Governor Sonny Perdue is facing reelection against Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor and a libertarian candidate this November. Four years ago, Sonny announced from the old Houston County Courthouse that he would bring us a new Georgia if he were elected governor. The schoolteachers supported him. The Southern Heritage people who wanted to change the Georgia state flag supported him. When he got into the governor’s mansion, though, something about Sonny Perdue changed.

He cut education funding year after year in the state budget. He signed off on a bill that put the flag vote to a public referendum, but cut out the Confederate Battle Flag from public consideration. Two promises made, two promises broken. Sonny then got into bed with the fat cat business interests from Atlanta, and the rest of his governorship reflects that. He has signed off on bill after bill that sells out consumer interests, and promotes business interests only.

He has signed legislation concerning tort reform and voter ID legislation that has been subsequently declared unconstitutional in our court system. What has been the defining moment of his governorship, though, has been his handling of the so-called Disneygate affair.

In December of 2004, Sonny sold land that he owned in Bonaire, Georgia, for over 4 million dollars. He then purchased 19.5 acres of property near Kissimee, Florida sight unseen from real estate developer Stanley Thomas, who contributed over $150,000 to the Georgia Republican party. This same Stanley Thomas was appointed by Governor Perdue to serve on the Georgia Economic Development Board. This property is part of a larger tract of land that Thomas intends to develop near Disney World, and it appears certain that the property will increase in value.

The breach of trust in this deal comes about because of a curious private tax bill that was introduced by Sonny’s friend, Representative Larry O’Neal from Warner Robins. Because Sonny invested the proceeds of property he had sold in Bonaire in Florida property, the Georgia law at the time required him to pay around $100,000 in state capital gains taxes.

Larry O’Neal introduces HB 488, which contains revisions to capital gains taxes for corporations and individuals. This bill passed the House unanimously in January of 2005. On March 22, 2005, the bill was in the Georgia Senate, where it was mysteriously recommitted to the Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Casey Cagle. O’Neal requests Senator Cagle to add language to the tax bill to make the capital gains tax treatment provisions retroactive back to January 1, 2004.

The only provisions in the entire bill that indeed were retroactive back to January 1, 2004, were the provisions that were used to allow Governor Perdue to avoid paying $100,000 in capital gains taxes relating to his land deal from December 2004. This bill as amended was passed by the General Assembly on April 12, 2005, and it was signed by the governor the next day. When did Governor Perdue learn about this bill and what it would do for him? Well, he certainly knew about it by April 15, 2005, when he filed his state and federal income tax returns. The Commissioner of the Department of Revenue has acknowledged that Sonny Perdue is the only Georgia taxpayer to claim this particular tax credit based on the retroactive piece of legislation written by Larry O’Neal. When confronted by these facts by the news media, Larry O’Neal and Governor Perdue’s spokesmen have done nothing but try to lie their way out of the box they are in. That should not make us trust them more; on the contrary, that should make us trust them even less.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has dogged Sonny and his spokesperson for an interview concerning this affair, and Sonny and his people have declined to discuss this matter with them. If this deal was not a use of a public office for private gain, you will never see it in your lifetime. Federal law prohibits state public officials from using their public office for private gain or benefit.

Now other businessmen in Georgia should be angry at the governor for signing a tax bill that had such a narrow retroactive window, that it cut them out from filing amended returns, and claiming the same tax break for themselves. I am looking at this from a larger picture, though.

A public office is a position of trust. The office holder is charged with a responsibility to act in the best interest of all Georgians. This sorry affair shows that Governor Perdue is not fit to hold the office of Governor of the State of Georgia.

I see this transaction for what it really was, and I now see clearly what Sonny Perdue has been about while serving as our governor. He has been up in Atlanta doing nothing less than feathering his own nest. I look at what he did for himself on this tax bill, and I then think of the average honest men and women that work hard every day, and simply struggle to pay their income taxes. I then see red, and become angry when I think of what Governor Perdue did for himself.

He is nothing special, people. He is simply another politician that went to Atlanta, and worked hard at feathering his own nest while he was in office after he got up there. The only difference between Sonny Perdue and the politicians before him is that he is feathering his own nest from the other side of the street. If he wants to develop real estate, I plan on allowing him to accomplish his dream. I will just plan on voting against him in November, so he can develop real estate as a private citizen, out of public office.

Steven Harrell has practiced law in Perry, Georgia since 1989. He is the author of The Unionist, A Novel of the Civil War and The Rifle Captain, A Novel of World War I. Both are available at Publish America.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes&Noble.com. You may view his weekly column at www.StevenHarrell.com.