(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
Let’s get this week fired up and going. If you missed Sylvia Cooper’s column over the weekend, you need to go back and read it. She has a way with words.
The breakdown as it relates to the commissioners that are departing was spot on. I am anxious to see the next steps for some of them as they move forward with their community involvement.
Opinion
Speaking of community involvement moving forward…
One of the commissioner’s name keeps coming up as it relates to the school board—Ben Hasan. He has definitely shown interest in running for the school board and feels his presence is just what the school board needs.
As stated before, I don’t know how well that will go over, seeing that there are several members who have no plans to welcome him with open arms.
Other names that have been floated around for the School Board District 6 seat are William Johnson and Laura Green. Now there are two additional names that have been brought up, and I want to elaborate on them a bit.
I’m being told by sources close to the potential candidates that all have been recruited by sitting members, which I find interesting. However, when I heard the name Richard Colclough as a potential candidate, it did spark a smile on my face. Mr. Colclough is a wonderful guy, and for those of you who don’t remember, he was a county commissioner. Colclough decided to leave the commission and ended up in runoff against Hardie Davis for State House seat 122, in 2006 at the age of 68 (I’ll just stop my comment about that right there).
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Another name that has surfaced and seems to be getting the most positive traction from those election watchers is long-time community servant Ed “The Fish Man” Lowery. (Side bar: They call him the fish man because of his famous fried fish). Lowery is a local community staple with plenty of ties to the community, and from all accounts connected in pretty good company.
I asked JR Riles his thoughts on the election, and he told me, ”It’s time the school board did something.” He went on to say, “The days of electing people just because people like them need to be over, and we need to elect some people who are about progress.”
Mr. Riles, a long time community advocate and critic of the current school board, didn’t mince words.
A little special election talk…
I’m watching the numbers as it relates to the District 129 race to replace the late Wayne Howard. The numbers each day seem to be more and more dismal. I think they may have had at this point 1,300 total votes with many people saying they are “electioned out.” Some don’t know if they even live in District 129.
I received email thread requesting the board of elections send out a PSA letting people know there’s an election happening. This was quickly snapped on by some saying it is the job of those running to excite their base. Which brings me to this next point of information that was shared.
“Republicans” know there is an election happening, with many who are planning on voting or have voted. The messaging sent to them is that this election is open to anyone—anyone can vote in this election. You don’t have to necessarily pick a side, just pull a ballot, which has excited some of them to possibly elect someone with views similar to theirs.
Either way, I’m interested in seeing the outcome on Dec. 20.
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The last meeting for the Commission was quite interesting with those leaving sharing words as they departed. Take a moment and catch the YouTube replay. What I found really interesting was seats saved for certain family members for whom there was no way in the world they would show up. I hope I get invited to the swearing in of our new administration. If not, I’ll get Ms. Sylvia to tell me about it—everybody likes her.
Here’s a snippet/story from my sermon on Sunday – I hope you enjoy it.
| There is a place in Alabama called Moundville. It is historically a place where several Indian tribes lived. Thousands of people travel to Moundville each year because Moundville has mountains and people enjoy climbing to their tops. These mountains are Moundville’s biggest attraction. I saw a story on Facebook that excavators recently found gold at Moundville. Before I could finish reading, I instantly thought someone at the top of one of those mountains found gold. I just knew that’s where the gold was found because that’s where everyone hangs out. To my surprise, the story said the gold was found in one of the valleys between the mountains. All this time there was gold on the premises, but the gold wasn’t on the mountaintop. It was in the valley. |
| I said all that to say sometimes we need to stop complaining about our valley experiences and start looking for the gold nuggets of wisdom God has deposited in the valley. |
We didn’t get a chance to discuss the former commissioner that I’m hearing is already out campaigning for her seat back or the campaigning going on within the commission for another one to become mayor pro tem… Here I go, getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
