ATLANTA — Gov. Sonny Perdue wants to overhaul the authority that decides who gets inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
The authority’s board would shrink from 18 members to nine under legislation moving forward at the state Capitol. These would all be new appointments, though some current members could be reappointed.
The legislation, which state Rep. Jim Cole is carrying as the governor’s floor leader in the House, also calls for more synergy with the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. The bill, House Bill 1092, moved quickly through committee Tuesday and could be ready for a floor vote in the Georgia House of Representatives any day.
Both halls of fame are in downtown Macon, and both are threatened by state budget cuts. Local legislators are working to find new sources of funding for the halls to make up for state cuts, but it’s been slow going due to political squabbles and the complex nature of state sales tax laws.
The governor’s legislation, which most of Macon’s state representatives have signed off on, would bring the sports hall of fame under the state Department of Economic Development about the same time that current hall director Jackie Decell retires in April.
The music hall of fame already reports to the department, and adding the sports hall may save some money as administrative tasks are handled by the department or shared between the two halls.
The two facilities have tried to merge some functions over the years, but this legislation orders them “to the maximum extent possible work jointly to realize efficiencies.”
The new authority board still would be appointed by the governor, speaker of the house and president of the state Senate, who in this case is Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. It still would decide who gets inducted into the hall and where the annual induction ceremony would be held, said Cole, R-Forsyth. The bill’s main purpose is to reduce the board’s size, Cole said.
Also, 12 of the current board members are actually serving past their expired terms, Cole and state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, said Tuesday, because they simply haven’t been replaced.
All members’ terms would expire April 30 under the new legislation, with new appointees taking over the next day.
State Rep. David Lucas, a longtime supporter of the sports hall, signed onto the bill. But Lucas, D-Macon, said he hopes the governor and others will be balanced in their appointments when the board is reconstituted. He said black athletes have been under-represented in the hall in the past, an issue The Telegraph examined in 2002.
At the time, of 310 hall of famers, 42 were black and 21 were women.
Lucas said he expects some new board appointees to be chosen for their fundraising abilities. To be sure, the hall of fame is looking for money amid state budget cuts, as well as calls for the facility to move to Atlanta. But Lucas said the board also needs members who are knowledgeable about athletics, particularly since segregationist policies of the past make archived news coverage of black sporting events hard to come by.
“There haven’t been many blacks to serve on the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame,” he said.
To contact writer Travis Fain call 361-2702.
