Electoral newcomer with heavy-duty financial backing seeks to specify his political positions

Matt Ramsey, one of four candidates seeking the 72nd District seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, contends that his political experience as a legislative assistant in the House and as an employee of U.S. Congressman Mac Collins sets him up perfectly to finish the one year remaining on the term left by the unexpected death of Rep. Dan Lakly.

“I won’t have a learning curve. I can jump in on day one,” said Ramsey, who is an attorney with the law firm of Warner, Hooper and Ramsey in Peachtree City.

Ramsey said whoever wins the race will be the most junior member of the House and is unlikely to be crafting legislation for consideration. He thinks his insider knowledge gives him an advantage over the other candidates because with his background knowledge on the legislative process, he can hit the ground running.

To win the seat, Ramsey will have to defeat outspoken former Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown, publicist Heidi Becker and the lone Democrat in the field, Kevin Madden, who is in the air freight business.

Early voting, with polls open in Peachtree City and Fayetteville from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, ends Friday. The Peachtree City polling site is at the downstairs of the city’s library and in Fayetteville the site is at the Board of Elections office at the Stonewall government complex downtown.

Ramsey was the only one of the four candidates asking for an audience with The Citizen staff. The newspaper has given all four candidates free campaigning space in its letters to the editor section.

Of all four candidates, Brown has pledged not to take any campaign contributions. Though there are a number of heavy political hitters and business power brokers on Ramsey’s contribution list, he says none of his contributors have approached him and asked for a favor on certain issues.

Those supporters, Ramsey said, simply expect him “to do the right thing and be honest,” Ramsey said. “If they had approached me and said, ‘I want you to do A, B or C,’ I wouldn’t have taken their money,” Ramsey said.

The other significant difference between Brown and Ramsey is that Brown supports changing the way county commissioners are elected in Fayette County, while Ramsey says no changes are necessary.

Currently county commission members are elected by the entire county for all five posts. That means every county resident can vote on all five county commission seats when they are up for election.

A proposal that Lakly defeated this year would have created five separate districts, allowing voters to select only one commissioner based on the district that the voter and commissioner live in.

Advocates of district voting have said the process allows for a greater diversity of candidates and makes it clear to voters who their representative is. Opponents say district voting dilutes the citizens’ power to choose all of the elected commissioners, thus diluting their voting power.

Lakly fought hard to defeat the district voting proposal during the last legislative session, convincing his fellow legislators in a speech from the floor and in an aggressive campaign amongst fellow lawmakers. Ramsey said it’s clear that the issue will arise again this legislative session.

Ramsey argues that the district voting issue would dramatically affect the county’s development over the next 10-20 years and if enacted could open the floodgates for dramatic growth such as has occurred in Clayton and Henry counties.

Brown has said he wants to hold a referendum among Fayette voters to determine if they want to switch to district voting.

Brown mirrors Lakly in another way: he is regarded as not afraid to speak his mind regardless of the consequences. Ramsey, meanwhile, was more guarded with some of his responses during a nearly two-hour interview with The Citizen Friday afternoon.

Ramsey said he does not support the extension of TDK Boulevard into Coweta County, and he will actively work against any legislator who might want to force that project on Peachtree City and Fayette County. Those two governments have turned the road extension down in light of the 3,500-home McIntosh Village that has been approved off the proposed road in unincorporated Coweta County.

The TDK decision should be left up to the Peachtree City, Fayette County and Coweta County governments and not up to state officials, Ramsey said, criticizing the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s requirement that Peachtree City build TDK as a four-lane road.

“From what I understand we’d be getting all of the burden but none of the gain, tax-wise,” Ramsey said, adding that he sees how the project would have been seen as a good idea 10 years ago ... and south metro Atlanta needs more east-west corridors.

Ramsey said he believes government is most effective at the local level without any mandates handed down from the state. He opposes the current proposal from House Speaker Glenn Richardson to eliminate school property taxes, as that would take away control from the Fayette County Board of Education, but he’s quick to add that Richardson’s proposal could morph some more.

Ramsey said as he currently understands the proposal, the plan is not a tax cut but a shifting of taxes from one place to another. Fayette County is an affluent community that spends a lot of money on taxes, Ramsey said, adding that the state could seek to redistribute those funds to other school systems under Richardson’s plan.

“Our money should stay in our community,” Ramsey said.

Currently the Fayette school system has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the state, Ramsey said, adding that if state officials took over school funding, it’s not likely they would allow that to continue.

Ramsey said he is also committed to reducing the state’s tax burden, particularly on families, so he is looking forward to the debate on Richardson’s proposal. One big step that will be voted on this legislative session is a zero-based budgeting program, he said.

That program would require state agencies to justify every penny they spend once every four years, giving a good opportunity for legislators to identify programs that can be cut or reduced, Ramsey said.

“The first step is shedding the light of day on every agency’s spending,” Ramsey said.

Too often, Ramsey said, state government looks at tax revenue “as Monopoly money, but it’s not. It’s our hard-earned tax dollars.” Another suggestion he hopes will gain traction is implementing a computer-based sales tax collection system which would conceivably capture revenue that’s not being reported currently.

Ramsey said while the computer system would be costly, he heard that Alabama and Mississippi adopted such a system and provided the equipment, which paid for itself within the first six months.

“People are tightening their belts, with $3 a gallon for gas and the real estate market being what it is. Why shouldn’t the government be a part of that?” Ramsey said.

Ramsey said he also opposes implementing a sales tax on Internet purchases in Georgia.

Ramsey said the legislature’s first priority this year will be to pass a statewide water management bill in light of the unprecedented drought conditions Georgia has experienced.

Another bill expected to be addressed this year in the legislature would seek improvements in the efficiency of the Georgia Department of Transportation which are greatly needed, Ramsey said. That legislation could be the General Assembly’s number two priority, as it’s taking far too long for transportation projects to be delivered, he indicated.

Also, there could be a change to the current law which requires all federal transportation funds be divided evenly between the state’s 11 congressional districts, Ramsey said.

“That is crazy to me,” Ramsey said.

That arrangement has benefitted rural districts with unnecessary projects to the detriment of metro Atlanta, Ramsey said. Projects statewide instead should be evaluated based on the need for the project, Ramsey said.

As for immigration issues, Ramsey said the U.S. Congress needs to repair the “broken system,” but at the same time he’d like to see some legislative action in Georgia to “neutralize” benefits the state provides “for people who have broken the law to be here.”

At the same time, the state needs to be compassionate when it comes to take care of the children of illegal immigrants when it comes to medical care, Ramsey added.

Asked about the possibility of creating further restrictions in the state’s open meetings and open records laws, Ramsey replied that government best operates in a transparent atmosphere.

In fact, Ramsey said since the computer technology is available, he wants candidates to be required to report campaign contributions in real-time so they can be posted for all citizens to review as the campaign progresses.

Ramsey said the number-one challenge for Peachtree City is the aging of residential and commercial buildings, which could lead to a number of redevelopment issues. Ramsey cited recent changes brought on around the city’s Line Creek Nature Area, wrought by a shopping center project that’s currently under construction.

“It’s totally changed that area of town,” Ramsey said.

On other non-legislative issues, Ramsey said based on his knowledge of the situation, he opposes the now-withdrawn plan of a developer to build a 89,000-square-foot Kohl’s Department Store on Ga. Highway 54 West off Planterra Way. Ramsey, who lives in the Planterra subdivision, said the project would have devastated his neighborhood.

Ramsey said he opposes the sale of two city streets to the same developer who proposed the Kohl’s store. Also not a legislative issue, Ramsey said he doesn’t have all the information the City Council has on the issue but at the same time, citizens have paid over the years to build and maintain the road, and as such they shouldn’t be turned over to any private entity whether a developer or a non-profit organization.

Ironically, Brown also lives in Planterra, just 12 doors down from Ramsey, though the men hadn’t met until after they announced they were running for Lakly’s seat.

Ramsey said he never would have run against Lakly, who was known chiefly for his work ethic and his accessibility to his constituents. In fact, Ramsey marveled at Lakly’s ability to respond to emails within 48 hours.

As to whether he will fall into the political trap of being beholden to special interest groups, attending lavish dinners thrown by lobbyists and others, Ramsey has a simple answer.

Just carrying out the duties of a legislator will take long enough, Ramsey said, and he has other aspirations for his free hours: spending time with his family “and maybe squeezing in dinner.”

With every vote, “The overriding question is, ‘Is this in the best interest of our district?’” Ramsey said. Instead of looking to special interest groups and lobbyists for answers, Ramsey said he will be asking voters for input.

Fayette County residents want good schools and less taxes, among other things, and Ramsey said those are important legislative goals.

“We’ve got to fight hard to hold on to those qualities,” Ramsey said.

If he loses the race, Ramsey has no plans to turn around and run again next year. If he lost, Ramsey said he might have one more political campaign in him for a later date.

Ramsey said all three of his opponents are good people and have run good campaigns.