This past couple of weeks watching and listening intently to our national and local governments, I thought of a very old song I had heard Bing Crosby sing. It was written by co-authors E.Y. Harburg and Jay Gorney in 1932.
The name of the song is ” Brother, Can You Spare Me a Dime?” It’s a song about the great depression.
Some lyrics to the song:
“They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread”
“Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it’s done
Brother, can you spare me a dime”
Listening to the talking heads tell us how great the current economy is and the many jobs that have been created, I wondered why they don’t tell the other side of the story.
Why don’t they tell us about the many businesses that employed thousands of people and that have already closed or have filed bankruptcy and will close due to this wonderful economy. The nationwide closing of restaurants, department stores, pharmacies, grocery stores manufacturing plants, food processing plants and trucking companies affects the citizens of Augusta.
Even here in Augusta we are fed the bill of goods that our Garden City is growing by leaps and bounds. All the while the U.S. Census tells a different story.
Yes, we have grown about 2,000 people between a 10 year census, but that’s not growth. Yes, we have gained some manufacturing, small businesses and built several apartment buildings and complexes, multiple storage units, but very few single family homes have been built.
This data tells me that Augusta is a transient city.
Augusta boasts around 204,000 citizens with a daily influx that sometimes doubles the people who work in Augusta but live outside the limits of Richmond County. They come mainly to work and then return to the counties that they live in and where they pay property taxes.
Yes, one could argue, and they usually do, that the transients spend money while in Augusta, and Augusta gets the sales tax while still proclaiming there’s not enough money to get the jobs done.
People who don’t truly understand how economics works think that an increase in minimum wage is going to make all life better. Then the reality sinks in when they go to the grocery store or gas pump and see where their wage increase has been eaten by price increases. Or, the job they held is no longer there because the business can’t meet overhead requirements.
All the while others have to pay the higher prices with incomes that have become stagnant. You just can’t raise yourself out of inflation. A government can’t tax the citizens out of inflation and into prosperity.
Augusta looked to raise the millage rate to pay for Augusta Fire Department’s needs, and that discussion ended in a stalemate; there will be no increase or decrease.
Meanwhile, the Richmond County School Board is going to raise the millage rate. So, once again a property owner will be paying more tax. And watch: they will be back to assess your property once again so they can get even more taxes. But you should be happy about it; it just means your property is worth more when you go to sell it.
Your buying power just continues to decline, but hey! Your home value! Soon many will be asking, “Brother, can you spare me a dime so I can pay the tax man on time?”
I have to give Commissioner Stacy Pulliam kudos for attempting to get an answer as to why 311 service calls are closed without the work being done.
The 311 Director Kelli Walker was happy to tell all who would listen how wonderful the program is and works. Then, she laid the default and the blame on the departments the 311 call should be directed to.
According to Walker, 311 closes out the service call as soon as it’s passed on to the chosen department. However, the service order may take the chosen department days, weeks or months to complete. This is just another example of a department that really does nothing but gobble up taxpayer money and provides little to no service.
Pulliam asked the Engineering Director Hameed Malik why weren’t potholes and streets being paved in Augusta as they should be? No need to guess the answer, we all know it by heart: no money, not enough people.
Commissioner Catherine McKnight asked why Wrightsboro Road hasn’t been paved since the funds were collected in the SPLOST 7. Again, she got another rambling excuse.
One has to hand it to Dr. Malik: he never strays from his pat answer. Even when Commissioner Brandon Garrett asked why it was that the surrounding counties could do road work and paving in a short period of time. Now, this excuse is a ditty. Malik claimed there are not enough paving contractors approved by Augusta to use. Currently, there are only two.
Now let me share my thoughts and opinions concerning the mayor using his personal credit card for his office expenditures. First, he campaigned stating he would be doing this. His first year, he turned in his receipts and was reimbursed.
Granted the finance director, Donna Williams, supposedly informed the mayor that doing so was outside of the policy scope, meaning that there was no stated policy concerning this procedure.
Now, halfway into the mayor’s second year in office, it has manifested into a great issue.
Let me state that I in no way believe Mayor Johnson to be anything but honest and trustworthy from what I have seen and heard. I have had many conversations with him before and since his election. Until I have a proven reason to believe otherwise, I will continue to maintain my stance.
Now, with that being stated, my personal thoughts and opinions aside, even though there is no policy stating this process can’t be done, it seems only the others in this government take issue with it. Therefore, the taxpayers will begin to question and this will bring about doubt. It is a natural process.
You have the finance director stating the mayor should use a city issued charge card and P-Card with no policy stating he has to. The P-Card has a $500 a day limit while the charge card has a $5,000 a month limit. Each can be higher if for an approved reason.
The mayor turned in what looks to be about six months of receipts that were somewhere just over the $40,000 mark. Looking through the receipts many of the expenses could have been covered using the P Card, while others such as airfare, hotel and that Biden teleprompter was paid using a charge card. So, in reality the P-Card and city charge card is workable.
This is where I have a huge problem with the all powerful city directors. Finance Director Williams wants the city cards used, and the Procurement Director Geri Sams wants to get her hands involved with approving what the mayor can use the cards on.
Sams boldly stated that to reimburse the mayor would be inappropriate. There is a policy. In other words Mayor Johnson should eat the $40,000 he has spent on the city’s behalf.
Commissioner Francine Scott has stated something to the effect that in all of her years working in government before she retired, she didn’t believe she had ever seen personal credit cards being used or reimbursed.
The city attorney seems to be thinking that no one but the person whose name appears on the used credit card is responsible for paying the card’s bill.
Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle made a motion to reimburse Mayor Johnson and issue a city credit card with a $15,000 limit. That was met with the sound of silence.
Later, Commissioner Jordan Johnson asked for a motion to reimburse the mayor and issue a city credit card with a $5,000 limit. That motion was again met with silence. So this issue is held over until the next committee meeting.
There you have Guilfoyle and Johnson trying to reach a solution, each in their own manner. However, it appears once again there’s no solution except to stiff the mayor.
Now it would appear that Johnson is trying to draw and fill an inside straight. He’s betting that he will get that needed single card. Now, the professional poker players don’t bet to fill an inside straight. Why? The odds of filling the straight are only about 4.6%. That leaves 95.4% that you won’t draw the needed card and you will lose big time.
Maybe the mayor should take the reimbursement and P-Card for the office and the credit card. The mayor is smart enough to make it work. Remember, 2025 is but 4 1/2 months away. There’s change a comin’.
Folks, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
