After two years of conjecture and speculation, it’s time for Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias to pay the piper now that a federal grand jury has indicted him on charges of destroying government records and lying to federal investigators.
But the question is: will he pay the piper or sing a song about other potential wrongdoing in city government like his ex-lover did about him in a letter to Augusta commissioners, proving yet again that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
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What became known as Paisleygate began in April 2019 when Willa Hilton, Sias’ 20-year lover and manager of city-owned Jamestown Community Center where Sias ruled supreme, wrote a letter accusing him of all sorts of criminal and immoral activity.
Hilton accused Sias of pocketing SPLOST money, drinking, watching porn, carrying a gun and mistreating children at the center, as well as buying new gray paisley sheets, putting them on a blowup mattress and inviting her into a room, hence the name Paisleygate. Hilton said that was the last straw, which if I might stray from my main point here, seemed strange since they’d been going together for 20 years.
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Hilton also accused Sias of submitting forged invoices for repair work at the Jamestown center that were paid out of SPLOST money. Records of how that money was spent were supposedly kept in a ledger at the city’s recreation and parks department. After the investigation began, the ledger disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.
Anyway, Augusta commissioners, after receiving the letter, had to do something, so they called for a GBI investigation which led to the FBI and GBI raiding Sias’ home and seizing computers and boxes of documents.
Sias should have been afraid that after he started giving Willa the cold shoulder she’d spill the beans on him. Now everybody in Augusta government who’s ever done anything wrong should be afraid of what Sias is likely to spill to save himself. While “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” nobody squeals faster than an indicted politician.
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I don’t know about you, but if I were a politician in city government who couldn’t explain how I spent taxpayers’ dollars or show receipts, I’d be really scared, Mr. Mayor.
It’s obvious the U.S. Attorney has indicted Sias on two charges that are low-hanging fruit. Easy to prove and carrying substantial penalties. Destroying government records and lying to federal investigators is easier to prove than some of the original he-said she-said accusations made by his ex-mistress, Willa Hilton. Meanwhile, the possibility of spending 20 years in prison would not be a rosy-looking future for a 66-year-old man like Sias.
As everybody knows, in our legal system, Sias is innocent until proven guilty, and the question of his resignation from the Augusta Commission would be dependent on his moral compass which is somewhat suspect for someone who’s been charged with destroying government records and lying to federal prosecutors.
As everybody also knows, the tactic here is that the federal government has invited Sias to play a new game, popularly known as:
“Let’s Make a Deal.”
Federal Prosecutor: What do you know about other people in city government that might help us prosecute them and help your case?
Sias: I know a lot.
Federal Prosecutor: What do you know?
Sias: Plenty. But I can’t say until you tell me what you’ll do for me.
Federal Prosecutor: That’s not how this works. You have to go first. You have to cooperate with us. You have to give us something first, and we can’t make any hard and fast promises about anything.
Sias: How do I know you’re not trying to trick me?
Federal Prosecutor: Trust us. We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you.
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Quotes of the Week
I couldn’t decide on one “Quote of the Week” this week because there were two such good ones.
One was by Commissioner Dennis Williams stating his reason during a WJBF-TV interview for being surprised Sias had been indicted:
“Because I’ve always believed that nothing was done wrong, but when you deal with our society, you can always take something and make it wrong.”
The other was by Commissioner Catherine McKnight after she’d called the sheriff’s department raid on Southbound Smokehouse “harsh,” and Commissioner Ben Hasan criticized commissioners for speaking to the media about law enforcement without talking to Sheriff Richard Roundtree first:
“I didn’t know I had to talk to the sheriff.”
A $10 Million Dollar Ball of Wax
Augusta Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Williams suggestion at a May commission retreat on next year’s budget to give each commissioner $1 million dollars to spend in their district has taken root.
The $10 million would come from Augusta’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act money, aka wealth redistribution.
At last week’s meeting, commissioners voted to accept the 2022 budget retreat summary report and affirm commission budget priorities that include the possibility of allocating money for commissioners to use at their discretion. City Administrator Odie Donald will try to work those priorities into the budget, including a minimum annual salary of $30,000 for all employees and $15 and hour the minimum hourly wage.
Well, as Commissioner John Clarke said, “Giving each commissioner a $1 million blank check is a recipe for disaster.”
So, we can only imagine what commissioners would do with a million dollars to spend next year.
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Commissioner Sean Frantom could have a statue of himself placed in his district. It would need to be made of metal, maybe bronze, so it won’t cave in when political winds blow the wrong way.
And although Commissioner John Clarke says he wouldn’t touch the money with a 10-foot pole, he could change his mind. If he did, they would need to make sure they don’t give it to him $1 dollar denominations because he might use it at the Discotheque. There’s no evidence he’s ever been to the Discotheque, but there’s no evidence he hasn’t either.
Commissioner Ben Hasan could re-start his newspaper for his district only. He could be the only reporter, writer and editor. And he could speak to himself to get commission quotes for his stories and chastise himself for speaking to the media.
Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Williams could use part of his million as pre-payments for future speeding tickets and other moving violations. According to a published report when he was running for office in 2019, he received tickets for running a red light in 2001 and failure
to yield the right of way in 2002. Both violations involved car crashes, according to the tickets. In 2007, 2008, 2011 and twice in 2013, he received tickets for driving between 19 and 24 mph over the speed limit.
He said his sporty red car attracted police attention.
Williams was charged in 2014 with passing a car on the shoulder of the road, on Interstate 20 near Bobby Jones Expressway intersection. He disputed the charge.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson could borrow $500 from Mayor Hardie Davis and the name of the California company that prepared Davis’ resume to write one for him too, so he could get a real job. And he could send a special leatherbound copy to Stacey Abrams.
Commissioner Francine Scott could use her million on box lunches to distribute to the needy and build an annex onto her church.
Commissioner Brandon Garrett could build a weather station so he could tell which way the wind was blowing before he votes on anything.
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Commissioner and Augusta mayoral candidate Dennis Williams could use his million to hire the mayor’s campaign staff that currently works in his office since he’s probably not going to be running for office again anytime soon. If there was any left over, Williams could spend it on his campaign brochures.
McKnight could use her million to buy Ulta Beauty, so every woman in her district could look like a Steel Magnolia, too.
Build it and They Will Come
I see in formally announcing for mayor, Richmond County School Board President Charlie Hannah has jumped on the homelessness bandwagon, listing it as a platform issue along with affordable living, labor and education.
Augusta city officials have formed a homeless task force and plan to build a permanent homeless shelter.
Have these people lost their minds trying to make themselves feel good stealing your tax money? Do they not know what’s going on in other places, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles with their out-of-control homeless populations?
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Building a homeless shelter in Augusta will be like waving a red flag and saying to all the homeless people in a three-state area, “Come on over, y’all!”
And they’ll say, “Why should I be homeless in Columbia County or Fulton County or Columbia, S.C., when Augusta is going to build me a place to live and take care of me?”
Also, given the Richmond County public schools graduation rate, I’m not sure being school board president is a resounding recommendation for being mayor unless you think he’d be better at cutting ribbons that educating children.
Thanks to The Augusta Press Senior Reporter Scott Hudson for his contributions to this column.
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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