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Charles Loudermilk Pledges $1 Million to Fund Atlanta Press Club Political Debate Series

September 22, 2011, Atlanta, GA - The Atlanta Press Club announced today that R. Charles “Charlie” Loudermilk, founder of Aaron’s Inc., has pledged $1 million to permanently endow the club’s series of political debates during every election year in Georgia. In honor of Loudermilk’s close friendship with former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, the debates will be named the Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

The $1 million gift will be given in $250,000 increments over four years. The funding will be restricted to the club’s debate programming, which will include major political races as well as issue-oriented programs. The Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series will continue providing programs with the highest professional standards for balanced, objective and fair discourse.

“We believe that both Charlie Loudermilk and Andy Young are committed to having an informed populous that can make independent decisions on how to vote,” said Lauri Strauss, the club’s executive director. “Our statewide televised debates are an excellent vehicle to help voters understand their choices, and this grant ensures that they will continue in perpetuity.”

For 20 years, the Atlanta Press Club, in partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting, has been organizing the premier political debates in the state of Georgia. The Atlanta Press Club Debate Series provides the most comprehensive, timely and widely viewed series of political debates during every election year in Georgia.

Welcome Caitlyn Mitchell to APC intern position

Hello! My name is Caitlyn Mitchell, and I am a junior at Oglethorpe University, pursuing a BA in English and creative writing. This semester I am working on some creative projects of my own in addition to my course work on Ancient and Post-Colonial literature and its effects on modern society.
Reading and writing are my two passions. I love to read Shakespeare and, if given the opportunity, I would write all day every day. However, I am enthralled with anything that relates to ‘the arts’ such as painting, acting and music. Upon graduation I hope to use my writing and editing skills for an organization in Atlanta. It is my dream to be published in the young-adult fantasy genre.

Press Club Speaks to Judiciary Civil committee

Remarks were written by Cynthia Counts on behalf of the Atlanta Press Club. Ms. Counts read this statement before the Ga. House Judiciary (civil) committee on August 30.

A. Introduction

Good afternoon Mister Chairman, members of the judiciary committee.

I am Cynthia Counts, an attorney with the Counts Law Group. I am not a paid lobbyist, but rather as a concerned citizen who has represented news organizations in Atlanta for more than two decades. I speak here today both on behalf of myself and the Atlanta Press Club.

We have reviewed the history and provisions of our Open Records Act and we are here today to raise two main concerns: 1) exorbitant costs, and 2) the need for better enforcement.

B. Why We Care
Here is the problem: public employees can and do overcharge for records.
$1,000 for basic salary and benefit information on a
single government employee

$20,000 for the Atlanta Police Department’s database of 911 calls

$324,000 for records related to a charter school in
Cherokee County

$16 million for a copy of Fulton County’s tax lien database

The cost of obtaining these documents should not be so expensive, and it is clear that agencies are not using the “most economical means available,” which is what the law requires. So why are agencies charging such outrageous prices? Because (1) they know they can get away with it, and (2) they know exorbitant costs can sometimes cause the story and the requester to go away.

Another problem is that public employees can falsely claim that some public records do not exist. This is exactly what happened to reporters at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution while covering the Atlanta Public School cheating scandal. Confidential sources insisted to the reporters that the documents they requested did indeed exist. However, APS management directed employees to conceal or destroy reports evidencing possible cheating. It took the creation of a special investigative team by the governor to find out what happened.

C. Solution
That’s why I, along with the Atlanta Press Club, am urging three proposals for better enforcement:

First, we believe that providing private lawyers an incentive to work on a contingency basis on Sunshine law cases would improve openness in the state. Other states have laws that encourage this by requiring an agency that violates the law to pay the reasonable attorney fees of a prevailing Plaintiff. The result has been that many excellent lawyers have filed successful cases for the public good.

Second, we propose creating an ombudsman officer –or officer modeled after those in other states, including Texas and Connecticut. This officer would be charged solely with enforcing the Sunshine laws and would have binding authority to:
(1) hold hearings regarding compliance with open records
requests,
(2) subpoena witnesses, and
(3) compel the production of public records.

Third, we propose several cost-efficient means of complying with requests that implement modern technology and bring the laws into the twenty-first century:
(1) Copying costs should be 10 cents per page instead of 25

(2) Electronic copies – when they exist – should be mandated in a format the public can easily access

(3) Agencies should be required to post their data on the internet

E. Conclusion
The Atlanta Press Club believes that an open government is the hallmark of an open and free society. We need to do whatever we can to strengthen Georgia’s Sunshine laws. We applaud Attorney General Sam Olens for his leadership on this issue, and we hope to work with him and the Legislature to create the strongest bill possible for the state’s citizens.
Thank you for allowing me to comment. I will be happy to answer questions.

Atlanta Press Club speaks out on Open Records overhaul

Yesterday Cynthia Counts, First Amendment attorney, and Elaine Hudson, assistant director of the Atlanta Press Club, attended the Ga. House Judiciary (civil) committee hearing on the substitute open records/meetings bill H.B. 397. It was a packed house; people were spilling out into the hallway. Attorney and spokesperson for the Georgia Press Association, David Hudson, affably commented ‘We have a nice congregation here today.’

About 10 people spoke including Cynthia who made a statement on behalf of the Atlanta Press Club. She pointed out weaknesses in the bill while offering practical solutions. She was one of the few commentators who received questions from the committee. All major stakeholders spoke: citizens, local gov’t, news media, and educators underscoring the enormous public interest in this bill.

More details about yesterday’s public meeting can be found in this article by Shannon McCaffrey of AP.

Open Meetings, Records Act Rewrite Pushed by AG Olens

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet on August 30 to discuss a rewrite of the state Open Meetings and Records Act that has become a priority for Attorney General Sam Olens.  House Bill 397 was filed late in this past spring’s session and a vote is possible next year.  “My goal is to pass the bill,” Olens said.  “I’m not putting myself out here for failure.”

Making public records easier to obtain, opening more meetings to citizen eyes and cracking down harder on those who prevent that from happening has become a goal for the first-term Attorney General.  He made that clear during a recent presentation to the Atlanta Press Club.

“While the press continues to spend much energy on ORA – the Open Records Act – which I totally understand and appreciate – I would suggest to you that most abuses occur with regard to the Open Meetings Act,” Olens told about 115 Press Club guests during a panel discussion.

“When you go to a public meeting and they cover 20 topics in 15 minutes please don’t think that the meeting’s agenda was handled at the meeting.  So the most meaningful changes in this rewrite relate to the Meetings Act rather than Open Records.”

Olens noted one particularly egregious recent Open Records Act request case.  A citizen who requested information from the Cherokee County School District was told it would take several thousand hours to produce the work, only after he submitted a check for more than $324,000.

“My office called the lawyer for the Cherokee County School board and said, you really don’t want our letter do you?  The next week the individual got the documents he wanted,” Olens said.

House Bill 397 would address how much governments can charge in advance for records requests, set guidelines for  providing them electronically, and it would mandate which records public agencies must keep and for how long.”

The legislation would also introduce the possibility of civil or criminal penalties for Open Meetings or Records Act offenders, and steeply increased fines.

“When you look at other states that are considered (to have) model Sunshine Laws, they all have strong legislative intent that you’re supposed to give the public government information.  We don’t have that in our law at all, and that’s in (the legislation),” Olens said.  “We are trying as best we can to strengthen the law and get it passed.”

Written by Mike Klein for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Legacy of Jewell case unclear

The long-running libel case of Richard Jewell versus the Atlanta Journal-Constitution may finally be at an end. Although the newspaper has been vindicated by the courts, Jewell remains a tragic figure whose life was never  the same after he was mistakenly identified as a suspect in the 1996 Olympic Park bombing. Former Atlanta reporter Frank LoMonte, now director of the Student Press Law Center, told the Daily Report that the Jewell saga should give journalists pause.  “I think the experience causes you to do some soul searching,” LoMonte said, “because on a human level everyone feels bad about what happened to Richard Jewell and his family.”

Read the Daily Report’s Alyson M. Palmer’s story here: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/singleEdit.asp?individual_SQL=7%2F19%2F2011%4038952

Lt. Gen. Caldwell increasing Afghan forces to 352,000

NATO Training Commander, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, was the featured speaker at an Atlanta Press Club Newsmaker luncheon Tuesday, June 22. General Caldwell is in charge of recruiting, training and assigning responsibilities to the Afghan forces. Speaking to a room of about 100 people, Caldwell described his team’s efforts in Afghanistan as having made ‘tremendous progress.’ That’s in sharp contrast to his feelings of ‘concern’ when he first assumed the position in November 2009.

Currently, his team has recruited 300,000 Afghan troops. Earlier that morning news broke of an international security consensus reached inside Afghanistan approving an increase of the number of troops to 352,000, which Caldwell believes will be sufficient for Afghanistan to operate independently of coalition forces.  But the United States still has lots of hurdles to jump before handing over control to the Afghan forces. For example only 1 in 10 recruits know how to write their name. Basic skills like knowing how to count weapons need to be taught to the new servicemen and women. Otherwise, Caldwell said NATO’s mission will not endure, which is why he feels education and training are paramount to achieving a successful transition. Caldwell boasted that 50% of their police and military forces are now literate thanks to his team’s efforts. 

The Atlanta Press Club would like to thank the National Defense Industrial Association and North Georgia College & State University for sponsoring the event.

 Written by Elaine Hudson

Gingrich still in the race

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich spoke to the Atlanta Press Club during a Newsmaker breakfast on Wednesday, June 22. Gingrich spoke about his recent loss of staffers and campaign team, comparing his struggles to that of Ronald Reagan back in 1980: “If I had to choose Reaganomics or 13 staffers quitting, I think for the average working American, Reaganomics was a much better deal”. Gingrich also expressed to the club that he has big ideas for the American people and he intends to continue forward. He shared in depth the reasoning behind his choice to run for presidency and his campaigning techniques. Among other things, Gingrich has been filming a movie and recently finished his book, “A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters”.

                                                            Written by APC intern Chenelle Terry

Bernie Marcus wants to open school

Philanthropist and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus spoke to the Atlanta Press Club during a Newsmaker luncheon on Wednesday, June 15. He informed the crowd of more than 150 people of his current and future projects. One such project is to add education to the list of services the Marcus Autism Center provides to children and their families. The Marcus Autism Center is a non-profit organization that strives to provide information, services and programs to children with autism and related disorders. Bernie Marcus now wants the center to go further by opening a school, strictly for children suffering from autism. He would like for this school to extend beyond the first grade.

Along with his educational plans, Marcus has been actively meeting with businesspeople to discuss the Job Creators Alliance, which is designed to preserve free market enterprise.

A child of Russian immigrants, Bernie Marcus is showing no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, he delights in his ability to continue giving to Atlanta and local communities. Describing why he is a philanthropist, Marcus claimed jovially, “I can’t eat more. I can’t buy more houses or more cars”. So he pours his resources into the community. Tom Johnson, former president of CNN, concluded the luncheon by reciting a poem that describes Bernie Marcus, “It’s not how you die that matters, it’s how you live. It’s not what you take that matters, it’s what you give.”

Written by APC intern Chenelle Terry

Congratulations to our 2010 Awards of Excellence and Journalist of the Year Winners!

Atlanta Press Club congratulates its 2010 Award of Excellence and Journalists of the Year winners. Atlanta area journalists gathered to celebrate the work of their colleagues at The Atlanta Press Club on June 9 for the 2010 Awards of Excellence and Journalist of the Year Reception.  Winners were recognized in 11 different categories for their outstanding reporting in 2010. The winners, and their submitted work are as follows:

 Print News, Large Circulation:

·         Alan Judd and Heather Vogell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for their investigative reporting on the Atlanta public school’s cheating scandal. 

Print Feature, Large Circulation:

·         Bill Rankin of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for his story on a 64-year-old woman who becomes pen pals with a man in prison for murder.

Print News, Small Circulation:

·         R. Robin McDonald of The Daily Report, for her work on how the state investigates and disciplines judges who break the law.

Television News, Local:

·         Dale Russell of WAGA-TV, for his breaking news story on the sexual misconduct of Bishop Eddie Long; and for his investigative reporting into a D.O.T project to widen a road that went through then-Governor Sonny Perdue’s hometown.   

Television Feature, Local:

·         Dana Fowle of WAGA-TV, for her story on a minister exploiting the poor with the unlawful business practices so he could refinance his home.

Television News, National:

·         David Mattingly of CNN, for his coverage of the Gulf oil spill. He was one of the first in cable news to challenge BP CEO, Tony Hayward, on his future plans to stop the spill as well as to show the dangers it was causing. He also showed how the spill was affecting ocean wildlife.

Radio:

·         Jim Burress of WABE Radio, for his reporting on the Atlanta police department’s botched raid on a gay bar in midtown; and the constitutionality of roadblocks.

Online/Multimedia News:

• Peter Prengaman of The Associated Press, for his reporting, producing, and editing of stories including the Haiti earthquake, the West Virginia mine explosion, and the Gulf oil spill.

Online/Multimedia Feature:

·         Chandra Thomas of TheGrio.com, for her series on the 5^th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. She focused on the rebuilding efforts for Pontchartrain Park, the oldest African-American planned community, and where she and her family lived.

Photojournalism:

• John Spink of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for his photos that capture important events in the city. These include that of a grieving wife after her husband had been shot and killed, of a firefighter surrounded in flames, and people protesting the end of the C-Tran bus service in Clayton County.

 Opinion:        

·         Ann Woolner of Bloomberg Businessweek , for her columns discussing what happens when politics and law meet. She dealt with issues such as legalizing gay marriage and a how one man’s home was foreclosed, even though he didn’t owe a mortgage on it.

***The Journalist of the Year Award was given to Alan Judd and Heather Vogell of Atlanta Journal-Constitution for their reporting on the CRCT cheating scandal. In their acceptance speech, these two journalists expressed their gratitude to the A.J.C. and showed their constant determination to write a great story. We even found out that Heather Vogell was texting information to Judd as developments on the story were breaking…while in labor! Judd and Vogell will split a $1,000 prize  from the Atlanta Press Club.

This display of outstanding journalism shows that the long hours and hard work put forth to produce a great story, column or photo, do indeed pay off.