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Friday, September 12, 2008

News State Rep. James Mills practices Jedi mind tricks

Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 5:56 PM

Meet state Rep. James W. Mills, R-Gainesville. The Hall County lawmaker won our hearts in April for two pieces of WTF legislation he wrote: One that would allow police officers to seize the vehicles of illegal immigrants and another aimed at marsupials (really). The ideas were so doubly delicious we bestowed upon him the much-sought-after Golden Sleaze Award.

DARK SIDE These arent the droids youre looking for.

Mills' primary residence, as one would expect, is located in Hall County and is listed under the name of his wife, Rita. According to his personal finance disclosure, he has an interest in three other properties in the county.

A tipster informed us that he may own another property that is not listed on his disclosure, so we reached out to the lawmaker.

Let it be clearly stated: It was all a misunderstanding and Mills denied he owned anything other than what is clearly stated on his financial report. That being said, the brief phone conversation we had Tuesday was too fun not to post.

After being asked point blank, Mills used the GOP Jedi teachings of Obi Wan Ke-Rove-y to stun me. Nearly every question I asked was answered with a statement instructing me to do what I had just done. It worked. I am brainwashed and now want to rid Georgia of marsupials — sugar gliders, specifically. Their cute little eyes hide bloodlust and hatred of man.

The transcript follows below. Information about the property Mills does not own has been redacted.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Me: Mr. Mills -- I mean Rep. Mills, excuse me -- my name is Thomas Wheatley, I'm a staff writer with Creative Loafing.

Mills: Mhmm.

Me: I was calling in regards to -- We're just looking over the finance disclosures for members of the General Assembly and I wanted to give you a call about a property in [redacted] County. It's registered as belonging to a "James Mills, Jr., Et al" and I didn't know if that was your property as well. I didn't see it on your disclosure report.

Mills: And the purpose of this call?

Me: We're just looking to — yesterday we found Gov. Perdue had failed to list a property that he owns in Butts County. So we were just looking through.

Mills: Mhmm.

Me: Do you own property in [redacted] County? Is that yours?

Mills: (sighs) I would say you need to be real careful and check your facts before you print things.

Me: That's why I'm calling you.

Mills: You know, the whole purpose of this phone call is to tear me down. Not to help in the least.

Me: Sir, that's not it at all. I'm merely checking to verify what I've come across. This wasn't to tear you down. This was to find out if this was indeed your property, and, if it's not listed on your disclosure report, why is it not listed.

Mills: Is it listed on my disclosure report?

Me: According to your most recent one, i don't see it. I just see properties in Hall County.

Mills: We disclosed all that we own.

Me: So [redacted] in [redacted]. You don't own that?

Mills: I most certainly do not.

Me: OK, thanks, sir. Just calling to check.

Tags: News, State-Rep.-James-Mills, Disclosures, Transcripts, Jedi Mind Tricks

Comments (5)

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Stop trying to tear down The Man, man! Support the power!

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Posted by Ed on 09/12/2008 at 2:02 PM

A Republican politician who is wary and skeptical, even hostile, to CL? You aren't surprised are you? Did you expect him to talk to you like you were his beer drinking buddy?

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Posted by DaleC on 09/12/2008 at 4:06 PM