At their May 18th meeting the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville held a Club Assembly.  President Art Kleve began by reporting on the awards won by the club at the recent District Conference.  First was a Gold Club Award based on these areas: administration, public image, community service,  GRSP, vocational service, and youth services.  Additionally, there were a Public Image and a Presidential Citation Award.  He announced the new leadership team: Freya Myers, President; Russ Weekley, President-Elect; Richard Steele, Secretary and President-nominee; and Josh Voisine, Treasurer. He called on committee chairs Beatty McCaleb, Richard Steele, Carolyn Bagheri , Nancy McGill, and Tim Golden for reports and mentioned some of the club’s projects for this year: road clean-up, reading at Lawrenceville Elementary School, the Laws of Life contest, Spring Green, and Christmas donations.  Al Hombroek completed the program with a detailed report on the upcoming GRSP Conclave to be held August 27-30 at Georgia Gwinnett College.

P. K. Martin, State Senator from the 9th District, spoke to his home Rotary group at their noon meeting on May 4.  He opened by presenting Marshall Boutwell with a Senate Resolution recognizing Marshall’s multiple contributions to the credit union movement in Georgia and congratulating him on receiving the Moses C. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award.   Senator Martin then talked to the group about his experience as a freshman senator, describing the learning process and his first impressions.  He has been stuck by  the helpfulness of his fellow Senators and their commitment to doing the right thing.  He went over a list of important legislation passed this session, including SB1 improving insurance coverage for children with autism, HB1 approving cannabis oil for medical purposes, bills breaking down bureaucratic barriers for high school students, HB 502 ensuring our students are taught founding principles, and HB170 providing for transportation funding.  He discussed SB 108, his bill requiring additional risk management for large insurers, and the five House bills he sponsored.  He has been selected to participate in a national leadership program as one of 27 new legislators who show leadership potential in the Republican Party.

Dr. Adolfo Santos, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Georgia Gwinnett College, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville at their April 20 meeting. A professor of Political Science, he discussed the subject of his book Do Members of Congress Reward Their Future Employers? Evaluating the Revolving Door Syndrome. Starting with the Founding Fathers, he traced the relation between D.C. lawmakers and powerful corporations and businesses. In the early days government directly impacted fewer citizens and businesses than today, so most lawmakers went back home after serving. In the years post New Deal and Great Society programs, legislation started to affect more people. Lawmakers served long terms and progressed to chairmanships of committees which held a lot of power. Prior to the 60s and 70s lawmakers tended to return to their home states upon retirement, but changes in committee structure and lessening of the power of committee chairs led to less commitment to serve and more interest in becoming lobbyists. Dr. Santos noted that it is natural for lawmakers to want to use their knowledge of how the system works and their contacts with fellow lawmakers, but he is concerned that some lawmakers use their last couple of years in office to promote an industry which will give them a lucrative lobbyist position when they do retire. He proceeded to offer several examples of lawmakers and corporations which have abused this system.