We hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours. This past week was extra short with Thanksgiving. Does it seem like these holidays are getting shorter, or is it just me? Also, if you missed Mrs. Sylvia’s column with the ABCs of Thanksgiving, check it out.
I was glad to see the Augusta Press run a follow-up article on my mention of the lobbyist talks that have been going on. For those who think the city doesn’t need a lobbyist, take a gander around other local municipalities just to see if they have one. Before you look: they do.
I saw someone in my comments section talk about how much of a waste of money that would be. They talked about how it was “the democrats throwing money away again.” They even talked about how horrible our elected officials would be if they let this happen…
The question I have for those “conservatives” is whether you still think this is a waste now that you see Columbia County has one? I bet now you think it’s a brilliant idea.
I think we are actually a little bit behind in this regard and we should have had one a long time ago. This should have been something that came with our growth as a city.
[adrotate banner=”13″]
Let me be clear: we are not some little hick town. We are the second- or third- largest (depending on who you’re talking to) city in the state of Georgia, and we must begin to act like one.
MORE: Opinion: A Letter of Thanksgiving
Now, there were some that made comments about Hardie Davis becoming the lobbyist. In the comments below, you name one person better for the job… I’ll wait. He knows how to navigate D.C., and he definitely knows how to navigate Atlanta.
He knows the city better than anyone and has been our chief spokesperson for about the last 20 years, if you include his time in the house, senate and as mayor. So before you count him out, you better count him in… let’s just hope he doesn’t take a big appointment or run for office. Either way, we will know by Febru-… Well, moving on.
The redistricting talks are still hot as fire in this community. Some people are being misquoted, community opinions are not being heard and, at this point, we are just waiting on the courts to decide what will really happen.
In a conversation with Board Member Venus Cain, she said, “This committee had to do what was in the best interest of the entire community.”
Commissioner Garrett’s comments were not as nice.
He said, “I was surprised by the action taken by the committee. I felt that the community input sessions were a valuable part of the process and seemed to be dismissed by a majority of this committee. I feel this action will result in lawsuits, wasting taxpayer money, and it will ultimately end up being decided by a state level judge rather than the local committee appointed to work through these tough moves.”
MORE: Opinion: Good News and Bad News
I wanted to make sure I gave you his entire quote. It’s important because I believe it will play a part in the upcoming actions. Commissioner McKnight — after she jacked me up in public about my last column — wanted to set the record straight. She basically told me that when it was said she was only concerned about keeping the areas that included 309 and 310, that was not true.
She was concerned about keeping her entire district intact. She was elected by all of them and she wants to represent all of them.
[adrotate banner=”51″]
She said, “Michael, I don’t want to lose a single section of my district. I appreciate all of my constituents and I want to keep all of them. My constituents in and around the Elderberry areas are just as important as my constituents in the Hill area and Summerville.”
I understand her sentiments, and I wanted to make sure I relayed the message. It seems as if her statement has been misstated on a few different occasions. I was speaking with a local community leader about the issue and told her it makes no sense for her to get rid of the area she lives in to take on an area that demographically doesn’t help her. Some of you will get that later.
This leader said to me that the wrong message is being pushed in order possibly to push her out. If true, it’s unfortunate that there would be an underhanded stab like that.
However, I do clearly see how this whole process could play to someone else’s benefit. If you remove parts of Summerville and keeps parts of the new Gordon Highway homes, you make the minority even more a majority. Then, with the next district 3 election, you will get a long-time neighborhood leader and community board member… but here I go getting ahead of myself. Maybe I can finish this column up next week.
Michael Meyers is a Columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
