February Meeting, Sheriff Mack Mason and DA Jeff Langley

Our Union County Sheriff, Mr. Mack Mason, was the featured speaker at the GOP monthly meeting on February 18th. Our District Attorney, Mr. Jeff Langley opened the meeting to discuss several bills that have been proposed. See below.

Sheriff Mack then addressed the crowd and said he was probably the only sheriff in the state that will still stop speeders. He was a state patrol officer for 29 years and also spent 2 years in the military. He has been our Union Country Sheriff for 10 years.

He explained that the Sheriff’s Department was $200,000 under budget last year, but mostly because there is a staffing shortage. His department pays less than the school system, for instance, and the benefits are not as good. Several good employees have moved to other departments. The national average starting salary for a police officer is $56,000. Union county’s starting salary is $40,000, which is way behind the curve. In general, people are fleeing this profession and staffing is becoming increasingly difficult.

Last year there were 22,500 incidents called in to the Union County Sheriff’s Department. The jail intake in 2021 was 765 inmates. Last year, it was 938, or an increase of 18%, with fewer officers. There were 900 wrecks in Union County last year. All together there were 2,000 traffic arrests. Most tickets are 80 miles an hour and up, but DUIs are relatively low in Union County.

Sheriff Mack stated that they had seized over $500,000 from drug arrests and started using that money to update their vehicle fleet. Last year, not one dime from the country was used for that purpose.

The state of Georgia is passing off onto the towns and counties many duties normally performed by the GBI. Additionally, the prison system is being used as a mental asylum. One unfortunate fellow was in the detention center for 11 months before the state came in to assess and help. Many communities are requesting that Governor Kemp do something about mental health situation.

Sole Commissioner Paris bought the shoe factory acreage to build a new jail and sheriff’s office. Sheriff Mack was not sure when it would be completed, but he was encouraged since jail intake is on the rise, and other counties want us to house their inmates. The Gun Range is coming along, and trees are being removed from the 14 acres granted to Union County from the Forest Service. Union County has 98,000 acres of government owned forest land.

House Bills Discussed by D.A. Jeff Langley

Mr. Langley was concerned about House Bill 48 which would make the office of District Attorney a nonpartisan office. In theory, this sounds good, but people who don’t follow politics won’t see an “R” next to a name on voting day, and may not know that one candidate is conservative and the other a “woke” District Attorney who will be soft on crime. Most district attorneys are against House Bill 48.

Mr. Langley also discussed House Bill 231 and House Bill 229. One of the bills would enable recalling your local DA with only 2% of the voters signing off on the recall. This would cause chaos as district attorneys regularly indict people who would happily recall them, and with such a small number needed, district attorneys would be recalled frequently. Most state legislators need a 30% recall, so this was a terrible idea. Read each bill here:

legis.ga.gov/legislation/63985
legis.ga.gov/legislation/63983
legis.ga.gov/legislation/63551

Make a difference

The monthly meeting of the Union County GOP was held on Saturday, January 21. Mr. Carl Blackburn, the 9th District Vice Chairman, explained the convention process and the importance of our County, District and State level Conventions. He encouraged people to tell their neighbors and friends to attend our Union County Convention that will be held at Coosa Methodist Church on March 11. He cautioned people to get there early. You must be in line by 9:00 a.m. to participate in the voting and election of new officers. He hoped people would bring their voter registration card with them to save time. He reminded the group that they can simply go to the “My Voter Page” on the Secretary of State website to find their voter card and precinct. At 10:00 a.m. the County Convention begins. They will elect officers, delegates and alternates to go to the District and onto the State Conventions. The District Convention will be held on April 15. The District and State Conventions are terrific fun, with a banquet the night before, awards, and top level speakers. The State Convention will be held on June 9 and 10 in Columbus, Georgia. All resolutions and rule changes work themselves up through the conventions and are presented to the State Convention. Andrew Turnage also spoke briefly about the upcoming conventions.

The Republican Party is a grass roots party, unlike the Democrat Party who have “Super Delegates”; a single person who makes decisions for hundreds of thousands of people. We have a voice in Union County to vote on who goes on to the District, State and ultimately to the National Convention. We vote on rule changes, and resolutions and elect our officers. This is how we govern ourselves. If you don’t like how things are going, you can change it right at the grass roots level at the Union County Convention. Plan to attend this important event. As General Michael Flynn says, “Local actions have a national impact”.