Rep. Ken Vance shares insight on 1st legislative session

Mar. 15—State Rep. Ken Vance in getting a taste of what it's like to be a state lawmaker.

Vance, a longtime former member of Milledgeville City Council, is now in his freshman year as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Vance (R-Milledgeville) was one of the guest speakers at the Baldwin County Republican Committee Precinct Convention held Saturday at Victory Baptist Church in Milledgeville.

He was introduced to the crowd by Janice Westmoreland, who serves as chairwoman of the Baldwin County Republican Committee.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to go and represent half of Baldwin and half of Jones counties in the State Legislature," Vance told local GOP members. "Sen. (Rick) Williams said it's like drinking out of a firehose, and he's been there a while. I think I had a whole battalion of trucks spraying at me this whole time."

Vance said he likes serving the people.

"I like it, and I've met wonderful, wonderful people," Vance said. "And like Sen. Williams said, 98 to 99 percent of everything, we all agree on across the aisle. And there are good relationships being built. But let one of those things come down to that two-percent where you've got to disagree and we don't like each other very much. But that's O.K. At the end of the day, we walk out the door and speak to each other and go and break bread, and do those sort of things."

Vance is one of only five freshman state lawmakers who received a vice-chairmanship role of a committee.

"I was pretty much blown away, Vance said of his appointment as vice-chairman of State Properties. "And that means a lot to Milledgeville and Baldwin County, because there's a slew of it here."

Vance said the State Properties Committee would be holding a meeting in Baldwin County this summer.

He said committee members hope to formulate a plan on how to deal with some of the state properties located on the campus of Renaissance Park at Central State Hospital.

Vance said preliminary plans call for either refurbishing some of them or selling some of them.

"That land, folks, is not on the tax digest," Vance said. "And that's why we have to pay so much. So, I'm very enthusiastic about getting more land on the tax rolls for the (county) commissioners that are here and for the taxpayers who are here."

Vance also is a member of the agriculture committee. He was raised in Turner County, which is in south Georgia.

"I know a good bit about parts of agriculture, mainly about feeding cows, hogs, and growing peanuts, cotton and tobacco," Vance said.

Vance also is a member of the Public Safety Committee.

"That's kinda been my livelihood most of my adult life," he said.

Vance said he introduced a bill to enhance the qualifications for running for the office of sheriff.

Right now the proposed idea is stuck in the Rules Committee, he said.

"Rules is the most powerful committee in the House, because it decides what goes forward and what doesn't," Vance said. "I got one out of rules real quick. It took about a day. That was adding the president of Georgia College & State University to the Greenway Authority, which I thought was very appropriate."

When it comes to the proposed sheriff's bill, Vance said in order to become eligible to seek the office of sheriff, a candidate must be P.O.S.T. certified.

"You must have a law enforcement license, if you will," he said. "There are some people on the rules committee that don't want that to come out. I really, really believe in my heart of hearts that it will pass, if it gets to the floor."

Vance explained that a person seeking the office of district attorney must have five years experience before they can run for the position. And Superior Court judges have even higher standards.

"They all have to have a standard before they can start practicing their craft before they can do it, and yet, we don't want the highest elected Constitutional official in our county not to have anything," Vance said. "And then they spend the first six months of the job having to get certified and learn all of these things. It just doesn't make any sense to me."

Vance said such was important to him because he served as executive director of the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council for nearly 13 years.

He also introduced a proposed bill related to tag readers.

"And I know a lot of folks aren't real fans of tag readers," Vance said. "But these tag readers are directly linked to the Georgia Department of Revenue."

He said there were many instances of where wrecks happen and one of the motorist involved doesn't have insurance.

"These tag readers will be able to read that and they will be sent a citation," Vance said.

Or they can send them a civil citation, which will cost $200 but it won't deduct points from insurance coverage.

Baldwin County Solicitor General Skye Gess, who also is a Republican, addressed fellow Republicans at the local convention.

"I started my first full term in 2020," Gess said. "I was previously appointed by Gov. (Nathan) Deal in 2018 and will run for reelection in 2024."

As solicitor general, Gess serves as the prosecutor for all misdemeanor crimes in Baldwin County.

"Anything that is punishable by up to 12 months in confinement," Gess said.

She explained that her offices are now in renovated areas of the courthouse.

"Everyone has their own office and we don't have to walk through other offices to get into our own office," Gess said.

In 2021, Gess said she was able to add an assistant solicitor general to the staff.

And now because of the growing volume of cases in Baldwin County State Court, Gess said she was now looking for another assistant prosecutor.

She also talked about how she and staff members carry out community outreach programs and how those programs help make a difference.

Westmoreland also introduced Vikki Consiglio to the crowd. Consiglio is running for the office of treasurer of the Georgia Republican Party. She and her husband, Bill, recently moved to Baldwin County from Henry County where Vikki was actively involved with the GOP committee, as well as community-minded events.

"First of all, thank you, thank you for your warm welcome to Baldwin County," Consiglio said. "We're so excited to be here."

She said she and her husband are looking forward to growing their new precinct and to grow the Baldwin County GOP committee.

"Janice has such a great reputation throughout the state and so it's really good to be here and to be under her leadership," Consiglio said. "She just does a fantastic job."

The current GOP treasurer of Georgia is not seeking reelection, so Consiglio has decided to run for the position.

"I want you to remember three words: Proven, Conservative, Leader," said Consiglio, noting those words were her motto for seeking the statewide position.

As a conservative, she said she always puts God first in her life.

She said she wants to make a difference because there are a lot of different factions within the Republican Party.

"You find what you have in common and then you build upon that and that's what we need to do within the party," Consiglio said. "We need to find out what we all in common and then build on those strengths."