DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Improved technology in state government and the simple act of doing what you promise voters were issues foremost on the mind of Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp when he brought his “Putting Georgians First” campaign for governor to Dahlonega Tuesday.

Kemp blamed Republicans in Congress for losing the White House to President Barrack Obama in 2008.

“Republicans in both houses of Congress did not do what they told people they would do. They continued to run up the deficit, had a big-spending mentality, weren’t as conservative, weren’t as efficient as they should have been. Because of that, people were not motivated in the presidential election of ’08 to vote for our candidate and as a result, we got Barrack Obama as president,” Kemp said.

Kemp said when he ran for Secretary of State, “I made a commitment that I would simply tell people what I’m going to do if I get in there and then do it. That’s what I’ve done as your secretary of state. I told people I would use technology to make the office better and we’ve done that.”

The use of improved technology, he said, has “made our system better and more secure, everything from our website to the voter registration system. With the click of a button, you can now register to vote either on our website or over the phone.”

Kemp said he was proud that his office had saved taxpayer dollars.

“At one point, we cut our budget by 25 percent and lost almost 30 percent of our people, but our workload never changed. So, we truly have done more with less and the best thing is that we have saved your tax dollars along the way,” Kemp added.

Kemp was asked if he supports House Bill 366 that recently passed in the Georgia Senate. The bill, requires cities and counties to conduct a wage and compensation study periodically for law enforcement agencies in their jurisdiction.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I believe in local control, and I don’t think the state needs to be mandating how much a county pays a county employee. Another thing, if there were state money to do that, there would also be state oversight, and I can promise you a lot of sheriffs do no want state oversight of their office.”

Elected officials who attended the event included Dahlonega Mayor Sam Norton, Dahlonega City Councilman Bruce Hoffman and Hall County Commissioner Scott Gibbs.

Norton said he has not committed to any candidate yet. “I’m still looking at the different candidates, evaluating their platform and trying to make a well-informed decision,” he said. “I do like the way he is pro small business. Small business is not only the backbone of this district, but the state and the country.”

Hoffman said he, too, is undecided. “I agreed with just about everything he said. I’ve known him for a while. He’s down to earth. He is what he says he is and I appreciate him coming to Dahlonega,” Hoffman stated.

The Kemp “Putting Georgian’s First” bus tour departed Lumpkin County and headed for Fannin, Gilmer, Whitfield and Walker counties to close out a busy Tuesday.

 

 

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