Ups, Downs and In-betweens
New Augusta University President: Russell T. Keen, a 22-year veteran of the University System of Georgia (USG), became Augusta University’s president following the retirement of Brooks Keel at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. Keen was most recently executive vice president for administration and chief of staff to the president at the Augusta school, a research institution that houses the Medical College of Georgia and the Dental College of Georgia.In announcing Keen’s appointment, USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue said, “Russell has the experience and institutional knowledge for the job, and that will be critical as we look to increase Augusta University’s impact in Georgia and beyond.”
Photo credit: Website for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
Riverkeeper Threatens Suit: The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, has advised Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management that it could face a lawsuit for Clean Water Act violations if it does not stop discharging illegal levels of pollution from the R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment plant into the Chattahoochee.
The plant is Atlanta’s largest such facility. The Riverkeeper noted elevated levels of E. coli bacteria in the river last spring and, according to a press release, traced the source to the plant. Additional testing found the E. coli levels were on average 340 times higher than the amount recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The law center says the treatment plant is in a state of disrepair. The city of Atlanta has said it is committed to protecting the Chattahoochee’s water quality.
In 1995, the Riverkeeper successfully sued the city of Atlanta for failing to control the discharge of raw sewage and other pollutants, resulting in major improvements to the city’s sewage and drinking water systems.
Subcommittee on Prisons: Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) has created a special subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that will look at funding recommendations to improve safety in the state’s prisons.
Violence has escalated in Georgia prisons in recent years. In 2023 alone, more than 30 people died while incarcerated. After an inmate at Smith State Prison in Glennville shot and killed a kitchen worker and then killed himself in June, the state corrections department hired consultants with Guidehouse Inc. to assess prisons in the state system.
“The General Assembly has placed significant emphasis on improving the safety, security and conditions of our state-operated corrections facilities,” Burns said.
Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin) is chairing the new subcommittee. Its members include Reps. Leesa Hagan (R-Lyons), Bill Hitchens (R-Rincon), Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta), Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), Al Williams (D-Midway) and Bill Werkheiser (R-Glennville).
Georgia’s 34 state prisons have a population of nearly 47,000 felony offenders.
In Memoriam: Longtime local government advocate Jerry Griffin, 80, has died. He served as executive director of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) from 1984 until 2009. Prior to that he worked for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and for the Georgia Municipal Association.
HOPE Milestone: Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program has provided more than $15 billion to Georgia students since its 1993 beginnings, according to an announcement by Gov. Brian Kemp.
The program, established by the late Zell Miller when he was governor, provides college scholarships and grants to qualified Georgia students. It is funded by the Georgia Lottery for Education.
“After three straight years of record-breaking economic development, Georgians have more opportunity than ever before,” Kemp said in a press release. “The HOPE Scholarship has been essential to that growth by preparing a generation of students for success. This milestone reminds us of that incredible impact and the lasting legacy of former Gov. Zell Miller.”
Oxendine Sentence: Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison followed by three years of supervised release after his conviction in a federal court for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. He must also pay more than $760,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
“Oxendine abused his position as the former Georgia insurance commissioner by undermining the integrity of the state’s healthcare system when he conspired with a physician to order hundreds of unnecessary and costly lab tests,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
Another former state insurance commissioner, Jim Beck, was sentenced to federal prison in 2021 for stealing more than $2 million from a former employer.
