Controversial non-partisan election bill, Roswell parking | FOX 5 News

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[00:00:00]Good morning from Fox 5 News. This is Good Day Atlanta [music] at 8:00 a.m.

[00:00:07]Metro Atlanta leaders come together to speak out against the elimination of party labels in certain [music] county elections. And your next trip to Roswell could cost you a little more. We'll tell you how it may affect [music] where you park.

[00:00:18]Good morning everyone. Good Wednesday morning. Welcome to Good Day Atlanta at 8:00. I'm Buck Lanford.

[00:00:23]>> And I'm Alex Wittler. Thanks so much for waking up with us. We always appreciate your time. I've got to say this weather's really nice, but it is a little bit of a tease. Yeah, the heat's coming. It's going to crank up toward the weekend, so you got to enjoy this while it last. Or as Joanne likes to say, I think it's you that likes this. I like to repeat your saying of carpe the diem.

[00:00:41]>> Carpe the diem, yeah. The diem. Carpe the multiple diems, okay? Cuz we got we've got through Friday uh to get uh some more pleasant temperatures. We know the weekend is going to be an entirely different story. Let's start with where we are right now. 62 in Atlanta. Uh that doesn't necessarily represent what everybody's feeling out there. There are definitely some chillier spots. But before I zoom in a little closer, I want to show you rain gathered mostly offshore, but still swinging in some uh at least some light showers into Southeast Georgia. Those could graze the southeastern parts of our viewing area with a sprinkle or two. The temperature side of things though, cool 50s for a lot of us, although it is right at 60 from Covington to Eatonton. But check this out. We've got some 40s in the North Georgia mountains. And we're actually be watching a cold front come in later today from the northwest that could bring a few additional spotty showers. Maybe something that's not much more significant than this into North Georgia later on. But otherwise today, we're going to work our way to lots of sunshine, a seasonably warm afternoon.

[00:01:38]Then we'll talk about the weekend heat and how many days could get close to records coming up in a few minutes.

[00:01:43]Natalie? Joanne, thank you. We have a crash on the West Expressway northbound right past MLK Jr. Drive right there in the center lane causing delays from Lee Road. Highway 78 is your best bet to move around this. And a crash along the West Wall has cleared that area on 285 Northbound right after MLK.

[00:02:03]Just seeing some lingering delays from Langford Parkway, so you can take Highway [music] 29. And a crash on 85 Northbound at Indian Trail Road has also cleared. These delays are coming in from Pleasant Hill Road. Alex? All right, Natalie. Good looking out. Thanks. It's 8:02 now, and Fulton and DeKalb County District Attorneys have threatened to sue the state over a measure that removes party labels from some metro area elections.

[00:02:24]>> Yeah, District Attorneys Fani Willis and Sherry Boston call HB 369 with which only impacts five of Georgia's 159 counties unconstitutional. Good Day's Mark Tagner picks up this developing story. He joins us live this morning from the state capital. Mark, good morning.

[00:02:41]Yeah, good morning, guys. And Republican lawmakers that passed this measure uh say they were just trying to improve government here in the metro area, but these local officials, specifically these two district attorneys, say what the Republicans were really trying to do is trick the voters.

[00:03:00]Georgia is watching, and history has a long memory, too. Cobb County Chair Lisa Cupid comes out swinging against HB 369. The measure, which strips partisan labels from elections in five metro area counties, now faces a possible lawsuit. Both Fulton and DeKalb County DAs say they'll take the state to court to keep HB 369 from going into effect, calling it an unconstitutional and blatant attempt by Republicans to gain an advantage by hiding their party affiliation from voters. HB 369 removes partisan labels for DA, County Commissioner, Tax Commissioner, County Clerk, and Solicitor General in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton counties, while leaving them in place for the state's other 154 ones. Five counties should not be governed by rules that the other 154 counties do not have to follow. As the bill was being passed, Republican lawmakers said they were trying to improve governance. What is going to provide the best services, the best government for local governments?

[00:04:11]There isn't a Republican line and a Democrat line when entering the courthouse.

[00:04:15]>> Leaders from the impacted counties say this is really about bad faith partisan politics, calling it a zombie bill snuck through at the last minute. It began as food truck legislation.

[00:04:28]It was gutted and replaced with entirely new language in the final days of the legislative session.

[00:04:38]Governor Kemp had until midnight yesterday to do one of three things with HB 369. He could have signed it, he could have vetoed it, or he simply could have allowed it to go into law without his signature. Now, in their statement saying that they plan on suing, uh both of the district attorneys said that he signed the legislation. But when we take a look at the governor's list of signed uh bills, it's not on there, nor is it on the list of the vetoed ones. So, still waiting to determine exactly what he ended up doing. Reporting live from the state capital, I'm Mark Tigner for Good Day Atlanta.

[00:05:13]>> Yeah, that's a talker, Mark. Thank you.

[00:05:15]It's 8:05 now, and the governor signed a record-breaking $36.6 billion state budget. It includes funds for pay raises for teachers and law enforcement, but the governor has placed a $300 spending freeze on various projects lawmakers approved. Kemp says the move is necessary to protect Georgia's financial future amid national economic uncertainty. The governor also vetoed 12 bills that were passed this legislative session. They include measures that would have created a state music office, and another that would have increased tax credits for historic properties.

[00:05:50]>> [music] >> Well, we're less than a week out from the 2026 primary elections and last night Fulton County voters heard from commissioners who want to become the next county chair.

[00:05:59]>> Now, the forum focused on a Department of Justice investigation into the 2020 election, which recently included a subpoena for county workers' personal data. Three Democratic candidates participated, including incumbent chair Rob Pitts, Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., and Commissioner Mo Ivory.

[00:06:18]To continue to lead Fulton County as I have led before. This is a time for calm, capable, experienced, and tested leadership. It is not the time for on-the-job training.

[00:06:31]>> I think our answers aren't very much different in this, except that I think we need to think about funding our registration and elections and our legal department in a stronger way.

[00:06:40]Early voting is happening now ahead of the primary election, which is next Tuesday. And Rockdale County, the Board of Commissioners extended a moratorium on major data center developments. The extension runs through September 8th.

[00:06:52]The moratorium applies to data centers and battery energy storage systems.

[00:06:56]County leaders want additional time to study infrastructure needs and community impacts. The commission also extended a moratorium on certain residential care facilities. Your trip to downtown Roswell could cost you a little more. A move to increase parking in the area means drivers will soon have to pay for on-street parking.

[00:07:13]>> break it down even further, today's Caitlin Pratt joins us live from Roswell with more on that. Caitlin, good morning.

[00:07:21]Good morning to you both. Yeah, we're all no strangers to finding parking, right? Sometimes it's a struggle no matter what city you [snorts] are. So, here's the latest in Roswell. I'm standing right in the downtown historic district, really quaint area, and parking available parking, affordable parking, uh hopefully is going to get a little bit easier with uh some things the city has done. So let's dig into those details. Starting Friday, parking here is going to cost $2 an hour on street parking where I'm standing here on Canton Street, also on Elizabeth Way, East Alley, and East Alley, the parking lot there. So the daily maximum is going to be capped at $16. Those are some of the rules. City officials say their program is going to run through the end of the year. This is a pilot program to help them collect information, data on what the turnaround is, how many people are actually parking, things of that nature, the demand here in the downtown area. They've been trying to address long-standing congestion here in the district, particularly along this popular Canton Street corridor. Most recently to try and help with that, they cut the ribbon on a $14.5 million downtown parking deck. So visitors, if you don't want to pay that $2 an hour parking fee here, you can use that deck for free. We caught up with the city's mayor about the benefits of this new construction.

[00:08:48]While we could always find parking, I think this is going to make it so much different when we have our large events, but but all the time people can come. I think it's also going to be a very safe place for a lot of employees to park.

[00:08:59]You know, when you have a hospitality industry, that's going to be a great thing, too. So we're just really looking forward to that to solve a problem that's probably been growing, which is a good thing to have.

[00:09:12]And more signs of progress, the construction here in the area. This is the Green Street construction project that's putting in trails, lighting, landscaping. And while that project goes on, lasts in about 6 months, city leaders say that parking deck will remain free. Now, will it remain that way as of January 2027?

[00:09:34]That's unclear. So we'll let you know as soon as that timetable is revealed.

[00:09:39]That's the latest here live this morning in Roswell. I'm Caitlyn Prater for Good Day Atlanta. All right, Caitlyn. Thanks for explaining that. It's 8:09 now at