Jan Jones could bring big changes to Georgia House

AJC:

Jan Jones also just happens to be the most powerful woman ever to sit in the male-dominated Georgia Legislature. The 51-year-old Jones, a Republican lawmaker from Milton, was last week elected speaker pro tem of the state House of Representatives, becoming the first woman in Georgia history to hold the title.

Jones’ rise to power could have big implications around the state Capitol, not to mention Fulton County, where she lives and which could be divided into two counties under legislation she advocates.

By week’s end, she was still trying to get settled in her role as well as her new Capitol office, just around the corner from House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge). Her cellphone’s voice-mail box was jammed, and she was struggling to keep up with her e-mail. She suddenly had a lot of new friends.

Her lawyer husband, Kalin, and her kids -- ages 14 to 22 -- were not overly impressed.

“My kids laugh when they [reporters] say that,” she said of the reaction to her new title and its “most powerful” prefix. “They think of me as Mom. They think of politics as my hobby. Your family keeps you grounded.”

This is Jones’ fourth term as a state lawmaker, her eighth year at the Capitol. She was majority whip before she was elected to her current job. Friends describe her as a reserved woman who doesn’t mince words. Just ask about her political role models.

“I mostly found them [politicians] to be irritating,” Jones said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at her Capitol office. “When I got involved in things in the community, I mostly found them to be in the way.

“What I did not appreciate is how complicated things are. I have come to appreciate that.”

Jones will probably come to appreciate those complications even more in her new role. She was immediately inundated with praise as she held the House gavel for the first time.

But critics were already circling, warning of bitter legislative fights ahead if she advances legislation to carve Milton County out of northern Fulton County. Milton was absorbed into Fulton in the 1930s.

State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) fears Jones will use her newfound power to push a bill that could re-create the county. That House resolution has been lingering in the Legislature for four years.

“It’s a bad idea, and she’ll use her ascension as a platform to push it,” Fort said. “It’s a bad idea for Atlanta, and it’s a bad idea for the region. Essentially what you would have is the Balkanization of metro Atlanta.”

But Jones also has her fans. They see her as a fresh, new beginning after the sex scandal that forced former Speaker Glenn Richardson from office.

State Rep. Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs) described the new speaker pro tem as a quiet woman not to be underestimated. She was a key player in the controversial creation of his city out of north Fulton County five years ago, Wilkinson said.

“She was the one who came up with the financial calculation to prove we, as the city of Sandy Springs, would be viable,” Wilkinson said. “She would have won MVP in that fight.”

Wilkinson, who encouraged Jones to run in 2002 and sided with her in the Republican primary, said Jones is an understated politician who knows how to get things done.

 

 

 

Posted via email from Jim Nichols for GA State House