ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue is proposing that four state constitutional officers now elected by the public should instead be appointed by the governor.
The four are state school superintendent, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner and insurance commissioner.
The change would require two-thirds approval in each house of the Legislature, and would have to be ratified by the state's voters.
The governor elected in 2014 would be the first to appoint people to the four positions. Appointments would require confirmation by the Senate.
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Nope, keep it in OUR hands.
The governor already appoints hundreds of people as commissioners and members of various boards and committees. We've seen how well that works out for Augusta. Any local representation on the state BOE? Nope. How about the Board of Regents? Not there either.
How about Attorney General?
Now THIS is a blatant grab for power. No amount of false reasoning, frabricated concotions, or closet beliefs about the U.S. President can hide that simple fact. But yet, this guy has been a disaster as a governor but one couldn't tell by the stories being printed because "every body" wants to comment on presidential politics, while their local governments operate completely in the dark which is where this proposal came from, however, the People of that state can't be that stupid. Also, this would require some kinda state constitution change, but boy, the nerve of some elected folks.
Balance between:
Appointees who work well with the governor, but who disappear in a max of 8 years when the governor is done. The risk is cronyism. But there is no pandering to be reelected.
Elected officials whose jobs are virtually unknown to the public, who then assume that the incumbent is doing OK and vote for the incumbent, creating a long-term empire (see Tommy Irvin.) Officials develop deep pocket reelection funds in order to quash challengers. More cronyism.
I'm open for debate.
justus, this doesn't happen often but I agree with you. And anotherperspective, you are right, Augusta is the forgotten city. Our Governor has never been on our side.
I'm still trying to figure out his motivation. The article says that the 2014 governor would be the first one to implement this. What does Purdue get out of it? There must be something....
Chillen, to add to my earlier comment... Political appointees in Georgia have lived up their name, whether that be from those appointed at the state level or those appointed locally, i.e. the Coliseum Authority. More political appointees means more people appointed for political reasons. And, I actually agree with Justus that this is a power grab.
Agreed. But I'm trying to figure out why he is doing it. A power grab for who? Not for him for sure. Unless he wants to be one of those appointees which I doubt. Very odd. Very suspicious.