Pubdate: Mon, 15 May 2006
Source: Macon Telegraph (GA)
Copyright: 2006 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.macontelegraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667
Author: Shannon McCaffrey, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

COX UNVEILS PUBLIC SAFETY AGENDA, FIRST TELEVISION AD

ATLANTA - Secretary of State Cathy Cox said Monday that if elected 
governor she would appoint a state drug czar to crack down on the 
spread of methamphetamine and other illegal substances.

Cox unveiled a public safety platform at a speech to prosecutors. The 
Democrat said she would also expand the role of the state's drug 
courts and work to put more police on the streets.

The speech came on the same day that Cox took the wraps off her first 
television advertisement of the campaign. The folksy 30-second spot, 
which began running statewide on Monday, shows Cox sitting in a 
rocking chair on the front porch of her family's home in tiny Bainbridge, Ga.

"I wouldn't trade growing up in Bainbridge for anything in the 
world," Cox said.

As Cox talks, highlights from her resume - Sunday school teacher, 
legislator, Mercer Law School graduate - flash on the screen.

"Every single Georgian, everyone deserves their shot in life," Cox 
says in the ad. "Everyone deserves an opportunity to succeed."

Cox is the last of the three major gubernatorial candidates to hit 
the airwaves. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, a Democrat, and Republican Gov. 
Sonny Perdue have had ads running for several weeks now. While Taylor 
and Cox have paid for their own ads from campaign funds, Perdue's 
have been paid for by the state Republican Party.

In her speech to the District Attorneys Law Enforcement Appreciation 
luncheon in Camilla, Cox said Perdue has made election-year speeches 
about "the meth crisis" but has done little to address the problem. 
Perdue has failed to act on most of the recommendations from a 
statewide meth summit two years ago, she said.

The Perdue camp disputed that.

"Gov. Perdue has been combatting the spread of meth since he took 
office, and we welcome a discussion of his leadership on this issue 
after the Democrats decide who will speak for them," spokesman 
Derrick Dickey said.

Cox said a cabinet-level drug czar would help coordinate the 
disjointed efforts of dozens of state agencies. She said drug courts 
have been shown to reduce recidivism rates for offenders and should 
be used more. The courts give addicts the option of seeking treatment 
or going to jail.

Cox also endorsed an initiative popular with state law enforcement to 
add salary steps and other incentives to keep troopers with the 
Georgia State Patrol and agents with the Georgia Bureau of 
Investigation on the job.

Georgia law enforcement officials have complained that they are paid 
less than their counterparts in other states and in some local police 
departments. They succeeded earlier this year in getting legislators 
to push through a 7 percent raise, but say some of the largest pay 
disparities emerge for veterans, who do not see large enough 
increases as they rise in the ranks.

On the hot topic of sex offenders, Cox said she the bill that passed 
in the state Legislature this year would only apply to a few dozen of 
the worst offenders. Cox said she would create a special probation 
and parole force to monitor released offenders who do not qualify for 
the state's tough new electronic monitoring program.

The Taylor camp said that while Cox is making promises to fight 
crime, the lieutenant governor has already delivered. Spokesman Rick 
Dent said Taylor helped pass the two strikes law - which supporters 
say is the toughest crime laws in the nation - and has worked to 
crack down on sex offenders who prey on children.

"We support those same ideas, but candidates for governor should be 
judged on what they've done about crime, not what they say about 
crime," Dent said.

Cox did not provide a price tag for the initiatives she endorsed in 
her speech but a spokesman said they could be paid for with existing 
revenues and money from the state surplus.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman