Political Notebook: Halls of fame face fights

Next week could be a big one for the Georgia sports and music halls of fame.

A proposal to increase Macon and Bibb County’s hotel-motel tax to help fund the halls is sitting in the House Rules Committee, which sets the debate calendar for the full Georgia House of Representatives. That committee hasn’t met in a while, but the Legislature goes back into full session Monday. It’s game on for the debate over the tax.

Convention and visitors bureaus from across the state, as well as Atlanta backers who’d like to see the halls moved out of Macon, are lined up against the tax increase. That pits Macon-area legislators, particularly state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, and state Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon, against a significant lobbying effort.

With Lucas’ sway with Democrats and Peake’s popularity within the Republican majority, “I think if we can get it to the floor, it will pass,” Peake said.

But will it get to the floor? The House Rules Committee generally is controlled by the leadership of the House. And Telegraph calls seeking an answer to this question from Rules Committee Chairman Bill Hembree, Speaker of the House David Ralston and Majority Leader Jerry Keen went unreturned this week.

A pair of calls to state Rep. Nikki Randall, the only Bibb County legislator on the Rules Committee, also went unreturned.

“I think we’re going to get it to the floor,” Peake predicted. “But (the CVBs and Atlanta legislators) are going to be fighting us.”

If the measure clears the House, it will move to the state Senate, where the fight basically starts over again. And time is running out. This year’s legislative session is half over.

Meanwhile, the state budget is subject to constant tinkering while the General Assembly is in session, and the halls of fame remain a target for debilitating budget cuts.

Consolidation favored?

A recent poll shows strong local support for consolidation of Macon and Bibb County’s governments, state Rep. Allen Peake said this week.

Peake, R-Macon, has been consolidation’s most vocal proponent lately, and he’s pushing for a November vote to fully merge the two governments.

Details about the poll won’t be released for a while, though, Peake said. A couple of groups were involved in putting it together, and they’re not ready for a full rollout, he said.

But Peake mentioned the poll to other local legislators this week as they huddled with Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart in Atlanta. Hart made the drive up to the state Capitol as part of a renewed effort to improve communication between local officials and state legislators.

Peake’s call for a November referendum could pass the House as soon as next week. But it doesn’t seem to have the support it needs to move forward in the state Senate, where state Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, and state Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, have both expressed concerns with the bill.

Legislators generally agreed Wednesday that they’ll get together to discuss potential consolidation details once Peake’s bill calling for the referendum clears the House.

Much of the debate Wednesday centered on whether to have seven elected commissioners in the new government, or nine. But there are several points that legislators and others disagree on.

Cold facts

When Bibb County officials move into a former GBI crime lab, they’ll be able to save some cold cash on cold storage.

County Coroner Leon Jones got another $4,000 from county commissioners to continue storing bodies at Bentley Funeral Home at night and on weekends. Once the sheriff’s office moves in — following the installation of some high-speed fiber-optic data lines — Jones said he’d be able to use the facility’s own cooler.

“I don’t think we should pay anybody anything when we’ve got a cooler on our property,” Jones said.

Costs of the rented space have been running about $1,500 a month. Officials said that should be enough money unless there’s a rash of homicides.

Mayor Max Headroom?

In a twist on his regular meeting with Macon residents, Mayor Robert Reichert is taking his “Mayor’s Night In” event to the “interwebs.”

The events give residents a chance to question the mayor directly about topics of concern in the city. According to a news release from the mayor’s office, the city is launching “a new effort to connect with the residents” by putting Mayor’s Night In on Channel 14 and on the city’s Web site, www.cityofmacon.net.

The Mayor’s Night In will launch that format Monday at 5:30 p.m. on the “Cover It Live” blog on the city’s Web site. For those residents who choose to connect the old-fashioned way, the mayor will field comments, questions and concerns at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Drug task force gets pushed

The Macon City Council voted 13-0 Tuesday to re-establish a joint city-county drug task force that disbanded in 1995.

But it was Bibb County commissioners, at the urging of Sheriff Jerry Modena, who had asked city leaders to reconsider. At the city’s request, the commissioners passed their own resolution, 5-0, on Tuesday to again propose recreating the task force.

Modena has said the task force failed largely because of disputes over leadership, funding and how proceeds from seizures would be distributed. All three of those issues have not gone away in the past 15 years.

Modena has argued the county should be in charge because deputies have jurisdiction inside and outside of the city line, unlike city police.

A Bibb County deputy, Joseph Whitehead, was shot four years ago in a drug raid inside Macon.

Coordination also could be an issue. Modena told the Macon City Council last month that he and Macon Police Chief Mike Burns don’t even talk often.

While Macon and Bibb County talk about consolidation, law enforcement operations would be one of the last departments to merge.

Earlier disputes over the organization of a countywide law enforcement agency helped doom some consolidation efforts.

“Yes You Can”: Lucas running for vice president of GABEO

At last weekend’s meeting of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials in Athens, Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas was nominated for vice president of the organization. GABEO will vote in June.

Meanwhile, Lucas hopes to help others interested in public service get a leg up with a March 20 seminar, “Yes You Can (Run for Public Office).” The event is sponsored by local GABEO members, ELucasConsulting, the local branch of the NAACP, the Georgia Informer and various other organizations.

It takes place at the Douglass Theatre from 10 a.m. to noon. Registration is required, and participation is capped at 200 people. Lunch will be provided, and sponsorships are available.

For more information, call 257-6767 or e-mail elucasconsulting@cox.net.

Telegraph staff writers Chris Horne, Mike Stucka and Travis Fain contributed to this report.