War Under the Waves-The Struggle for Political Control of Forsyth County
Chapter 1- The Marc Morris Letter
A few years ago, I wrote a regular Friday column for our local newspaper. Nobody paid me. I never wanted to be paid, and don’t charge for subscriptions today. That is because I do not want to make writing into a job that I have to do. I do not write, necessarily, for others to read. I write for myself, to learn, to analyze, to better understand what is really going on in an intriguing world filled to the utmost with false portrayals. I publish what I write purely as a public service.
But, for almost three years, I spent time each week choosing a topic of relevance and offering up my best analysis on the subject, the only difference then, as opposed to now, is that I had a regular schedule and was limited to 900 words. If you search back, you will find each of those articles published right here on hanksullivan.substack.com, many which remain relevant and useful today.
Due to the popularity of my column, I began receiving contacts from local politicians running for office, perhaps hoping I would say a few kind words about them in print. Some desired to meet for lunch, which I generally obliged. And it was during those opportunities that I would make it a point to express something I thought most important for politicians to hear. My speech was along the lines of: “If you win, do not trust anybody. Do not trust the individual you share an office with. Do not trust the guy who walks in the door to say hello. Do not go out to lunch with them. Do not let them give you a fundraiser. Stay pleasant, but aloof. Keep your head down, remain grounded in the work of your district. Make sure that if you vote for something, it has a positive benefit for the people you represent.”
I would make it a point to give that speech, or one very similar, because practically every politician I know, or know of, eventually falls into the same trap. I’m sure you remember the guys who got mixed up with the “wrong crowd” in high school. Maybe they started off smoking cigarettes behind the shop building. But eventually they would find themselves mixed up with a crowd of unsavory characters, and bad things would happen. Well, the capitol complex in Atlanta is overrun with unsavory characters comprising, “the wrong crowd.” So, when green, well-meaning politicians involve themselves “smoking behind the shop building,” among that same crowd, bad things will generally occur. Time after time, the most civic-minded individuals, folks who go into politics “for the right reasons,” get sucked in, thinking they can smoke without inhaling. Eventually, however, enough self-addicting purposes cloud their thinking and those politicians get hooked. That’s just what happens.
Last week, I was reminded of one of the politicians with whom I sat down for lunch several years ago. He was one who received the lunch time “Hank speech.” In the paper, I had written a very complimentary column, the effect of which was certainly a boost in his chances of winning election, and not surprisingly, he won by quite a bit. That politician’s name was Marc Morris, now, former representative from Georgia’s 26th District here in Forsyth County.
The evening of the primary election I was invited to join numerous others at a victory celebration. At the event, among others I recall seeing two individuals I knew, or sort of knew, at the time. There was Marc Morris of course, but also a fellow who has since made a local name for himself, for various reasons. His name is Justin Hawkins. Justin was extremely happy that night and he and I had a very pleasant time together. If I remember correctly, we left it that we would “get together soon.” We never did. According to Justin’s appraisal that night, my column was the reason for Marc Morris’ victory. Whether that is true I cannot say, but it did not hurt. And now, six years later, as things have turned out, Marc Morris served only one term, and Justin Hawkins became Marc Morris’ boss, apparently in several ventures, one of which is a firm for which Hawkins became a founder and CEO, Talitrix, LLC.
The reason I bring this up is that now former private citizen Marc Morris, retired from public service three years ago, recently submitted an op-ed for the same paper I wrote for at the time he was elected, seemingly announcing his resurrection of sorts from political retirement, in effect re-establishing himself as a “public figure.” Had he remained a private citizen, retired from public service, I would probably not be writing this piece. But in re-establishing his public credentials in the following letter, and noting several material and apparently purposeful errors in the letter’s portrayal of events, I have decided this to be the appropriate time to discuss a few matters I have previously avoided. This article may be the first of several, thus, I entitle it, “Chapter One.” Little did Mr. Morris know at the time he submitted the recent op-ed, doing so may have opened Pandora’s box. Here is the op-ed Marc Morris recently published, printed in the Forsyth County News.
Note the use of stationery from the desk of a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Also note, twice, the title, “Honorable,” prefixed to his name, all of the above effectively re-introducing Marc Morris to the Forsyth County community as a “public figure.” And while I expect that is indeed his signature, frankly, whether the letter is solely populated with his own words and thoughts, I’m not so sure. I say that for several reasons. For one, in my opinion, the Marc Morris I knew six years ago would never write “hit-pieces.” And this letter, published not only in the Forsyth County News, but also across several other outlets online, was a well-organized, well-conceived, albeit poorly written from a grammatical standpoint, hit-piece. I expect the only reason the Forsyth County News would have published a hit-piece such as this is that Marc Morris used the credentials of his former elected office in the letter to convey legitimacy. But I have other reasons, which I will share below, and perhaps in the future, to suspect Marc Morris at least had help in crafting the central bullet points and overall message of this op-ed.
War Beneath the Waves in Forsyth County Politics
Whether you have recognized it heretofore or not, there is a political war, of sorts, waging “under the waves” in Forsyth County. While political matters in Forsyth County may appear somewhat tranquil above the waterline, just below the surface a struggle for political power rages. At a recent event held at the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce, certain warring combatants surfaced to face one another, creating an incident analogous to those which, according to legend, occur periodically at Loch Ness, in the case at hand both sides choosing to reveal themselves, but only for a few moments before resubmerging. That is the event Marc Morris references in “the letter.” According to Morris, since leaving office he has held his peace as a private citizen, choosing simply to pray for those elected officials with whom he disagrees. But now, practically as Popeye would declare during his heyday, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more,” certain circumstances have tipped Marc Morris’ personal scale of outrage, in effect forcing him to publish that he can no longer reframe (refrain) from commenting publicly. That is how Marc Morris explains his sudden irresistible urge to return to public life and publish his political commentary while invoking the authority of an elected state representative. Doing so was completely out of character for the individual I knew a few years back, or at least thought I knew, Marc Morris choosing to sign his name to the multi-pronged political attack you see above, in effect torpedoing two members of the Forsyth County state legislative delegation, Brent Cox (R-28) and Lauren McDonald (R-26).
To better understand the Morris hit-piece on Cox and McDonald, and to place it in context within the larger war fought among Forsyth County elected officials, one set of combatants recently supported their candidate for Forsyth County Board of Education, Trisha Hoyes, against the incumbent, Lindsey Adams. There is nothing wrong with supporting a candidate for office. However, Adams, allegedly, has been involved in a domestic dispute, the details of which Representative Cox contended during the Chamber event had been used as fuel to “cyberbully” Adams and her children on social media, a political tactic which according to Cox should not be tolerated. With respect to Representative Cox’s remarks, the Forsyth County News reported the following :
The controversy began when Cox mentioned what he calls “constant hate” displayed by Forsyth County politicians, referring to recent internet posts alleging that District 5 School Board member Lindsey Adams has been involved in several domestic disputes and calling the posts “cyberbullying.”
He suggested that the local delegation should work on legislation that would make certain Sheriff’s Office documents exempt from open records requests, claiming that fear of domestic disputes being made public could discourage citizens from calling law enforcement in the future.
“Whether liberal, conservative, Republican or Democrat, it is unacceptable to cyberbully and make women and children less safe,” said Cox.
Once Cox finished his remarks, the microphone passed to Representative McDonald, who, pointing a finger at Commissioner Laura Semanson sitting opposite of him in the front row, alleged her to display certain “antics and body language,” including “smirking” during Cox’s time at the mic, which according to McDonald, is “the problem,” apparently equating Semanson’s behavior with bullying. Semanson stood and offered a few words of her own, which cannot be understood from the video, before returning to her seat.
Retiring later to Facebook, Lindsey Adams took an opportunity to thank Brent Cox for his remarks against cyber-bullying. Adams wrote,
to which Laura Semanson followed with this comment and a few more like it:
Could it be that the remarks by Commissioner Semanson against Lindsey Adams might be the kind of cyber-bullying Representative Cox was talking about at the Chamber event? How about the following remarks, published online by Commissioner Semanson, insulting and denigrating retiring commissioner colleague Cindy Mills:
I will let you be the judge whether these posts qualify Commissioner Semanson as a “cyberbully.”
In Politics, One Must Choose a Side
Regarding all of the aforementioned, there is an apparent purpose to the letter signed by Marc Morris, and published in our local paper, one I believe that goes well beyond a guy who is finally so bursting with outrage that he can no longer contain his words. But before I analyze the letter to which Morris signed his name, to show you what I mean, it is important to identify the sides apparently at odds in this war for political control of Forsyth County.
In this photo, you will find several individuals I identify to be members of the presently-established political order of Forsyth County, whether all formally recognize it the way I see it, or not. For lack of a better term, I will call them members of “the Club.” This photo, depicting all smiles along with a broom connoting a “clean sweep” for the Club, was taken the night of the Club’s recent primary victories:
Add State Senator Greg Dolezal and former representative Morris to the photo above, and you will have the “first-string” of present and former elected players on the side of “the Club.” Everyone else in the Forsyth County delegation would therefore represent what I will term, “Outsiders.” Outsiders, by choice or fate, are not, and cannot be members of the Club. The Outsiders to whom I refer presently consist of representatives Brent Cox (R-28) and Lauren McDonald (R-26).
Representative Carter Barrett is sort of in the middle. He was once considered to be a member in the Club, and he is officially stuck in the Club, but apparently would like to leave the Club to become an Outsider, or perhaps simply maintain independent free agency. The Club will not allow Barrett to leave the Club, even though the Club no longer wants him in the Club. That is because the Club doesn’t want Barrett to become an Outsider with Cox and McDonald either. Thus, one will not find Carter Barrett in the photos taken at the victory celebration or voicing his opinion on cyber-bullying at a Chamber event.
Here is another photo from the “Club” victory celebration:
The fellow in the middle is an individual who I choose to call the “Club Manager.” He is Jay Williams, owner of The Stoneridge Group (SRG), a political consulting agency well-known not only in Georgia, but also around the country. SRG engineered each of the Club members’ primary victories, about which they are “all smiles.” Between the two photos, you will notice that four out of five likely Forsyth County Commissioners for next term are in the Club. The fifth commissioner, Todd Levent, is not in the Club. The political power represented in these photos due to the association of the individuals depicted above will likely determine what Forsyth County will become decades into the future.
Below you will see the publisher of the Marc Morris Letter, Mr. Morris himself (red shirt on the right), with Representative Todd Jones (left) and County Commission Chairman, Alfred John.
Why Teams Against Each Other?
So, why does Forsyth County seemingly have teams of politicians at war against each other? Why can’t elected officials simply work earnestly, and independently, for the benefits of those they represent, and leave it at that?
Ambition, for one reason. It is undeniable that a certain dose of high-level political ambition is a driving force among several members of the Club. Among the Outsiders, and I will throw in Barrett, in my opinion, not so much.
Secondly, at least as far as central figure Jay Williams is concerned, elections are like “horse races.” What you see in these photos is a “stable” of Forsyth County “horses.” Not only would a political consultant in his position naturally want his horses winning locally, but there are some of them who may some day go on to the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, meaning statewide or even national campaigns, in which case Williams’ company would be first in line to run their campaigns and recruit replacements. That grows a political consulting business. Unsurprisingly, Williams generally opposes horses not in his stable. That factor practically creates a local team of politicians in opposition against all others, effectively dividing a local delegation, such as that from Forsyth County, into factions. And that is what we are seeing.
Unpacking the “Marc Morris Letter”
Now that we know the players, and the teams, let’s spend a minute or two unpacking the letter which Club member Marc Morris published about Outsiders Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald. Concerning Representative Cox, Morris wrote:
First of all, it is instructive to know that unless another “Club member” informed him about the circumstances to which the letter refers, there would be very little of a way for Marc Morris to know anything about that which is written, confirming that Marc Morris is, indeed, a member of the Club.
Secondly, Morris writes, “as I am told he is the person who launched an unwarranted ethics investigation against Forsyth’s only Jewish female County Commissioner as she was literally dying of cancer.” The “Jewish female County Commissioner” to whom Morris refers was Molly Cooper, who I knew as a friend. Now, however, very unfortunately, she is deceased. I am uncomfortable discussing this subject, given that Molly is no longer with us, however, since Marc Morris made her an issue in his hit-piece, to do my job here, I must at least set the record straight.
Molly Cooper was one of those political candidates who invited me to lunch one day, at which time she let me know she was a Christian who converted to Judaism when she married husband, Scott. Just so you know, Commissioner Cooper’s roots, therefore, were not so deeply “Jewish,” as Morris portrays, that they extended to ancient or perhaps the modern State of Israel, the well-being of which has always been a public concern of Representative Brent Cox. To lead the public to believe otherwise was such a stretch in the Morris hit-piece, doing so was much more likely to have been a calculated, political attack.
Furthermore, there was never any “ethics investigation,” either requested or launched against Commissioner Cooper, as alleged by Morris. There was, however, a request by Brent Cox, then a private citizen, for Cooper to recuse herself from a vote for a zoning change on a 57 acre parcel located near Pilgrim Mill Road and Freedom Parkway.
Approaching the time of the vote, Cox wrote a text to county general counsel Ken Jarrard identifying for the attorney a possible conflict of interest involving Molly Cooper, the message advising Jarrard of Cox’s belief that she should recuse herself from the vote. The conflict involved the circumstance that Ms. Cooper’s husband, a local neurologist, and Justin Hawkins, who, again, would become Marc Morris’ boss at Talitrix, founded a business together to market neuroceuticals as you see below.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the success of the business founded by Hawkins and Cooper, was staked on the passage of a bill into law, HB324, which would legalize the production and distribution of low-THC cannabis oil in Georgia. The lead sponsor of the bill, Representative Micah Gravley, like former representative Marc Morris, soon afterward retired from public office and went to work for Hawkins at Talitrix. Once again, you do the math. Whether Gravley or Morris own equity in the firm is not known. In 2023, former representative Gravely also became a member of the Georgia Board of Transportation, with a vote and influence over the selection of state road-building projects, an important position for a real estate developer to possess influence.
Thus, the alleged reason Ms. Cooper’s vote might have presented a conflict of interest was that her husband’s business partner, Justin Hawkins, apparently had an interest in the project under consideration, both he and former Georgia Lt. Governor Casey Cagle known to have pushed the development to several members of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners. That Hawkins had (or perhaps still has) an economic interest in the project is supported by the following stream of text messages received through open records requests, sent by private citizen Brent Cox to Forsyth County Counsel, Ken Jarrard, prior to the meeting at which the vote would take place. Perhaps this text exchange plays directly into a reason for certain Club members’ hard feelings toward Outsider Brent Cox.
As the texts above indicate, somehow, after the county attorney received Cox’s text advising that Molly Cooper should recuse, Hawkins learned of Cox’s text to Jarrard. Perhaps word advising Hawkins was conveyed via one or more of the three commissioners who wound up voting for the zoning changes Hawkins allegedly sought in their reported mutual conversations. That could have been Molly Cooper herself, or Club members Laura Semanson and/or Alfred John. In the end, Molly Cooper did not recuse and the zoning changes passed by her swing vote.
So, you can see, there was never any “ethics investigation against Forsyth’s only Jewish female County Commissioner as she was literally dying of cancer,” as “Marc Morris” ostensibly alleged. That was made up by whoever truly designed “the letter.” Instead there was only a reasoned advisory sent from private citizen Brent Cox to the county attorney regarding a possible conflict of interest and urging Molly Cooper to recuse from voting on the proposed Pilgrim Mill project. Being the swing vote, had she recused, the rezoning would not have passed.
Incidentally, the publisher of the letter under analysis here, again, former Representative and Club member Marc Morris, summoned the motivation to testify at least twice to the Board of Commissioners, in favor of the proposed zoning changes, apparently on behalf of his then friend, who became his boss, Club member Justin Hawkins. I predict you will become a math wizard by the end of this article.
Back to the letter, Morris’ attack against Outsider Representative Cox now in the books, in the next paragraph the author turns attention to State Representative, Outsider Lauren McDonald, writing:
Obviously, former state representative Morris should have viewed the video of the event prior to publishing the letter. In the video, as Brent Cox begins to speak on the subject of cyber-bullying on social media, Commissioner Laura Semanson, sitting directly in front of Representative McDonald, becomes noticeably animated. And with every spoken reference to cyber-bullying, Semanson shifts in her seat, shaking her head, and rocking it side to side. When Representative McDonald takes the microphone, he does not speak about Rotary’s “4-Way Test” as the Morris letter indicates. Instead, McDonald immediately points at Commissioner Semanson and calls out what he terms, “antics,” “body language,” and “smirking,” alleging, “That’s the problem,” apparently equating Semanson’s behavior to bullying individuals with whom she disagrees, even to the point that she apparently finds it difficult and uncomfortable to hear references to that kind of behavior without physically reacting, perhaps assuming Brent Cox to be speaking of her.
Finished with attacking Outsiders Cox and McDonald for the moment, Club member Marc Morris next turns his attention to the effect of complimenting all of “the Club’s” “seasoned leaders,” who came “prepared to discuss complicated issues.” According to Morris, only Club members (my term) have an “ability to articulate serious problems and propose innovative solutions.”
Morris continues, relating that it is only Club members (again, my term), not Cox or McDonald, who display the “type of leadership that truly benefits our community.” The Marc Morris letter is a clever, though grammatically taxed attempt to demonize Outsiders Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald in the eyes of the Forsyth County community at-large, and to bolster the image of those in “the Club,” contending that without the latter, “our influence on meaningful legislative matters would be severely diminished.”
In his last paragraph, Marc Morris, or as I suspect, someone working under the tutelage of Club Manager, Jay Williams, finally gets to the point and makes a public plea that both Outsiders, Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald, be replaced, writing:
In his summation, the clever author attempts to turn the focus of bullying female elected officials back on Outsiders Cox and McDonald, alleging that it is they who are guilty of bullying Club member Laura Semanson, not Semanson and other Club members guilty of bullying Lindsey Adams and her children. And for that reason, the writer concludes that Outsiders Cox and McDonald must be replaced by new Club member challengers. Hopefully, you now see the shrewdness of the “Marc Morris” missive. It is written as a skilled, albeit somewhat grammatically-challenged, courtroom attorney might address final arguments to a jury:
Paragraph 1: Why I am writing this.
Paragraph 2: My credentials; you can trust me.
Paragraph 3: Outsider A is bad.
Paragraph 4: Outsider B is bad.
Paragraph 5: Thank Goodness we have good Club members, much better than Outsider A and Outsider B, to lead our county.
Paragraph 6: In the near future, Forsyth County voters should replace bad Outsiders A and B with Club members.
Do we think the former representative from the 26th District crafted that kind of message purely out of personal outrage in an attempt to remain in “good conscience,” especially when he made so many, apparently purposeful, yet strategic factual errors? Were it not for a few grammatical faux pas, I would call this piece a marketing master class, the purpose apparently being to begin conditioning the public mind to replace Outsiders Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald with Club members at the earliest opportunity. This is the kind of work I would expect from a talented, seasoned political strategist, such as “Club Manager,” Jay Williams, not necessarily from Marc Morris. What we see in this letter is the kind of product Jay Williams produces at Stoneridge. He projects false, well, perhaps better expressed, “enhanced” candidate images designed to encourage political support for his stable of candidates, or, as in this case, to discourage support from his candidates’ adversaries. Do not be fooled. The letter above, signed by Marc Morris, is a textbook political campaign hit-piece. Jay Williams is a textbook political consultant. His company writes campaign hit-pieces for his clients. In my opinion, Stoneridge fingerprints appear to be all over the “Marc Morris letter.”
It is my bet that Stoneridge and the Club are preparing to run Club member Republican candidates to primary Cox and McDonald in 2026. Lauren McDonald now occupies Marc Morris’ old seat. Perhaps the “Mark Morris” letter is the first salvo of a campaign to reclaim it.
Summary-Chapter 1
At this point, perhaps you are asking, is that what “the war under the waves” in Forsyth County is all about, replacing non-Stoneridge politicians with Stoneridge politicians? Well, I suspect partially. But there are other matters at work as well. I do not believe those acting in effective control of “the Club” can simply coexist with Outsiders like Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald in their midst. There are reasons for that. These “Outsiders” apparently present a perceived threat to “the Club.” If that were not true, and if all of these elected officials truly have the best interests of the people they represent at heart, Club members would not be so preoccupied to rid Forsyth County of Representatives Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald, and would spend more time working for their constituents.
Next up, Chapter 2…
Thank you! I read the letter on Facebook and was confused. I voted for McDonald and actually know the Cox family, so I wanted to know the whole story. It’s hard to wade through local politics sometimes because there aren’t political pundits breaking it all down like they do for national politics. You took a balance approach, which I appreciate, because I also like and voted for some of the people in “the club”. Also loved that you pointed out all of the grammatical errors 🤣. As a teacher, I noticed those immediately and thought, “How unprofessional”. Of course as I type this, I’m sure I’ll have a typo or two… anyway, really appreciate the whole article!
Whew, you stoked the 'ol smokestack on this one, Hank. I'm exhausted🥵... Thank you again!