Newspaper Page Text
“Brown denies hitting wife,
plans to leave local area
.. From page one
:'A his wife beat her drug problem.
992 Given this ultimatum, Mrs.
~*2¢ Brown called 911 to report that
U her husband had beaten her, Mr.
-¢ Brown said.
_ Police reports state that Mrs.
158 Brown had abloody nose and lips
% uponthearrival of Aiken County
=3¢ Sheriff's deputies.
“0L Mrs. Brown was treated at
559 Ajken Regional Medical Centers
18 and released.
it Mr. Brown was charged with
“% criminal domestic violence and
Election only days away, but
-citizens not much in the spirit
il Despite importance
1 of election, many voters
“~unenthusiastic. Light
o
o turnout expected.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
’3'?SfA{YGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
’ AUGUSTA
=za What government officials are
1o promoting as the most exciting
inicand important election in Au
g gusta-Richmond County history
~siwill simply be another day in
wopassing for many arearesidents.
v Thenewly merged government
_siothat takes effect Jan. 1 has been
<5 touted as Augusta’s opportunity
alofor needed change but, according
aridto those going to the polls Nov. 7,
wsthe outcomerwill be business as
wveusual.
» , .
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“] used to say | was
home in America....
I'm not home. I'm
just living here.”
— James Brown
taken to the Aiken County jail.
After appearing in Aiken Coun
ty’s Central Court Tuesday morn
ing, Mr. Brown was released on
his own recognizance, according
to one of his attorneys.
Mr. Brown said having sher
iff’s deputies at his 430 Douglas
Drive home was upsetting, as he
“I’'m really not excited about
the election,” said District 6 res
ident Renee Smith. “Even if the
faces and the names change, the
same bureaucratic system will
be in place. They're just taking
two small bureaucracies and
making one big bureaucracy.”
Eunice Jordan of District 2 is
also skeptical about the prom
ised changes.
“I've taken a wait- and- see
attitude,” Ms. Jordan said. “Isit
going to be the same old crew up
to business as usual? I'm pray
ing that it’s not going to be. We
need new faces so we'll have the
opportunity to see what they can
offer us.”
Despite their lack of enthusi
asm about the election, both wom
en said they will vote. Others,
however, have taken a position
of apathy that will keep them
LLocalNews
had hoped to put his dealings
with them behind him.
“I wondered when it was going
to stop. Right away I started
thinking no more building no
house around here — nonothing
around here. I don’t need to be
here,” Mr. Brown said.
Asked where he would move,
the world-famous entertainer
said “somewhere I'm respected.”
Mr. Brown criticized officers
for taking a drug addict’s word
over his. He also complained
about their following him to his
bedroom to change out of his pa
jamas and brush his hair before
away from the polls.
One Fort Gordon soldier eligi
ble to vote said the local political
process is “so messed up” that he
wants nothing to do with it.
Activity at the Board of Elec
tions indicates more excitement,
according to Director Lynn
Bailey.
“We are issuing lots of absen
tee ballots, so that’s a good sign
of interest,” she said. “It’s been
slow cranking up, but now things
are in full running with cam
paign signs popping up every
where and supporters trying to
get their people elected.”
In addition to people’s requests
to vote away from polling places,
phone calls about where and how
to vote also point to voter inter
est — and confusion.
" “There is a lot of confusion on
Mr. Brown criticized
officers for taking a
drug addict’s word
over his. '
going to jail.
“I used to say I was home in
America.... 'mnot home. I'mjust
living here,” Mr. Brown said be
fore ending the press conference.
He is now staying at his Au
gusta house on Parkway Drive.
Mr. Brown is scheduled to ap
pear in magistrate’s court in
Beech Island on Nov. 27.
the voters’ part,” Ms. Bailey said.
“Many people think their polling
places have changed, but they
have not.”
Ms. Bailey said voters should
refer to the same instructions on
their voter registration cards.
In addition to voting on repre
sentatives in their districts, vot
ers will also be able to choose a
super-district representative as
well as mayor-chairman.
Because Nov. 7 won’t be a gen
eral election, voter turnoutis like
ly to be minimal.
“We're expecting about a 35-40
percent turnout. This isn’t as
much as we'd like to see,” Ms.
Bailey said.
Forty-two candidates are com
peting for the 10 commission
chairman seats. Five are seek
ing the mayor-chairman post.
ELECT
G.S. Hamilton
MAYOR-CHAIRMAN
B rine o
T R ”‘”%3’?;'://
i St e
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- .
Come Alive in 95
- - =
To Avoid tricks in 96
PAID FOR BY COMMITTEE TO ELECT C.S. HAMILTON
AUGUSTA FOCUS
WILKINS DISQUALIFIED
Candidate calls
fee ruling unfair
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Amid rumor that Beaurine
Wilkins had dropped out of the
race for a district seat in the new
city/county government, shecalled
a press conference for Monday to
announce that was not true. “As
the mediareported, my qualifying
check was returned marked ‘in
sufficient funds’ and this election
board, unlike other businesses
would not allow the check to be
made good in cash or cashier
check.”
According to Ms. Wilkins, at the
time she wrote the $360 check
that was to be her qualifying fee,
there was supposed to be $1,200
in her account. The reason her
check bounced, she said, was that
acheck from one of her customers,
which she deposited in her ac
count and was counting on,
bounced. Ms. Wilkins owns and
operates Queens Limousineon Old
Savannah Rd.
She said the election committee
told her that, ifthey allowed her to
make the check good, that would
equal allowing her to pay the fee
late, which is expressly against
the rules.
“There were five men acting as
judge and jury,” she said at the
press conference, “that voted to
disqualify me.”
There is no law to cover a situa
tion like this, she said, and “they
have too much power without a
law to go along with it.” She in
sists that, with the present five
man elections committee, there
was “noway (she)could have a fair
shake in that.”
She also said that at least some
of the three democrats on the com
mittee had already endorsed her
opponent. The vote to disqualify
her, she said, was three to two.
November 2, 1995
She also cited a similar case in
Chattham, Ga. in which the can
didate was allowed to qualify.
According to Travis Doss of the
Richmond County Board of Elec
tions, candidates are required to
fill out the necessary paperwork
and pay their fees between Octo
ber 9 at 8:30 a.m. and October 13
at 4:30. The check bounced, he
said, two weeks after the qualify
ing period. It would have been
against the rule, he said, to allow
her to make the check good at that
time. “Accepting money at a later
date would not have been within
the qualifying period.”
Mr. Dosssaid that the Chattham
man’s qualification was contested
on the grounds that he had not,
after all, met the requirement of
paying on time, but that the
Board’s decision to allow him was
upheld. That decision was ap
pealed but no appellate decision
was handed down, he said, “be
cause of somelegal reason or what
not.”
Therefor, he said, “there’s not a
clear-cut precedent.”
He said that, if Ms. Wilkins'
check had bounced “through no
fault of her own,” the board of
elections may have given her plight
more consideration. But, he said,
they don’t consider not knowing
how much she had in her account
something out of her control.
He also refuted the figures she
had given, saying that, at the time
she wrote her qualifying check of
$360, there were only $42 in the
account. She also wrote a check
for S2OO around the same time.
The leaky check from her custom
er, he said, was for $334.
He said Ms. Wilkins had ex
pressed concern she was being
judged for writing a bad check.
“The board tried to make it clear
to her that that was not the case.”
3