Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Augusta Press or its staff.
Let’s kick this week off by congratulating all of the people who make The Augusta Press #Awesome.
Some of us were able to attend the awards banquet hosted by the Georgia Press Association in Jekyll Island. The Who’s Who in media were in attendance and the site was breathtaking. (If you have never been to Jekyll Island—more specifically the Jekyll Island Resort Club—check it out)
MORE: The Augusta Press wins prestigious Georgia Press Association Award
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of this part. In full disclosure, we knew before the banquet that TAP would be recognized with this most prestigious award as it required a group picture of our staff. However, none of us could have imagined that we would walk away with seven First Place awards. From Breaking News to Best Sports Photo, The Augusta Press also received third place General Excellence for best overall newspaper.
Those are extraordinary accolades for our newspaper, and the entire community should be proud. I know some may think it’s no big deal; however, consider that TAP is just a year old. That’s right. We have only been in publication for a little over a year.
MORE: The Augusta Press wins multiple Georgia Press Association Awards Friday
So, there’s still a lot of life left and probably more awards in our future. So, make sure to drop congratulation notes in the comments, to all of those people who make The Augusta Press the best newspaper around.
I’ll tell you this: those people in attendance came up and congratulated our staff, and it was a remarkable moment. I was glad I was there to at least take their picture.
Making news…
Mayoral candidate Steven Kendrick made headlines all week long with the announcement of plans to redevelop the Regency Mall site. Kendricks’s ‘Regency Redevelop’ plans come with cheers from many as something that is long overdue. Yet, criticism from others as to why the wait until now to do it.
The back and forth online by critics and supporters was worth the information getting out. You were able to see true lines of where people stand and whether something like this redevelopment will be able to move the needle as it relates to growth for Augusta.
MORE: Opinion: Regency Mall proposal is designed to bamboozle citizens
Let me place an asterisk in this part of the column by saying this. I simply posted pictures of the plans and made reference to projections for the old Regency Mall site, and it had over 500 shares when the news broke. As much as anyone could or would like to be negative about the idea, we must all admit that the dilapidated Regency Mall site is an eye sore for South Augusta. The site has been deteriorating since the last tenant vacated it years ago. Something must be done with the property, and it needs to happen immediately, if not sooner. Everything begins with an idea and if someone wants to add this to their platform, who are we to stop them?
A few questions were brought to me recently about my thoughts on the plan and I’ll do my best to address them here:
Q. Why was this project brought up now?*
No better time than the present.
Q. Why wait until it’s a run-off?
* If it would have happened before the primary, wouldn’t you have asked the same question then?
Q. Why is this candidate Steven the one making the announcement?
*Platform—it’s a running point. Working to rebuild and build up South Augusta. He has talked about South Augusta and its need for redevelopment and new development during his entire campaign.
Q. Why wasn’t anyone there when he made the announcement?
*Who needed to be there? Kendrick could explain the points and was able to show the plans. The owner of Regency Mall was there monetarily, because he spent thousands and thousands of dollars on engineering and plans. Remember #PLATFORM: When you see people run on issues or ideas, they announce what they would like to see happen.
**People run and talk about rural healthcare, yet I don’t remember seeing them standing there with doctors.
**People run and talk about fighting crime, yet I don’t see police or Batman standing there with them each time.
Q. Can anything truly be done at the old Regency Mall site?
*It will take lots of work and people working together. Anything is possible, but the negative publicity and criticism could, in fact, dissuade the owner from going forward with the redevelopment project. This would be the case with anyone trying to develop or invest in Augusta. The criticism of this project—past and present—could be a detriment to ANY development at Regency Mall.
Q. Why is it ok for this to be a part of a platform during an election—this seems to be a ploy to excite voters?
*Let me just say this. Extra refunds right before the elections, teachers getting raises, open carry signed, abortion law changes leaked…platform and game changers maybe?#Crickets… Does this remind you of a recent state-wide race?
MORE: Sylvia Cooper: With extra COVID money, city should be able to get maintenance done
Circle the Wagons
When the news hit about the proposed Regency Mall Redevelopment Project, it left some in the community trying to figure out what can they do to strike back. I’ve been told that the immediate release from the campaign team was happening because vocal critics not liking the candidate would inject their criticism causing some of the elections to go the way they want.
(Man overboard – that’s the sound of people separating themselves from ——>).
We didn’t really dig into the elections last week, and that’s only because I knew there would be some recounts requested. Understandably, NO ONE likes to lose. More importantly, who likes to keep losing. I’m sure we all can name a few habitual runners.
However, I was happy to see new names take a stab at it, and though you may have come up a little short—keep pressing. Stacey Pulliam and Van Pouncey are heading to a runoff in the District 2 Commission race. This will get interesting as people have been knocking my inbox off the wall, asking of this is the same Pouncey that just ran for District 1?
A candidate’s residency was also a question I received back at the beginning and again this week. A citizen wants to know how long before qualifying someone has to live in the district. Hopefully, I can get that answered by the time my next column comes out.
John Clarke and Wayne Guilfoyle will be fighting it out for Super District 10. This will bring out lots of people in District 7 to vote again. Redistricting may have affected the outcome of this race in a major way.
Watch this. Prior to this election, if you go and add up the numbers,you’ll see that Hillary Clinton won District 10. I’m not saying with the way it’s drawn now that it wouldn’t happen again. What I am saying is that the removal of certain key precincts shifted a major voting block.
Sitting politicians called me prior to the election asking, “Well, who will be in the runoff with Robert Cooks?” I told them Cooks would not make the runoff…nothing against Cooks, but the district is not built that way, and it definitely changed once redistricting happened. One thing is for certain, this race will definitely shape the Mayors race.
We still have to be overly disappointed in the less than 30% turnout. When reviewing the numbers, I saw where some districts voted at less than 10%. 10% turnout?? I think this community needs something to get excited about.
Excerpt from my sermon—a story I heard my old Pastor Rev. N.T. Young tell…
There was an old family who had a big mule name Blue.
The mule had been like part of the family for a long time. The mule pulled the plow.
The mule pulled the wagon into town, and the mule pulled the wagon up to the church.
But one day, the mule got old and his vision was limited, and mule got near the well and fell in.
The father told his sons, get the shovels and bury the mule in the well.
The mule could not believe that his friends and his so call family were throwing dirt in on him.
The mule cried and was angry after all he had done for this family?
I can hear him saying, “So you all are going to bury me alive. The dirt came in and was covering the mule’s back.”
But every time the dirt hit the mule’s back, the mule shook the dirt off and stomped it under his feet.
No matter how much dirt they threw on him he just shook it off and packed it under his feet.
Over and over the mule would shake off the dirt and step up, until finally the mule was back on top of the ground again. It was a joy to plow for the family now. He had learned that if you are in trouble, if the ditches of life tries to wear you down, and if they try to cover you with dirt, you’ve got to shake it off and step up out of the well.
Speaking of shaking it off, seems as if the court proceedings of this past week left many wondering what’s really going on downtown at the … Here I go again getting ahead of myself.
Michael Meyers is a columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
