wineries. In the case of Matilda’s, there were essentially no standards vs. specific and onerous standards for farm wineries.

With Matilda’s, the applicant and property owner, Curtis Mills, provided a laughable, cartoonish plan for parking. It was called “orchard parking.” It was clearly inadequate, but nevertheless blessed by city staff as sufficient. (This was yet another demonstration of the incompetence of city staff . . . as if more examples are needed.) Citizens requested that parking for Matilda’s and the restaurant 7-Acre be considered together as clearly the parking would be shared; city staff refused citizens’ pleas. Within just a few months of approval of Matilda’s, Mr. Mills engaged Georgia Power in discussions about creating a second parking lot north of the concert venue under Georgia Power’s transmission lines; an agreement would be needed to encroach on Georgia Power’s easement. Clearly, Mr. Mills understood that his original parking plan was inadequate. However, an encroachment agreement with Georgia Power was never signed and filed. Additionally, the City never approved a north parking lot. Nevertheless, Mr. Mills proceeded to create both a south and a north parking lot. Without permission from the City, he covered 2+ acres with gravel. He also removed all of the vegetation under the power lines–in violation of Georgia Power’s rules. A citizen alerted the city to the spreading of the gravel, the unlawful creation of the north parking lot, and the lack of an encroachment agreement. According to the City, Mr. Mills asserted he had executed an encroachment agreement with Georgia Power, a falsehood repeated by the City Manager Krokoff without any proof of an agreement. The City Manager stated that the laying down of gravel was troubling and that environmental remediation might be required, but to my knowledge, nothing was done by the City to address this situation. Furthermore, citing public safety concerns, the City Manager allowed use of the north parking lot on a one-time basis; I believe the City Manager was trying to avoid embarrassment to himself and his staff in the event that there was a parking shortage that caused unauthorized overflow parking along the roads or in parking lots of other businesses. Citizens were assured that Matilda’s would not again be permitted to use the north parking lot until a City Council approved a variance for the parking. However, Matilda’s continued to use the north parking for its 2nd and 3rd concerts. Instead of citing the venue, the City flip-flopped on the issue, with the City Manager allowing use of the un-approved north parking lot until the matter came before Council. When the matter came before Council, Matilda’s was granted the variance, without so much as a scolding. However, the story around parking gets even worse. At the original hearing, Council eliminated the buffers around the entire property, even areas far from Matilda’s (and 7-Acre restaurant). This means cars can be parked within 10 feet of the property line with Birmingham Park. Contrast this with the proposed standards for farm-wineries: parking must be 100+ feet from property lines and screening provided. So Matilda’s gets to park cars 10 feet (from Birmingham Park) with no screening, while farm-wineries must park cars 100+ feet and provide screening. Why the big difference? Cronyism. And it gets even worse. 7-Acre is allowing cars to be parked along Birmingham Highway immediately east of 7-Acre restaurant. This creates a safety hazard, as cars entering the Crossroads from the west have an obstructed view of cars to the north traveling southbound. The state has advised the City that this parking is not permitted and is unsafe. Milton’s City Manager has chosen to ignore the state. Bear in mind that the City has bent over backwards to accommodate parking requests for the NW corner. It is also troubling that Matilda’s parking is being used for 7-Acre patrons. In essence, a variance has been granted to accommodate parking for Matilda’s (most of it on AG-1 zoned land) but is being re-purposed as parking for a commercial business. The property owner should be required to apply for a variance for 7-Acre for the re-purposed parking. And I believe such as variance should be denied . . . that is, the property owner should be required to build parking in accordance with the Birmingham Crossroads overlay (i.e., the parking should follow the same standards as those applied to the other 3 corners of the Crossroads.) What are the key takeaways here? Cronyism is alive and well in Milton. And don’t believe City Manager Krokoff when he tells you that he “stays above the fray.” The truth is that Mr. Krokoff often wades deep into the fray to further the whims of certain council members, even targeting specific citizens (including me) with the City’s PR apparatus. And readers should also understand that some of the variances granted by council attach to the property (not the use), so these valuable variances are perpetual, enhancing the value of the property with variances while diminishing the value of surrounding properties. It’s true what they say about the rich getting richer . . . and the poor (average citizens without agents on Council . . . low friends in high places) getting poorer. Variances mean that our community gets built out in ways that lower our property values as loud noise, bad smells, and unsightliness (legalized by variances and catalyzed by legal precedent) metastasizes across Milton.

Second, I pointed out the stark contrast between the loudness rules for Matilda’s vs. the proposed loudness rules for farm-wineries. Readers might recall that originally the Matilda’s applicant stated that the music would be so soft (mostly amplified acoustic, we were told) at Matilda’s that he likely would not need a variance to the festival use permit’s requirement that loudness not exceed 60DB (at the nearest property line). (Note also that the AG-1 limit for noise is 55DB at the nearest property line.) However, when the matter came before the Planning Commission, City staff recommended allowing a maximum of 85 DB at the nearest property line–8X louder than the noise ordinance for AG-1 zoned properties and approximately 6X louder than allowed for a festival use permit. This 85DB standard was subsequently recommended by the Planning Commission chaired by Paul Moore. This is very LOUD! It is the same loudness as a freight train traveling at 45 mph at a distance of 100 yards. And 85DB is the loudness at which OSHA requires hearing protection in industrial environments. Thankfully, City Council dialed back the maximum loudness to 75DB and in a later hearing to 70DB. Contrast this standard with the currently proposed standard for farm wineries . . . no music allowed, regardless of the loudness. So 70DB for Matilda’s (dialed down from 85DB proposed by staff and approved by the Planning Commission) vs. no music at farm-wineries, regardless of the loudness . . . an egregious double standard. Why shouldn’t farm-wineries be allowed to host music if the loudness meets AG-1 noise standard . . . which is 1/3 the loudness approved for Matilda’s? And it should be noted that Matilda’s can sometimes be heard 1.5+ miles away, so draw your own conclusions about whether the City is enforcing the liberal loudness standards it set for Matilda’s. The City’s lack of enforcement of these standards has worn down citizens, who no longer complain to the City. This is a frequent strategy of city staff (and some Council members): ignore citizen complaints until citizens give up. In May, the Matilda’s music was so loud that I texted Council Members Bentley and Moore and the City Manager: “Hearing Matilda’s at my home. It is that loud.” I received no response. Although I had previously heard Matilda’s music, I had never before contacted the City about the loudness of Matilda’s. And it is exactly this sort of response (or lack thereof) that deters citizens from any criticism of the City.

Another proposed (third) encumbrance to farm-wineries is an amendment to Milton’s zoning that requires a use permit for farm-wineries. It is interesting that a use permit is being proposed for a purpose that is designated “by-right” in Georgia state law. Requiring a use permit for a by-right use seems a contradiction in terms. Combined with other restrictions (prohibition of music, not allowing patrons to stray more than 20 feet from the tasting room, onerous parking restrictions, etc.), it is quite obvious that the City is effectively banning farm-wineries while tip-toeing carefully around state law permitting such farm-wineries. Meanwhile, the music blares away at Matilda’s . . . while the City turns a deaf ear and blind eye to the concerns of nearby residents. As I stated at Council, the stark contrast between Council’s devil-may-care attitude toward Matilda’s vs. its suffocatingly strict treatment of The Painted Horse and farm-wineries raises basic issues of fairness.

In summary, a number of encumbrances are being imposed on farm-wineries that practically ensure that no new farm-wineries will be allowed in Milton. These efforts to effectively ban farm-wineries are in stark contrast to the approach to Matlilda’s where City staff and Council ignored Milton’s zoning process and zoning law to permit a high-intensity music venue that regularly blasts music to the surrounding countryside. Why the difference in treatments for Matilda’s vs. farm-wineries? Well it comes down to personal agendas of Council members (in the case of Matilda’s, Paul Moore’s personal agenda) and cronyism (i.e., favors for friends). These personal agendas and cronyism drove staff and council to ignore both the rule of law and the will of citizens. And this effort to subvert good governance was led by the two District 2 representatives (Bentley and Moore) . . . the very same people who had previously spoken most forcefully against cronyism and high intensity development in Milton. They sure fooled me and many other Miltonites. Make no mistake about it . . . hypocrisy and double standards are alive and well in Milton.

*************************************************************************************************