Background checks on the two candidates for Richmond County Board of Education reveal each has had legal action taken against them for a debt a handful of times. One has a conviction for felony theft.
District 6 voters are paying little attention to the Tuesday special election, which will cost taxpayers around $50,000. It was called to fill the seat left open with the November death of Tyrique Robinson. Robinson died by suicide after his mentor accused him of theft.
So far, the most to cast a ballot early on any given day has been six voters.
“Committed to education. Committed to you” is the campaign slogan of Ed Lowery, the first candidate to get in the District 6 race. Lowery spent at least eight years working as a custodian for Richmond County schools, according to state records, and now works as a funeral director.
Lowery’s campaign financial reports show support from businessman J.R. Riles, Davis Appliance, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1579 and Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah, the wife of school board trustee Wayne Frazier. Lowery’s latest report said he had raised $4,524 and spent $2,634, leaving him with a March 6 net balance of $1,890.
Candidate Laura Green is a childcare provider of 12 years who owns Learning Tree Christian Academy. Green’s campaign made a St. Patrick’s Day push Friday with the slogan, “Go Green with Green.”
Green has none of the required campaign or personal financial reports on file locally or with the state ethics commission.
Small loans lead to problems for candidates
Both Green and Lowery have run afoul of local subprime lenders after borrowing relatively small amounts.
According to public court records, Credit One filed a writ of fieri facias, a court order demanding collection of a monetary judgment, against Green in 2016 to obtain $506 it said she owed. In 2021, Auto Money Title Pawn attempted to repossess her car, and she has an ongoing claim by Merchants Credit Bureau.
Green, who is in her early 40s, also has three dispossessory notices – the precursors to an eviction – filed by landlords in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Lowery, who is in his 50s, has had creditors take him to court at least five times, starting with Empire Loan’s demand for $242 in 2009. In 2010, Finance Company filed a fieri facias for $582 and Credit Central went after him for $1,113 in 2011. In 2015, Advance Loan Services filed a claim for $331. Speedee Cash filed a claim in 2019 that he has since settled.
Lowery has 1998 felony conviction
While both Lowery and Green have had a handful of traffic offenses, court records show Lowery had a lengthy brush with the law starting in 1998, when he was accused of theft by taking.
According to a report in The Augusta Chronicle, Lowery was working for Augusta Parks and Recreation. While making bank drops from May 1997 to July 1998, he was accused of stealing more than $4,000.
Court records show he pleaded guilty to the charge in 1999 and received four years on probation under the First Offender Act. He was arrested later that year for failing to report and pay restitution. In 2001, Lowery’s probation was revoked for fleeing police, not wearing a seatbelt and driving with a suspended license. His probation officer took out another warrant after Lowery was accused with simple battery in 2002, for pushing a woman down and hitting her in the face at his home, and he again pleaded guilty.
More recently, in 2016 Lowery was charged with shoplifting at Walmart food valued at less than $300. Court records show the charge was not prosecuted because the “defendant completed the pre-trial intervention program.”
The advance voting period is over so voters must use their assigned District 6 polling places Tuesday, when they will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where to vote:
601 East Central Regional Hospital Gracewood – Magnolia Dr. Bld 22 Gym
602 Bernie Ward Community Center – 1941 Lumpkin Road
604 Southside Baptist Church – 3612 Mike Padgett Hwy.
605 Stevens Creek Church/Southside Campus – 3358 Peach Orchard Road
606 Windsor Spring Baptist Church – 3692 Windsor Spring Road
607 Gracewood Community Center – 2309 Tobacco Road
608 Pine Hill Baptist Church – 4233 Old Waynesboro Road
