Official Complaint
Cobb County School District Mr. Chris Ragsdale, Superintendent
Violation of OCGA 50-36-1
Violation of OCGA 50-36-4
Violation of Georgia’s Open Records Act — OCGA 50-18-70
To: Neil Warren
Cobb County Sheriff
185 Roswell St NE,
Marietta, GA 30090
Dear Sheriff Warren,
Please regard this as my official complaint against Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and my request for investigation and enforcement action and that this complaint be shared with the Cobb District Attorney the state Attorney General’s office.
It is my educated opinion that Superintendent Ragsdale is in violation of OCGA 50-36-1 due to the fact that CCSD is and has been conducting Adult Education classes in violation of state law put in place to insure tax dollars are not used to provide public benefits to ineligible recipients.
Under existing state law, Adult Education is a public benefit. Any administration of public benefits requires that affidavits attesting to eligibility (due to U.S. citizenship or lawful presence status for a non-citizens) be offered and collected by the agency administering the public benefits – and that secure and verifiable ID be collected from the applicant to verify that eligibility.
In part, OCGA 50-36-1 :
(k) It shall be unlawful for any agency or political subdivision to provide or administer any public benefit in violation of this Code section. Agencies and political subdivisions subject to the requirements of this subsection shall provide an annual report to the Department of Audits and Accounts pursuant to Code Section 50-36-4 as proof of compliance with this subsection. Any agency or political subdivision failing to provide a report as required by this subsection shall not be entitled to any financial assistance, funds, or grants from the Department of Community Affairs.
I have sent a valid open records request to CCSD and spoken to the open records clerk there. Today, I received a response saying that the copies of the above-described documents are somehow exempt from Georgia’s Open Records act.
I want to take this opportunity to commend all concerned at CCSD for their resourcefulness in attempting to dodge the request and to conceal what I believe a lawful investigation will show: The requested documents do not exist, because CCSD is and has been in violation of state law on the administration of the Adult Education public benefit. To be clear, I am of the opinion that the response from CCSD is an effort to conceal that violation.
I attach the reply I received via email today (8:59 AM) here:
Mr. King,
I am responding to your email submitted under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50- 18-70 et. seq. Your request is included below.
The records being requested are not subject to disclosure under GORA, pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(1), because they are specifically required by federal law to be kept confidential.
Regards,
Kelly Moore
Open Records Clerk
Policy, Planning & Student Support
Cobb County School District
Phone 770-514-3870
Fax 678-594-7778
Kelly.Moore@cobbk12.org
It is my opinion that this refusal to honor my request and the reply also puts CCSD in violation of Georgia’s open records laws in that it attempts to mislead me into the belief that the required documents, if they exist, are exempt from public view. The contention from CCSD is that documents serving as proof of eligibility for public benefits required under state law are “specifically required by federal law to be kept confidential.” I note that CCSD does not cite this “federal law.”
I have been involved in the creation, passage and implementation of Public Benefits laws/OCGA 50-36-1 in Georgia since 2006. Including SB 529 (2006), HB 2 (2009), and HB 87 (2011).
Sheriff Warren, please know that I am in the large majority of Georgians who values the hard work and courage shown on a daily basis by you and your Deputies and entire staff.
Please contact me with any questions on my complaint and know that I am anxious for a reply. Each day CCSD is allowed to violate state law on this matter, taxpayers are not only losing needed funds, but the rule of law is degraded here in Cobb County
In the Georgia State Senate, the archaic default method for approving amendments to legislation that has already cleared public scrutiny in the committee process is an unrecorded, hand vote. On these floor amendments, there is no record of any member’s vote on the vote tally machine or in the permanent Senate Journal.
Current rules require a total of five senators to request a traditional, recorded vote on floor amendments. Most such votes go unrecorded.
In an effort to add to the transparency of state government and to eliminate the possibility of confusion on any senator’s vote in the senate chamber, I have filed Senate Resolution 24, which would change the existing senate rule so that any one senator could ask for a recorded vote on floor amendments.
It is my experienced opinion that changing this outdated senate rule will protect the reputation of all Senate members and aid in the public’s ability to understand the legislative process. Passage of my proposed rule change will require a two-thirds majority if SR 24 is allowed to go to the full senate. Under current rules, the vote on changing the rule could be done with an unrecorded vote.
Senate Resolution 24 to stop unrecorded votes in the Georgia State Senate failed in the standing Rules committee today.
Senator Josh McKoon’s proposed resolution to end unrecorded votes was defeated with an unrecorded voice vote under Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis.
According to the Secretary of the Senate’s Office, any member of that committee could have made a motion for a recorded hand vote. Such a motion would require one third of the committee members present to be approved. No such motion was made.
The Secretary of the Senate cited Rule 2-4.1.
Following the vote, Senator McKoon told AllOnGeorgia, “I am disappointed by the decision of the Senate Rules Committee to vote down SR 24 to end the practice of unrecorded votes. Georgia citizens deserve an open and transparent government and that should include recorded votes on floor amendments. We will continue to work to educate the ordinary and decent people of Georgia who I believe will eventually demand sweeping reforms to our state government.”
Senate Majority Leader and Republican Bill Cowsert led the opposition.
Jessica Szilagyi is statewide contributor for All On Georgia and Market Manager for Southeast Georgia. Her main focus with All On Georgia is state and local politics as well as agriculture. She’s served as a policy analyst at the State Capitol and as a campaign manager in political races across the state.
She writes for GeorgiaPol.com and has two blogs of her own: ‘The Perspicacious Conservative’, a political blog, and ‘Hair Blowers to Lawn Mowers’, a blog on moving from Atlanta to rural Georgia. Jessica is also a contributor for Fox5 Atlanta’s ‘Like it Or Not.’
711 Green Street
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone: 770-534-1080
Fax: 770-535-7404 Will.Schofield@hallco.org
Mr. Schofield,
Please regard this as my official request for public records under Georgia’s open records law.
Please send me copies of any and all documents, including applications, affidavits and Secure ID associated with the calendar years 2015 and 2016 administration of the adult education for English language classes conducted by Hall County Schools, including adult education classes conducted at the International Center.
Please also include any document that illustrates the original start date of these adult education classes.
Please contact me with any questions. I hope for an electronic response.
* Below, I attach the text of an email response from one of your staffers to illustrate my request.
Thank you,
D.A. King
Marietta, Ga. 30066
__
* “Thank you for getting in contact with us. I am Maria Iniguez, working at the Hall County International Center, where the ESOL adult program is located. Please give me a call at 770-534-9123 Ext. 51. I will be more than happy helping you and your friend with all the questions you might have.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Maria Iniguez
Family Service Bilingual Assistance
International Center
Hall County Schools
1 Sixth Street
Gainesville, GA 30504
Tel: 770-534-9123 Ext. 51
Fax: 770-287-8508
maria.iniguez@hallco.org”
WABE Atlanta NPR affiliate. D.A. King, February 2009.
Note, this interview was before WABE News dropped all pretense of being a professional, balanced news outlet.
Compliance with state Public Benefits law
Re; OCGA 50-36-1
To; Mr. Jim Weidhaas
Public Relations Director
Glynn County Schools
1313 Egmont Street
Brunswick, GA 31520
(912) 267-4100, ext. 1118
jweidhaas@glynn.k12.ga.us
Mr. Weidhaus,
Please regard this as my official request for public records under Georgia’s open records law.
Please send me copies of any and all documents, including applications, affidavits and Secure ID associated with the calendar year 2016 administration of the adult education classes for adult English language classes conducted by Glynn County Schoolsas described in this flyer and email from your staff.
Please also include any document that illustrates the original start date of these adult education classes.
Please contact me with any questions. I hope for an electronic response.
Thank you,
D.A. King
Marietta, Ga. 30066
____ * UPDATED Response received January 25:
Mr. King,
The Glynn County School System does not offer Adult Education courses as referenced in your request. In compliance with federal guidelines, parents of enrolled students can attend classes designed to help them improve their English skills. The goal is to improve communication between the home and school and enable parents to effectively engage in their child’s education. As these classes do not meet the criteria of an Adult Education course, there is no documentation to provide regarding your request.
Sincerely,
***********************
Jim Weidhaas, APR
Public Relations Director
Glynn County Schools
P.O. Box 1677
Brunswick, GA 31521
(912) 280-1070
jweidhaas@glynn.k12.ga.us
“Good morning,
Glynn County School System offers English classes for the parents of students in the school system. Classes end on 2/8/17, but will start back again next school year. They offer classes also at the library, but I’m not sure of those details. I’ll send you the flyer for my classes on a separate email.
Thank you,
Mercedes
‘Anti-white’ graffiti in gentrifying LA neighborhood sparks hate crime debate
Friday 4 November 2016
Police in Los Angeles are investigating the vandalism of art galleries in a Latino neighbourhood, including the spray-painted message “fuck white art”, as possible hate crimes.
Three galleries were targeted last month amid rising concern in Boyle Heights that an influx of galleries heralds gentrification.
A coalition of community leaders and leftwing militants has mobilised over the past year to protest, confront and in some cases intimidate galleries whom they fear will pave the way for development that will push out residents and erase a cradle of Chicano identity.
‘Hope everyone pukes on your artisanal treats’: fighting gentrification, LA-style
Read more
“We don’t know who actually did [the vandalism], but because it actually made a reference to anti-white art or anti-white, it’s basically saying that it’s a hate crime based on that,” detective John Parra of the LAPD’s Hollenbeck station told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
Police recently met gallery owners and requested advance notice of future exhibitions so that police could consider additional patrols, he said. The vandalism incidents remain under investigation.
Boyle Heights is a largely low-income neighbourhood which sits across the LA river from downtown, a formerly depressed zone which is being transformed by new museums, galleries, loft apartments and skyscrapers.
Over the past year activists, some with masks, others with megaphones, have confronted realtors and tour groups, picketed galleries and used a brass band blowing with all its might to sabotage an open air-opera.
Activists scorned the notion that tagging galleries represented a hate crime. “The walls in my neigbourhood are the people’s newspaper. That’s people expressing themselves,” says Xochitl Palomera of the advocacy group Corazón Del Pueblo. “You’re talking about someone spray-painting a wall with truth. Whoever wrote that is hurting and is angry.”
Xochitl Palomera: ‘We want these galleries out.’
The dozen or so galleries that have crossed the river were almost all white-owned and were opening the floodgates to economic forces which could drown the culture of Boyle Heights, said Palomera.
Advertisement
“We want these galleries out. They are going to be destructive to the things that we have been creating.” She said there was no such thing as reverse racism. “Because you know what, we’ve been experiencing oppression for hundreds of years. We’re not going to take this sitting down.”
She said the true hate crime was the LAPD’s killing of Jesse Romero, a 14-year-old boy, in August. Police said he was tagging gang-type graffiti and may have fired a gun when confronted by officers. Romero’s family disputes that and called the killing excessive force.
Ruben, an activist with Serve the People LA (STPLA), a Maoist offshoot, said “righteous anger” over the risk of displacement fueled the graffiti. “We didn’t do it and don’t know who did it, but we celebrate it.”… READ MORE HERE.
Open records request
“ESOL ADULT CLASSES A BIG HIT!, DECEMBER 12”
Marietta City Schools
Re; Compliance with state Public Benefits law
‘ESOL for Adults’ OCGA 50-36-1
To;
Marietta City Schools Open Records Officer Director, Communications & Information
Marietta City Schools
250 Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
E-mail: svega@marietta-city.k12.ga.us
Fax: ( 770) 429-3112
To whom it may concern,
Please regard this as my official request for public records under Georgia’s open records law.
Please send me copies of any and all documents, including applications, affidavits and Secure ID associated with the administration of the adult education classes for ‘ESOL for Adults’ conducted by Marietta City Schools as described on this webpage from the Marietta City Schools.
Also, please include any document that indicates the original start date of these adult education classes.
Please contact me with any questions. I hope for an electronic response.
Re; Compliance with state Public Benefits law
English Classes for Parents
OCGA 50-36-1
To; Mr. Darryl R. York Open Records Officer
Cobb County School District
514 Glover Street, Marietta, GA 30060
P: 770-514-3870
F: 678-594-7778
Email: openrecords@cobbk12.org
Mr. York,
Please regard this as my official request for public records under Georgia’s open records law.
Please send me copies of any and all documents, including applications, affidavits and Secure ID associated with the administration of the adult education classes for English Classes for Parents conducted by Cobb County School District as described on this webpage from the CCSD/Cobb County ESOL website.
Also, please include any document that indicates the original start date of these adult education classes.
Please contact me with any questions. I hope for an electronic response.
Thank you,
D.A. King
Marietta, Ga. 30066
Dking******
________
*UPDATE: Response from CCSD:
OpenRecords January 24, 8:59 AM
To: D.A. King
RE: Open records request Adult education
Mr. King,
I am responding to your email submitted under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50- 18-70 et. seq. Your request is included below.
The records being requested are not subject to disclosure under GORA, pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(1), because they are specifically required by federal law to be kept confidential.
Regards,
Kelly Moore
Open Records Clerk
Policy, Planning & Student Support
Cobb County School District
Phone 770-514-3870
Fax 678-594-7778
Kelly.Moore@cobbk12.org
