When I first read Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis’ proposed “Unlawful Discrimination Ordinance,” I wondered why. Why would anybody want to recreate the federal government in Augusta?
MORE: Augusta To Consider Discrimination Ordinance
The second time I read it, I had the answer. It seems King Hardie is trying to usurp the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the entire federal judiciary and state law too as he tries to institute all of their responsibilities into a single Augusta committee, the “Citizens Rights and Community Relations Board.”
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Anybody who’s paid the least bit of attention to things coming out of the Marble Palace knows Augusta doesn’t have a great history with committees and commissions, and to trust one with interpreting “real or perceived” discrimination is downright scary.
It might start off as a voluntary group of nine – eight appointed by the commission and the chairman appointed by the mayor – but I believe it would evolve into a costly judicial branch of city government under the mayor and commission. The Citizens Rights Board would require office space, administrative assistants, investigators, lawyers, hearing officers, paralegals, mediators, Marshals and who knows what all else. Maybe a whole building befitting their exalted status as judge, jury and executioners of free speech and action.
Oh, how I long for the good old days when all the local government was supposed to do was fix the potholes, pave the roads, pick up the garbage, make sure the buses run on time and make sure the police and fire department came when called.
Everybody knows how good the Augusta government is with those things, so why would we expect them to solve discrimination in “employment, housing, public accommodations on the basis of race (including hair texture and protective styles) religion, veteran status and sex (pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)” when the whole might of the U.S. government is fixed on doing the same thing?
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But that’s not the real purpose of the mayor’s ordinance in my opinion. it’s an exercise in injustice, and hopefully, commissioners are smart enough to see this. If not, maybe the citizens should remind them they’re not supposed to take over the responsibilities of the federal judiciary. Hardie’s job is to preside over commission meetings, sermonize, aggrandize himself coming and going and cut ribbons. The commission’s job is to fix the potholes, pave the roads, pick up the garbage, make the buses run on time and make sure the police and fire trucks come when called.
The consolidation law did not include the Bill of Rights. The wise people who wrote it didn’t include a Bill of Rights, and we ought to leave it that way. That’s the responsibility of the federal government.
MORE: Mayor Davis Seeks Support for Landlords During Eviction
And as everybody knows the state and federal governments have come a long way in combatting discrimination, but we still have a long way to go, especially if you’re a conservative.
The Citizens Board = Subpoena Power
The Citizens Rights and Community Relations Board would hold public and private hearings and take testimony under oath, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of the accused “and the production of books, paper and other things.”
In all hearing officer proceedings, hearsay evidence “shall” be admissible. And the proof required for a guilty verdict “shall be based on a preponderance of evidence.”
Within seven business days of completion of an investigation into a complaint of discrimination, the hearing officer “shall either:” (When has the Augusta government ever gotten anything done in seven days?)
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Dismiss the complaint on grounds it is unjustified, frivolous or patently unfounded.
Find that a violation of Hardie’s Law has occurred, and thus the hearing officer may apply a civil penalty of $500 for the first violation and $1,000 for subsequent violations. The mediator’s fees and the hearing officer’s fees shall be assessed to the losing party unless the hearing officer thinks something else is better.
So where is all of this going? It’s going toward growing government, exerting more power and control over free citizens, taking away your free speech and replacing it with censorship and cancel culture. That’s exactly where it’s going. It is being taken there by Socialist/Communist Democrats who share completely the goals of their national leftist party.
I can foresee the trials evolving into public shaming sessions in the vein of the Communist Chinese “struggle sessions” during Mao’s era in China.
Think it couldn’t happen here? Think again.
Under Hardie’s Law, every time a landlord evicted a tenant and the tenant filed a complaint, the landlord would be investigated, mediated and likely have to come before the Citizens Board for a trial. And if there was even a perception of discrimination and the “preponderance of evidence,” hearsay or otherwise, led to a guilty verdict, the landlord would have to fork over $500, plus the hearing officer’s and mediator’s fees. Each subsequent conviction would be $1,000, plus the fees.
Unanswered Questions About Hardie’s Law
Q: If I live in Columbia County and come into Augusta, and while I’m there someone “perceives” that I said, “That was the worst soul food I ever ate” when I actually said, “We’ve got to get to Whole Foods or we’ll be too late,” would the Citizens Committee be able to come into Columbia County and extradite me?
A: Only if they could find you.
Q: Will the Marshal’s Office be authorized to conduct a high-speed chase across state lines to apprehend me if while I was shopping at a fabric store someone overheard me say to my companion, “I don’t like the weave on that one.”
A: Absolutely. How can the safety of innocent folks driving along on U.S. 1 in Aiken County be more important than saying such a thing as that?
Q: Do I get to have a lawyer since the Citizens Board has one?
A: That’s not clear. But then neither are most lawyers. If they decide you can have one, call 999-9999.
Q: Since Hardie’s Law applies not only to businesses but to any place, store or other establishment, either licensed or unlicensed, that supplies goods or services to the general public, are moonshiners
exempt?
A: Yes. Moonshiners are exempt because they do not trade with the general public nor are they supported by the government. Quite the contrary. The federal government hunts them down and smashes their means of support which is pretty much what they do to every business,
especially when they lock them down.
Q: Since witnesses are allowed to testify and hearsay evidence “shall” be permissible and the proof for a guilty verdict “shall be based on a preponderance of evidence,” what can I do if ten people gang up and lie about me?
A: You’re screwed.
Q: Could I be investigated if a man dressed as a woman came into my store, and I said, “Yes ma’am, what can I do for you today?”
A: Yes. It happened somewhere last week.
The Viewing
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Just in time for SPLOST 8 referendum, the Coliseum Authority had a viewing of the plans for the $228 million new James Brown Arena that will be supported by $25 million in SPLOST 8 dollars. Does everybody remember what a viewing is? That’s what we used to do at funeral homes before COVID-19. Everybody would walk around talking about what a great person the deceased person was and how good he looked lying there. Same thing happened Thursday when they had the viewing at the old James Brown Arena.
The arena is to be financed by $200 million general obligation bonds that have to be approved by voters in November. The bonds run for 30 years. Coliseum Authority Vice President Brad Usry says projected cost is $150 per year of assessed value of Richmond County real estate. So, if your house is assessed at $100,000, you will pay $150 more in taxes for the next 30 years.
If your house is assessed for several hundred thousand or your business in millions, do the math. Plus the hotel/motel tax pays the expenses the Authority does not meet from operating income – like payroll, utilities, insurance, etc. It better be worth it.
Something to ask yourself before next Tuesday’s sales tax referendum are, “Do I trust the Augusta government to spend $250 million of SPLOST 8 money that has zero in it for the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam but $5 million as seed money for a water park?”
Also, “why should I vote myself another tax to pay $20 million more for stormwater control (renamed grading and drainage on the official list) when I already pay a stormwater tax?”
Sticking it to You
Gold Cross EMS and Augusta commissioners are working together to stick it to you again, but this time it’s in a good way.
Gold Cross Vice President Steven Vincent said the company is holding pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinics with the help of commissioners. One was held in Harrisburg last week with the help of commissioners Jordan Johnson and Francine Scott and another in Hephzibah with the help of Commissioner Brandon Garrett. And three more are planned for this week with the assistance of commissioners Scott, Bobby Williams and Catherine McKnight.
“We’re bringing the vaccine to people’s neighborhoods,” Vincent said. “It feels great because we’re all working together. For once, it felt like a partnership. We want to be partners. We want to feel like partners. We really appreciated the commissioners.”
Another Gold Cross clinic will be at Sand Hills Community Center, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Wednesday, March 17.
Gold Cross provides ambulance service throughout Augusta now that commissioners voted to park the three ambulances the fire department had been running. The company receives a $650,000 a year subsidy and hopes to negotiate a contract before the current MOU expires next year.
Vincent also said the recent anonymous letter from someone purporting to be a Gold Cross employee complaining about how the company was overworking them and calling for a three-day walkout had the effect of drawing everyone together.
Instead of a walkout, there was 100% attendance and employees who weren’t scheduled to work called in and said they wanted to come in.
“We put extra trucks up just because our employees wanted to work,” he said. “Whoever wrote that letter, it had the opposite effect. It created unity and made the employees stand up. They said this didn’t represent us. It really bothered them. We’ve still formed focus groups to make sure everybody’s issues are heard.”
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
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