- GA: Perdue Says Governor's Office is Path to Riches
Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia has been making this list very frequently lately. Recently, he benefitted massively from a land deal in Florida with a major GOP donor. Last week, he reappeared base on revelations that his long-time friend and sometime tax attorney inserted a provision into a bill worth $100,000 in tax breaks to Perdue. Now facing (and shunning) scrutiny for his personal ethics, Perdue is basically admitting the key to his newfound wealth. Asked on a radio show by a caller about how to get $100,000 tax breaks, Perdue responded, "Well, you get elected governor, Brian." [Macon Telegraph, 09/14/2006, Progressive States, 08/25/2006; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09/07/2006]
- MS: Haley Barbour's Office Screws Up, Leaving Constituents With Little But Steamy Promises
Mississippi's Haley Barbour is Sonny Perdue's strongest competitor for the title of "America's Worst Governor." As Progressive States has noted in the past, this is a man who refused to posthumously pardon an innocent black man wrongly convicted in the Jim Crow era because he thought a pardon would send the wrong message. The Governor's office is no stranger to sending the wrong message. In the process of changing their toll free hotline, they failed to update directories. Now constituents calling the old number are greeted by a pre-recorded phone sex offer. We consider this a change of position by Barbour's office. Where previously they didn't even want to let innocent people get off, now anyone calling in can. [Progressive States, 05/04/2006]
- OH: Blackwell Fails to Implement Privacy Protections
Seven months ago, privacy issues made headlines in Ohio where Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's office had made Social Security Numbers for a number of individuals available through a state's public website. Now, months later, Blackwell's office still hasn't finished the job of removing private information from these public pages. [Toledo Blade, 09/15/2006]
- GA: A Glimpse of our Corporate Future
Sandy Springs, Georgia just might be a glimpse of our future. The town, a recently incorporated suburb of Atlanta, has hired a corporation to run almost all aspects of their municipal government, including the courts. The townspeople gets good, old fashioned corporate governance and the corporation gets a hefty commission of fines and fees. The result? According to local business owner Carolyn Uhl, "It's like living in a police state sometimes." Michelle Swinslow, another small business owner, says, "They're money hungry." The corporation sees running cities as a real growth industry, but the people living with their methods are a bit quicker to say "the jury's really out on how this is going to turn out." [USA Today, 09/14/2006]
- MT: Prominent Conservative Leader Gets Called Out For Ponzi Scheme
Pat Davison, a former candidate for Governor and conservative leader in Montana, is facing increasingly broad allegations of financial fraud. Already implicated several million dollars worth of fraud, the state auditor's office announced a new investigation into a $6 million Ponzi scheme run by this man who has been a close advisor to many of Montana's highest conservative elected officials. [Billings Gazette, 09/15/2006]
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