The 4th of July is always a very different time for me and even for the city of Augusta. Seems like all the things that work well as we celebrate fall right into place. All over the CSRA, there are barbecues and fireworks. Unfortunately, there are even more fireworks in the neighborhoods.
Before any of you start to complain about all the fireworks close to your home, we have all had too many fireworks. We were hearing it all day and all night. The problem is that we don’t have enough, and will never have enough, enforcement to stop all of it. So, we will be dealing with that from this point forward.
It also seems that this year the city was all aglow in the thoughts of officially being over elections for a while—at least until November. Our thoughts should be of moving forward and getting ready for what’s next in the city of Augusta.
I spoke with a few people on their thoughts and what we should be looking forward to. The consensus seems to be that we are just in a waiting game. Basically, waiting for this current administration to leave and ride off into the sunset.
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Well, some are happy about people leaving. Others are just hoping for someone in particular to “Hit The Road Jack.” In the words of a friend of mine who messaged me when I asked her he thoughts, “And it couldn’t happen soon enough.”
We’ll get back to election talk in a moment.
I would really like to know readers’ thoughts about the backlash from the Drag shows in this area. Several people in Columbia County seem to be outraged and even talked about protesting the event (of course no one showed up…but they they did talk about it).
Then you had people on the other side of the issue who wanted to make sure the events took place. They went to the extent of buying tickets and even more tickets. The event venue was asked to add another show.
Now back to elections for a moment and what’s being said around town.
November in our community will be interesting, especially with Richmond County School Board elections coming. Most people haven’t gotten too excited about those races in the past, but with all the talk around our local schools lately, these races in November will have a little extra excitement.
Districts 2, 6 and 9 will be the races drawing the most attention as people are already lining up their support.
I’m told Charlie Hannah may not run for his seat again, after his disappointing showing in the race for mayor. Maybe the talk about him running for tax commissioner is true. If so, he is going to have his hands full with sitting Tax Commisssioner Chris Johnson and a local TV news guy who may throw his name in the hat.
District 2 School Board race will surely fill up quickly if Hannah doesn’t decide to run. Actually, I believe that regardless, there will be a few seeking that seat.
I’ve been told by sources within the district that Jo’Rae Jenkins will possibly run for that seat or she may run for District 9. Another name being thrown around for District 2 School Board is Von Poncey after she made it in the runoff for commissioner.
The last name I heard being thrown around is community servant and activist the Rev. Dr. Larry Fryer.
The District 6 race is totally up for grabs as Board Trustee A.K. Hasan somehow drew himself out the District. So this seat will definitely have someone new. However, they could possibly still end up with an Hasan, as current Commissioner Ben Hasan is being pushed by those in the community to run for the seat. This is so he can get them, and I quote, “Straightened out down there.”
Hasan, if he runs, will be challenged by a young Army Reservist Tyrique Robinson – who will be taking his first swing at politics. A few other names have been thrown around for this seat; however, no one has committed or even really shown an interest that they would be running.
District 9 School Board will have sitting Board Member Venus Cain running for her seat again. She has drawn one opponent so far, school bus driver Chris Mulliens who has filed his intent to run. Like I mentioned before, Jo’Rae Jenkins is exploring her options for this race, along with a few others that I’m sure will soon announce.
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Let me make mention of this because someone asked this question just this past week. There will not be a tax commissioners race on the ballot this November. That’s not how that seat works. It can become a bit confusing, and I will do my best soon to explain why that is the case. The easy answer is because that election is every four years and the last one was 2020.
ICYMI – I’m very happy for the folk way out there in south Augusta/south Richmond County with the opening of the splash pad. I would like to give a big shout out to Commissioner Brandon Garrett for his hard work in seeing that project through. You could tell by the big smile on his face in the picture, how happy he was to get that open. (There’s a story about it in TAP.)
One more thought about south Augusta while we are talking about it.
I know I’m a pastor, but someone asked me wouldn’t it be great if Georgia had casinos and they turned that area into a casino? Let me ask the readers. Should we have casinos in Georgia? What about that (the former Regency Mall) location?
Well, it ain’t my concern to worry about that; I try to stop my worrying. Here’s an excerpt from my Sunday Sermon. Hope you enjoy.
I’m reminded about a story about a man who was always worrying. He worried about his children, his job, his wife, his health, and he was always worried about his past life and what folks would say about him. One day, a friend of this man noted that he was extremely calm and peaceful.
He asked his friend “Man why are you so calm”? he asked. “You used to always worry about everything. What happened?”
The former worrier replied, “I just hired a man to do the worrying for me.”
“Well, how much are you paying him?” his friend inquired.
“A thousand dollars a week,” the man replied. “A thousand a week? You can’t afford a thousand dollars a week.”
The ex-worrier responded, “That’s his problem now!”
Now there are a few local politicians I hear that should be getting a little worried, but hey—I’m getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
