CEO Spotlight: page 26 the Atlanta Beltline’s Brian M MAY/JUNE 2018 c Gowan AN INSIDE VIEW INTO GEORGIA’S POLITICS, BUSINESS & NEWS COLUMNS BY JERE MOREHEAD • CI NDY MORLEY • BAKER OWENS DuBOSE PORTER • DANA RICKMAN • MATT TOWERY $3.95US LARRY WALKER • JOHN WATSON . AND MORE 756756999487 DEPARTMENTS Publisher’s Message 4 ON THE COVER Floating Boats 6 The Georgia state flag, acrylic on canvas, by Georgia artist Steve Penley. FEATURES Georgia’s Most Influential Politically-Connected Attorneys 8 JAMES Georgia’s Most Influential Judges 13 P. O. B OX 7 2 4 7 8 7 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 31139 Georgia’s Most Influential 678 • 460 • 5410 District Attorneys 14 PUBLISHED BY The 2018 James Readers’ Poll INTERNET NEWS AGENCY LLC of Top Political Hangouts 17 Hangin’ with the Politicos: Readers Rate the Best Political Hangouts 18 CHAI RMAN MATTHEW TOWERY Baker Owens CEO & PUBLI SHER PHIL KENT [email protected] CEO Spotlight: Atlanta BeltLine’s Brian McGowan 26 ASSOCIATE EDITOR GARY REESE CIDs Are Driving Economic Growth in Georgia 33 COO & MARKETI NG DI RECTOR MELANIE DOBBINS Cindy Morley [email protected] ADVERTISING DIRECTOR PATTI PEACH [email protected] COLUMNS AD ACCOUNT MANAGER NICK FOGLIA [email protected] A Powerful Partnership: CI RCULATI ON PATRI CK HI CKEY UGA and the State It Proudly Calls Home 23 [email protected] Jere W. Morehead STAFF WRITERS Zell Miller: A Man Who Had All CI NDY MORLEY BAKER OWENS the Friends He Ever Needed 30 Matt Towery CONTRI BUTI NG WRI TERS JERE MOREHEAD Catching Up With Renowned Atlanta CI NDY MORLEY Artist Steve Penley 37 BAKER OWENS Baker Owens DuBOSE PORTER DANA RICKMAN MATT TOWERY 2018 Legislature: HANS VON SPAKOVSKY What We Did See in Education Policy 39 LARRY WALKER Dana Rickman JOHN WATSON The Blue Wave is Here! 41 VI SI T INSIDERADVANTAGE.COM DuBose Porter SUBSCRIBE TO OUR DAILY INTERNET NEWS SERVICE $17.50/MONTH & RECEIVE JAMES FOR FREE Georgia GOP: Promises Made, Promises Kept 43 CHECK OUT OUR SI STER PUBLI CATI ON: John Watson SOUTHERNPOLITICALREPORT.COM Is Early Voting Helping or Hurting Turnout? 45 Hans von Spakovsky DESIGN & LAYOUT BURTCH HUNTER DESIGN Roquan Smith, Thank Zell Miller 49 Larry Walker PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE Lawyers, politics, a reader poll . and more. IT IS TIME AGAIN FOR OUR “MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICALLY- Education is a topic in every James, so we feature a CONNECTED ATTORNEYS” FEATURE— and it has expanded column from University of Georgia President Jere since last year. Of course, we’re aware there’s no way Morehead as well as one from Dana Rickman on what our staff can list everyone who fits into this category. the General Assembly, which adjourned in March, did We’ve missed some individuals, especially those oper- and didn’t do regarding education policy. Economic ating “under the radar.” (Georgia is a big state!) But development is a recurring topic, so staff writer Cindy we’ve chronicled most of the “big players.” And Morley profiled the impressive impact of Community because there’s not enough space to write bios on every Improvement Districts (CIDs). Also check out our “CEO Supreme Court justice, Court of Appeals judge and dis- Spotlight” on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Brian McGowan trict attorney, we list them in charts. and what’s happening with Georgia’s largest redevel- Since this is our “Political & Law Issue,” we feature opment project. columns by the chairmen of the state’s Democratic and Steve Penley is a rock-star Georgia artist, as well as Republican parties about how they believe their candi- quite a character, so it was past time we profiled him— dates will fare in this year’s statewide elections. We also and we especially appreciate his cover contribution. publish a thoughtful essay from lawyer Hans von Finally, former Gov. Zell Miller passed away on March Spakovsky on the downside of early voting. 23 and his amazing public service legacy is remem- It is time again, too, to publish the results of an bered by two columnists who knew him well: Matt online reader poll that occurred on our parent company Towery and Larry Walker. website insideradvantage.com. Staff writer Baker Owens writes about the top five metro Atlanta “political hangout” restaurants that you voted for— and we have a chart listing the overall top 20 vote-getters. We also received, as we have in years past, many comments on PHIL KENT CEO & PUBLISHER restaurants ranging from insightful to crazy. John A. Williams, legendary businessman, philan- smartest and most loyal businessman of my lifetime. thropist, co-founder and CEO of Preferred He bridged all gaps between political parties and busi- Apartment Communities and a minority owner of ness groups. What he achieved with Post Properties the Atlanta Falcons, died on April 16 at the age of and later with Preferred Apartment Communities— 75. Williams was also a valued partner in Internet both publicly held— is unequaled. John will always be News Agency LLC, which co-owns James maga- known as one of the true “builders” of modern Cobb zine’s parent company InsiderAdvantage. The fol- County. But his life substantially touched all of Atlanta, lowing is from Matt Towery, co-founder and chair- Georgia and the nation. man of Internet News/InsiderAdvantage: After I retired, John spent substantial time with my successor as CEO, Phil Kent. Phil and I offer our John Williams, our partner and dear friend, passed deepest condolences to his devoted family, wide cir- away unexpectedly. I knew John in earlier years as a cle of friends and very-much loved ‘family’ of co- legislator, and years later as both a neighbor and a workers. To put it bluntly, we loved John Williams business partner. He was, without a doubt, the and will miss him forever. FLOATIN G BO ATS WHO’S RISING AND SINKING IN GEORGIA BUSINESS AND POLITICS The Georgia Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a sexu- U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson has long been known as al harassment complaint a disgruntled female lobbyist one of the biggest advocates for veterans in Washington, filed against state Sen. (and GOP lieutenant governor and recently he was honored for his support. The candidate) David Shafer. “Based on the findings of fact Paralyzed Veterans of America presented Isakson, reported by the independent counsel, the committee the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ found that there is a lack of credible evidence to support Affairs, with the 2018 Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional the allegations,” committee chairman Sen. Dean Burke Leadership Award. The award is well deserved, and said. “Further, the evidence contradicted the essential Isakson’s continued service for wounded veterans has elements of the complaint. The investigation failed to find him RISING… credible evidence of sexual harassment or a violation of the Senate rules.” A cloud has been removed over Shafer The Atlanta Regional Commission had its planning and his boat is RISING… budget cut from the state budget by 75 percent. The reduction came following a state audit which found evi- The African country of South Sudan has gone 16 months dence of wasteful spending and mismanagement, most without a reported case of Gunea worm disease. notably from ARC Commissioner Douglas Hooker. He Stopping the illness, caused by a parasitic worm, has spent thousands of dollars on food, alcohol and other per- been a key initiative of former President Jimmy Carter sonal expenses using the Commission’s credit cards. The and The Carter Center, his philanthropic organization. ARC has disputed some of the audit’s findings, but its While far from alone in its mission, helping put an end to ship following these cuts is SINKING… a terrible ailment has The Carter Center RISING… HNTB Vice President Jeffrey Parker took over the posi- Federal prosecutors indicted Mitzi Bickers, a former tion formerly held by Keith Parker (no relation) as head official in ex-Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s administra- of MARTA in Atlanta— the nation’s eighth largest transit tion, on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit system. With over 25 years of experience in transporta- bribery and money laundering to wire fraud and filing tion infrastructure, Parker’s promotion was praised by false tax returns. After that, the feds issued subpoenas political leaders of both parties. With transit on the minds to probe Reed’s questionable use of a city credit card, of state officialdom, a new Parker at the helm has the as well as to investigate his deputy chief of staff. Reed MARTA ship RISING… successor Keisha Lan ce Bottom s inherited a mess. She’s talking about instituting reforms, but the ongo- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams ing city hall corruption probe and the aftermath of owes some $50,000 to the IRS and another $170,000 in Reed’s wasteful spending has her administration con- debt. Abrams has been open about the issues, noting tinually DRIFTING… that she has had to financially support her parents and other family members, but she is locked in a May 22 pri- Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields announced that offi- mary race with Stacey Evans who touts fiscal responsi- cers won’t respond to most shoplifting calls at stores in bility. For now, the Abrams boat is DRIFTING… but that the Buckhead business section of Atlanta. The chief could change as other issues dominate. claims time can be better spent by having officers handle more serious (and rising) crimes. Shields puts the respon- It was a record fiscal year for the Port of Savannah, sibility on the merchant to report the incident and spend which saw a 9 percent increase in container trade and a to hire an off-duty officer who can make an arrest.