Will Special Election Fill Ramay’s Post? Who Knows?

By TOMMY PURSER
Editor-Publisher
When will a special election be held to fill the City of Hazlehurst Ward 2 council position vacancy created when Ward 2 Council member John Ramay qualified to run for Mayor in the Nov. 7 City Election?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Mayor Bayne Stone and City Attorney Ken Smith say the special election to fill the Ward 2 post will be held at the same time as the City Election for Mayor and Wards 3 and 4.
Election Superintendent Christy Riner disagrees. She says it’s too late to add a special election to the ballot because she has already sent all the information on the Nov. 7 City Election to the State.
Plus, she added, the issue violates portions of the contract between the City, the County and the Board of Elections.
And, as of Tuesday afternoon, no one from the City had contacted her about conducting a Special Election. All she knows about the election is what she’s heard in conversations with other people.
Attorney Smith and his son/law partner Cason Smith say Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-540 (b) says “At least 29 days shall intervene between the call of a special primary and the holding of same.”
Riner says the election “shall be called at least 90 days prior…” That’s what she adhered to when she published the call for the Mayor, Ward 3-4 election in the Ledger on Aug. 2.
Cason Smith said the 90-day period applies to, as §21-2-540 (b) says, …”special elections which are to be held in conjunction with the presidential primary, a state-wide general primary, or state-wide general election….” And there is no presidential primary, state-wide general primary or state-wide general election scheduled in Georgia for Nov. 7, 2023. So the 29-day period applies.
When told of Riner’s saying it is too late to hold the Ward 2 Special Election on Nov. 7, Ken Smith said, “Well, she needs to talk with the County Attorney.”
The County Attorney, by the way, is Andy Ramay, son of John Ramay.
The Ward 2 vacancy is a story within itself. Initially, John Ramay refused to sign a letter of resignation when Mayor Stone said he would have to resign to run against the Mayor, Council member John Bloodworth and Laneka Shevelle Smith for Mayor.
But the resignation is unnecessary as state law dictates that the Ward 2 position shall be declared vacant upon Ramay qualifying, because the term of office for which he qualified begins more than 30 days prior to the expiration of his present council term.
That stipulation does not apply to Council member Bloodworth because his term expires at the same time the Mayor’s term, for which he is running, begins.
Ken Smith said Tuesday that the plans are for the City Council to have a called meeting early next week to officially declare the Ward 2 position vacant and to set qualifying dates for persons who want to run for the Ward 2 vacancy.