Governor Brian Kemp and his “do not call me” policy

Opinion

Image credit: The Hill, via the Dustin Inman Society.

This essay was written by D.A. King, president, the Dustin Inman Society and is special
to Fetch Your News.

D.A. King

Regardless of party of politics, Georgians should at least note that Gov. Kemp has
implemented a “do not call my office” policy. As has been tradition for decades,
including this writer, numerous and now quite angry Georgians have called the state
Chief Executive’s office (404-656-1776) in the last few weeks with comments and
opinions on various issues such as taking in more refugees, 2 nd amendment rights
and inaction on crimes committed by illegal aliens only to be told that their opinion
and comments would not be tracked or registered unless they used an online
contact form.

From one acquaintance to us in a Friday email: “I just called and was told “in order
for your comment to be documented, . . . go to the web site.”. I pointed out that he is
distancing himself from the voter and got the same reply. With this, on top of
everything else he either has or hasn’t done, he has lost my vote.”
Another friend called and tells us she was received this reaction “the receptionist
told me we have to mail an outside letter or fill out an online form.  They are not
taking messages nor tallying calls.”

One complaint came to us from a senior citizen voter who does not own a computer.
Under current policy, she will need to purchase one and learn to use it to
communicate with her governor.

This new “let them use them fill out another form, don’t call me – and I won’t call
you” from a governor who only squeaked into office only about a year ago reeks
with arrogance and mismanagement.

Having been a reluctant and active denizen of Georgia’s state Capitol since 2004, I
can assure those who don’t suffer that duty that the number one activity that gets
the immediate and full attention of the elected officials there is an organized group
of voters who actually drive to Atlanta and go into the Gold-Domed beehive during
legislative session.

The number two most effective way to get their attention is to ring their telephones
– this includes phones in the governor’s office, where the phone number is and has
been 404-656-1776.

Constantly ringing phones with voters on the other end is a signal that something
has become “an issue” that must be managed, if not actually dealt with.
Until last week, the governor’s office had gone so far as to remove his office phone
number (404-656-1776) from the official online contact page. It has recently been
restored after complaints – one from this writer.

Thanks to the magic of the Way Back Machine internet archive , here is a link from
the recent past – Dec 5, 2019 – that illustrates the chief executive’s online contact
page without the phone number. Here is a link to the contact page from March 31,
2019 – no 404-656-1776 phone number.
Internet contact form: Yes. Voice mail: No.

We also note that there as of this writing on January 19, there is no voice mail on
the governor’s 404-656-1776 lines. If you don’t call during business hours, you are
still unable to leave a message for the governor.

Readers who are willing to accept this latest restrictive rule on contacting his
governorship should do nothing – and simply wait to see what restriction he puts on
us next.

Readers who are of the opinion that having your phoned-in opinions and comments
delivered by staffers to the governor is not only reasonable but represents good
government may want to call his office and say as much. That has been the working
tradition for decades.

The governor’s office phone number is 404-656-1776.

dak

Leave a comment

Back to Top