Let me start out by saying I received the kindest and sweetest note from Sylvia Cooper. She told me she heard me on The Augusta Press podcast and that I did a great job, which I consider to be a great complement coming from her.
There were a few other notes that I will keep between she and I, but I will say it was very sweet. I have a high level of respect for Sylvia, but more importantly, we have very high mutual respect for each other. She is and will always be a huge icon in this community for her investigative and informative writing. Like her or not—most people do—you have to admit that she is good at what she does, otherwise she would not still be doing it 85 years later.
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In other news, I would like to make a correction about something I said about a commissioner… or shall I say, the commissioner corrected me. Dennis Williams stopped me and made it clear that he has no intentions on dropping out of the race. I asked him what he thought his chances of winning were, and he told me he felt good about running.
No sooner than I could end that conversation, I hear from the other side of a vehicle, “So you think I’m stylish, you SOB?”
That made everyone standing laugh, including myself. I guess John Clarke had an opportunity to read my column last week and for those who are worried about his comment: don’t worry. We have a good relationship, and it’s somewhat of a running joke.
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I want to shine a light on two great ideas I was approached about last week from two commissioners. Commissioner Jordan Johnson asked about Project Lifesaver potentially coming to the area and what could be done to help facilitate that. If you don’t know what that is, do a little research. It’s a program that distributes armbands or watches to mentally-impaired persons like those with autism, or the elderly, maybe living with Alzheimer’s disease and or dementia. It’s a way to track people if they are missing or have wandered off. Working in EMS, I see calls like this weekly.
The other great idea is for senior citizens or people who may have issues preventing them from taking their trash can to the road. Commissioner Bobby Williams would like to have a sign or some way to let the garbage pick-up workers know that the person occupying that home does not have the ability to get their trash can out to the street. This would alert the workers to grab the can for them. I am sure this idea comes as a result of the calls he gets about seniors whose trash didn’t get picked up.
Just an FYI, if you are a senior and already need this service, you can call to see if you currently qualify. This is ideal. I know my grandmother would qualify for this, but more importantly, this is a great move to secure senior support as Bobby Williams weighs his options for a potential run at the mayor’s office.
Speaking of running for mayor, I made a post this past week to gauge the community’s interest in who should be the next mayor. The names you saw more than any others were Steven Kendrick and Marion Williams. The overwhelming majority of comments mentioned Augusta needing a person with vision, someone progressive. That should automatically disqualify a few who are considering running.
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Before I get out of here, I have to address this topic or I would not be a good columnist. I received several messages and calls with people asking why I don’t “tell Sammie Sias to step down.” They say, “You have a column… Why don’t you tell him to step down in your column?”
Some even went as far to say he is black, and that it should make me feel a certain way and that he is making the black community look bad.
Let me clear this up. It doesn’t make a certain community look bad; this could make all of us look bad.
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I told them the same thing I will tell you all. It is not my place to tell Sammie to step down. It doesn’t matter if someone is white, black, green or yellow — wrong is wrong, and we don’t have to put a color on it to justify why something should happen. I also reminded a couple from his district that he was from their district, and I felt that it should come from someone inside the district if that is to happen.
If they wait until Friday, they won’t have to worry about it — the governor will have already removed him and replaced him. So when the governor replaces Sammie, I’ll have one question: will this be the first time we ever had three women on the Commission? Oops — getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a Columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com.
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