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I thought it would be a good idea to list the candidates and referendums to be decided on in just one week. I also thought I would take the liberty to insert my thoughts. Boring post but raises some good questions.

SCHOOL BOARD
District 1

• Susan “Susu” Cox
• John Hibberts
• Judy Jennings
• Karim Ladha

District 2

• Ellis “Daniel” Frazier
• Mickey Stephens

District 3

• Sabrina E. Greene-Kent
• Alexander S. Luten Sr.

District 5

• Connie S. Cooper
• Wesley L. Crenshaw
• Irene Gadson Hines
• Emogene S. Middleton

District 7

• Travis B. Cowart Jr.
• Julie Gerbsch

SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT

• Hugh Golson
• Floyd Adams Jr.
• Sadie C. Brown
• Joe Buck
• Jackie Sommers

Since when did the School Board become such a sought after position? I know it doesn’t pay that much. In fact, I think it is about $575/year. Something else is going on there.

GA. HOUSE DISTRICT 1

• Jack Kingston, Republican
• Jim Nelson, Democrat

Seriously. I was going to list all the candidates and the position they are running for but I got bored myself just writing them. We don’t want blogsavannah to become the most boring site on the web. I will list a few referendums though as I think it is interesting that with as long as the tax documents in our country and our state are now, they still want to add more excemptions. When will the madness end?

AMENDMENTS AND REFERENDUMS
Besides selecting the state’s constitutional officers, Georgia voters will be asked to decide three proposed constitutional amendments and six statewide referendum questions:

• Amendment 1:
  Eminent domain - If approved, this would limit the government’s power to seize private property. It proposes that any taking of private property for redevelopment must be approved by a public vote of city or county officials, and that all redevelopment must be defined as a public use.
• Amendment 2:
  Fishing, hunting - If approved, this would protect the traditions of fishing and hunting in Georgia. It asks voters whether fishing and hunting shall be preserved for the people and managed by state officials for the public good, reinforcing existing law.
• Amendment 3:
  License plates - If approved, this would permit state lawmakers to allow special vehicle license plates to be available for optional purchase and to siphon some of those funds to agencies, funds or nonprofit corporations. The revenue that goes to the outside groups would not go into the state’s general fund.
• Referendum A:
  Farm exemption - This proposal asks voters whether to expand the sales-tax exemption for farm tractors, combines and other farm equipment to apply to equipment held under a lease purchase agreement.
• Referendum B:
  Veterans exemption - This proposal asks voters to expand the state’s sales tax exemptions to include nonprofit veterans groups that refurbish and operate historic military aircraft for educational purposes.
• Referendum C:
  Charitable exemption - This proposal asks voters to expand the sales-tax exemption for property owned by charitable groups that generates income used exclusively to fund the operations of the charitable groups. If approved by a majority of voters, this proposal would become law on Jan. 1.
• Referendum D:
  Seniors exemption - This proposal asks voters to exempt seniors from paying state property taxes on their primary residence and up to 10 contiguous acres of land. The exemption would apply to only state ad valorem taxes and not those levied by local governments.
• Referendum E:
  Spouse exemption - This proposal asks voters to give unmarried spouses of a police officer or a firefighter killed in the line of duty a total exemption from paying ad valorem taxes on their property.
• Referendum F:
  Spouse continuation - This proposal asks voters to decide whether to allow the surviving spouse of a deceased spouse to retain the same homestead exemption that applied to the deceased, as long as the surviving spouse continues to occupy the home. That would mean the surviving spouse would not incur increased tax liability because of increases in assessed value.

The above is exactly why many Americans are turned off by the electoral process. They are just plain tired. Tired of reading. Tired of trying to understand. Tired of caring.