So you want to run for a position on the Richmond County Board of Education?

Many people qualify but for one reason or another they do not run for this position. Sometimes the reason is due to not knowing where to start. The first site you can check is the Augusta government website. Under the Departments tab select A-E, then Board of Elections. You can visit the RCBoEd site to see the school board members, districts, contact information and when their terms are due to expire. As you can see from the site, personnel holding the positions for Districts 1, 4, 5, 8, 10 (At large district) expire December 31, 2012. This means if you want to run for one of the positions, you must register between Wednesday, May 23 beginning at 9:00 AM and no later than (NLT) Friday, May 25, 2012 by noon.

Qualifying
Qualifying for partisan (Democrat and Republican) and non-partisan offices opens Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 9:00 AM and closes at 12:00 Noon on Friday, May 25, 2012.
Information regarding the qualifications and requirements to seek public office may be found in the publication Qualifications and Disqualifications to Seek Public Office, which is published by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010
To locate information on the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010 and to file campaign reports visit the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.

This information is from page 252 of the 272 pages of the Qualifications and Disqualifications for Holding State or County Elective Office in Georgia.
MEMBER, COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Qualifications
1. Must be a citizen of this state. 
2. Must have been a resident of the county from which elected for 12 months immediately
preceding election.
3. Must be a qualified voter. O.C.G.A. § 45-2-1
4. Must reside within the school district in which he or she seeks election and in the election
district which he or she represents. Ga. Const. Art. 8, § 5, ¶ 2 O.C.G.A. § 20-2-51
Cross-Reference:
Art. 8, § 5, ¶ 2, and O.C.G.A. § 20-2-51 establish county school districts under the management and control of a county board of education.
Annotation:
Residency requirements for the election of local school board members cannot be established
by local board bylaws. Op. Atty. Gen. U97-25.
5. Must not be
a) employed by or serving on the governing board of any private educational body or
institution;
b) employed by the local board of education and be on the same board;
c) employed by either the State Department of Education or the State Board of Education.
O.C.G.A. § 20-2-51 (c)
Term of Office and Election
6. Term of office is four years unless otherwise provided by local act or constitutional
amendment. Ga. Const. Art. 8, § 5, ¶ 2 O.C.G.A. § 20-2-52
7. Elected in the general election held on Tuesday following the first Monday in November
in each even-numbered year next preceding the expiration of the term of office.
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-9
8. Elected in partisan elections unless nonpartisan elections are provided for by local law.
O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-56, 21-2-139
9. A candidate for member of a county board of education must pay a qualification fee or
file a pauper’s affidavit.
O.C.G.A. §§ 21-2-131, 21-2-132, 21-2-153
Annotations:
1. If a candidate is unable to pay required qualifying fee, candidate may execute a
pauper’s affidavit in lieu of qualifying fee and be afforded the opportunity to run.
Op. Atty. Gen. 72-48. See Georgia Socialist Workers Party v. Fortson, 315 F. Supp.
1035 (N.D. Ga. 1970).
2. A candidate for the final half of an unexpired term must pay the full qualification
fee just as if he or she were running for a full term. Op. Atty. Gen. U70-77.
3. For the purpose of computing qualifying fee, only the salary which the law provides
for the office directly involved should be included and not the additional compensation
paid for the ex-officio position held by the incumbent. Op. Atty. Gen. 70-53.
4. An elected official cannot rely on payment of an incorrectly advertised qualifying
fee to compel the governing authority to compensate the elected official beyond the
salary permitted by statute. Rowland v. Tattnall County, 260 Ga. 109, 390 S.E. 2d
217 (1990).

If you qualify, the next step is to bookmark this site, Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission and select your role, Candidate, Non-Candidate Committee, Lobbyist, Public Official, Qualifying Officer, State Employee, and/or Vendor. 

Select Candidate, check out the site and:
1. File a Declaration of Intention to Accept Contributions.
2. File a PIN Application for e-filing CCDR & PFD (Candidates / Elected Officials).
3. If you have  designated someone to file your reports or  if anyone is collecting your contributions or expending your contributions, file a Registration Form for a Candidate’s Campaign Committee.
4. File a form for Choosing Option of Separate Accounting.
5. File reports according to your schedule.

Do you want to see reports submitted by existing office holders or other campaign reports? Search reports by types:  Campaign Reports, Personal Financial Reports & Affidavits, Business Transaction Reports, Lobbyist Reports, Late/Non-Filer Reports, Campaign Contributions Map, Vendor Gifts Reports.

If you want to be one part of the change that you want, starting at the local level is an option.
Comments, recommendations +1s, and reaction check boxes are always appreciated.

What do you recommend if you were visiting Augusta, GA?

SCCC (Signal Captains Career Course) Students come from diverse backgrounds and for our international students and branch transfer students, attending SCCC may be their first visit to Augusta, GA. Our Signal Officers may be assigned here or may not have visited Fort Gordon in a few years.

Two of the student officer positions that have to be filled in each class is the Social Officer and the Volunteer Officer positions. Today's students have many tools available because so many organizations have virtual social media connections but the lessons learned from these activities aren't shared except within classes and between peers. I started a post on milBook (CAC access required) for people who aren't used to sharing beyond the DoD firewalls, but this post is general visitor information that can be accessed publicly and provide an opportunity for people who have visited Augusta, GA to share what worked, what didn't work, and recommendations.

If you have visited Augusta, GA or passed through Fort Gordon, GA what are some of your favorite spots that you would recommend if friends and family passing through?

A few recommended sites:
Off limits establishments 
Fort Gordon MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation)
Fort Gordon ACS (Army Community Service)
Fort Gordon's The Signal online newspaper
Augusta's government Visitor site 
Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau 
Visit Augusta Twitter 
Visit Augusta Facebook 
Augusta Chronicle Things to do 
Augusta Chronicle Events Calendar
Garden City Jazz 
Metro Spirit Dining
Splash in the Boro Family Waterpark & Aquatic Center Statesboro, GA 
Graystone Ranch & Wildlife Center - Recently added Zipline & Zorb activities
Phinizy Swamp

What recommendations do you have for visiting Augusta, GA?

Hey grads...add your email

It is that time of year where graduates are snail mailing their graduation announcements and invitations...Congrats! Great! But one simple request...will you please add your email address to your contact info with your announcement?

It isn't that I mind doing the snail mail thing...but come on now eCards and digital gift cards have been around since you were born.

The flip side of this is it is time for you to have a professional aspect to the email in your digital footprint. You may keep your settings private on the social media sites, but it is now time to upgrade to the working world. It may have been fun to Google yourself while you were in high school or college, but it is time to get serious about your digital footprint. Whether it is a future employer, a potential date, or your next landlord searching your digital activity has never been easier to access.
Congrats to those who are graduating at any level just remember to add your email address to your contact info if you are snail mailing the announcement. Scanning the announcement and emailing to me would have been acceptable too! Maybe the next set of graduates will do a blog post as their graduation announcement, set up a donation widget, and create their own version of a digital portfolio?

As this eHow article states in an article about proper etiquette for graduation announcements, that you may have family members that do not have Internet access so I understand that some people still need the proper, formal, snail mail version but if you can blast your latest accomplishment using technology...why not?

Again...congrats to all the grads!

Camp Data no cost summer sessions

Registration forms for Camp Data should be available April 9, 2012 and submitted between April 16-30, 2012. This camp is a community outreach effort offered by Augusta's City IT department. Submit registration forms early as this is a no cost session and based on a first come first served basis. Transportation is not provided so start the car pool coordinating now.

Children ages 6-8 and 9-11 are invited to come and explore the exciting world of technology. If you have additional questions please contact the Information Technology department at 706-821-2522. 

Docusign Ink App

DocuSign Ink for personal use lets you sign and return ANY document sent to you as an email attachment or stored in a cloud service—for FREE. DocuSign Ink is available through the iTunes Store, Android Market, and as a plug in for Outlook through the Office Marketplace. 

Common Access Card holders have the option to use ApproveIt to digitally sign documents. Classroom images currently do not have ApproveIt installed. This situation will be resolved during the month of March as the classroom images are updated.

Screen capture from Android

Now the challenge is on to go paperless with some of the common documents that we use in the SCCC classrooms that require signatures. From vehicle inspection checklists that must be completed before every long weekend (government holiday, training holiday), student designed memorandums for record (MFR) for assignments, cover sheets of designated projects, to classroom QAO evaluation checklists, presenting options for those who use digital devices is another way to integrate digital tools. This provides another option for personnel participating in the iPad pilot.

As more SCCC students bring digital devices to the classroom, the budget cuts which always impact toner and paper purchases, the option to securely sign documents is a job requirement and a learning opportunity for the diverse group of SCCC students and their facilitators.

One issue that always arises is the security of the signature. As we are all aware, if something was created by humans, it can be hacked by humans. DocuSign has achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification as an information security management system. DocuSign Security and Legal information: 

• DocuSign warrants Federal ESIGN Act and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) compliance.
• Exported signed documents are digitally sealed and verified for authenticity with a trusted third-party certificate authority.
• Detailed audit trails for each transaction include sender name and email address, timestamps, and originating IP address for each action.

Are you using DocuSign in a learning environment? Or for personal or professional use? If so, how is it working for you?


Recent screenshot from the iPad and the Android (above) devices I am using to tinker with the DocuSign Ink app.


Some additional features of DocuSign:
Additional options for those using DocuSign for Business: Signing, Sending, Collaborating, Enterprise Management, Mobile, Legal and Security.


All types businesses are using Docusign and the marketplace options from Independent contractors, Realtors, Salesforce, Banking, to parents signing permission slips.


What digital signature tool do you use most often?


Comments, recommendations +1s, and reaction check boxes are always appreciated.