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DeVaney
From page one
While DeVaney continued to
front like everything was okay,
the city finances were in a mess.
Its shrinking tax base mirrored
its dwindling revenue and the
reserves were being kept afloat
with mirrors. As industry hesi
tated at *the city’s borders, and
retailers continued to flee to the
greener pastures of the unincor
porated sectors or Columbia
County, Augusta had to pin its
hopes on Billy Morris’s magic
riverfront and conversion of
downtown from a retail center to
a trendy tourist trap.
Thebeginning of the end start
ed when the Port Royal project
rolled over with a terminal case
of non support. Millions of city
dollars were poured into the con
crete and steel parking decks that
doubled as a sports arena for
pigeons and stray dogs. But the
shenanigans down on the river
created major problems for
DeVaney. Money was made and
money was lost. Feelings were
hurt, some people felt betrayed
and others felt as if they were
needlessly compromised. And
while the mayor was able flick
off the disgruntled little guys,
the fat ones had enough leverage
and influence to be a problem
down the line.
Time was short. This would
certainly be DeVaney’s last term
as mayor. A new consolidated
government with DeVaney at the
helm would keep his political
aspirations afloat well into 1998
where greener political pastures
surely awaited. A county-wide
constituency offered by being the
top dogin a consolidated govern
ment would translate into a
broader base of support for any
subsequent run for Congress or
statewide office.
Ironically, the only thing that
could preserve DeVaney’s rule
at this point would be a defeat for
the consolidation referendum,
either at the polls or from the
U.S. Justice Department. If con
solidationis halted at the Justice
LETTERS
Norwood should drop NRA political support
Many people have credited the
National Rifle Association’s
(NRA) Political Action Commit
tee (PAC) for delivering Charlie
Norwood his Congressional vic
tory in the 1994 General’Elec
tion. According to Norwood’s
Washington office, the NRA Po
litical Victory Fund pumped at
least $15,000 (the maximum le
gal amount) into his 1994 cam
paign. According to Federal Elec
tions Commission (FEC) Reports
$12,400 were contributed dur
ing a particularly important 34-
day period (August 25th-Septem
ber 27th, 1994).
During the past few weeks, the
NRA has deservedly been cast
into a less-than-favorable light.
By referring to federal agents
and police (the very people that
work diligently to protect our
rights and interests) in
fundraising letters as “jack-boot
ed government thugs,” the NRA
not only invited political divi
siveness, but prompted George
Bush, a Republican, toresign his
life membership in the club.
Most decent Americans, like
you and me, unequivocally agree
with the Constitution’s Second
Amendment, which gives law
abiding citizens the right to bear
arms. However, when organiza
tions like the NRA abuse their
power by slandering honest law
enforcement officials and public
Send your letters to:
Augusta Focus
Editorials
1143 Laney-Walker
Blvd.
Augusta, GA 30901
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Sinking of the HMS Augusta
Department, Mr. DeVaney,
through default, gets to call the
shots for a couple of more years
in the city.
Once necessary for his politi
cal survival, consolidation now
would serve only to hasten the
rate at which Mr. DeVaney’s
mayorship is shrinking.
The mayor’s stock has plum
meted sorapidly that any run for
the top spotin a city-county merg
er would be senseless. Indeed,
many within the castle walls
feel that Mr. DeVaney should do
the right thing now and resign.
The dark cloud that hangs over
the mayor’s office is growing ever
more threatening. The latest call
for 175 job cuts has been pared
back to 150. Mr. DeVaney’s hast
ily constructed hit list included
police, firemen and the director
of Economic Development. And
while city employees fidget un
der the shadow of the deficit ax,
thoughts have turned ugly.
Rumors abound that the may
or has received threats and has
to have body guards. Dimes are
dropping all over the city and
county with new revelations of
DeVaney excesses. Hisroyal bean
counter, who jumped ship after
running afoul of his honor’s sense
of honor, is enjoying celebrity
servants, they effectively destroy
their message. Messages like
those of the NRA have devolved
from being effective policy tools
into being trashy rhetoric and
slander.
Inlight of recent developments
(e.g., Oklahoma City and the
NRA fundraisingletter), citizens
of Georgia’s Tenth District should
demand that Charlie Norwood
follow George Bush’s lead and
drop his membershipinthe NRA.
As another measure of good faith
with his constituents, Congress
Larry Fryer for mayor!
I strongly urge Augustans to
recruit the Rev. Larry Fryer to
be a candidate in the next may
oral election. He is definitely
needed to revitalize a city that
has gone to the dogs because of
poor leadership.
Heisanindividual whois com
petent and capable of serving
the city of Augusta in an honor
able and stately manner. This
talented individual would be a
breath of fresh air in comparison
to the miserable city leadership
that Augustans presently must
endure.
Rev. Fryeris anindividual who
has worked diligently in trying
to bring Augustanstogether from
all walks of life. He truly loves
Augusta and its people. As a
mayor, he truly would be a great
asset for the Augusta communi
ty.
This remarkable humanitari
an is definitely qualified to be
Augusta’s next mayor. Heis high
ly educated, intelligent, articu
late, hardworking, and someone
who is capable of building bridg
es for the betterment of society.
Closer Look
status making public statements
about The Art of War According
to Prince Charles DeVaney.
Among the revelations by ex
city comptroller, Aurelia
Epperson, was that the mayor
always flew first class, while his
traveling companions had toride
with the masses in coach. She
alsorevealed that the mayor was
able to spend money, out of ear
shot of the city council and fi
nance committee, by simply la
beling the expenditure “admin
istrative.” Whenever the mayor
wanted to spend money without
getting preclearance from the
proper city channels he would
direct Ms. Epperson to find the
money, even if it wasn’t there,
and handle the transaction “ad
ministratively.”
According to Ms. Epperson, Mr.
DeVaney reacted to over opti
mistic revenue projections five
years ago by continuing to spend
through an amazing four succes
sive revenue projections that did
not pan out. When Mr. DeVaney
told the city a week ago that
some serious belt tightening
should have taken place years
ago, he let the cat out of the bag.
As the chief decision maker in
his beloved strong-mayor admin
istration, he lacked the wisdom
man Norwood should instruct his
campaign committee toreturn to
the NRA the $15,000 he took
during the 1994 election cycle.
Should Norwood not consider
these options, then it is his taint
ed campaign money that is indi
rectly responsible for much of
the violence against our nation’s
law enforcement personnel. We
as citizens cannot accept this,
and it’s as simple as that.
Scorr Hewms
AUGUSTA
He is a prime example of what a
true and dedicated leader should
be like.
It’s time for Augustans to elect
someone they can trust. Rev.
Fryer is honest, sincere and
trustworthy. These are essen
tial ingredients that are needed
for a leader to move Augusta
forward.
This astute gentleman is ca
pable of doing great things for a
community that has been total
ly ignored by our present insen
sitive mayor. It’s time for a
change because the present city
leadership has no inclination
about the plight of our dying
community.
Let’s afford Rev. Fryer the
opportunity to make Augusta
great once again. Hecanmake a
positive difference for all Au
gustans. More power to Rev.
Fryer, because he is truly the
man who can lead Augusta to a
prosperous and exciting future.
Believe me! He is the man!
Edward Maner
AUGUSTA
or courage to steer the city on a
more practical course toward
austerity. As the city’s reserves
began to shrink, his resolve to
steer the city out of harm’s way
should have grown -- it did not.
As late as six weeks ago, the
mayor was speaking of the city’s
financial statusin glowing terms.
Then came his public censure of
his comptroller over bounced
checks. She stuck to her guns,
implicated the mayor as a key
player in the transactions and
the floodgates were thrown wide
open for anti-DeVaney senti
ment.
Even Mr. DeVaney’s vaunted
claims that he has not had to
raise taxes over the past decade
hasbeguntoloseitsluster. Some
feel that county residents, who
poured dollars into the city cof
fers by paying higher water rates
to the city, subsidized Mr.
DeVaney's cap on property tax
es. Mr. DeVaney has recently
accepted the idea that a tax in
crease has merit and has even
vowed to raise further the coun
ty water rates.
If Mr. DeVaney weathers this
current political firestorm he can
add the title Magician to that of
Lord of the Manor.
“Bipartisanship” is a threat to our civil liberties
By Arthur R. Block, Esq.
A civil liberties bombshell is
lurking in the controversy over
whether Attorney General Reno
should revise her office’s Guide
lines for federal law enforcement
investigations of political, reli
gious, and other organizations
engaged in First Amendment
activities.
The Attorney General Guide
lines you are hearing so much
about lately were, in large part,
a successful political move exe
cuted in 1976 — when the public
was outraged about the use of
the arsenal of federal law en
forcement agencies to damage
groups critical of government
policies — to get the President,
Attorney General, FBI, Congress,
and the Courts off the hook in
the wake of Watergate and the
exposure of COINTELPRO, the
FBl'sinfiltration and dirty tricks
campaign against the Black Pan
ther Party, civil rights activists
and anti-war groups. :
The Guidelines, on their face,
impose significant restrictionson
the authority of the FBI to inves
tigate organizations engaging in
First Amendment activities. But
you have to read the fine print.
They also declare that they are
solely internal guidelines. They
create no right that any Ameri
can can enforce against the fed
eral government in a court of
law. Because the FBI has claimed
to have been following these
Guidelines for the last two de
cades, the courts have not been
called upon to decide whether
the Bill of Rights imposes these
same restrictions on federal law
enforcement, even if the Guide
lines did not exist.
But the FBI has failed even to
follow the current Guidelines.
By a remarkable coincidence,
each of the two times my client,
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Hatred in the Heartland
By Lawrence E. Harrison
FOCUS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
eople of color have long
P known that there are too
manynuts runningaround
with guns, bombs, and everything
else. Perhaps the majority popu
lation will see it now with the
Oklahoma City tragedy. The fo
cus is on the violence suffered by
all, and the compassion expressed
by all. America at its worst and
best.
Words often lead to actions. To
be conservative does not mean to
be hateful. The past decade or so
has not shown us that. Political
gains were often at the expense
and negative portrayal of a tar
geted group. Skin color played a
part, but it did not stop there. We
are reaping the results now. Our
meanness, our scapegoating, our
stereotyping have brought the
chickens home to roost. The “fad”
of casting blame, of finding rea
sons for all of our failures, by lay
ing them on supposed “others,”
foreign or domestic, have done
great damage, to those “others,”
and now, to all of us. We see now,
too late, that we should indeed be
careful about what we say, what
we imply, and what we want to be
true. It is an old lesson, one that
we have not learned.
When we have, so readily avail
able, the violent tools to go with
our words tragedies arewaitingto
happen. No one on any level is
trying to disarm us. (Maybe that
is one of the main problems.) Re
straint and common sense, how
ever, need not be a governmental
law or mandate. Thereis no stop
ping someone bent on destruction
from using any means at their
disposal. We must, nevertheless,
for our individual and collective
peace of mind, try to make it as
difficult as we possibly can. A new
era requires that. This has been
an era of senseless means to a
senseless end; a time of much
bloodshed and much heartache. It
used to be that we could disagree
agreeably ... but no more.
Fortunately we can, when the
need arises, still care as a whole
Lawrence Harrison is a South
Carolina-based freelance writer.
Dr. Lenora B. Fulani, ran for
President asan independent, the
FBI opened up a domestic terror
ism inquiry into her national
political party, the New Alliance
Party (NAP). Before, during, and
after these investigations not a
shred of evidence was ever pro
duced that the party engaged in
any criminal activity oradvocat
ed violence to achieve political
ends. Inathrow-backtothe FBl's
disinformation tactics in its
COINTELPRO operations, the
FBI used the investigations as a
pretext to distribute notices all
over the nation that members of
NAP should be considered
“ARMED AND DANGEROUS;”
and to issue a telex (which was
obtained by journalists through
the Freedom of Information Act)
defaming this national indepen
dent political party asa“political
cult organization.”
Efforts in Congresstoimposea
statutory charter on the FBl's
operations fizzled long ago, and
now House Speaker Newt
Gingrich declares (on Meet the
Press, May 7, 1995) that he likes
the long-standing practice of in
formal “coordination” on a “bi
partisan” basis between the FBI
and Congressional oversight
committees about the interpre
tation of the Guidelines. The
Clinton Administration, mean
while, is trying to turn the pub
lic’s fear and revulsion over the
Oklahoma City bombing into an
opportunity to revise the Guide
lines, and unleash federal law
enforcement agencies to violate
our civil liberties.
Clinton’s appointees want the
federal government to be able to
investigate organizations and
individualssolely based on a sub
jective judgment that the beliefs
or the advocacy of particular
groups makes them prone to com
mit criminal acts. There would
be no need to show any evidence
May 18, 1995
The fad of casting
blame, of finding
reasons for all of our
failures, by attributing
them to supposed
‘others,’ foreign or
domestic, has done
great damage, to
those ‘others,’ and
now, to all of us.
people. Itis at the beginning oflife
and at the end of it when we are
more alike, more united. We need
to work on what happens during
the middle. Grief knows no skin
color orraceor nationality. We see
ittimeandtime againin moments
of peril. In the land of the “great
mixture,” it is in our heritage. We
need only to recognize it more in
times of joy. It should not always
take tears for us to realize our
common humanity. We all view
life as precious. Ifthat is the mes
sage out of sorrow, so be it.
Life does go on. We can seek
reasons. Tojustify Oklahoma City
with reference to Waco and David
Koresh seems more the product of
a very disturbed mind than any
thing else. How about if African
Americans or any other affected
groups avenged their various
mistreatmentsinexactly thesame
way? It has not happened, and we
cannot look forward to it happen
ing, either.
Something is very wrong when
the justification of violence is retali
ation for earlier violence. If some of
us have not progressed beyond that
point, we certainly hope for human
ity’s sake that humankind has asa
whole. When we have to look for
reasons for our evil in the actions of
others, we definitely are in trouble.
Oursavinggracehastobethatwe
can recognize evil for what it is, no
matter how many flags we may
wrapitupinorwhat polished spokes
man may speak it. We do well in
recognizing that when something
hurts or harms the soul of one part
of humanity, all souls are affected.
Our national scope must always
reflect both recognition, in the good
times and the bad, in the heartland
and beyond.
whatsoever that such target or
ganizations have taken any con
crete steps to commit violent
crimes.
Its easy to see where this will
lead. The political and religious
groups which are outside of the
Democratic/Republican Party
“bipartisan” power structure will
be deemed to be prone to commit
crimes. This is what happenedin
Waco when the BATF and the
FBI were convinced by so-called
“cult experts” to assume the worst
about the Branch Davidians and
to pursue disastrous tactics
against them.
So far, the Clinton Adminis
tration has been remarkably
unsuccessful in promotingitsline
on the Oklahoma bombing, i.e.
that all antigovernment groups,
anti-governmenttalk radio hosts,
and unrepentant civil libertari
ans, are unpatriotic. But an im
portanttest lies ahead. Will Con
gress and the Courts follow the
lead of the American people and
protect all of us, regardless of
our beliefs and associations, from
being investigated by the federal
government unless and until
there is a reasonable factual in
dication that we are committing
a crime?
As a starting point, it is about
time Congress stopped asking us
to trustinits behind-closed-doors
bipartisan “coordination” with
the FBI to broker our civil liber
ties. It must pass a law that
makesthe current Guidelinesthe
law of the land, enforceable in
courts of law.
Mr. Block has a private prac
tice in New York City concentrat
ing on election law, education
law and representation of non
profit organizations. He is cur
rently representing the New Alli
ance party in a pending suit
against the FBI,
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