Voters should keep non-taxpayers from office

Editor:

When Georgia voters go to the polls on Tuesday, we will be able to decide a number of constitutional amendments on the ballot. As a matter of fact, we will be presented with six proposed constitutional changes. Many people will know very little about the changes to the Georgia Constitution. Voting while uninformed is a mistake. We are all busy, but I encourage everyone not to skip past these six questions.

I would call particular attention to Constitutional Amendment No. 1. The question reads, Shall the Constitution be amended so as to provide that certain officeholders or candidates who are defaulters for federal, state or local taxes shall be ineligible to hold any public office in the state?

You may wonder why such an amendment would be required. It may be unimaginable that a person with tax liens could ever hold office, but it does happen.

Right now, State Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond is serving as a statewide elected official earning more than $100,000 per year. Yet he has a record of having four liens for not paying his federal taxes, and three for not paying his property taxes. I could not believe it myself when I read it in a mailing I received from the Taxpayers Coalition, but I checked it out and it is true.

I voted for Thurmond four years ago. He was the first African-American elected statewide without first being appointed to the office. I had no idea what a shameful record he has. I pay my taxes; why shouldnt he? What makes him so special?

Remember to vote yes on Amendment No. 1, and vote for anybody but Mike Thurmond for labor commissioner on Tuesday.

Jim Taylor

Martinez