Newspaper Page Text
1-CENT SALES TAX REFERENDUM
~ Special election to be a quiet affair
‘M Poor turnout
lexpected on Sept. 19
‘special election.
;By Rhonda Y. Maree
':A_U(EUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
. AUGUSTA
' Friday, August 25 is the last
?chance for Richmond County res
‘idents toregister tovote onthe 1-
‘cent special-purpose sales tax.
" Scheduled for Sept. 19, the ref
erendum will decide if the coun
tv will continue to add an addi
tional penny to the state sales
tax for another five years. If it
Redistricting must be complete by Oct. 15
From page one
munity in Savannah that was
built on arice plantation. Before
she steppedin and helped, former
representatives’ attitudes were
“those poor black people over
there — isn’'t that tough,” she
said.
Further proof of the good that
only districts such as the 11th
can do is increased involvement
of blacks in their local govern
B].aCk DiStl'iCtS from page one
But lawmakers have only hud
dled behind the scenes on the con
gressional map, instead spending
most of their first week redrawing
legislative districts.
Under the guise of protecting
the state from lawsuits against
suspicious looking legislative dis
tricts, committees carved up the
state House and Senate maps and
are expected to approve final ver
sions this week.
The most glaring result of the
week’s redrawing effort was the
dismantling of 10 majority black
districts in the House and two in
the Senate. Most of those seats
arenow held by whitelawmakers,
who inevitably will benefit at the
polls for years to come under new
ly-drawn majority white districts.
As each black district fell to the
carving knife, lawmakers cited as
a defense the Supreme Court rul
ing in the 11th District case. The
justices said race cannot be the
predominant reason for drawing
adistrictand theyissued a tongue
lashingtothe Justice Department,
which forced Georgia back to the
drawing table in 1991-92 to pack
more and more districts with
blacks.
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fails, sales taxes will drop to 5
cents on the dollar starting Jan.
1. .
Voters approved four-year pe
riods for the tax in past referen
dums held in August 1987 and
March 1991.
Projections show a $163.7 mil
lion collection of taxes for im
provements of public roads and
buildings, bridges, drainage, rec
reational facilities and support
of cultural and historical projects.
In addition to questionable use
of the tax in the past, commis
sioners’ bickering over priority
of projects has some concerned
that it may not pass easily.
ments, Ms. McKinney said.
When she ran forelection in 1992,
there was only one black elected
official in one rural county. Now
there are seven in that county
because her interest has moti
vated people, she said.
Ms. McKinney condemned the
Supreme Court for throwing out
her district.
“Obviously, I hope the Su
preme Court gets what it de
serves,” she said. “It has opened
the door for all kinds of lawsuits
Even though the state must still
win approval of the new maps
from the Justice Department, law
makers are more confident about
tampering with black districts be
cause they are armed with the
court ruling.
“It’s a natural fallout that these
black districts evaporate,” said
House Reapportionment Chair
man Tommy Smith, D-Alma.
“When you draw them in a natu
ralway thatis compact and makes
sense, they naturally come out
white.”
Lawmakers who supported dis
mantling the black districts also
cited a hit list of vulnerable black
House and Senate districts that
was circulated by attorney Lee
Parks, whorepresented the group
of voters who sued the state over
the 11th District.
Parks has threatened to sue the
state over the two dozen districts
onthe list ifthey are not redrawn.
But lawmakers failed to make
changes to all the black districts
that were on Parks’hit list, choos
ing to dismantle only those held
by veteran white Democrats or in
areas in which spreading a con
centration of black voters among
LLocalNews
“I hope voters will look favor
ably upon the tax,” Commission
er Lee Neel said. “Let’s face it,
there are some areas of concern
—l've blown the whistle on some
of them — but there are repairs
and maintenance that are need
ed and projects underway that
the tax has helped to pay for.”
Mr. Neel said if the tax dies at
the polls, it would send a bad
signal about the condition of the
county.
“A lot of new roads and other
needed things wouldn’t be built.
Image is important to attracting
business and touriststothearea,”
he said.
throughout the South by
Dixiecrats and their cohorts in
the North. They also have left
the door open for people who
value real democracy to have
their day in court too, so I sus
pect, because of a bizarre ruling
from the Supreme Court, that
this country will be revisiting
the issue of redistricting from
1995 straight on through to the
year 2000.”
Ms. McKinney predicted that
even after having their district
several neighboring districts
would help Democrats or harm
Republicans.
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If past voter turnout for the 1-
cent sales tax referendum is any
indication, very few people will
take the time to vote.
According Richmond County
Board of Elections Director Lynn
Bailey,only 19.3 percent of 70,673
registered voters cast a ballot in
1987. Just 12.07 percent of 75,587
registered voters did so in 1991.
Poor turnouts are typical for
special elections, Ms. Bailey said.
She predicted a 15 percent turn
out for Sept. 19.
Call the Board of Elections at
821-2340 for more information
about voter registration.
chopped up, people in the 11th
District will still demand strong
representation.
“You know what I see happen
ing? I see the people — having
experienced real representation
— they won’t go back,” she said.
“They will not allow, and of
course, because my constituents
are in my heart, I will not allow
them to be abused by whoever
comes in after me. I know their
problems, and they aren’t going
to stop calling me.”
“This doesn’t have anything to
do with maps or lawyering,” said
Rep. Buddy DeLoach, R-
1904 Gordon Hwy.
Augusta
R £ YY)
1167 Broad Street
YRI
3839-B Washington
Rd
855-1068
Aiken Augusta Hwy.
VlG]
641-0135
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Feud on council
From page one
“Council did not understand
that they were giving up the au
thority to nominate an assistant
Jjudge as stated in the code,” Mr.
Beard said.
Ms. Usry angrily raised the
same concern in an earlier meet
ing when the mayor refused to
let her nominate attorney Tom
Tinley for assistant municipal
judge over his nominee, attor
ney James Plunkett.
To fix the situation, Mr. Beard
proposed changing the city’s
charter so that council members
could nominate judge candidates.
Mr. DeVaney frowned on Mr.
Beard’s actions and reminded
council that the March ordinance
went through proper procedures.
“To come back six or eight
months later and say that you
didn’t know what you voted on
doesn’t give much credit to the
members of Augusta City Coun
cil,” Mr. DeVaney said. “I think
we know after our last council
meeting what this ordinance is
all about.”
According to Mr. DeVaney, the
fight for nomination power is yet
another tactic to undermine his
authority.
“Anybody with any grain of
sense can look through this thin
ly veiled attempt to try to put
Tom Tinley into office,” he said.
Hinesville, whose pool of black
voters is being increased from 30
to 35 percent soa Democratic chal-
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A SCANRA Company
Columbia, South Carolina 29218
August 24, 1995
“If you can’t win under the cur
rent law, then change the law so
we can put our own person in
there.
“My interest is that we have
the best person available for this
court, absent politics and absent
people who are in it for self-serv
ing reasons,” Mr. DeVaney.
Despite some council members’
accusations, Mr. DeVaney said
he has no problem with sharing
power.
“What I do have a problem with
is turning down a good, qualified
nominee to put in somebody that
is beholden to a small group of
council members,” he said.
After the meeting, Mr.
DeVaney told Augusta Focus that
Mr. Beard and Ms. Usry have
spoiled other council members’
attitudes toward their jobs.
“I think the vast majority of
council members dread coming
down here on the first and third
Mondays because at the end of
every meeting, we either have
Mr. Beard or Ms. Usry jumping
up with some antics, and today
was no different, but I was ready
for it,” he said.
The Municipal and Stockade
Committee will meet Aug. 28 to
discuss changing the charter.
Meanwhile, two State Court
judges will provide the one-day
a-week services in Municipal
Court.
lenger will have a better chance
against him in the next election.
“This has to do with selling out.”
3