By Maria Saporta

After a year without a permanent director, the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club has hired Colleen Kiernan for that role.

The news was announced in an email from Mark Woodall, chair of the Georgia Chapter, which was distributed more widely in an email from Niell Herring, who handles legislative affairs for the chapter.

Kiernan succeeds Patty Durand, who left the chapter in June, 2009.

Kiernan is no stranger to the Sierra Club and the environmental movement in Georgia. For five years, between 2001 and 2006, she worked for the Building Environmental Community Campaign in Georgia as part of the Sierra Club’s national field staff.

She also was an organizer against the proposed LS Power/Dynergy Early County coal-fired power plant.

In another role, Kiernan also was involved in the early phases of the Atlanta Beltline project.

After leaving the Sierra Club in 2006, Kiernan attended Georgia Tech where she received her Masters in City and Regional Planning. Most recently she’s been employed as a sustainability specialist at a local design firm.

Woodall’s email said Kiernan will begin her new job on Aug. 23.

By Maria Saporta

Metro Atlanta finds itself in an awkward position.

For decades, the Atlanta region has had a golden touch — despite up and down economic cycles, it always has managed to grow out of recessions and emerge even stronger.

But this past decade has been different. Metro Atlanta finds itself unable to rebound out of this downturn.

At Databank’s Mid-year Real Estate Symposium Thursday morning, two key regional leaders gave their views on why the Atlanta region is struggling.

Sam Olens, who is the Republican nominee in the Georgia Attorney General race, is the former chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission and the former chair of Cobb County.

Larry Gellerstedt III is president and CEO of Cousins Properties, one of Atlanta’s real estate firms.

Because I was moderating the discussion, my notes are not as extensive as my usual reporting, but let me hit the highlights.

Olens said the Atlanta region has “taken a huge hit” this past year. It roughly has the same number of jobs that it had 10 years ago, and it has lost higher paying jobs — two drags on our economy.

Gellerstedt said that compared to other real estate markets nationally, “Atlanta would be a bottom quartile city,” a far cry from when the region would rank in the top five markets.

“We’re used to our boats always rising higher,” Gellerstedt said of the Atlanta region. This downturn, however, is giving Atlanta an opportunity to address its fundamental issues of transportation, water and education, he added.

But Gellerstedt also said that during this election season, there’s been too much attention given to divisive issues such as abortion and immigration rather than the issues that are most important to propelling the state’s economy.

Both Gellerstedt and Olens said there’s a need for state leadership to focus on metro Atlanta’s needs.

“They always assumed we didn’t need to reinvest in Atlanta,” Olens said. Advice? “Make friends in other parts of the state.”

Olens said going forward, a regional transportation sales tax will be critical in building light rail and transit systems in metro Atlanta. He said he believed the five core metro counties understand that transit will be a key link to attracting high quality jobs and will help make sure that the “suburbs are not only an island.”

Gellerstedt did say that it is important for metro Atlanta to make friends across the state, but he said metro Atlanta’s political influence is growing. “Just look at the votes,” he said. “The region has the votes.”

Yet getting the region to work together on its common issues often has been a challenge. Still Olens said ARC’s Regional Transit Committee is bringing local governments together to support plans for transit.

In closing, Olens and Gellerstedt said the big difference between today and 20 or 30 years ago is one of aspiration. Metro Atlanta leaders were visionaries who could see what steps the region needed to take to be prepared for the future.

Today, excellence has been replaced with good, Gellerstedt said. Now Atlanta’s competitive edge has been slipping as other cities have adopted more forward-thinking policies. Gellerstedt mentioned Charlotte and the whole state of North Carolina, Dallas, Texas and Florida as areas that are getting an upper hand by investing in infrastructure, such as high-speed rail.

As we emerge from this recession in the next couple of years, Gellerstedt said the region will need to recapture its aspirational spirit by supporting transformational projects such as the Atlanta Beltline.

Only then will we be able to attract quality growth and higher paying jobs to the Atlanta region.

By Maria Saporta

It’s official. The fares for the Xpress bus service are going up.

The board of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority held its board meeting Wednesday afternoon and voted unanimously for a fare increase beginning in October.

People will now be charged based on the distance they travel, which translates into some fares going from $3 a ride to $4. Riders also will no longer have the ability to travel on MARTA for that one fare price. (See Maria’s Metro column).

The reciprocal fare agreement between MARTA and GRTA has been one way to create a more seamless transit network in the Atlanta region. But by discontinuing the reciprocal fare agreement, GRTA officials hope to be able to generate about $200,000.

The one feature the board kept is that GRTA will keep the 31-day pass rather than going to a monthly pass. That gives riders extra flexibility to not have to pay for rides if they’re on vacation.

At the GRTA board meeting, officials described the severity of the system’s projected operating shortfall — which is expected to be $10.5 million for the fiscal year 2012 and as much as $36 million for the next three years. At that time, GRTA hopes that a regional penny sales tax will have passed in the Atlanta region and that GRTA’s bus service would have been included in the project list.

Either way, GRTA officials call this period a three-year gap in operating revenues.

Part of the strategy for Jannine Miller, GRTA’s new executive director who was attending her first meeting in her new role, will be to work with state and local governments to try to find a way to pay for the system.

She said the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Atlanta Regional Commission have been sympathetic to GRTA’s dire financial situation.

Back when GRTA’s Xpress bus system started, there was a interesting carrot offered to counties to help pay for the service. Counties could give GRTA funds, but then they would be rewarded for their participation by receiving additional road dollars from GDOT.

This was one way to get around the problem of the Georgia constitution. It has been determined that GDOT’s gas tax revenues can only be spent on roads and bridges.

Miller said she hoped that GRTA would be able to structure a partnership between the counties and GDOT so that the Xpress bus system would be able to receive needed operating revenues.

GRTA Chairman Sonny Deriso said that the authority is in a period of transition because of the statewide elections this fall.

Because GRTA is a complete creature of the governor, whoever takes office in January will be able to reconfigure the board to his liking. The board meeting took place right after GOP gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel had conceded the run-off election to former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal.

GRTA legislation gives the governor complete authority on being able to pick the members who serve on the board. The governor also has a great amount of influence in who is the executive director.

For example, Gov. Sonny Perdue a couple of years ago named Dick Anderson to serve as GRTA’s executive director. Anderson stepped down from that position earlier this year to join Handel’s gubernatorial campaign. But Anderson stayed connected because he was named vice chairman of the board.

Miller is in a similar spot because she also was named to her post by Perdue, and there’s always the question of whether Deal or Roy Barnes, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, will want to keep the GRTA board and staff in place.

What will not change over the next several years is the need for more dollars to support transit operations, be it GRTA or MARTA or some hybrid version.

By Maria Saporta

If approved by voters in 2012, it is expected that the sales tax would generate about $7 billion over its 10-year life span. So the big test will be how those $7 billion will be invested.

The framework for making those decisions is beginning to come light.

On Thursday, Todd Long, director of planning for the Georgia Department of Transportation, released the “draft” criteria that will be considered in coming up with the project list.

People need to keep in mind that the sales tax will only raise about one-tenth of the money that the region estimates is needed to meet most of transportation needs.

The Regional Transit Committee has estimated that it would cost about $55 billion just to implement a metrowide transit plan as outlined in Concept 3.

So the tug-of-war of how that money will be divided will keep everyone busy between now and next year, when that project list is expected to be presented to the public.

At the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable meeting Friday morning, Long summarized the criteria that is being put in place.

“The projects have to be strategic in nature,” Long said as part of a panel discussion on Georgia’s Transportation Future. “The projects have to be deliverable in the period of the tax. And projects have to be appealing to the public.”

The criteria also puts together a minimum and maximum range of what can be spent on road, transit and other transportation projects. For example, the range for roadway capital is between 20 to 50 percent. The range for transit capital is between 10 and 40 percent. The range for transit operations and maintenance is between 5 and 20 percent.

The balance would be spent on safety, traffic operations, freight and logistics, non-motorized transportation, aviation and roadway and bridge maintenance.

In other words, according to the criteria, the share that transit could get is as low as 15 percent and as high as 60 percent.

Here is the link to view the Draft Criteria for the Atlanta 10-county Special Tax District.

By Maria Saporta

In an effort to focus on the issues rather than prickly politics, the Metro Atlanta Chamber had a Republican gubernatorial forum Tuesday morning and made sure there wasn’t an opportunity for the two run-off candidates to confront each other.

First on stage was former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, who was interviewed by Bill Nigut, a former WSB-TV political journalist who is now the Southeast Regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

After about 35 minutes of Deal answering questions, he was swept off stage.

That’s when former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel got in the hot seat.

The tone and the substance of the forum was void of personal attacks between the candidates who will face each other in the Aug. 10 run-off election. The winner of that run-off will face former Gov. Roy Barnes, who is the Democratic nominee.

Although both candidates tout themselves as being conservative Republicans, there were several areas where they had differences of opinion.

How much federal support Georgia should seek was one of those areas.

“If you become dependent on federal stimulus dollars, you erode the state’s responsibility to balance its budget,” Deal said.

This past year, Georgia received about $2 billion in federal stimulus dollars, which won’t be available during the 2012 fiscal year that will begin next July.

Deal also said he was hesitant about accepting “Race to the Top” federal dollars for education.

“I’ll take their money, I just don’t want the strings,” Deal said, adding that the strings might not be “worth the money we are going to receive.” He then said he would prefer that Georgia use the resources that it has and not rely on the federal government.

Deal gave a similar answer when asked about how Georgia had been left out of the funding for high speed rail projects while neighboring states had been given the green light with significant federal funding.

“It is certainly a worthy goal to work for,” Deal said about high speed rail. But he quickly added that the state needs to figure out what would be the most efficient way to relieve congestion in the metro area, and he questioned whether high speed rail would prove to be cost effective. As he sees it, the first priority should be on a “good east-west connector” in middle Georgia.

Asked about Georgia losing out on the federal high speed rail dollars, Deal said it was important not to let the federal government “set our own priorities” for transportation.

Although Handel did not get a similar question on federal stimulus dollars, she was asked about the Race to the Top program, of which Georgia is now a finalist.

“As long as we are paying taxes to the federal government, Georgia has a responsibility to get its fair share,” Handel said.

She later was asked about the development of high speed rail in Georgia.

“We should make this a priority,” Handel said. “Think about Georgia 25 years from now. If we haven’t embraced transit more than we have… It’s a competitiveness issue.”

Deal and Handel also had differing views on tax reform.

Deal prefers cutting the corporate tax rate by a third, while Handel prefers phasing out the individual income tax.

Because corporate tax revenues only make up between 4 to 5 percent of the state’s budget, Deal said it wouldn’t be a huge hit on the state’s coffers. But it would make the state more attractive to companies looking to expand in Georgia.

Handel, however, said she would like to phase out the individual income tax rate in Georgia to be more competitive with other Southeastern states.

“If Florida, Tennessee and Texas can figure it out, we can too,” she said.

But in his portion of the forum, Deal explained that the income tax accounts for about half of the state’s revenues.

So reducing the corporate tax rate would not be “nearly as risky as those who talk about doing away with the personal income tax, which is half of your revenue,” Deal said.

Both candidates were strong proponents of the HOPE scholarship, and said that it needs to continue to be based on merit rather than need. Asked about a recent report that the state could soon run out of HOPE dollars, both candidates said the funds should focus on tuition and not other charges such as student fees and books.

Both also agreed that the state should encourage the development of small reservoirs as a way to address its long-term water needs. Deal also said the federal government should start giving the state credit for the treated water that it returns to its rivers.

Lastly, when asked about metro Atlanta being the economic engine of the state, both stopped short of saying they would treat the metro region any different than other parts of Georgia.

“I do understand the importance of the Atlanta metro region as an economic driver of our state,” Deal said, but added that other parts of the state also were important to Georgia’s economy. “We need not to foster the idea that there are two or three Georgias. I’ll represent all of Georgia, including metro Atlanta.”

Handel, who served as chair of the Fulton County Commission before running for state office, said she had a unique understanding of the needs of metro Atlanta. But she added that the “issues we are dealing with are too big and too complex” for there not to be cooperation among local and state governments.

Asked if she would have special consideration for metro Atlanta, Handel said: “Every part of the state is special.”

By Maria Saporta

And now for another side of the story.

Last week, a federal jury awareded $17.5 million in damages to Corey Advertising, which had argued that the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport illegally awarded an indoor advertising contract to a politically-connected competitor.

But Ben DeCosta, who was general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson when Corey was seeking the advertising contract, sent me an email Monday evening with a different point of view. DeCosta retired as the airport’s general manager about a month ago.

Since DeCosta is a lawyer by training, I thought it would make sense to just publish his whole email so readers could judge for themselves. If the Corey Advertising folks want to respond, they are more than welcome to reach out to me.

In the meantime, here is a copy of DeCosta’s email — word for word:

From Ben DeCosta:

The public reporting of the Corey advertising case has suffered from the absence of hard facts.

Billy Corey has claimed publicly, through the media and through an Internet web site, and at the same time through the judicial system that elected officials and city professionals have intentionally discriminated against him and his company when he did not win the procurement of airport’s 2002 advertising contract. He also complained that we conspired to deprive him of his right to the contract.

The facts were presented in the city’s defense during the trial but went uncovered in the media.

What are some of the salient facts missing from the discourse and the commentary on this dispute? What truths are lacking?

1. History is not evidence. A video deposition by Angela Gittens, the then the Airport director, tells of a 1995 purported conversation with Bill Campbell, then mayor of Atlanta, regarding delaying the Airport Advertising RFP, a full seven years before the April 2002 issuance by the city of the Airport Advertising request for proposals ( RFP). This video lacked any relevance to any acts, intentions or motivations of Mayor Shirley Franklin, Airport Director Ben DeCosta, the responsible public manager at the time, or the numerous professionals in three city departments who worked in, and manage the various aspects of, the procurement process. Ancient acts by former mayors may be given Biblical connotations (sins of the father….), but certainly are not appropriate to the judicial standards of proof and facts required to support Corey allegations of discrimination and conspiracy. These old statements, even if true, are not evidence and should not have been allowed before the jury for the finding of the truth regarding the procurement process in 2002. There was no evidence in the case of acts by Mayor Franklin, Ben DeCosta or any City official or worker who discriminated against Corey.

2. The RFP was fair. The 2002 Airport Advertising RFP criteria were broadened to create a more competitive playing field to attract additional contestants to compete for the contract. Initially the RFP required experience that Billy Corey’s company did not have and therefore would not have been qualified to compete. The changes made by the city in the RFP allowed Corey and others to compete along with Clear Channel. In addition, in an attempt to entice another company to submit proposals, the RFP allowed for more flexible and creative distribution of advertising dioramas, instead of limiting the field of competition and intending to favor the incumbent Clear Channel as Corey has claimed. The city pursued sound business practices to increase the number of contestants to improve our chances for more revenue and improved services through competition. There was no proof in the case of any discrimination against Corey in the formulation of the RFP.

3. The evaluators did not discriminate. The evaluation of the proposals submitted by three contestants was fair and professional by a diverse group of city staff members. Clear Channel scored more points than Corey in a process where four experienced Airport professionals evaluated the proposals independently and each, separately, without conferring, found that Clear Channel had the better proposal. Each person testified under oath to their actions and intentions and that they handled the process honestly and with integrity. Also, there was no evidence of their intent to discriminate. In fact court evidence revealed that Corey had lost five contests for Airport Advertising at around the same time as their Atlanta proposal. Atlanta was the largest and presumably the one least likely for them to win against an experienced company like Clear Channel. Clear Channel managed advertising at some of the nation’s largest airports while Corey had a single contract at the airport in Columbus Georgia.

4. The City and airport follows sound business practices. . The Airport has been run as a business since the days of Mayor Hartsfield. As a matter of national policy, it continues to operate today on sound business principles as a business enterprise. Every tenant in good standing who provides the agreed upon service and rent, at the level of required operational and management standard, is entitled to continue despite the city’s administrative delay in its procurement processes. The city is obligated to use sound policies in every aspect of the operation by balancing the multiple needs of the passengers, airlines, concessionaires, businesses, bondholders and the general public.

The allegation that Clear Channel owed the Atlanta millions of dollars is absolutely untrue. Clear Channel’s agreements had expired but they continued to provide service and pay rent as a month-to-month tenant. As such a tenant, Clear Channel was not treated differently from any other month-to-month tenant. All tenants in good standing, as the testimony reflects, were treated alike.

Automatic assessment of penalty rent increases are only designed to oust tenants not in good standing and force them to vacate the premises immediately.

In this case of the advertising contract and the other expired contracts that existed at the start of Shirley Franklin’s administration, we handled them in the overall public interests, while at the same time, we were handling the airport master plan, the negotiations with the airlines, the acceptance of the 5th runway and the many security and customer issues raised by the terrorist attacks of 911 , to name a few of the many relevant issues handled by us.

We made business decisions in the best interest of the City, the airport, our economy and the nation’s travelers. Ousting tenants would make no sense and be a poor business practice.

Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport routinely ranks among the top airports in the nation for customer service and efficiency. It is the busiest and most efficient airport in the world. The airport’s expansion including the fifth runway, the rental car complex and the international terminal will continue to serve the nation and support our local economy for years to come.

By Maria Saporta

On Saturday, a majestic tree on the front lawn of the H.M. Patterson & Sons – Spring Hill Chapel funeral home was cut down — causing grief to those who usually are there to console.

“My heart is aching,” said John Gallatin, funeral director and location manager for H.M. Patterson. “It was one of the three original trees that had been planted in 1928.”

After his father died in 1923, Fred Patterson inherited the business and decided “to construct a funeral home on a hill, overlooking trees in honor of his father and in tribute to his English-born mother,” according to the funeral home’s website.

The website also states that the building was designed by famous Atlanta architect Philip Shutze who wanted it to resemble an old English manor house. By 1929, three oak trees had been planted on the front lawn.

Gallatin said he doesn’t know what happened to the first of three willow oaks that adorned the property. The second went down in a storm about five years ago.

An arborist came out to trim the limbs of the last remaining oak, and Gallatin was told that it had a root fungus and that it needed to come down.

“I called in three different arborists, and they all said the same thing,” Gallatin said, adding that he went through the various stages of grieving, including denial and then acceptance. “They are like people.”

Finally, the tree was cut down this past weekend.

“I’ve been in mourning ever since,” Gallatin said, adding that two other trees that were dead in the back yard of the home also were cut down.

Marcia Bansley, founder and executive director of Trees Atlanta, said Patterson’s had received approval from the city’s head arborist, Ainsley Caldwell, to remove the three trees because they were hazardous. In that situation, there is no requirement to replace the trees.

“Even though they had permission to remove the trees, the loss of their beauty makes me sick and takes a lot of the charm away from the building,” Bansley said. “I hope they will replace the very large oak and another one this winter when it is the correct time to replant. The beautiful trees brought a lot of comfort to those whose relatives had funerals at Patterson’s. The building and the trees were an icon for Atlanta citizens, and replanting the trees will help to restore the special charm of the place.”

Gallatin said that a landscaper has been hired to look at what should be done with the land.

“We are going to replant a tree,” he said. “I just don’t know when or where.”

By Maria Saporta

The bottom line for Georgia — grow your own.

A new study by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development documents how buying Georgia-grown produce contributes to our economy.

If each of the 3.7 million households in Georgia devoted $10 a week to buying produce grown in the state, it would pump $1.9 billion into Georgia’s economy.

Alice Rolls, executive director of Georgia Organics, said in a statement that the findings of the study are “some of the strongest demonstrations so far of what a small change in consumer behavior could mean for farmers and for the entire state.

Rolls also said that she hopes the study will motivate state leaders to encourage “every day foods for our Southern diets growing in the fields of Georgia.”

Although agribusiness is an important part of Georgia’s economy, Georgians eat less than the national average of locally-grown food. Currently, direct farmer to consumer sales contribute 132 jobs, $4.5 million labor income and $14.4 million in sales.

The study determined that if Georgia produce farmers increased direct farm-to-consumer produce sales to the national average, it would have an overall statewide contribution of 228 jobs, $8.1 million in labor income and $25.8 million in sales.

For example, the average Georgia eats about 30 pounds of fresh lettuce per year, or about 285 million pounds statewide. But the state only grows about 245,000 pounders a year, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the amount of lettuce that Georgians consume

There are other major gaps in what Georgians eat and what Georgia grows — apples, bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, pecans, tomatoes and watermelon.

According to the 2007 Agricultural Census, Georgia direct sales accounted for .18 percent of their total sales. By comparison, Rhode Island sold 9..5 percent of its agricultural products directly to consumers and Massachusetts sold 8.5 million through direct sales.

Kent Wolf, an agricultural economist who authored the UGA study, said farmers get to keep a larger percentage of their sales when they sell directly to stores, restaurants and consumers.

“Looking at the quantity of foods directly marketed in Georgia,” Wolfe said in statement, “there is a tremendous opportunity there.”

Click here to read the entire study.

By Maria Saporta

The run-offs are here, and the Atlanta Press Club is ready.

The debate committee met Wednesday to map out a series of nine run-off debates between now and Aug. 8, which is two days before the run-off vote. As a reminder, I chair the APC debate committee.

For those of you who are political junkies and/or believe in being an informed voter, here is our line up.

We will hold four debates this Sunday evening between 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and they will be aired live statewide on Georgia Public Broadcasting, our television/radio partner for the better part of two decades.

The four debates this Sunday will be for the U.S. Congress. We will start with the Republican run-off for the 13th Congressional District (the seat now held by Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia).

Both candidates in that race — Mike Crane and Deborah Honeycutt — have confirmed their presence.

The next race is the Republican contest for the 12th Congressional District — the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D-Georgia). candidate Carl Smith has confirmed his attendance, but his opponent Ray McKinney is saying he has a conflict. We’re still hoping he’ll find a way to come. If not, he will be represented by an empty podium.

At 7 p.m. Sunday evening, we’ll hold the debate for the Republican race in the 7th Congressional District. That race is to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. John Linder.

Both candidates in that run-off — Rob Woodall and Jody Hice — have confirmed they’re coming.

Then at 7:30 p.m., we’ll hold the debate for the Republican candidates in the 9th Congressional District, the seat that had been held by Congressman Nathan Deal, who resigned to run for governor. Tom Graves, who has been elected to serve in that post until November, is in a run-off with Lee Hawkins.

We’ll then take off a weekend and return with debates on Friday, Aug. 6. and Sunday, Aug. 8.

The one run-off that we are taping as web-only debate that Friday is the one for Republicans running for the Public Service Commission’s District 2. That’s a run-off between John Douglas and Tim Echols. We do hope that the blogosphere will help us make sure the public get an opportunity to see those two candidates who want a say on our state’s energy policies and rates.

Then at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, we will hold two live debates broadcast statewide on GPB. The first race will be for the Democratic contest for Secretary of State between Gail Buckner and Georganna Sinkfield.

At 7:30, we will hold the Republican run-off for Insurance Commissioner between Ralph Hudgens and Maria Sheffield.

Sunday, Aug. 8 will be our big night of the run-off series.

We will start out with a debate between the two Republicans still in the race for governor — Karen Handel and Nathan Deal. Both of those candidates already have confirmed their presence.

We will end our run-off debates with the Republican Attorney General race. Sam Olens and Preston Smith are facing each other in that run-off.

So as you can tell, we’ve been busy. We hope you’ll take the time to watch. And in case you missed our 22 primary debates, you can view them online by going to the www.atlantapressclub.org website.

By Maria Saporta

Twenty-two debates later.

One of the many hats I wear is chair of the Atlanta Press Club debate committee, a position I’ve held for so long (about 18 years) that I’ve kind of lost track of time.

The Atlanta Press Club partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting goes back to the days when the studio was on Stewart Avenue (yes, before Stewart Avenue became Metropolitan Parkway).

The relationship and partnership has grown over the years, and now I’m proud to see that the Atlanta Press Club/GPB political debates have emerged as the pre-eminent ones in our state.

That point hit home for me last night when we hosted the two key primary debates — one for the Democratic race for governor and the other the Republican race for governor.

But what makes our series stand out is that we put on debates of races that most other organizations ignore — the State School Superintendent, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner, Public Service Commission as well as numerous contested congressional races.

For this primary debate season, we ended up putting on 22 political debates that showed the broad array of opinions and positions among those seeking to represent us.

And while it always feels really good to wrap up such a debate series, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed that several key candidates decided to not participate in our forums. Just to be clear, the thoughts I’m sharing with you are mine, and I’m not speaking for the APC debate committee.

The most egregious one was in the Republican debate for governor. Front-runner Karen Handel decided not to attend after she had pledged not to appear on any panel that included opponent Ray McBerry, who had been accused of (but not convicted of) an inappropriate relationship with a teenager.

By making such a pledge, Handel denied Georgia voters the opportunity of seeing how she can handle (excuse the wording) tough questions from journalists as well as her opponents in a live, televised setting.

Her absence certainly did not go unnoticed. Former front-runner John Oxendine, who serves as the state’s Insurance Commissioner, used his one question to ask former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal: “Why do you think Karen Handel is unfit to be the next governor of the State of Georgia?”

To that, Deal questioned Handel’s conservative beliefs and then went on to say: “It’s important also for us to nominate somebody who will actually show up to televised debates such as this.”

I couldn’t agree more.

During our primary series, we had three incumbent congressmen choose to not show up to our debates: U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D- 12th Congressional District), U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-13th Congressional District), and U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-4th Congressional District).

(In all fairness, all three of those congressmen and Handel have participated in our debates in other races).

This follows the disappointing decision two years ago when U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-5th Congressional District) chose not to participate in a debate when he faced two challengers.

Our policy is that when we decide to hold a debate, we invite every one on the ballot. If someone chooses to decline our invitation, then that person is represented by an empty podium. We also give candidates who do appear the opportunity to ask questions of the empty podium.

In an era where information and communication have become so fractured, our televised debates are one of the few opportunities where every one in Georgia has the ability to assess those seeking to represent us.

In order to work, our democratic society needs voters to be informed on their choices of people running for public office. The operative word here is “public” as in public servants.

When candidates make a politically-calculated choice to not appear at debates, they can only be called “politicians” rather than “public servants.”

It’s a matter of principle. If someone is running for public office, the first rule should be to face the public, the press as well as one’s opponents. It may not always be pleasant, but it’s one of the few opportunities that voters have to see how candidates think on their feet.

The good news is that there will be more opportunities for candidates to participate in our debates.

On Wednesday afternoon, the APC debate committee will meet to begin planning our run-off debates, which will begin on Sunday, July 25 with others on Friday, Aug. 6 and Sunday, Aug. 8.

We hope all the candidates will participate, and we hope you’ll tune in.

You can view all our primary debates on the www.atlantapressclub.org website.