The last time the full Augusta Commission met, it was Groundhog Day, and a groundhog came out, checked his e-mail and watched a little bit of the Zoom meeting. He heard them talking about homeless people freezing to death on the street. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they talked about the wrong dog being trapped in a cage animal services put out to catch a vicious dog. And that poor creature stayed there for three days without food or water. Seeing that, the groundhog went back into his hole, and he’s not coming out again until September.
Those people scared him half to death. What if it had been him nosing around the bait and springing the trap, a fate worse than death to a groundhog in February. After all, he only came out to see his shadow so he’d know how long to stay underground. He was so upset he sent an email to the Robins, and they aren’t coming out either. So, don’t put your coats away. It’s going to be a long winter.
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Everybody Knows What Goes on Behind Closed Doors
In typical fashion, Augusta commissioners went into what they call “executive session” last week to talk about raising the mayor’s and commissioners’ pay. Why? Not only was it illegal for them to talk about that, but an hour after they came out everybody in Augusta knew about it via the media. Of course, they all knew that would happen. So why the secrecy? Why not just come out and discuss things like that in public and dispel the speculation and mistrust?
So, Mayor Hardie Davis starts in talking about looking at salaries and the city charter more “globally.” I’m not too sure anybody in England or France would care about Augusta’s charter, but we all know the mayor likes to use trendy words. He also suggested forming yet another Blue Ribbon Committee to study it.
So, what is the Blue Ribbon Committee going to recommend besides what the mayor wants since he stacks the deck when he appoints the members? Look no further than to his Monument Task Force. No surprise they recommended getting rid of the monuments and changing the names of everything having anything to do with the Confederacy, never mind it’s history.
Still, I don’t see Hardie Davis pushing to get the mayor’s salary doubled as has been proposed since he won’t benefit from it. Only the next mayor would. And who might that be? Who else might want to be mayor of the Garden City besides Commissioner Dennis Williams and possibly TV weatherman Jay Jeffries?
Richmond County Tax Commissioner Steven Kendrick comes to mind, but there’s a problem there. Kendrick makes $149,957 a year, and he’d have to take a huge pay cut if he became mayor. Hmmm. Maybe there’s some truth to the talk around town that that’s why some folks want to double the mayor’s $84,983 annual paycheck.
Either way, Kendrick is in.
“I can’t not do it,” he said. “Even if they don’t raise the pay. It never was completely dependent on that. It was never the deciding factor. People will be mistaken to rule me out if they don’t raise the pay.”
Kendrick ran for mayor in 2006.
“That was 15 years ago. I’ve grown a lot and learned a lot since then,” he said. “Deke Copenhaver was the right guy at the right time. But I told him not this time.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody better qualified,” he added. “But sometimes in Augusta if doesn’t come down to qualifications.”
The possibility of having to take a pay cut if he were to be elected doesn’t faze him, he said.
“That’s not what motivates me,” he said. “I want to do something for Augusta. I could get another job. What I do for the tax office, I could duplicate across the county. We’ve got great customer service. We’ve got great employees. And we’ve got a great reputation.”
He’s Actually Had to Make a Payroll
Qualifying is a long way off, but there’s one new potential mayoral candidate on the horizon who’s seriously thinking about running.
Garnett Johnson, owner of Augusta Office Solutions, one of the largest minority businesses in Augusta, hasn’t made a decision yet. However, he’s being encouraged to run for mayor by many in Augusta who know him.
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“Over the last month, I’ve gotten a lot of calls from people asking me to run,” he said. “We’re yearning for a new form of government in Augusta. Something needs to change. But politics in Augusta is fickle. I have not made any decision to run or not to run. I’ve been focused on my business.”
Johnson, 52, was born and raised in District 1 in Augusta, a city he says he loves.
“I grew up in one of those areas they call ‘underserved,’” he said. “I experienced all of the things that goes with that. I’ve had to struggle and fight for everything I have. I’m a boot-strapper. I just believe you have to have fiscal responsibility, but that won’t resonate with some.”
One thing the city needs to do is stop giving away money, Johnson said.
“It seems the city needs more accountability” he said. “This economy is not conducive to granting exorbitant pay raises right now.”
West Augusta and Downtown are continuing to do well, but south Augusta needs attention, he said.
“Let’s help some areas and people that need it.”
Gov. Brian Kemp recently appointed Johnson to the Georgia Department of Economic Development board. Johnson is also the past treasurer and chairman-elect of the Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce and is active in the CSRA American Heart Association.
Opinion Poll Results:
Greatest historical impact?
Opinions were evenly divided between A and B. George Ansley, Doug Lively and Mary Marler thought the comment that had the greatest impact on history was “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley and Sandra S. Hutchison thought it was, “Make America Great Again!”
The Day that Will Live in Infamy?
Opinions were evenly divided with Vince Broderick, Doug Lively and Mary Marler choosing, “The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.” And Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley and Sandra S. Hutchison choosing, “The day China decided not to tell the world for two weeks that COVID-19 got loose in the Wuhan lab.”
Most Controversial Statement?
As to the question about which statement was the most controversial of their lifetime, Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley, Sandra S. Hutchison and Mary Marler chose “God is Dead.” And Vince Angelo and Doug Lively chose Hillary Clinton’s statement that “At least half of Trump supporters are a basket of deplorables.” Lively also chose “All of the above,” although that was not one of the choices.
Biggest Lie?
Opinions on the fourth question about which statement is the biggest lie were almost unanimous. Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley, Vince Broderick, Sandra S. Hutchison and Doug Lively chose Joe Biden saying, “I haven’t taken a dime from the Chinese government.” Mary Marler thought it was Al Gore saying, “I invented the internet.”
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Most Damaging Hurricane?
On the fifth question, “Which U.S. hurricane was the most damaging?” Vince Broderick and Mary Marler chose the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley, Sarah S. Hutchison and Doug Lively chose Crossfire Hurricane.
Ultimate Authority?
Regarding the sixth question about which was the ultimate authority on climate change, Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley, Sarah S. Hutchison, Doug Lively and Mary Marler chose Groundhogs, and Vince Broderick chose Rush Limbaugh.
Biggest Hoax?
And as to the seventh and final question about the biggest hoax perpetrated in their lifetime, Ralph Angelo, Georgia Ansley, Vince Broderick, Sandra S. Hutchison and Doug Lively chose “The Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election.” And Mary Marler chose “The night the lights went out in Georgia.”
Alice’s Restaurant
So, there I was – staring at my wolf calendar on the wall when I realized today would have been my mother’s 102nd birthday. She’s been dead 25 years. Hardly seems possible.
Everybody in Tift County said Alice was the hardest working woman they’d ever seen. Some predicted she’d drop dead prematurely in the restaurant she and Daddy ran on old U.S. Highway 41, four miles from town.
She had seven children. And when I say “she” had seven children, I’m telling the truth. Daddy’s main role was to whip us when we were bad. And we were bad a lot. Mama would interrupt the checker game he was playing with the Tifton High School football players who hung around the restaurant, listening to the juke box and drinking Cokes and tell him to go get his belt.
If things back then were like they are now, Daddy would have been in jail. My sister June and my older brother, Johnny, said he locked us in the closet when we did things like having Roman candle wars or burning holes in Mama’s fine Axminister rug with nails and screws we’d held with pliers and heated in the gas space heater and then accidentally dropped on the rug. Melting color crayons was another fun thing we did at the space heater. I don’t remember being locked in a closet though.
As I said, Mama was very hardworking and ambitious. She did everything for us. She got us all up on Sundays and took us to Mass even though Sunday was the biggest day of the week at the restaurant.
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When we asked Daddy why he didn’t go to church like Mama, he’d say he didn’t need to go, and she did.
We knew that wasn’t true. I, for one, thought she was a saint. And I still do.
You might wonder how we were able to get into so much trouble, and the answer is simple. Mama was always in the restaurant working, and Daddy was either playing checkers or sitting in the car listening to the radio, waiting for tourists to come and rent rooms in the motel they built behind the restaurant. So, as we say here in the South, we pretty much raised ourselves. Oh, they had somebody there at the house who was supposed to be in charge, a revolving door of quaint and/or homeless relatives like poor old Aunt Cammie, deaf Aunt Louise and raven-haired distant cousin Mary. None of them could possibly keep up with our devilment and look after the four younger children, too.
I call her poor old Aunt Cammie because she was pitiful to me. Her husband had left her for a younger woman named Jewel years before, and she had never gotten over it. Oh, wait, his name was Jewel, not the woman he left her for. Anyway, she listened to the Grand Old Oprey on the big radio in the living room every Saturday night. When they played lively songs, she’d say “Ahh Haa!” and clap her hands. My little sister Pat would chime in and say, “Ahh Haa, Aunt Cammie!” and clap her hands, too. When they played the ‘Tennessee Waltz,” Aunt Cammie broke down and started boo-hooing every time, and Pat started
boo-hooing, too.
Aunt Cammie had a slight addiction to Empiron Compound and was OK until she ran out and nobody would go to the drugstore in Ashburn and get her some more. Then she got kind of mean, but not mean really, just cranky. She also dipped snuff, too, and spat in a Louisiana Coffee can. I can see it as plain as day in my mind’s eye. I can also hear
her explosive coughing fits when the snuff she still had in her mouth when she went to bed trickled down her throat.
Aunt Louise was with us for a while. She was deaf and couldn’t hear all the hijinks we were up to. Distant cousin Mary had jet black hair and flashing black eyes. She would have been beautiful except that she had terrible acne. I suppose there was no treatment for it then
except calomine lotion. She also worked as a waitress in the restaurant but quit after one of Daddy’s checker-playing football friends slapped her on the behind, whereupon she whirled around and shouted, “If you do that again, I’ll slap the tar out of you!”
She’d be a heroine today, and a video of it would go viral. But back then, it was shocking. She came back a few years after she left wearing a mink coat escorted by the married Ashburn sheriff. Mama and everybody was scandalized. Mama called it “brazen.”
It wasn’t ideal. But it was the real deal!
(“Alice’s Restaurant” was written to run on Jan. 17, which was Mama’s birthday, but it got squeezed out by news.)
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
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