Kenerly suspends self from board

The Gwinnett Daily Post is reporting that Kevin Kenerly this afternoon voluntarily suspended himself from the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.  In a statement through his attorney Pat McDonough, Kenerly said he realized that trying to serve after his indictment had become an "unnecessary distraction for the County staff, his fellow commissioners, and the citizens of Gwinnett County."  By suspending himself, Kenerly "can focus all of his energies on taking care of his family and responding to the pending charges.”

This is right the move, but it is a move he should have made upon being indicted.

Fox 5 obtains copy of grand jury report

Fox 5 Atlanta news has obtained a copy of the Gwinnett grand jury report investigating Gwinnett land deals.  The report indicates that former Commission Chairman Charles Bannister offered to resign his seat to avoid indictment on a perjury charge.  According to Fox 5, there was no evidence of a bribe in Bannister's case, though the same grand jury indicted Commissioner Kevin Kenerly on bribery charges.

Fox 5 reported that the grand jury's finding showed that "commissioners [were] often clueless about the most cost-conscious way to buy land for future parks." Former Superior Court judge James Oxendine was mentioned as having handled negotiations for a property owner selling land to Gwinnett County.  According to the report, Oxendine pushed the county to increase its offer.  The report noted that no member of county staff had any reservations about negotiating with a sitting judge.

You can watch Randy Travis' report below.

AJC summarizes Kenerly's career

The AJC has a good article this morning summarizing the career of Commissioner Kevin Kenerly. The article touches on his work during his 16 years in office as a Gwinnett County Commissioner. It also includes an overview of events surrounding his relationship with developer David Jenkins.  Jenkins is the man who allegedly paid "as much as $1 million in bribes in connection with a parkland purchase" that involved himself, a deal that was "championed" by Kenerly and approved by the Board of Commissioners.

Kenerly should resign immediately

Indicted Gwinnett District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly turned himself into the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department yesterday and indicated he would not resign his seat on the county commission.  Kenerly was indicted by a grand jury this week on "a felony count of bribery, alleging that he had accepted $1 million from a developer," as well as "two misdemeanor counts of failing to disclose a financial interest in two properties the county rezoned in 2001 and 2005."

As Kenerly left the jail, he said he would not resign and was not worried about Gov. Sonnny Perdue suspending him.  Kenerly's attorney Walt Britt said, “There are plenty of people found not guilty when they're indicted by grand jury ... Grand juries indict people everyday ... People go to trial in front of juries."

To be sure, Kenerly has not been convicted of anything.  He, as does any American, deserves his day in court and a fair trial. The government must prove the allegations they have made against him.  He is truly innocent until proven guilty.  However, the trust that the people place in their elected official has been destroyed, and for this reason alone, Kenerly should resign immediately.

The charges against Kenerly go directly to his duties as a commissioner.  They are not some unrelated accusation that, while possibly impairing a general sense of trust, do not directly flow from the job he does for the community on the commission.  The charges raise serious and legitimate doubts as to whether Kenerly can be trusted to serve the people rather than himself in his duties.  Though he may be completely innocent of these charges, any actions he takes in the remaining two months of his term will be tainted and will require close scrutiny by citizens and other commissioners.  A true sense of service to the community requires resignation from the board.  Kenerly's refusal to do so exhibits a high degree of arrogance and a self-servedness that makes one consider the veracity of the indictment all the more likely.

Commissioner Kenerly, if you truly are a public servant, do the public a favor and resign from your seat and remove the cloud that hangs over their government.  Former Commission Chairman Charles Bannister showed dignity when he resigned for far less.  Take his lead and allow Gwinnett to move on.

Grand jury declines to indict Bannister

Former Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister will not be indicted despite much speculation to the contrary in the wake of his resignation Friday from the commission.  This morning, a Gwinnett grand jury returned a "no bill" on a potential charge of making false statements.  The legal situation of Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, however, remains unclear.  "Superior Court Judge Michael Clark Monday ordered that any presentments by the grand jury related to Kenerly be sealed until Oct. 22."

Even though Bannister has now been cleared of potential perjury charges, there stands to be plenty of political action as Gwinnett faces a special election to fill Bannister's unexpired term.  I suspect that, once we get past the November elections, things will start to get interesting as candidates position themselves to run for the chairmanship.

Bob Griggs opines on aftermath of grand jury probe

Longtime Gwinnett political insider Bob Griggs has posted on his blog an interesting analysis of the aftermath of the ongoing grand jury probe into Gwinnett land deals .  He expects both former Chairman Charles Bannister and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly to be indicted as a result of the probe.  In such a scenario, the resulting falling dominoes would make for a very interesting period for Gwinnett politics:

[District 1 Commissioner Mike] Beaudreau, as the Chairman Pro Tem, will lead a three-member Commission until January. John Heard and Lynette Howard will win in the general election, take office in January and will vote, subsequently, to hold a special election for Chairman. Heard will then announce that he intends to seek the Chairman’s seat. He has reportedly told associates that it was always his plan to run for Chairman in two years. He risks a 2012 loss if someone else is given two years in the seat to build goodwill.

Beaudreau will not run for Chairman; he is gainfully employed in a career job and won’t give it up for more headaches and a pay cut. I expect several– the usual suspects and a few newbies– to run, however.

Seems plausible given that Bannister resigned this morning.  While we do not yet know what connection that resignation has to the grand jury investigation, the timing is suspicious to say the least.  I would disagree on his prediction that Mike Beaudreau would not run for Commission Chairman.  While Beaudreau may well have a career job, I have always thought he had career politician written all over him and I would have been stunned had he not run for Chairman or some other higher office at the end of the his current commission term in 2012.  While I certainly do not have the connections that Griggs has, to think that Beaudreau's political aspirations end at commissioner does not resonate with me.

One prediction that really encourages me is that John Heard, who I expect to win Kenerly's seat next month, would resign to run for Chairman.  This would open the door for another bid by Tommy Hunter.  While John Heard was certainly preferable to apparent Beaudreau-clone Tim Sullivan, Hunter was far and away the best choice in District 4.  Tommy barely missed the runoff so another chance for him to get on the Commissiongreatly excites me.

One thing is for sure - things look to get very interesting in Gwinnett political circles in the coming weeks and months.

The Gwinnett Commission has completely ignored you!

EDIT (2 March 10): I stated below that the audience could not address the commission during the meeting.  I am watching the meeting right now and the audience does have the opportunity to address the board.  The first two speakers are grilling the commissioners - way to go!

Just when you thought it was safe to take your garbage to the curb, there stands the Gwinnett County Commission waiting at the end of your driveway to "help" you take out your garbage.  That's right - socialized garbage is back. Tomorrow, the board will consider a new version of the ordinance that looks almost identical to the old version.  What does that tell us?  The Gwinnett County Commission did not listen to a word that was said to them - loudly and clearly - at the various meetings and hearings in the last 15 months.  They have effectively brushed you aside and will do exactly what they intended to do all along - micromanage your life!

The most substantial difference between the previous ordinance and the current iteration is of little real importance to the average citizen: Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful will not be administering the program.  Whew!  That makes me feel so much better knowing that someone else will deny my economic freedom and tell me I am not capable of handing my own affairs.  At the end of the day, the county will still mandate that you must have garbage service.  The county will still tell you what company you must have as your garbage hauler.  They will still bill you for the service as part of your tax bill.  The only substantive item that appears to be different is that recycling is not mandatory.  Exactly how is this different than the socialistic program the board attempted to foist upon us last year?  In a nutshell- IT'S NOT!

Our commissioners are thumbing their noses at us.  They are saying we listened and we ignored virtually everything you told us.  Why?  Because we are politcians and we know how to live your life better than you do!  And these are supposed to be five REPUBLICANS, one of whom may want to go to Washington as a Congressman!

Unfortunately, this will ordinance will pass because this commission is not accountable to you.  Two members of the board, District 2 Commissioner Bert Nasuti and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, are not running for reelection.  They can vote for the ordinance and not have to worry about facing the music from the voters.  That means there only needs to be one other vote to pass socialized garbage.  If Commission Chairman Charles Bannister has already decided not to seek a third term in 2012, he would be just as unaccountable as Nasuti and Kenerly.  I suspect he will not run again, but only he knows for sure.  The other likely source for the third vote is Mike Beaudreau.  Whether he runs for Congress or not, Beaudreau will likely run for a higher office in 2012 given that his interest in Congressman John Linder's congressional seat confirms my suspicions that Beaudreau is aiming politically higher than the county commission.  Granted, running for any office from within Gwinnett would force him to face voters in some way should he vote for socialized garbage. However, if his next race is for a different office, that would provide some insulation from voter angst over socialized garbage.  That leaves Shirley Lasseter who likely will run for relection in 2012.  With a third vote coming from Bannister or Beaudreau, Lasseter would be afforded political cover by being able to vote against the ordinance knowing that it will still pass.  (To be fair to Lasseter, the original socialized garbage ordinance was passed before she joined the Commission.  Thus, she may truly be opposed to the measure.)

The board will vote on this unAmerican ordinance tomorrow.  Conveniently, these sessions do not allow the public to address the commission, so you will not have the opportunity to remind the board that their support of socialized garbage is unacceptable.  Ironically, that is very appropriate given that they chose to ignore you when you did have the opportunity to speak.  Who needs Democrats when you have Republicans like this bunch?

Heard first to throw hat in District 4 ring

That didn't take long.

Former state legislator John Heard has become the first contender for next year's District 4 commission race.  Current District 4 commissioner Kevin Kenerly announced his intention to not seek re-election earlier today.  Heard will run as a Republican.

Kenerly will not seek re-election

District 4 commissioner Kevin Kenerly has announced that he will not seek re-election next year.  Kenerly has served on the commission since 1994, the longest tenure of any current board member.  Watching who emerges as contenders for this seat should be interesting over the coming months.  With the changing demographics in the Lilburn to Lawrenceville corridor, I would not be shocked to see a nontrivial Democrat challenge in the general election, though I think the bulk of the district is still strong Republican territory.

Empty fire stations but plenty of illegal aliens

The Gwinnett County budget crunch continues to be felt in real and visible ways.  Last week, we learned that the Gwinnett County Public Library would implement to reduced hours.  This week we learn that three fire stations and a library currently under construction will likely sit idle when completed.

Three fire stations and a state-of-the-art library — representing altogether more than $21 million in construction costs — are expected to be completed this year. And the county has no money to staff them.

Furthermore, Gwinnett County parks cannot even afford to clean restrooms on the weekends anymore!  If this were not enough, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department may have to delay Gwinnett's participation in the 287(g) that will identify and remove illegal aliens from the Gwinnett County jail.  Why?  Because the county does have the funds to staff either the program or seven empty units in the jail needed to keep inmates from sleeping on the floor, a requirement for participation in the program.

However, dear Buzz reader, if this budget crunch concerns you, then you can take solace by spending a night at our very own government-funded minor-league baseball stadium.  Every night you pass Gwinnett Taxpayers' Stadium when the Government-funded Gwinnett Braves are playing at home, you should be reminded of what an absolute monument of taxpayer abuse and bumbling government leadership that stadium is.  Lillian Webb must be breathing a sigh of relief that this current bunch of commissioners has surpassed her era as the worst elected officials in the history of Gwinnett County.  I bet the stadium is fully staffed and gets its toilets cleaned every day it is used!

Take heart, though!  We are only about a year away from the Republican primaries for Bert Nasuti's and Kevin Kenerly's commission seats, meaning we are only about a year away from beginning to purge our commission of the minor-league leadership that thought a minor-league baseball team was an appropriate use of your hard-earned tax dollars.  Don't forget the horrendous state in which we find Gwinnett County's finances over the next year.  Turn that frustration into determination to elect true conservatives who will show more respect for the citizens of this county!