David Hannah’s Wrens residency upheld by elections board
After a short review of evidence and testimony, the Jefferson County Elections Board ruled that Wrens Councilman David Hannah met the contested residency requirements to run in the Nov. 7 election for the position of mayor.
The board conducted a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 13, to review a challenge to Hannah’s residency by fellow Wrens Councilmember Michelle Weatherford Usry. The city charter requires that any candidate running for mayor must have been a citizen of Wrens for the 12 months preceding the date of qualifying.
In cases like this, the burden of proof lies on the challenger, however both Usry and Hannah presented evidence in the hearing.
Attorney Edward B. Stalnaker represented Usry and attorney Wendell Johnston represented Hannah.
In his opening statements Johnston told the board that there are both Georgia election code and case law that determine residency.
“It says that a person doesn’t lose their residence when they leave their home and go to another state or county for temporary purposes with the intention of returning, unless such person desires to make that change, unless such a person changes his registration to vote,” Johnston said. “Mr. Hannah has always voted in Jefferson County. All of his automobiles are registered in Wrens, GA. His federal tax returns list Wrens as his residence.”
During the hearing Stalnaker, on behalf of Usry, presented several pieces of evidence, including photographs of Hannah and his vehicles, both in Wrens and parked overnight at an address in Orchard Hill Apartments in Waynesboro.
Stalnaker also presented several Police reports obtained from the Waynesboro Police Department, incidents where Hannah called law enforcement, that all include the Orchard Hill Waynesboro address for Hannah.
Other evidence presented by Stalnaker included a social media post from the Waynesboro Police Department and Hannah’s father’s obituary, both of which referred to Hannah as a resident of Waynesboro.
“I just want us to follow our laws that are in our charter,” Usry told the elections board. “I just want a fair election. I just want it to be fair and follow our laws and I don’t believe that’s being done, and that’s why I’m here today.”
Johnston told the board that Hannah is employed in Orchard Hill Apartments in a capacity providing security. Hannah himself testified that he has been employed there for six or seven years and works nights there.
“He spends a large majority of his time there. As part of his employment, he is allowed use of an apartment,” Johnston said. “He doesn’t have a lease there.”
Johnston went on to present his own evidence that Hannah’s residence is actually
on Oak Street in Wrens, in a mobile home owned by Hannah that sits on property owned by Hannah's brother.
Johnston presented Hannah’s driver’s license, voting record from 1995 through 2022, his vehicle registration forms and his federal tax returns, all of which show the Wrens address as his residence. Hannah testified that he never intended to live in Waynesboro full time or change his residency from the City of Wrens.
In his closing arguments, Johnston told the board that all of this comes down to the rule of law and the legal definition of residency.
“He goes to Waynesboro. He’s there a lot. He works hard. And you know what, a lot of times he sleeps in an apartment that they give him as part of his employment. That doesn’t have anything to do with his legal residency. Absolutely nothing,” Johnston said.
He then presented case law that supports his argument.
“There’s no code section, there’s no law that says if Mr. Hannah laid down, because he’s working all night, slept in or kept some stuff in this apartment that is part of his employment, all of a sudden he magically becomes a resident of Waynesboro. That’s just not the law,” Johnston said, later adding, “If the voters have an issue, let the voters decide. But as a matter of law he is a resident of Wrens, GA and there’s just no doubt about that.”
With the election board’s ruling that Hannah is a resident of Wrens, his qualification as a candidate for mayor stands and his name will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot as the only challenger to incumbent Johnny Rabun.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: David Hannah’s Wrens residency upheld by elections board
