Repost from the Marietta Daily Journal blog

GALEO’s Jerry Gonzalez named one of “100 Most Influential Georgians” and other amazing tidbits

by D.A. King

Blogging While D.A. King

January 04, 2012 Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) has been named one of “100 Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend magazine in its January edition. Again.

No, really.

To get a handle on Gonzalez’s “influence” and style, it should be pointed out that pro-enforcement denizens of the Georgia Capitol are forever grateful to “Angry Jerry” for his relentless race-baiting on the crime of illegal immigration, his well-known fuming, disrespectful rants during testimony in Gold Dome committees against Georgia’s illegal immigration enforcement bills over the years and his willingness to personify the radical left on the issue in general.

He served as an ideal educational example for legislators unfamiliar with the illegal alien lobby.

And there is this little gem: “Influential” Gonzalez was recently removed from a Rome, Georgia panel discussion on the subject of Georgia’s recent illegal immigration law, HB 87, hiring legal labor and use of E-Verify because the organization he heads and members of the GALEO Board of Directors are part of a pending ACLU lawsuit seeking to halt enforcement of parts of the law. Apparently the organizers saw a conflict.

Determined to get the anti-enforcement side injected into the event, Gonzalez drove from Atlanta to the Rome event anyway and was soon ejected and removed by local police from the property for screaming at a member of the panel, Georgia state Representative Katie Dempsey. The diminutive and well-liked Dempsey was a co-sponsor of HB 87 and a staunch supporter of E-Verify.

The Rome News Tribune covered the event and reported on Gonzalez’s antics HERE.

Part of the explanation from glossy Georgia Trend on how “influence” is defined:

“..Individuals on the list – some who are very much in the public eye and some who choose to work behind the scenes – are selected for the power and influence they wield. These are the people who affect the lives and livelihood of all Georgians in one way or another…”

Indeed.

You can read the GALEO press release on the Georgia Trend award HERE.

Also notable in the same issue of the magazine: An essay from author and periodic MDJ guest columnist Phil Kent correcting some slips on HB 87 by GT editors in a previous edition (HERE) .

Just so you’ll know.

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – GALEO’s Jerry Gonzalez named one of “100 Most Influential Georgians” and other amazing tidbits