(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column of those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
This past week leading up to Easter got pretty busy as several candidates kicked off their campaigns. As such, TAP has been full of news on a variety of topics that impact our community. If you haven’t told someone about this paper, take a moment and let people know.
At this point, most people know about our paper, but there are still some who may be in the dark. Bring them to the light – I promise they will thank you for it.
With that being said, let’s try to hit a few topics and leave on a light note.
Candidates and Candidate’s forums…
My inbox was hit with why don’t we cover all the candidates who are running?
I can’t speak for the paper or any other columnist; however, I can say this. Some of the candidates are not worth talking about. I mean, jumping from race to race – changing districts – no real platforms – there’s not much to cover.
Then we have the issue with some of them not being able to run once their qualifying is questioned. This, I believe, will happen soon. From what I’m hearing, the challenge will be based on residency issues and the possibility of a candidate not being registered to vote in enough time to run for the elected office.
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This information was provided to me by some who are running. An elected official also brought up a qualifying issue about a candidate. So, we will wait to see the outcome, and if any of this will truly become an issue before long.
Many believe that two of our commission races will be highly contested—District 6 and District 2. This thought comes from the fact that there really isn’t anyone pulling away from those races. For a while, Stacey Pulliam was considered the front runner. However, depending on what side of town you’re on, you may get a different answer.
Retired firefighter Ralph Gunter is a community guy in his area who people love. Then there’s Charles “Super C” Cummings who, for a while was a household name—which could be bad or good depending on who you ask. You must remember we are talking about Augusta. We have a large electorate who vote for people they know and people they like, sometimes regardless of their qualifications.
Speaking of Highly Qualified
We should be very proud of the work and all the great things Cal Wray has done and is doing with the Economic Development Authority. Cal was just named one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers. He represents a group of individuals who are continually fighting for their communities and making waves in their leadership.
This is an outstanding accomplishment, and we should all be proud to have someone like this representing our great city.
Speaking of greatness representing our city, let me mention, no, I’ll get back to that point in a moment.
Let’s first discuss the recent endorsement by former Augusta Mayor Bob Young for mayoral candidate Marion Williams. Mr. Young’s endorsement was followed by a ton of comments from people talking about who they believe would be a great mayor.
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In one of my recent columns about the mayoral race, I discussed how someone who has spent as much time in local politics as has Marion Williams could affect the outcome of the election.
People have stated on numerous occasions that they like Marion because he always speaks his mind and addresses issues that need to be talked about.
We will see how this one plays out. Is Augusta ready for change that will provide effective leadership, or are we looking to have the same type of leadership we have grown accustomed to — wait what’s leadership?
Ohhh…we mentioned candidate forums up top and didn’t say anything about them. That’s because most of the people who are leaving them say much isn’t being said there either.
Something else that is interesting is how someone who is running decides to have their own candidate forum? The picture of Tiger Woods in a pink shirt on campaign sign – should definitely make people think about who’s running. Then again, maybe some candidates can afford Tiger Woods if they get $100,000 campaign donations from big corporations. Then, there are those who say they can just buy the mayor’s race because they have enough money.
School Board Races
The School Board races are an even hotter topic after last week’s column addressed that termed-out Commissioner Dennis Williams’ name was dropped possibly to be running for a seat on our local school board. After speaking with him, I believe his eyes are set on the District 2 seat that is currently held by Charlie Hannah. As we all know, Charlie is running for mayor of Augusta.
Which led to further conversations by some about why he would not have to resign his seat to run for mayor?
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We actually have two current school board members who are running for mayor. Either way, that’s a question that we will look into for our next column. Mr. Hasan will have to relinquish his seat on the school board after being drawn out the district, but there is already a young man (who I am told is 20 years old) who is eyeing his seat. Venus Cain is possibly drawing some competition, and that’s not really a surprise. It seems that she has had a target on her since she’s been on the board. The question is comes to whether it will be the school bus driver who has pretty much said he is going to run or whether AK will take a shot at it after this mayor’s race is over? Whoever decides to run against her will have their hands full – she is well liked, accessible and majority of the people in her district seem to support her.
Speaking of people being asked to resign…
It is looking as if people are going to be calling on the Black Minister Association to ask for the resignation of… Here I go, getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
