Yesterday Governor Deal held a photo op to sign the "Georgia Archives Month" proclamation. Between 75 and 100 folks showed up to show support for the Georgia Archives and speak out against its closure. After receiving a copy of the first 10,000 signatures from the online petition, the governor announced that the archive would not close. No details were given and, in conversation with one of the attendees, the governor indicated that he had no control over the seven employees being laid off.
The governor's comments are promising, but we don't yet have anything in writing. The fight is not over.
Even today, there was an upsetting article in the AJC about a $4.5 million dollar Lake Lanier resort being funded by the state. And the Secretary of State reported that he had not know of Gov Deal's statement in advance. He seems to indicate that he's made his cuts and it's up to the Governor to find the funds when he said, “If he funds it to keep it open, that’d be great.” I'm not expecting much from our SOS.
We need to continue to put pressure on Georgia's politicians until the funding for the Georgia Archive is written into the budget. Sign the petition, join the facebook group, and contact the governor, the sos and your local representatives today. Also, there is talk of taking up funds to assist the laid off employees. Keep an eye on the facebook page for more updates!
1 comment:
I wish I could say this was shocking, but having lived in CA my whole life, I'm no longer surprised by anything. It is, however, appalling.
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