From the looks of parts of downtown Augusta, Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox Babe must have been visiting and cutting down every tree in sight. But, it’s only Augusta’s Engineering Director Hameed Malik and his merry band of employees.
The city can’t seem to cut the grass, but they sure can fell a bunch of perfectly healthy trees.
No worries, a certified, degreed professional arborist is not needed nor wanted to give any insight or input into how the trees in Augusta should be managed. There is no need for the tree commission to discuss to get involved either.
Malik has got it all under control under his excellent knowledgeable direction, and if you have any doubts, just look at the excellent job of his management and oversight of the Stormwater fees.
Malik must really think the tree roots are a problem and hazard and so the trees must go.
Never mind that other cities such as Savannah, Greenville and Charleston have managed their trees and tree roots just fine. The broken and uneven sidewalks must be all a-okay, just watch where you’re walking.
It seems that for the past few years the powers that be in Augusta have not been the trees’ friend at all. Remember back when they had to re-sod the James Brown Statue Plaza?
They cut the existing trees down and left it as bare as bare could be. No shade at all.
It’s not a very attractive way to attract visitors to the plaza.
But, the plaza is not very inviting anyway as it is a place where the homeless and street people gather. Who wants to go to the plaza and be harassed? Got a dollar? In the evening time, the benches are used for some to sleep on, just like what is happening on Riverwalk.
When the new street scape is complete on Broad Street, the parking pits will have been replaced with green spaces. The plans do not show many trees as part of the project.
Remember when the beautiful healthy trees at the common were cut down? Parks and Recreation Director Maurice McDowell stated it was for safety concerns. He claimed the trees blocked the view of the second-floor landing to the offices. Early morning employees coming to work couldn’t see if people were sleeping on the landing before they went upstairs to the office.
That reason passed the smell test just as well as if he had stated that homeless people were building nests in the trees and they were afraid they were going to jump out and land on the employees.
At one time, the city administrator an the city engineer couldn’t make up their collective minds if the city had an arborist on payroll or not. The answer depended on what day of the week the question was asked.
Roy Simkins, chairman of the Augusta Tree Commission, has always lobbied for an arborist for the city stating that a city the size of Augusta surely should have one on staff.
Near the end of my term in office, the discussion of trees came up in a commission meeting. Since Commissioner Catherine McKnight and I were given the runaround over this issue, I asked a single question with a preface that the question I would ask would only require a one word answer, yes or no.
To Takiyah Douse, the interim city administrator, I asked, “Does the city of Augusta have an arborist on staff?” Douse answered, “no.”
Still, commissioner McKnight is lobbying for a certified arborist to be hired for the city to give educated guidance when it comes to tree issues. McKnight is still being blocked and neutralized by the usual powers-that-be.
Let me say this to all: I truly love Augusta. I was born and raised here.
As a matter of fact, I am a Burger. A Burger is someone who lived and was raised in Harrisburg. I attended Martha Lester Grammar School on Broad Street. The school now sits abandoned and alone with the roof over the auditorium caved in, but, wonder of all wonders, at least they manage to keep the grass cut.
For those that don’t know, Harrisburg is in District One. Jordan Johnson is the current commissioner for the district.
At one time, Harrisburg was a vibrant community. We had many mom-and-pop family-owned stores located there. From Broad Street and Crawford Avenue all the way out to the corner of Broad Street and Milledge Road at Lake Olmstead, there were many businesses.
In my youth, that stretch of street had two drug stores with soda fountains, a department store where you could buy the usual items from clothes to shoes and even toys. There was a full electronics and appliance store that sold televisions to kitchen appliances.
In fact, when color television sets came out, no one could really afford one at the time. So, the owner of the store set up rows of chairs for the neighbors so we could come in and watch the amazing new color television.
There was Brigham’s Grocery Store, Colonial Grocery Store and Lakeview Movie Theater along that stretch of road. On Saturdays, us kids would all go to the movies. We would take our small allowances, pennies from turning in soda pop bottles or what we made from mowing and raking yards and spend nearly the entire day there.
We were allowed in by the owners because we knew we had to behave and not cause any mischief.
So, for 25 cents we got a double feature, a cartoon, a weekly serial of some kind, newsreels and the previews of coming attractions. We could splurge on a candy bar, a soda and a box of popcorn.
It was a great time to be a kid back then.
One Saturday, the famous western cowboy star Lash Larue made a public appearance at the theater. He even brought with him his solid black Arabian stallion, Black Diamond, who he rode in all of his movies.
Black Diamond did some tricks for us kids and Lash Larue performed tricks using his trademark bullwhip. That was indeed a day to remember.
Now all of that is gone.
What was once a healthy thriving community is now a mere skeleton of what it was, and nothing is being done to bring it back. The hope that the Kroc Center would revitalize the community has not accomplished that dream, it is like an island in a cesspool.
The Kroc Center and the new Boys and Girls Club are the only bright spots. The old Ezekiel Harris House is closed because there is a mold issue going on and it seems nothing is being done to fix the problem so that it can open again to visitors.
The grass in all of Harrisburg is out of hand. Blighted former store buildings, junk cars and used tires lay around the houses with porch awnings hanging to the ground. Where’s code enforcement? Where’s Commissioner Johnson?
The old mills are being restructured for apartments, so that is some progress that the commissioners can’t take credit for. It’s investors taking advantage of the tax credits in that zone.
However, it remains to be seen if anyone actually wants to rent a luxury apartment in the midst of all that blight.
The last commissioner for district one, Matt Aitken, really tried to bring about a change and had the people of the district’s quality of life as his focal point. He served from 2009 to 2012.
Folks, Augusta is still a great city with many great citizens trying to hang in there and not give up on the town where they grew up. How long can they, us, hang on?
Every time we turn around there’s a new tax, fee or whatever they decide to call it added to the taxpayer’s burden. The property taxes have become simply ludicrous. Lifelong citizens are leaving Augusta. Can you blame them?
There is the old legend of Rome burning while the emperor Nero fiddled. He blamed the fire on everyone but himself. Most of the sitting commissioners, not all but most, are constantly tuning their fiddles and blaming everyone else on the ills of the city. After all, they know best as they remind us that all the time.
Just a thought, Judge Danny Craig, maybe it’s time to convene a grand jury and look into the dealings of the elected officials and the financials of our city. There has to be a stop to this behavior.
As always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
