Ahead of His Time

originally published November 7, 2007

When our lawmakers convene their next session in January, they are going to be confronted with numerous measures aimed at easing the state’s water shortages, including a bill to require the retrofitting of homes with water-saving plumbing fixtures before they can be put up for sale. That bill was introduced three years ago by Representative Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) and couldn’t get out of committee because of opposition from the real estate industry. When the measure comes up again next year, I’m sure we’ll hear the same arguments from the realtors and the environmentalists that we heard in 2004.

The Drenner bill is hardly the first time that Georgia legislators have argued about water-saving devices, however. The issue first erupted nearly 30 years ago when George Busbee was governor and Democrats controlled state government. Rep. John Carlisle, who was then an amiable young attorney from Griffin, introduced a bill during the 1977 session to provide for the installation of water-saving bathroom fixtures in new buildings. Georgia wasn’t facing the drought-induced water shortages back then that are hurting us today and low-flow plumbing fixtures were still a relatively new concept.

Given the subject matter of the legislation, it was inevitable that Carlisle would become an object of derision from his colleagues in the Legislature. They dubbed the measure “the Carlisle John bill” and some lawmakers tried hard to defeat it when it came up for a House vote.

“Mr. Speaker, we’re about to create a helluva stink with this bill,” Rep. Ted Hudson of Fitzgerald said, warning ominously that Carlisle’s legislation would have dire consequences for rural lawmakers who depended on well water. There were other colorful phrases yelled out during that floor debate that made fun of young Carlisle for trying to interfere with some of mankind’s most basic functions. Despite the rural opposition and the bathroom humor, the bill eventually passed in one of those rare instances where Georgia was actually ahead of the curve on an environmental issue.

Now that water-saving fixtures are about to become an issue with lawmakers again, I decided to put in a call to John Carlisle and get his comments on the matter. Carlisle, now 65 years old and retired from the practice of law, still lives in Griffin, where he dabbles in property development.

“I know what you’re calling about,” he said with a laugh when I found him at his office number.

Carlisle certainly remembers his infamous water fixture bill and said, “people still kid me about that,” even though it’s been three decades since he introduced it. While the bill was working its way through the Legislature, he got a call one morning from Ludlow Porch, the Atlanta radio personality, who began the interview by saying, “Representative Carlisle, I know you’re flushed with pride…”

“I would say I’ve enjoyed it more since then than I did at the time, being the butt of all those jokes,” Carlisle said. “Although I laugh about it, I’m glad we did have the foresight to do it.”

Carlisle said he supported environmental bills for both Jimmy Carter (his first term in the House coincided with Carter’s final two years as governor) and Busbee (Carlisle was one of Busbee’s assistant floor leaders in the House).

“Carter was responsible for a lot of legislation that did lay the groundwork for a lot of things that have been done since,” he said. “Maybe there was a ripple effect. The industry came in and made water-saving devices commonplace. Hopefully, this was a push in that direction.”

Carlisle said the state’s current water problems have reminded him of his ground-breaking attempts to pass that early conservation bill, but added, “you don’t make a whole lot of friends being ahead of your time.” He stepped down from the House of Representatives after 1978, then ran again 12 years later and was elected to another two-year House term in 1990. But the General Assembly had changed a lot during his absence, Carlisle said, and not for the better. After serving that final legislative term, he got out of elective politics and has stayed out ever since.

That’s a shame, really. If more legislators had displayed his kind of foresight over the years, we might not be worrying today about how we’re going to find enough water to keep the state going.

Tom Crawford

Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.