Georgia Today: Trump election takeover threat in Georgia; Higher speed limits; More ICE questions

TRANSCRIPT: 

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, President Trump has threatened a federal government takeover of elections in 15 states. What would that mean for Georgia? Lawmakers consider boosting the minimum speed on highways and as plans shape up for new ICE detention facilities in the state, so do questions about the infrastructure surrounding them. 

Eric Kronberg: No city that we know has massive excess capacity of water or sewer just about anywhere in the country. 

Peter Biello: Today is Thursday, Feb. 12. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1

Peter Biello: President Donald Trump has suggested at least twice that the federal government run elections in 15 states. That was after the Department of Justice seized 700 boxes of 2020 ballots from Fulton County. GPB's Chase McGee has more on what the effort to end local control of elections could look like in Georgia. 

Chase McGee: It's been more than five years since President Trump lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, which he still insists, without evidence, was rigged. On Jan. 28, federal agents raided a warehouse in Fulton County and seized 700 boxes of 2020 ballots. Less than a week later, on former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino's podcast, Trump promised those ballots would prove him right. 

Donald Trump: Now you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get, with a court order, the ballots. You're going see some interesting things come out. But you know, like, the 2020 election, I won that election by so much. Everybody knows it. 

Chase McGee: Days later, in the Oval Office, he doubled down. 

Donald Trump: Take a look at Detroit, take a look at Pennsylvania, take look at Philadelphia. You go take a look at Atlanta, look at some of the places that are horrible corruption on elections. And the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. 

Chase McGee: Lori Ringhand is a professor of law at the University of Georgia. She says that it would be unprecedented in modern history for the federal government to take over the administration of an election in the states. She says Trump can't do it alone. It would require an act of Congress. 

Lori Ringhand: And frankly, I don't think Congress would enact a law. That's — that's creating a massive federal bureaucracy to do something that's just not gonna work very well. 

Chase McGee: She says the effort would struggle under legal scrutiny, and this Congress doesn't even seem to have an appetite for that kind of legislation. Congress is considering a bill called the SAVE Act, which would include a national requirement of proof of citizenship to vote. But Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that's as far as wants to go. 

John Thune: There are other — other views probably when it comes to nationalizing or federalizing elections, but I think at least on that narrow issue, which is what the SAVE Act gets at, I think that's what the president was addressing. 

Chase McGee: Georgia Republicans aren't on board either. Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon says he'd rather see the five members of the State Election Board step in. 

Josh McKoon: I want a level playing field and I don't feel like we get that in Fulton County at all under the current leadership. And so I think that the State Election Board ought to make that finding and it ought to be placed under state management. 

Chase McGee: But the state election board has so far said they aren't interested, either. The president has previously tried to shape election policy through his use of executive orders. Those are still tied up in the courts. Andra Gillespie is a political scientist at Emory University. She says the president could use the repeatedly discredited claims of fraud in the 2020 ballots to justify declaring an electoral emergency, and then try to intervene. 

Dr. Andra Gillespie: I expect that even if he does go down that route, that he's going to get a lot of pushback, in part because states retain the power to control their own elections. And so I think it becomes a question of whether or not you see secretaries of states and governors and state legislators who would go along with this particular gambit. 

Chase McGee: That seems unlikely in Georgia. For instance, while nearly a dozen states including Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have turned over their voter rolls to the federal government, Georgia has not. That's because Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who President Trump asked to find 11,780 votes back in 2020, says he won't do it. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee. 

Story 2

Peter Biello: Meanwhile, some Republican state lawmakers are renewing their call for the State Election Board to take over Fulton County's elections. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports. 

Sarah Kallis: State Sen. Greg Dolezal says the unsealed affidavit, which lists complaints about alleged discrepancies in vote counts as a reason for the search, means that the State Election Board needs to step in. 

Greg Dolezal: It's my personal opinion it's past time for the state to take over Fulton County elections. 

Sarah Kallis: Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts says a takeover won't happen. 

Robb Pitts: So it's simply nonsense in Washington or here at the Capitol for anyone to try to gain some political ground by picking on Fulton County, Ga. 

Sarah Kallis: The results of the 2020 election in Georgia have been litigated and found to be fair multiple times. The State Election Board previously declined to take over Fulton County elections, but they are set to meet again this month. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state Capitol. 

Story 3

Peter Biello: Residents of the small city of Social Circle, about 45 miles east of Atlanta learned last week that the Department of Homeland Security is buying a warehouse in the city to be used as an ICE detention facility. What will it take to transform a warehouse like the one that was just purchased into something that can house human beings? Eric Kronberg is founder and principal at Kronberg Urbanists + Architects in Atlanta. He's with me now to help shed some light on this question. Welcome to the program. 

Eric Kronberg: Thank you. Thanks for having me. 

Peter Biello: We've seen estimates that this just over a million-square-foot warehouse could be transformed into a space that houses ICE detainees as soon as April. In your view, is that logistically possible, given the changes that the warehouse might need to house human beings?

Eric Kronberg: So I think the fundamental question of the logistics is what level of approvals or permissions are needed. There's a lot of work to put in plumbing and walls. And I'm sure it's probably more of a prison than an apartment complex in terms of layout. All that's hard. But if the federal government is waiving all inspections, you can do a lot of things quickly, for better or worse. 

Peter Biello: Does the federal government have to abide by local inspection and zoning rules, or can it just steamroll through in the name of national security or some other pressing national priority? 

Eric Kronberg: Absolutely. I mean, the federal government has autonomy. Other good examples I was thinking about is when we had a section of I-85 collapse here in Atlanta, how the state prioritized that as a rebuild and Pennsylvania recently had a section of elevated highway collapse. If the government puts its mind to it, they can really waive inspections, requirements, and/or have inspectors on site all 24 hours a day to get something done faster. So it's really what parameters do you establish at the federal or state level?

Peter Biello: And you say when "the government puts its mind to it," do you mean both the federal and state government have to sort of work in concert or can the federal government say, "We don't care what you think, Georgia, we're doing this anyway"? 

Eric Kronberg: Particularly with this administration, I think it's more of how you laid it out. ... We do more state and local work, but my expectation is that if the federal government wants to claim jurisdiction, they have the ability to do that. I mean, I think that it's also fair that you can try to sue to slow them down, but you know that seems to be the game that this government plays. 

Peter Biello: So under ordinary circumstances, how much would local opinion matter for a building like this? Would builders or developers have to sort of win over the hearts and minds of the people living nearby for it to actually go forward? 

Eric Kronberg: If it was simply a local project, there's zoning permissions and then building approval permissions. Really, land use and development is a highly political process and there are all kinds of ways, if a local community does not like a project, for voices to be raised to stop things happening, without a doubt. When it's a state project, the state has a lot more autonomy within the state boundaries to deploy things that are in the state interest. But also just to be clear, cities do not have to abide by their own zoning laws, right? If the City of Atlanta, as an example, felt it was in their interest just to go build something, they have that legal authority within their bounds. They typically choose not to do that and go through an engagement process, but they're legally permitted to not follow their own rules and their own boundaries. 

Peter Biello: Mmm. So what does that mean for a place like Social Circle? 

Eric Kronberg: It would be interesting to watch the federal government force the city to connect utilities. And if you're a small city like Social Circle, you may not have much choice, but if you have an existing warehouse, that connection between the public realm of the city and the private building is already in place. It may not be adequate, honestly, for taking a warehouse to house humans. So there's interesting, like, where does the purview of the federal government stop? Where is the purview the city intermixed? There is a joining of some point. And I don't know how much power Social Circle will have, practically, at that kind of intersection or not. 

Peter Biello: The warehouse could hold up to 10,000 people, and that would effectively triple the population of Social Circle. What do you think that would mean for the city when it comes to available water treatment and wastewater management? I mean, it's likely that the water has to be processed going in and coming out somehow. 

Eric Kronberg: Yeah, absolutely. In a warehouse, you talk about occupant loads and how many people would be in the building and the facility, and a warehouse might have — maybe that's 50 or 100 people is the occupancy designed for a structure like that. It's a fraction of the people that we're putting in. And the number of human occupants, that's the driver of water usage, right? For toilets, for showers, for cooking, cleaning. That's a massive increase in facilities. I do not have knowledge of the sewer capacity of Social Circle, but that could be a massive strain on that. I mean, things we're seeing — shifting a little bit to warehouses for AI — a lot of these are providing their own power generation with gas turbines in Texas and other places because there's not local capacity of the infrastructure to provide what they're doing. But that's just power for bits and electrons flying around. That is not actually housing humans. And so it's entirely possible that there is just no water available, not nearly enough water available to serve this facility, or would amazingly stress the infrastructure of Social Circle — and I'd be shocked to imagine that it wouldn't. No city that we know has massive excess capacity of water or sewer, just about anywhere in the country. 

Peter Biello: Well, Eric Kronberg, thank you so much for sharing your insights on this. We really do appreciate it. 

Story 4

Peter Biello: The Northeast Georgia city of Oakwood is detailing its objections to plans for an ICE detention center in its community. A statement yesterday from the mayor and council says Oakwood supports the agency's public safety mission but wants it to pause any further action on the facility. It cites concerns over standards for human habitation, loss of tax revenue, improper review and quote, "economic disruption" to Hall County's large Hispanic community. City officials in Social Circle have voiced similar concerns. 

Caption

Mid section of pregnant woman standing in corridor.

Credit: Adobe Stock Image

Story 5

Peter Biello: Georgia consistently ranks higher than national averages for its maternal and infant mortality rates. This year, those working to improve maternal health are trying a new approach to address what many call a maternal health crisis. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more. 

Sofi Gratas: The Maternal Health Vitality Think Tank brings health care providers, researchers, and policymakers together to address Georgia's poor maternal outcomes. Partners include the Morehouse School of Medicine and Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies. Allison Coffman with the Georgia Health Initiative says the think tank aims to fund work that goes beyond the worst-case scenario. 

Allison Coffman: We have heard and we have seen a lot of coverage, very importantly, on maternal mortality, maternal death, and we deserve so much more than just not dying during childbirth.

Sofi Gratas: Coffman says they'll leverage philanthropy as well as state and federal dollars by working with state departments of public health. The think tank plans to prioritize projects in postpartum health, birth support and workforce development in areas without OBGYNs or other maternal health providers. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas . 

Story 6

Peter Biello: Columbus is partnering with a private company to turn methane from a landfill into natural gas. The Columbus government said yesterday the facility at its Pine Grove landfill already is under construction and is set to be complete this spring. The Landfill Group is the city's private partner, promising renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction from a local source. 

Story 7

Peter Biello: The French government has awarded the president of the Savannah College of Art and Design one of the nation's premier cultural awards. SCAD founder Paula Wallace became a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters, as it translates into English, at a ceremony in New York yesterday. The college, for more than 25 years, has maintained a campus that has transformed the village of Lacoste in southeastern France. 

Story 8

Peter Biello: Georgia lawmakers are considering a boost to the minimum speed on the state's highways. The minimum would go from 40 to 50 miles an hour under a bill discussed in a House committee yesterday. The bill's sponsor, Marietta Republican John Carson, says the goal is to reduce the number of collisions caused by disparities in speed. Members of the House Motor Vehicles Committee didn't vote on the bill, but will gather more information about collisions and the cost of replacing speed limit signs before bringing it back for a vote. 

Story 9

Peter Biello: Longtime Braves in-game host Mark Owens is returning to Truist Park in 2026. The announcement was made on the latest episode of the Behind the Braves podcast. Owens spent 16 seasons as the Atlanta Braves' in-game host before stepping away three years ago. During the podcast interview, Owens addressed what he missed while he was away. 

Mark Owens: And people often say, "What do you miss since I've been away?" I was like, "I miss those moments." There's always this buzz before the game gets started. Every single game day, before the gates open, you walk around the concourse, you're kind of starting to get ready, and you know it's a game day's coming up, but there's always this buzz, and everyone's pretty excited. You're like, "We're about to watch some Braves baseball." And for me, that's what I'm really excited about, is to be a part of that buzz, again, that is Braves Baseball for the fans. 

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Braves will open this year's MLB season at home against the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park on Friday, March 27. First pitch is scheduled for 7.15 p.m. 

That's all we've got for Georgia Today, but more is coming your way tomorrow so make sure you subscribe to this podcast and check GPB.org/news for updates to any of the stories you heard today. If you have feedback or a story idea, send it to us by email, that is the best way to reach us. The address is georgiatoday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello, thanks for listening, we'll see you tomorrow.