The Richmond County redistricting saga continues, but nobody wants to talk about it except the people being redistricted, and they’re talking lawsuit.
The Summerville Neighborhood Association president wrote the chairman of the Augusta-Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee Sean Frantom a week ago asking him to reconvene the committee that voted to throw out three draft maps and accept the map drawn by the state. But so far, Frantom, whose Augusta Commission colleagues appointed him to chair the committee, has not responded. So, President Maggie DeLoach will make a personal appeal to the Augusta Commission at its final meeting of the year Tuesday.
In the letter, Deloach and David Dunagan, the neighborhood association’s redistricting chairman, asked Frantom to reconvene the committee to approve a map consistent with the will of the residents and strive to keep as many large neighborhoods as possible together. Otherwise, the neighborhood will go to federal court and ask other neighborhoods also being split by the state’s map to join them.
“There is no reason that we should have to rely on the state or the courts to do this for us,” the letter states. “The Summerville Neighborhood Association is afraid that personal political interest has gotten in the way of what is best for our citizens.
“Because time is of the essence, we implore you to do this as soon as possible. If the committee is not reconvened in a timely manner, we will ask the communities that are mostly affected by the inaction of our elected officials to join us in filing a lawsuit in federal court to have our desires met in accordance with the law. The neighborhoods that will be asked to join this effort include but are not limited to Pepperidge, Woodlake, Fleming Heights (Alleluia), Valley Forge, Forest Hills and Summerville. There was a large amount of input from the citizens affected by this decision, yet nothing was accomplished.”
DeLoach said those are neighborhoods the redistricting committee could put back together.
Copies of the letter were sent to all Augusta commissioners and Richmond County Board of Education members, but no official from either body has responded.
“That’s why we’re so frustrated,” DeLoach said. “They stopped the meetings when they still had three weeks to work on that. It was very clear that the majority were satisfied with the map Atlanta sent. The vote was 3 to 7, and it was over. For them to give up like that was disappointing.”
As to why they stopped the meetings, DeLoach said she has an opinion but was not willing to say last week.
“I think it will be clear after I speak on Tuesday,” she said.
Does she think commissioners will ask the redistricting committee to reconvene and approve a map that wouldn’t split Summerville?
“I would love for that to happen, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said.
The proposed state map moves large sections of Summerville and Forest Hills from District 3 into District 2, to decrease the number of residents in District 3 which grew by about 31 percent since the 2011 Census.
Democrats Obey Only Laws They Like
So, The Augusta Press has had to go to court to force Richmond County’s chief law enforcement officer to obey the law.
The newspaper has filed suit in Superior Court against Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree to get information the sheriff’s office disseminates to other news media outlets in the Augusta area but refuses to send The Augusta Press, in violation of the First Amendment.
Big Baby Roundtree deliberately withholds information because the sheriff doesn’t like radio commentator Austin Rhodes who’s written several columns published in the Augusta Press on various subjects, none of which included the sheriff, although Rhodes has bad mouthed him aplenty on the air.
So, if The Augusta Press fired Austin Rhodes to please Roundtree, who would be next? Ohmigosh! That would be me because a way long time ago, I bad mouthed Roundtree, too. That was before he became sheriff, when he was a handsome young deputy working out of the South Precinct meeting up with female deputies at the famous Gordon Highway EconoLodge. I wrote all about that. And more. It was in the sheriff’s office records. So, after he was elected sheriff and came riding up for his swearing-in, in a new black SUV, I wrote that the new sheriff obviously liked expensive cars and cheap motels.
Anyway, being cut out of a notice for a press conference with Gov. Brian Kemp at the Sheriff’s Office and another concerning the arrest of a deputy that was sent to TV, radio and print media in Richmond County and McDuffie County, Ga., and in Aiken County, S.C., was bad enough, but being told our request to attend the sheriff’s “Annual Media Conference” was not confirmed was downright hurtful.
So Easily Seen Through.
In addition to millions of American Rescue Plan dollars being awarded in bonuses and raises to Augusta employees beginning this year, with more to come from Gov. Brian Kemp’s “Public Safety Officials and First Responders Pay Supplement,” city employees will get a “Mental Health Day” Dec. 22.
It’s to relieve all the stress from having to work through the COVID-19 pandemic, which I’m sure many public safety officers, first responders, utility workers and those who had to come to work and interact with the public felt. But many employees worked from home in their PJs. And some sat on the back of their trucks and swung their legs all day. How stressful could that have been? Well, I guess they can’t pick and choose who gets a day off. Still, compared with what business owners who were locked down by the government and went bankrupt and folks who lost their jobs went through, city employees had it easy. Nobody missed a paycheck or lost a job.
The next thing you know, Administrator Odie Donald will recommend a Safe Room to curl up in for city employees afraid they’ll have to hit a lick at a snake or be polite to a taxpayer.
Commissioners are also expected to approve an “Employee Appreciation Week,” for the week of Aug. 8, and an “Employee Fun Day” Aug. 13. And what grave responsibility is shouldered by the rank and file to deserve all these featherbedding perks? Why only to remember to vote and have all their families and friends to vote for the incumbent, benevolent, Democrat officials or their designated replacements into perpetuity. And each new employee brings along a new crop of family and friends to be harvested – Tammany Hall revisited.
There also will be an “Augusta Perks” program in which local businesses agree to provide special discounts and other perks to city employees.
Commissioner John Clarke says the best job to have in Augusta is any job working for the government.
“You get good pay, benefits, all the holidays you can handle. ‘Mental Health Day,’
‘Fun Day’ and maybe once we could have a ‘Work Day,’” he said.
For other special days, Odie might propose to benefit the folks who pay for the employees’ special days are “Mental Health Day for the Mayor and Commissioners,” “Fill a Pothole Day,” “Pick up the Garbage on Schedule Day,” “Read the Water Meter Right for a Change Day,” “Respond to Constituents Day,” “Fix the Aquatics Center Roof Day,” and “Penalty-Free Tax Day.”
Can They Fool All of the People All of the Time?
The city opened bids from five companies seeking to lobby for Augusta when the state Legislature convenes in January.
All five companies are Atlanta-based or have offices there.
Commissioner Ben Hasan proposed hiring a lobbyist to represent the city when the General Assembly’s session begins Jan. 10, and all commissioners jumped on board.
But a lot of folks say it’s the Richmond County Legislative delegation’s job to lobby for Augusta in Atlanta.
“If not, why are they up there? That’s why we elected them, to go up there and look out for our interests, and when they hear about available grants and money, lobby to get it for us. They’re not up there to pass a lot of laws. There’s already too many laws anyway.”
Well now, to hear some legislators tell it, they already work night and day. They have to attend a lot of functions, committee meetings, luncheons and dinners. Then there are parties they have to attend that benefit Augusta. They have to vote on bills, pass resolutions and things like that. And they themselves have to meet with lots of lobbyists lobbying them. Sometimes they have to meet with them into the wee hours, which caused a lot of trouble for some in the past.
So where do the bids leave rumors about the commission hiring the mayor to lobby for Augusta? And who started them? I wondered. So, I asked around.
Everybody said the same thing: “Hardie.”
If he did get the job, can you imagine what his expense account would be like? You’d have to imagine it because you’d never see the receipts.
Settled, But Never Mended
Augusta commissioners approved a $500,000 settlement Tuesday with the parents of a woman who was killed when her vehicle struck the rear of a piece of city-owned heavy equipment on Deans Bridge Road in 2019.
With no discussion, commissioners unanimously approved the settlement of the negligence lawsuit with Willie Mae and Freddy Jones and Mike Hostilo Law firm, their attorney. The Jones’ daughter Fredrica Jones, 36, died after running into the improperly lighted backhoe driven by a utilities department worker the evening of July 11, 2019.
