In recent developments in Augusta government, former city Commissioner Alvin Mason is now current Commissioner Alvin Mason.
Mason received the necessary six votes to fill the seat of suspended District 4 Commissioner Sammie Sias until Sias’ federal case is resolved or his term ends.
Also in the running were Richmond County Democrat Party vice chair L.C. Myles and Betty Reece who challenged Sias for the seat in the last election and is running for it again next year. Lobbying among the candidates’ supporters was hot and heavy before Tuesday, and the factions were divided in commission chambers.
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People online complained that Mason’s appointment wasn’t transparent, but I think it was absolutely transparent and that it was a done deal when he got there. Otherwise, why would he have brought his Bible and his mother?
It was faith in God or faith that he already had six sure votes.
Harrumpff!
A faction walked out after the appointment, including state Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah, and her husband, Richmond County School Board member Wayne Frazier, according to Augusta Chronicle Staff Writer Susan McCord.
I don’t know who the Fraziers wanted to see in the District 4 seat, but obviously it wasn’t Mason.
Some people complained that the appointment happened too fast after Gov. Brian Kemp announced he was allowing the commission to appoint a temporary replacement for Sias. But there’s no commission “protocol” or set rules for filling a vacant seat except that there be a vacancy and that the person nominated receive six votes.
However, had Myles been appointed, it would have been hard for the commission to claim to be nonpartisan with both Commissioner Jordan Johnson, chairman of the Richmond County Democratic Party, and Vice Chair Myles on board. Not to mention Commissioner Dennis Williams, former chair of the Richmond County NAACP.
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‘I’ve Got Your Back‘
Mason was elected by the people in District 4 twice before and served on the commission from 2007 to 2014, after which he ran for mayor of Augusta. And should have won in my opinion. He made a good speech after he was sworn in Tuesday, promising to take care of the people in District 4.
I think a lot of Mason, always have mostly, but never as much as he thinks of himself. And that’s not a bad thing. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? He’s somebody you can really look up to. Actually, you have to if you’re under six feet tall.
What I like best about him is the way he treats his 89-year-old mother, Hazel Sturdivent. She used to attend commission meetings and talked about how she had to work when Alvin and his siblings were growing up. She said when she’d call to say she had to work late, he’d tell her not to worry that he already had dinner on the stove.
He got appointed and sworn in just in time for football season. You might remember there was a controversy about him and another commissioner using tickets to Atlanta sports events given to them by companies who did business with the city.
His background is similar to Sias’. Both are U.S. Army veterans, fond of hosting monthly breakfasts for their constituents. Unlike Sias though, Mason does not have a key to one of the city’s recreation centers.
On a more serious level, taxpayers should note that until Sias is convicted, resigns or his term runs out, you’re paying the salaries of two commissioners from District 4.
101 Politics in Action
Mayor Hardie Davis has been reading the 101 Politics book again.
In the chapter titled “When You Can’t Stand the Heat,” one of the first suggestions is to start talking about something controversial. Find a topic that about half the people are for and half against and create a committee or task force and pack it with your friends. Committee work takes an inordinate amount of time, so that’s the gift that keeps on giving that keeps the spotlight off you.
Another benefit of a committee or task force is you can always blame them if things don’t work out. And if they do and actually contribute something useful to society, you can take the credit.
After seven months, the Mayor’s Task Force on Confederate Monuments suddenly appeared on the Augusta Commission’s committee meeting agenda two weeks ago. And when somebody asked who put it on there since most items have that person’s name on them, nobody seemed to know. So, people had a week to get worked up about the task force’s recommendations to remove all of the Confederate monuments in Augusta and rename streets such as Calhoun Expressway for Augusta’s historical black leaders.
So, the Woke crowd and the “Save the Monument” folks were at last week’s regular meeting where the commission was expected to accept or deny the task force’s recommendations. But lo and behold, commissioners tabled the agenda item until next June.
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So Full of It
Also back in the news, just in time to take the focus off the mayor’s $500 resume is the mayor’s task force on creating a nondiscrimination ordinance to punish businesses perceived to have discriminated against someone.
I watched the group working on the proposed ordinance online Thursday, from beginning to end. All 49 minutes and 40 seconds of it, and unfortunately, that’s 49 minutes and 40 seconds of my life I’ll never get back.
Davis made opening remarks and introduced activist Cathy Wollard, former president of the Atlanta City Council, who talked about Atlanta’s ordinance.
She said Atlanta, with a population of half-a-million people has only a handful of complaints a year. About six, she said, and most of those are resolved quickly.
She also said Augusta would not have to hire more employees if an ordinance is implemented. The city’s compliance director whose office would administer the ordinance said recently she would need three new employees
So, if Augusta had six complaints a year like Wollard said Atlanta does, that would be two complaints per employee per year.
Commissioner Ben Hasan voiced concern that because the fines on businesses found guilty of discrimination would go to the city, the person discriminated against would get nothing. He said they might do better filing a federal discrimination lawsuit with the EEO and maybe getting $10,000.
Anyway, it’s a dog and pony show that will go on and on as long as the mayor needs to divert attention from himself or until the commission approves an ordinance any red-blooded Commie Pinko would be proud of.
Top Hats and Beanies in the Ring
I was going to deal with the many mayoral candidates in the order of the ones I like the best, but since nobody rose to the top of my personal preference list, I decided to draw names out of a hat. Okay, here you go. Marion Williams.
Everybody already knows Marion. He’s got quite a track record after 16 years on the commission. Most of that record comes from being against everything except the James Brown statue, the James Brown Arena, James Brown Boulevard, a James Brown Museum, race tracks and goats.
He’s probably best known for bringing goats to Augusta to clean up around the city’s many retention ponds. Sadly though, city staff started feeding them commercial goat food, and they stopped eating briers and lost their jobs. After that, they probably ended up on somebody’s grill. H.R. refused to comment.
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Next out of the hat, is Steven Kendrick. Steven has done a great job collecting your tax money. Now he’s looking for an opportunity to spend some of it.
Steven has been campaigning for this job ever since he was elected tax commissioner, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.
The next winner’s name coming out of the hat is Garnett Johnson, CEO of Augusta Office Solutions and Modern Business Workplace Solutions.
Johnson describes himself as a results-driven outsider who plans to bring the various political factions together to achieve economic success. He said he’s more concerned about giving back than being recognized for his contributions, according to Susan McCord.
That would be a refreshing change to have somebody like that in the mayor’s office. My only question would be, “Does he understand that being mayor is a whole lot different than running his own business?” If elected, he’s going to have a rude awakening, I suggest he call former Mayor Larry Sconyers and find out exactly what he might be getting into.
Sconyers ran on a platform of running Augusta just like a business. He quickly found out that train had already left the platform. His idea to keep some city offices open until 6 p.m. so that folks who got off at 5 p.m. could come pay their water bills and taxes caused an employee rebellion.
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I think Sconyers spent a miserable four years after he found out that city government and business were not the least bit alike and that he didn’t have the power to change it.
Next out of the hat is Albert Newson, a food service cafeteria person who obviously has read the Politics 101 book or at least the chapter, “If You Can’t Stand the Heat.”
We all know the rest of that saying is, “Get Out of the Kitchen!” which is apparently what Newson is trying to do. Hopefully, he can take it as well as dish it out. It would be great if he could serve up some new ideas on how to run the mayor’s office. Maybe he could whip up a few dishes in the office instead of spending your tax dollars at eateries from coast to coast like Davis does.
I hope Newson’s not surprised at how hot the kitchen can get when other politicians turn up the heat on him.
Next week, we’ll draw a few more mayoral candidates names from the hat.
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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