There’s no place like homelessness to start a row on the Augusta Commission.
At Tuesday’s meeting Commissioner Catherine McKnight presented pictures of homeless people around Augusta, mainly to show how that population has increased around Washington Road in west Augusta.
I would say that population has “blossomed” off Washington Road like the man-eating plant in the movie “The Little Shop of Horrors” that kept saying ‘Feed me! Feed me!” except that some people might be offended. And God forbid we offend anybody with anything like the truth here.
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Anyway, McKnight said, “We have a problem over here on Washington Road. Business offices over here on Washington Road are being used for washing hair and bathing.”
Then she asked what they could do “fairly quickly to get this issue resolved” and said she was hoping to hear from District 1 Commissioner Jordan Johnson, head of the commission’s homeless task force.
Crime All Over Everywhere
Johnson didn’t say a word. But Commissioner Sean Frantom spoke up to say the homeless task force was doing a good job and would come up with a “big picture path forward” but added they need a quicker path forward. He then recounted recent crimes and disorder in District 7.
Frantom asked Housing and Community Development staffers about resources and options and the possibility of a day shelter now in a building the city already owns.
“The commission has to push the ball down the field, too, because it’s going to take a while,” Frantom said. “I hope we will push it a little faster. A task force, I’ve been a part of a lot of these committees. It’s tough to get everything you want, but sometimes you have to take a little bite of the apple.”
HCD Director Hawthorne Welcher volunteered to show commissioners some of the resources his department has and what other communities have done to move things forward when he was interrupted.
Stop! This is Jordan Johnson’s Show!
“No sir. No sir. That’s not what we’re going to do,” said Commissioner Ben Hasan, chairman of the administrative services committee. “To talk about homelessness, and we have a homeless committee. If you’re doing something, you ought to be talking to the homeless committee. I’ll go to Commissioner Jordan Johnson to answer that. But you’re not going to make a presentation today. I’m not going to let you do that. Commissioner Johnson, go ahead.”
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He’s Extremely Excited! Not!
“I, for one am extremely excited that this is a topic of conversation from this body,” said Commissioner Jordan Johnson. “Unfortunately, it took this Washington Road’s emergency to get the conversation going, but I would just say blank here that this body responded to the death of Willie Walker and three other homeless men who were found dead due to hypothermia under bridges. … We responded to that by forming a homeless task force.”
Road Trip! Road Trip!
“I tell you this,” Johnson continued. “I understand that homelessness is on Washington Road. It’s on Berckman Road. We get it. But you come down to District 1 to Sibley Street. Come down to District 1 to Harrisburg. Come down to District 1 to East Augusta. Go to MLK Boulevard. … This is not a Washington Road issue versus an inner-city issue. This is a city issue. This is a community issue.
“My recommendation is, if we care about homelessness as much as we say we do, why don’t we show up to these homeless task force meetings? Why don’t we get on these buses and go to Columbus? We meet every third Thursday of the month at the Old Government House to put plan to paper on how to address the folks living on the street.
It’s Everywhere. It’s Even Under My Porch.
“I have a homeless man living under my porch, right next to my house. And every morning he wakes me up singing ‘My Cherie Amour’ by Stevie Wonder. He’s not on drugs. He’s an alcoholic. So, if anyone feels this sting, it’s the commissioner, myself and Dennis Williams who are literally dealing with this issue every single day. … At the end of the day, we got it.
Probably Rude?
“I probably was rude,” Hasan said to Welcher. “I apologize for that. … And what I hate to see is we heard these problems today. If you know we have a homeless task force, you probably could have talked to the two principles to try to see how can we incorporate some emergency situations.
Homelessness Envy
“At the end of the day, we don’t want to unite behind something because it looks like we’re too busy trying to figure out who’s gonna get the credit,” he said.
Odie Trying to Make Lemonade out of Lemons
“It’s actually very exciting to hear that the commission is very unified on attacking homelessness, especially with comments from Commissioner Johnson about how long this has been an issue here in Augusta,” said City Administrator Odie Donald.
The Last Word
“My final comment is it doesn’t matter what you do because a lot of these people actually want to be on the streets,” said Commissioner Bobby Williams. “Some people don’t want to be saved. So, it doesn’t matter what you do. Homelessness has a lot of holes in it. It doesn’t matter if you build tiny homes. It doesn’t matter if you allow them to go to May Park and be heated. It doesn’t matter if you clothe them and feed them. Some people want to be on the streets. It’s just something that you can’t solve. So, we’re not going to be able to solve all the homelessness problems.”
Didn’t See it Coming
After the meeting, McKnight said she didn’t anticipate Hasan’s and Johnson’s negative response to her presentation about the homeless problem.
“It was kind of a slap in the face when Jordan Johnson made the point about my showing pictures,” she said. “I see homelessness every day too in all districts. The pictures I showed were not just on Washington Road but all over Augusta. I didn’t see that coming. I thought we were working together. I felt I was helping Jordan when I asked him if he wanted to elaborate on what I said. But it was obvious when he got up and spoke he didn’t see it that way. I guess it kind of backfired.
“And the homeless man living under Jordan’s porch. Why is he under the porch? Why isn’t Jordan letting him move in with him? He’s got to stay under the porch next door to the chairman of the homeless task force?”
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Underestimated, but Tough
Some government officials are trying to pressure McKnight into becoming what they call a team player and advising her not to speak to the media so much. I think they underestimate her because she is not glib. But they should all remember she won the District 3 commission seat over an opponent everybody thought was a shoo-in. Sean Moody had the support of the district’s power structure and the endorsements of both former Mayor Deke Copenhaver and outgoing District 3 Commissioner Mary Davis. She won anyway through grit, determination and hard work.
Let the Politicking Begin, For Real
So, Augusta commissioners have the authority to fill the District 4 seat on the board vacated by the suspension of Commissioner Sammie Sias until his federal case is adjudicated, he cops a plea or his term expires, according to Gov. Brian Kemp’s general counsel.
Among the many serious contenders, I’d like to suggest a few perhaps not-so-serious ones, such as:
– Ronald McDonald to help feed Augusta’s homeless.
– Willa Hilton, Sias’ mistress and confidant before he scorned her and made her as furious as hell. No doubt Hilton knows all the inside scoop on other commissioners. Pillow talk, don’t you know?
– Sgt. Berry Benson, the soldier on top of the Broad Street Confederate Monument. He won’t say much, but he’s as solid as a rock and will fight for you.
– Since Sias is a retired U.S. Army command sergeant major, a military man who doesn’t steal or abuse children seems in order. So, we thought about nominating Captain Crunch until we realized his sugar caused millions of children’s teeth to rot out. Too bad Captain Kangaroo is dead.
– Both the Richmond County Correctional Institution and the dog pound are in District 4. Perhaps one of them has a viable candidate. A pit bull would be a good replacement for a retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major.
Why Does He Need a $500 Resume?
So, after the longest time following three formal Open Records requests for Mayor Hardie Davis’ $500 resume, The Augusta Press finally got a response to one. I was curious about what a $500 resume looked like and was greatly disappointed to see that there was nothing at all remarkable about it. But I did have a few questions about some of the assertions.
For example, under “Professional Experience” as mayor from 2015 to the Present, the resume claims:
– He serves 203,000 residents as Chief Executive Officer and highest elected official in the City of Augusta.
What exactly does he mean by “highest?”
– He manages and maintains an operating budget of $892 million.
I didn’t know you could get that high a limit on a credit card.
– He directs economic development and growth efforts to reduce the city’s unemployment rate to under 4 percent.
That is until he shut the city down with an executive order last year. It’s got to be up now with all of those bars and restaurants closing because they can’t get anybody to work.
– He built the $126 million Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, in collaboration with the State of GA, city of Augusta, and Augusta University.
He built it? Really?
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– Achieved highest bond rating in city history of Aa2 attained during first term of my administration.
“During the first term of my administration” means his predecessor Mayor Deke Copenhaver did all of the work.
– Collaborated with My Brother’s Keeper and the Richmond County School System to serve youth in the community
Spent $9,000 of My Brother’s Keeper’s money on a political consultant to help with his reelection campaign.
– Hold accountability for the preparation and oversight of city financial plans, as well as expense and capital budgets
(But not including his credit card)
He must have forgotten he made a move to be in charge of the city’s financial plans and budgets early in his first term, but commissioners slapped his hands.
The other sections of the resume about his legislative experience are equally inflated in my opinion.
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They’ve Had 10 Years to Figure it Out
When Administrator Donald presented his plan for cleaning up downtown Augusta, he said various departments are responsible for different areas, and that causes confusion.
“Right now, Parks and Recreation, Environmental Services, Engineering, Central Services and Utilities all have a piece in managing our downtown,” he said. “And that is extremely confusing, but with the resources we have today, we have identified who will be delivering what services.”
I’m still not buying the excuse that department heads making more than $100,000 a year are so confused about what their responsibilities are they can’t get the grass mowed or the trash picked up. They’ve had the same responsibilities since the government was reorganized in 2011.
But if Donald can clear up their confusion and get the work done, that’s great!
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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