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Saturday, Jul. 04, 2009

Political Notebook: State makes offer to ousted CGTC president

The reasons why Ron Natale was let go from Central Georgia Technical College are not entirely clear, and the former president’s personnel file does not provide much insight, either.

The file does show, though, that Natale has been offered work and pay until Dec. 31 if he signs a release and agrees not to sue the technical college system or the college.

Natale, who is paid about $134,000 annually, said Thursday he has had a lawyer review the release. He said he hasn’t decided whether he will sign it.

“It’s a difficult situation,” Natale said of his dismissal, noting he’s done everything that’s been asked of him.

Currently, Natale’s last day with the system is Sept. 30. Athens Technical College President Flora Tydings took over Wednesday as the Macon school’s interim leader.

Natale, who was verbally notified of his dismissal May 1, maintains that technical college system Commissioner Ron Jackson incorrectly believes he was working against a move that would transfer the operations of the college’s Milledgeville campus and Putnam County center to another school.

State officials have declined to discuss the matter, citing personnel issues as private. Natale’s file does not contain any written disciplinary action against him, nor does it contain an evaluation of the former president.

Because Natale is employed “at-will,” the file may not tell the whole story, officials said.

PORTER VISITS MACON

Dublin state Rep. DuBose Porter, who is running for governor, popped up to Macon on Thursday evening to hob-knob with local Democrats.

Several prominent local party members were there, including Superior Court Clerk Dianne Brannen, state Rep. Bubber Epps, D-Dry Branch, and Macon City Council members Lonnie Miley and Lauren Benedict. Porter, the House minority leader, said it’s still early in the 2010 election cycle, though with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s term limited, the race already has drawn nearly a dozen hopefuls, including five Democrats.

“People are not really paying that much attention to it other than insiders,” Porter said as he sipped on a lemonade at Market City Cafe downtown. “But it’s a pivotal election for our state.”

Porter said that, long term, the way to move Georgia’s economy ahead is by doing a better job in public education. While in the House, he has frequently complained about Perdue and the Republican Party’s state education policies, and pushed for higher funding.

Short term, Porter said, it’s about addressing the state’s transportation issues, and particularly the congestion in Atlanta. Drawing out-of-state businesses to Dublin, Macon or other parts of the state generally requires drawing them to Atlanta first, he said.

“When people think of Georgia they think of Atlanta,” he said. “So to get them out in the state we’ve got to get them through Atlanta. ... But, in doing that, we don’t need to neglect the rest of the state.”

POYTHRESS WINS ENDORSEMENTS

Macon native David Poythress, a Democratic candidate for governor, keeps ticking off endorsements from politicos outside of Atlanta.

This past week, he announced endorsements from Al Tillman, president of the Macon-Bibb County chapter of the NAACP, as well as Upson County Sheriff Don Peacock and Richard Barr, the mayor of Adel in south Georgia.

Poythress, a former labor commissioner, secretary of state and adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, is seen by many as one of the longer shots in the governor’s race, particularly with former Gov. Roy Barnes in the Democratic primary. But he hasn’t backed down an inch, even putting out a news release this week calling on Barnes to step aside and avoid a divisive gubernatorial primary “for the good of the party.”

“Poythress is the Macon knight,” Tillman said of his endorsement. “He’s a military person. I’ve had numerous conversations with him, and I think he’s one that will listen to our issues and concerns.”

Tillman also noted that his endorsement was as an individual, not on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which he said doesn’t endorse political candidates.

The governor’s race is crowded, with at least 11 candidates expected to run. For the Democrats, that includes Poythress, Barnes, Dublin state Rep. DuBose Porter, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Ray City Mayor Carl Camon.

STATE ALPHABET SOUP SHIFTS

For those of you keeping track of the alphabet soup that is state government, some of it changed Wednesday.

That’s the day several laws took effect at the start of a new state fiscal year. For starters, there’s a new Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The Telegraph hasn’t seen an official memo, but presumably we will call this the DBHDD or the “dub-hud” for short.

The department’s goal will be to focus on mental health issues in Georgia after years of shortcomings in those state services, some of which kicked off a federal investigation into problems at mental facilities. Those functions shift from the former Department of Human Resources (DHR), which is now the Department of Human Services (DHS).

Other former services from the DHR will shift to the Department of Community Health, which gets to keep its abbreviation, DCH. That includes public health and emergency response functions. In fact, all matters involving public health are now handled by the DCH due to changes OK’d earlier this year by the Georgia General Assembly. About 1,300 former DHR employees now work for the DCH, according to a news release from the health department.

Dr. J. Patrick O’Neal will be the division chief for the DCH’s new Emergency Preparedness & Response division, according to the release. A public health director will be named later, it said.

The DHR does maintain control over your local Department of Family and Children Services, which you may know as DFACS.

In news likely to be even less relevant to your life, the various regional development centers around the state are now called regional commissions. They have the same mission — largely to help local governments plan for regional growth — but will now be called RCs, not RDCs.

More importantly, the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the house now get to appoint members to the RC’s controlling boards, and what used to be 16 RDCs have been compressed into 12 RCs, with some mergers.

The Middle Georgia Regional Commission remains un-merged, and will keep its 11-county service area. It’s controlling board will get five new members, including Mary Therese Tebbe, the former WMAZ news anchor and current 21st Partnership executive director, who is the lieutenant governor’s appointee to the board.

Staff writers Travis Fain and Jennifer Burk contributed to this report.