MOULTRIE — Georgia attorney general candidate Sam Olens pledges to be a stiff defender of open government if successful in his bid to become only the second Republican to hold the position in the state’s history.
Olens, who was elected to the Cobb County Commission in 1998 and in 2002 was elected as that board’s chairman, said among his priorities would be open records laws and more transparency for legislators. If elected he would oversee the attorney general’s staff of roughly 110 civil and 10 criminal attorneys.
One other Republican (former U.S. Attorney Max Wood) and two Democrats have announced their intentions to seek the office of the state’s top legal officer. The Democrats are former Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges and state Rep. Bob Teilhet, D-Smyrna.
“One of the first things I’d like to do is work with journalists, and with the Legislature to strengthen those (open records) laws,” Olens said during a recent stop in Moultrie. “By definition those laws need to be changed.”
During his time as chairman, Olens said, Cobb County had an “A+” grade in complying with the state’s Sunshine Law.
“When we’re talking about open records, many of the things you need really should be online,” he said.
In terms of legislators, Olens said that they should be subject to “full disclosure” as to whether they are being paid by a party that has in interest in legislation they propose.
“That should be required of any representative,” he said. “If you have a pecuniary interest, it should be disclosed.”
Olens described himself as an admirer of Mike Bowers, who was attorney general for 16 years and during that time developed a reputation as a government watchdog.
The first Republican attorney general, Bowers comes with an asterisk as he was first appointed as a Democrat in 1981 and changed his party affiliation in 1994, three years before an unsuccessful bid for governor.
With Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker resigning to run for governor, the November 2009 election will be the first time an incumbent has not been running in the race for the position since 1942.
Another top issue for Olens is the water war between Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Olens said he hopes the state’s governors can work out the issue and would prefer Atlanta to meet its needs by increased conservation and widening Lake Lanier.
While metro Atlanta dropped its per-capita water use over the previous five years from 168 gallons per day to 151, Cobb County’s use is at 104 gallons, Olens said.
“If you have stringent conservation efforts in place, you can significantly save water,” he said. “If you’re going to negotiate with Florida and Alabama, you’ve got to demonstrate a set of steps you would take. It literally would need to be a part of the settlement.”
Olens said he also would like to be in office for redistricting after the 2010 Census is completed, and would like to allow state agencies to use local attorneys more for day-to-day legal needs.
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