The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 83

The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution F4 Thursday, May 7, 1992 LOCAL NEWS (BttfeV02)G9 38 iMHUv'iMjKf, ftpll tliii' nil! mim SS5LS2 r- 1 "i I 5T1 bly will stay CAMPAIGN DIGEST stly white, ieiroeirait; Quillian A. Bill English Dean Alford Fred Aiken sympathetic to the concerns of their black constituents. GOP majority by year 2000? For Republicans, the 1992 reapportionment once loomed as a watershed year, after which they figured they would be poised to take over the General Assembly. Now some party members predict only modest gains of perhaps five seats. "There will be more Republicans," said David Shafer, executive director of the Georgia Republican Party.

"But by the end of this decade, the turn of the century, there will be a Republican majority in the state House and Senate." Mr. Shafer said Republicans hope the anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country will prompt Georgians to throw out many Democrats. But state Democrats say the Republicans are in a political wonderland. "There are a lot of incumbents who have represented their constituents well and have established a strong rapport with them," said Scotty Greenwood, executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party. "People have been saying, 'Look out for the year after year, and look what's happened." The effect of voter outrage, if it still persists in November, said Michael Binford, a political science professor at Georgia State University, will be difficult to predict.

Said Dr. Binford, "It could cut both ways." But at least 49 incumbents won't be coming back By Ben Smith III STAFF WRITER Despite the efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice to increase black representation in the state Legislature, black elected officials are not expecting their numbers to swell significantly after the November elections. Neither are Republicans, who say the General Assembly's failure to pass a balanced reapportionment plan blunted the GOP's efforts to recruit new candidates. Nevertheless, the 1993 legislative session will look strikingly different, as nearly one-fourth of its House members are not returning and more than one-fifth of the Senate will change hands.

Qualifying for state and federal elections ended Friday, and 38 of 180 House members failed to show up. Ten more were pitted against each other in five redrawn districts. In the Senate, 11 of 56 members opted for retirement or to run for Congress. Two others are running against each other. And that's before an angry electorate, harboring a "throw-the-bums-out" rage, gets its hands on the remaining incumbents.

The General Assembly's largest turnover in modern history came in 1974, following Water-, gate, when 66 House and 19 Senate seats changed hands. 'Power bases need to form' "I think the landscape at the General Assembly next year will change tremendously, politically, with new faces and with a definite geographic tilt to the Atlanta metro area," said state Rep. Michael Thurmond (D-Athens). That shift was expected to significantly increase the ranks of blacks and Republicans in the General Assembly. And it will, black and GOP leaders say, but not right away.

"It takes at least five years before you see the full impact of reapportionment," said Mr. Thurmond, himself leaving to run for Congress. "Power bases need to form," he said. "Some people don't realize they're living in majority black districts. People didn't have the time to pull together the resources to run." Even though as many as 15 new black majority districts were created in the General Assembly, blacks failed to take the opportunity to run in several of them.

For example, House Majority Leader Larry Walker (D-Perry) who is white, is unopposed in his majority-black district. The only opponent of state Rep. Bob Hanner (D-Dawson) is white, even though his redrawn district has a black majority. Even so, Mr. Thurmond said, unchallenged white elected officials will be forced to be more Baldwin Who won't be back No matter how many incumbents survive an angry electorate this year, the Georgia General Assembly is certain to be transformed for 1993.

Nearly a quarter of the House and one-fifth of the Senate will turn over, because of retirements, incumbents pitted against each other or politicians seeking other office. The following members already know they won't be coming back. STATE SENATE (12 of 56 members not returning) Frank A. Albert (R-Augusta) running for Congress Quillian A. Baldwin (D-LaGrange) retiring Sanford D.

Bishop (D-Columbus) running for Congress Mac Collins (R-Jackson) running for Congress J. Nathan Deal (D-Gainesville) running for Congress Bill English (D-Swainsboro) retiring C. Donald Johnson (D-Royston) running for Congress R.T. 'Tom" Phillips (R-Lilburn) running for Congress Tom Ramsey (D-Chatsworth) running for Congress Cathey W. Steinberg (D-Atlanta) running for Congress Eugene P.

Walker (D-Decatur) running for Congress STATE HOUSE (43 of 180 members not returning) Ralph "David" Abernathy III (D-Atlanta) running for state Senate Fred Aiken (R-Smyrna) retiring Dean Alford (D-Conyers) retiring Bill H. Barnett (D-Cumming) retiring O.M. "Mike" Barnett (R-Lilburn) running for state Senate Mike Beatty (R-Jefferson) retiring Peg Blitch (D-Homerville) running for state Senate John M. Chafin (D-Forest Park) running for state Senate Don Cheeks (D-Augusta) running for state Senate Eugene T. Clark (R-Acworth) retiring Mary Young Cummings (D-Albany) running for Congress Wesley Dunn (D-McDonough) retiring Ward Edwards (D-Butler) retiring Ron Fennell (D-Brunswick) running for Congress George Green (D-White Plains) retiring DeWayne Hamilton (D-Savannah) retiring Paul W.

Heard Jr. (R-Peachtree City) retiring Suzi Herbert (D-Griffin) retiring Sydney Pope Jones (R-Newnan) retiring Jack Kingston (R-Savannah) running for Congress James Beverly Langford (D-Calhoun) retiring Forrest McKelvey (D-Silver Creek) running for state Senate Cynthia Ann McKinney (D-Atlanta) running for Congress Leonard R. "Nookie" Meadows (D-Manchester) retiring Lundsford Moody (D-Hazlehurst) retiring Emory Morsberger (R-Stone Mountain) running for Congress Roy D. Moultrie (D-Hamilton) retiring Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) running for state Senate E. Wycliffe Orr (D-Gainesville) running for Congress Frank Pinkston (D-Macon) retiring Edward D.

Ricketson Jr. (D-Warrenton) retiring Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta) running for Congress Nadine Thomas (D-Atlanta) running for state Senate Michael Thurmond (D-Athens) running for Congress Kiliaen V.R. Townsend (R-Atlanta) retiring Rita Valenti (D-Clarkston) retiring H. Jay Walker III (D-Warner Robins) retiring Juanita Terry Williams (D-Atlanta) retiring Suit could halt votes in 15 counties 'More the merrier Cherokee sheriff says of challengers Catching crooks has been the easy part of his job, says John Seay, Cherokee County's first Republican sheriff. Now the hard part is keeping track of who's out to get him politically.

Sheriff Seay's tumultuous first term caused many to view him as vulnerable, and four challengers filed last week to take his job: Republicans Roger Garrison and David McDougal and Democrats Bennett Gaff and Randall Morgan. The sheriff has survived eight lawsuits, a short-lived recall effort, three investigations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and one by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "We walked away from them all," said Sheriff Seay. "Up here, they say John Seay is like a tea bag; you don't know how good he is until you put him in hot water," he added with a laugh. Republican insiders and Sheriff Seay himself see Mr.

Garrison, a forest ranger and for- mer county sheriffs lieutenant, as his main opposition. Mr. Gar-; rison points out that more than 150 employees quit the depart-: ment during his first term and that the sheriff exceeded his budget the past three years. Sheriff Seay, who says arrests and drug seizures have soared during his first term, believes jthat multiple challengers will I split opposition: "The more the merrier." PEROT CAMPAIGN Petition drive takes hold. The petition drive for H.

Ross Perot's presidential campaign is taking hold in Gwinnett County, supporters of the Texas billion- aire say. The Gwinnett petition drive began last weekend and contin-; ued Wednesday at the Market Place shopping center at Club Drive and Pleasant Hill Road. In only a few hours on a blustery day, supporter Joe Brandeburg said, he had collected more than SO signatures. "I've followed Ross Perot for 12 years and like what he stands for," said Bob Hartwell, a 35-i year-old registered Democrat from Norcross who stopped to sign his name. Kay Butts of Lawrenceville said she hadn't decided whether she'd vote for Mr.

Perot. "But I want him on the ballot. I'd just like to have that choice." WHAT'S IN A NAME? It didn't help this one. A fa- miliar name is on the Democratic ballot for the July 21 primary. Running in state House District 49 is Michael Julian Bond, the son of the former state senator ndw working in Washington.

--But the younger Mr. Bond's name didn't help him much at least initially with the state Democratic Party. Because of a clerical error by the party, his name did not make the final list of qualifiers that was issued when the books closed last week. The party has corrected the I oversight. REGISTRATION DRIVE Goal is 250,000 new voters.

Secretary of State Max Cleland, kicking off his VOTE '92 cam-: paign this morning, has set a goal of registering 250,000 new voters for the July 21 party primaries. Gov. Zell Miller has proclaimed as "Voter Registration Month." The deadline for voters to sign up is June 22. Staff writers Bill Torpy and tBill Rankin contributed to this 'article. the General Assembly's redistricting legislation that included language voiding the new boundaries if the Justice Department had not approved the new boundaries before candidates began qualifying for the elections.

Qualifying ended at noon Friday, and the lawsuit was filed the same day. Federal officials apparently did not have time to review the plans before the qualifying period, ACLU officials said. Neither Mr. Bowers nor ACLU lawyer Laughlin McDonald was sure what prompted the so-called "poison pill the district boundaries are approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

A hearing is scheduled for Monday before U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans. "I don't know how this is going to be resolved," Attorney General Michael J. Bowers said Wednesday. "Potentially, there is a fair amount of confusion that could result.

It all depends on what happens Monday." The counties are Butts, Carroll, Clay, Dougherty, Evans, Hall, Liberty, Mitchell, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Screven, Sumter, Tattnall and Terrell. The suit was prompted by By Steve Harvey STAFF WRITER A federal lawsuit challenging local redistricting plans could jeopardize primary elections this summer in 15 Georgia counties. Filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt county commission or school board elections in the counties, none of which affect Atlanta. If successful, the lawsuit could stall the elections until Incumbent Dobbs wins Covington mayor's race William "Bill" Dobbs has held the mayoral position in Covington for 22 years.

some of the allegations. Mr. Sigman, 51, a real estate agent and former state legislator, branded Mayor Dobbs a member of the town's power elite. Mr. Sigman alleged misuse of taxpayer funds, contending the city manager's salary of $81,000 is excessive.

Mayor Dobbs defended the salary by saying that Covington is a rare Georgia city that operates all local utility systems, which the city manager oversees. the City Council invalidated the results of a Dec. 4 election amid allegations of irregularities in a pre-election purge of the voting rolls. Mayor Dobbs, 66, an optometrist who has held the office for 22 years, defeated Mr. Sigman by nine votes in that election; About 150 people turned out for a City Council meeting in February about the election, during which it was revealed that a city investigation supported By Dennis McCafferty STAFF WRITER Covington, Ga.

Capping off a heated campaign, incumbent William "Bill" Dobbs defeated challenger Bobby Sigman on Wednesday in a special mayoral election. "It's Dobbs! It's Dobbs!" yelled an exuberant crowd of about 50 supporters at City Hall who had waited two hours after polls closed to hear the results. In final but unofficial returns, Mayor Dobbs had 950 votes to 896 for Mr. Sigman. But the winner seemed less than elated with the results.

"It's just another too-close election," said Mr. Dobbs, who vowed the race would be his last. "It shows that the people in the city don't care as much for the city as I'd like them too." Mr. Sigman had a different interpretation of the voting. "The people here have sent a to the administration that changes are in order," he said.

Officials from the Georgia Division of Elections were on hand to monitor the voting. The special election for the four-year term was held because GEORGIA IN BRIEF Man's attorney called 'key figure in slaying WAYCROSS: A Cobb County man's attorney was "the key figure" in the murder of the man's wife, who was found stuffed in an airplane tool box, prosecu tors charged Wednes motion review committee, and James Hill, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, would have to pay $1,000 in civil fines and take the course. The college recently agreed to settlements awarding more than $100,000 in back pay, attorneys' fees and other expenses in a lawsuit filed by history instructor John Moore, who said he was denied a full professorship because he is white. Mr. Moore and another white professor, Sandy Cohen, told the state Office of Fair Employment Practices they were denied promotions because of their race.

TIFTON: 2 buses collide, 30 students injured. A Tift County school bus loaded with children returning from a field trip struck another bus from behind, injuring more than 30 students. The driver of the bus in the rear told investigators he took his eyes off the road to check on a student in the back of his bus, and when he turned around the bus in front of him had stopped. Mostpf the injuries were minor. I 1 From Our News Services minutes looking at charred and blackened antiques in a store operated by Frances Irlbeck.

"It's really fortunate it didn't spread to the other buildings," Mr. Carter said. "But it's a shame it happened to Frances because she's one of the hardest working people I know." Ms. Irlbeck estimated her losses at $50,000. Among the items destroyed were 700 political buttons from the 1976 campaign that swept Mr.

Carter into the White House, she said. ALBANY: State trying to decide whether to appeal college case. Georgia's attorney general is trying to decide whether to again appeal a decision to make officials at historically black Albany State College take a race relations course in a reverse discrimination case. Dougherty County Superior Court Judge Lor-ing Gray issued an order last week upholding an administrative law judge's ruling. If the state does not appeal Judge Gray's decision, Albany State will have to Bet up a course aimed at improving face regions on campus.

Also, J. Alan Pete chairman of the college's faculty pro of Dec. 14, 1990. Police, thinking the plane might be carrying drugs, searched it and found Mrs. Wallace's body.

"We will prove Michael Glean is the key figure, the common denominator," Ware County District Attorney Donnie Dixon said in opening arguments Wednesday. "He was well-acquainted with all the others. He orchestrated these movements." But Mr. Glean's attorney said the prosecution cannot prove who killed Mrs. Wallace, contending he was "set up by his friends." The jury for the case was selected in Savannah because of pre-trial publicity in Waycross.

After the nine men and three women were picked for the jury Tuesday, they were brought to Waycross to hear testimony. PLAINS: Former president surveys fire damage. Former President Jimmy Carter surveyed damage in his hometown Wednesday caused by a fire that damaged two antique shops' including one diwned by his cousin, Hugh in the historic downtown district. Mr. Carter and' his wife, Rosalynn, spent about 10 day as the attorney's trial began.

Michael Glean, a lawyer from the northeast Georgia town of Farmington, is the first of four men to go on trial in the strangulation of Kimberly Wallace, 28. Her hus- Politics Tom Baxter innri JA is also among those charged. Mr. Glean was representing him in the couple's divorce at the time of her 1990 death. Prosecutors contend Mr.

Glean was piloting the small plane when it landed at Waycross-Ware County Airport the night Tom Baxter kon special assignment. His column will resume shortly. 1.