Governor Deal Names Appointment to the GGT&CFC

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, otherwise known as the Ethics Commission, has a new member. Governor Deal announced today the appointment of Rick Thompson of Roswell. Thompson is the former executive secretary for the Georgia Ethics Commission.

Rick Thompson, Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission
Thompson is the founding partner of RTA Strategy, co-founder of PoliticaLabs and former executive secretary for the Georgia Ethics Commission. Thompson is an adjunct professor at the University of Phoenix. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a member of the Marine Corps League Legislative Committee. He is a member of the nominating committee for the Council of Governmental Ethics Laws Awards and sits on the editorial board of the academic journal Public Integrity. Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Central Missouri State University. He and his wife, Ally, have two children and live in Roswell.

On Monday, the GGT&CFC announced the resignations of two longtime members. Thompson resigned from the commission in 2009. In December of that year, he indicated to the Augusta Chronicle that the commission was an ethics panel “in name only” following the legislature’s evisceration of the commission during the 2009 legislative session. It’s fair to say that today’s ethics commission is a wholly different animal than what Georgia was dealing with in 2009, and the current commission continues to emerge from several tumultuous years with a straightforward approach to cleaning up several inherited messes.

Earlier this month, Governor Deal vetoed HB 370, which would have waived fees and fines levied on local elected officials and candidates between 2010 and 2014, but the commission still needs to figure out what to do about the $7.7 million in delinquent – and possibly invalid – fines they’re owed by lobbyists, elected officials, and candidates from across the state.

The entire press release from the Governor’s office, which details eight other appointees to various boards, can be read here.

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