A campaign mailer in Cedartown reported to state Ethics Commission

Johnny Crawford only had one goal in mind: education about an issue.

Instead, he might be facing some trouble from the Georgia State Ethics Commission after the mailer was sent out to thousands of homes across the city limits without having specific language included to ensure that voters knew its source.

Crawford, a native of Cedartown and resident for the past 55 years of his life, is one of several local residents who have voiced their opposition to the Redevelopment Powers being sought on the ballot a second time this year by the City of Cedartown.

Those redevelopment powers would allow for the creation of a Tax Allocation District, which the developer for the potential commercial project that would bring national brands like Publix, Marshalls and Ross to Cedartown wants to have in place in order to provide incentive for the stores to build.

“I thought it was not a good time to put it on the ballot,” he said. “We’d had already been taxed and double taxed by the county and the schools and all – and to me this is my opinion – this is giving free money away that would take a long time to get back.”

After it failed as a winning issue on the March ballot that also included a bond issue sought by the Polk County Board of Education, Cedartown officials sought to get it back before voters a second time this year and now it waits for a decision in November from local voters once again.

Crawford decided he wanted to do something about the issue now that is back on the ballot for the November election. He’d already been on Facebook posting about his opposition to the TAD, and debating the issue back and forth with those who support the effort to utilize the TAD via redevelopment powers granted to the city to draw new businesses to Cedartown.

He said he consulted with an attorney, created the mailer and wrote out the information himself after he conducted some research, and Crawford got 4,000 mailers printed at the UPS Store in Rome, and sent out to every household in Cedartown. It ended up being around 3,200 addresses, according to Crawford. He still has around 800 of the mailers sitting in his office.

“I started speaking my mind, and getting a little resistance, so I put it out there so the whole city could know what is going on,” Crawford said. “A lot of your elderly folks and some of your Spanish folks don’t follow Facebook as far as the Polk County Vent Page or Cedartown Chat or whatnot. I thought everybody in the city needed to know it, so I sent 4,000 flyers out and roughly 3,200 of them got sent out to the residents of Cedartown.”

His hope was to remain anonymous with the mailer and to just provide the information to people to let them learn about the Redevelopment Powers the city seeks.

“I signed it ‘a concerned citizen against wasteful spending’. Didn’t put my name on it. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight, just trying to get people to know and talk about it and find out the truth,” he said.

Crawford unfortunately was outed after his mailer became a topic of conversation last week on WGAA Radio, and when a friend called his shop to tell him about it, he began to try calling into the station to explain his side of the story with the hopes of not having to further reveal his identity. He couldn’t get through, so he drove to the station and walked in, wearing his work attire. Station owner Frank Burgess thought he was an employee at first, but then Crawford revealed who he was and the cat was out of the bag.

“So the name was out there,” he said. “I would have still gone in and answered all the questions and never given my name had it not been that way.”

The problem with Crawford’s mailer – which targets the Redevelopment Powers question on the ballot with information about why he believes Tax Allocation Districts are bad for local residents and businesses – is that it didn’t include his name, or the name of any organization responsible for its distribution.

That’s where the Polk County Board of Elections stepped into the picture. The mailer – which went out to city residents on October 10 – drew a complaint to the Elections office headed by Elections Director Noah Beck.

What was the problem? Essentially, it was unsigned – or didn’t contain information pointing back to the individual or organization responsible, which violates state laws about campaign financing for candidates and ballot items like the redevelopment powers request from the City of Cedartown.

Essentially (as of updated Georgia code for 2024) any expenditures over $500 that are made for or against a ballot initiative requires that whoever is responsible as an individual or organization campaigning for or against the measure to register with the state. More specifically, which applies in this case in particular: “All advertising pertaining to referendums shall identify the principal officer of such campaign committee by listing or stating the name and title of the principal officer,” per the code.

Unfortunately for Crawford, he spent over $500 on the mailers sent out earlier this month and then signed it anonymously.

Those two combined issues: the cost to send out the mailers and not “identifying the principal officer” meant the mailer is automatically deemed a violation of state election code on campaigning since it didn’t include specific language about who is responsible. Though Crawford said he did his research and consulted an attorney about the mailer before he did the work and had it sent to city residents, he didn’t take the necessary steps to register with the state. He would have had until December 31 to file information about how much he has spent on the campaign mailer.

After Beck received a complaint about the mailer, he conducted a brief investigation with the help of the Floyd County Board of Elections after it was determined that the mailer was produced and sent out from the UPS Store in Rome. He said because the mailer was produced and sent out from Floyd County, they had jurisdiction to investigate the matter.

“Once we obtained enough information to determine that we believed there had been a violation of the this above provision, we compiled all the information we had and handed the matter over the investigation team of the Georgia State Ethics Commission,” Beck said. “They will conduct their own investigation and adjudicate the matter as they see fit.”

He added in the e-mailed statement that “We take our mandate to ensure compliance of Title 21 of the Official Code of the State of Georgia seriously. Compliance in all aspects of elections and campaigning are important to ensuring the integrity of elections here in Polk County. We are committed to investigating any reports of violations of Title 21, relevant federal regulations, or state agency rules to ensure our electors can have confidence in our elections system.”

Crawford said that he will cooperate with the investigation now underway with the State Ethics Commission. Despite the fact he might face issues from the mailer, he said his purpose was to get the public’s attention about the issues around the Redevelopment Powers that would allow for the Tax Allocation District to be created.

He definitely got the attention of voters.

Beck, in the meantime, is hoping this offers an opportunity for voters to understand the rules around campaigning, advertising and mailers that must be adhered to by the letter, with the goal to ensure that others don’t end up in the same spot as Crawford. He will likely face a fine for the violation from the Ethics Committee once they complete their investigation.

He hopes people will take this story and learn that they should always consult the rules and regulations in Georgia and Federal code around campaigning as candidates or undertaking issues.

“Situations are different from item to item, but if you’re going to send out a mailer there has to be certain disclosures and the money spent on it needs to be on record and filed with the Georgia State Ethics Commission,” he said. “We are happy to answer any questions someone might have concerning the rules and do our best to provide guidance for the proper ways to engage politically in a manner compliant with pertinent rules and laws.”

The Georgia State Ethics Committee has tackled several campaign violations over the past year. Among those are the recent case against Macon Mayor Lester Miller when he transferred around a quarter million dollars in campaign contributions to a nonprofit he had controlling interest over. He was fined $5,000 in September for the violation.

Another recent high profile case now underway in the past month involves Charlita Nicole Grant, who seeks a run for the Mayor’s seat in Columbus in May 2026. This investigation stemmed from the paperwork she filed earlier this month when she declared her intent to run. She included Gov. Brian Kemp as the campaign chair and treasurer in the form, which according to his office is incorrect, since he isn’t affiliated with the campaign.