The Rice Report
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE DONKEY AND THE ELEPHANT ABOUT THE COLOR PURPLE
(Side Note: T he donkey is the Democrat's mascot and the elephant is the Republican's mascot.)
Donkey: “Did you hear about the rise of the Democrats in Georgia?”
 
Elephant: “What you talkin bout, Donkey?”
 
Donkey: “You know, people been watchin to see what the Democrats are going to do in Georgia. Well, it’s official. We done turned the state purple!”
 
Elephant: “How can you say that when we got a Republican Governor, a Republican House, a Republican Senate and most of the voters?”
 
Donkey: “Yeah, you do right now. But what makes a state purple is when things are changing and it could go either Republican or Democrat.” Here’s why we’re purple right now.
-        Stacey Abrams, the Black woman running for Governor got more votes all by herself (424,305) than Jason Carter got in his 2014 primary bid (304,243) and he’s the grandson of an ex-President of the whole United States. (And you know she kicked the behind off her opponent – won 76% of all the Democrats voting.)
-        And, in 2014, the last time there was a Governor’s race, Republicans got 291,975 more voters to turn out in the primary than the Democrats. But in 2018, the Republicans only got 52,352 more voters than the Democrats. If we were in a car race, I’d say you better watch your behind.
-        And you know what else? Stacey Abrams got all those votes when there was a low voter turnout! Only 17.5% of the people registered in the whole state actually voted. That’s really low compared to the Presidential elections in November 2016 when 62% of the people came out to vote. 
-        But here’s the kicker. In Fulton County by itself, you got 536,586 registered voters and only 88,552 voted. Same in DeKalb – you got 389,998 registered voters and only 78,656 voted. You got similar numbers in Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton and some other counties. What I mean to say is that you could have gotten that extra 52,352 votes Democrats needed to tie up the vote with lots of voters left over to win in any one of those counties . You get my drift?
 
Elephant (getting noticeably agitated now): “Yeah, I get what you’re tryin to say. But Donk, you already explained why you’re still going to lose. You had a low voter turnout. And why do you think it’s going to be any different in November. On the other hand, my President gets people to come out. We’re going to turn out in numbers!!!”
 
Donkey (getting more bold now): “Bruh, you missed my drift. I said there was a low turnout but I also said that even with a low voter turnout, Stacey Abrams got more votes than the ex-President’s grandson. Let me try explaining this again.
-        Stacey Abrams got more votes because most of the people moving into Georgia are voting Democrat (maybe that’s cause of your President or maybe it’s because Ms. Abrams got a real good message). Did you know that since 2010 Georgia is the 4th highest in population growth of all the 50 states? So, while a lot of people stayed home, there were still 69% more Democratic votes since the last Governor’s race in 2014 – from 328,000 Democratic votes in 2014 to more than 550,000 votes in 2018. And I left the best for last.
-        People probably think since Stacey is Black that all the “colored” folk voted for her. There were big increases in all people of color voting Democratic. But there are so few Asian and Hispanic voters that they didn’t make a big difference. The big difference came in White men and White women (not Hispanic). In Georgia, from 2014 to 2018, there was a bigger percent increase in the number of White men and women (55% and 69% respectively) voting Democrat than Black men and women (44% and 44.76%). In DeKalb County, the increase of White folk voting since 2014 (13,374) was bigger than the increase in Black men and women (10,569).” In DeKalb alone, there was a 84.4% increase in White women voting Democrat.
(Donkey got a big grin on his face now.)
 
Elephant: I hear you. But it ain’t over yet. Look at the Supreme Court ruling last month that supported Ohio in removing voters who hadn’t voted in 2 years. Don’t worry. Georgia is not done yet. And you keep talking about Ms. Stacey Abrams. But I remember a whole lot of Black leaders who didn’t support her. Who says they will now?
 
Donkey: Don’t let that give you hope. They didn’t support Keisha Lance Bottoms and now she’s Mayor of Atlanta. Lots of our Black middle class leaders didn’t support Stacey Abrams and she won. My auntie told me that no brown skinned woman who wore her “naps” was going to win. You know what I have to say to those Black middle class leaders?
1)    Get off your duff and support the right of people in south DeKalb to vote!
2)    While you’re at it, support the city of Greenhaven! It’s a way for people in south DeKalb to get some of the things that everyone else all around them are getting!
Well, that’s it for me for right now. Nice talking to you man.
 
Elephant (with a sly smile): Yeah, always good talking to you Donk….but watch your behind too.
 

Community News

The criteria for forming a city are:
  • Form an organization to take responsibility for city formation
  • Determine your boundaries
  • Contract with a university for a feasibility study to be done
  • Write a charter
  • Find a legislator to sponsor the bill in the GA General Assembly
  • Advertise the bill to the public
  • Wait two years
  • Help guide the bill through the House and Senate

Greenhaven proponents have met the criteria for 4 years

Since 2000, no other cityhood effort has taken 4 years to be approved for a referendum

Residents of proposed Greenhaven are the only residents in DeKalb County who have not had an opportunity to vote on cityhood.
Upcoming Meetings

Greenhaven Public Meeting
Date: Every Thursday
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Greenhaven Center, 3203 Glenwood Road, Suite D, Decatur GA 30032

Greenhaven Business Alliance
(Meeting for businesses and businessmen. Open to the public.)
Date: Every Monday
Time: 6:30pm
3203 Glenwood Road, Suite D
Decatur GA 30032

Greenhaven Meeting for Volunteers
Date: Every Saturday at 1:00pm
Time: 1:00pm
3203 Glenwood Road, Suite D
Decatur GA 30032



Demand your right to vote! Everyone else in DeKalb County except residents of south DeKalb have been given the right to vote on cityhood.

Sign the petition at bit.ly/GreenhavenPetition

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