Newspaper Page Text
Zetterberg building a political
future name for himself in District 3
i
"o
.ii M District 3 runoff
» candidate is in the
race to win it all.
3
- By Rhonda Jones
55 AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
e |
;"; AUGUSTA
H" Rob Zetterberg, who has forced
~; the District 3 election to a run
"~ off withincumbent Lee Neel, isa
_, man determined to win, and de
. term'ned to make sure all his
... constituents are fully represent
. ed when he does.
r. When asked to comment on
" the opinion of one source that
* Mr. Neel's interests lie only with
__the West Augusta crowd, he
1 leaned back in his seat.
""" “Tamrunning against Mr. Neel
f" for two reasons. I entered the
" fray just so he would have an
;:: opponent,” he said, likening him
_ to an unopposed dictator. He
... wants to make Mr. Neel work
; harderforhis votes. “And I think
", we've accomplished that objec
" tive,” he said.
ek
(City
From page one
*. the bond, which was sure to cause
.. a big tax hike.
* Kip Plowman, a Baird and Co.
accountant hired to clean up the
city’s books, said he and other
accountants don’t make contin
gencies on bonds.
Although Mr. Todd isn’t sold on
the city’s miraculous financial re
covery, what once had the mak
ings of a major political show
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"'j; Zetterberg:
‘3 B Mr. Neel
, profits
3 E,s from being
e in office.
His other reason is that “Mr.
Neel’s occupation as a commer
cial Realtor is in a conflict of
interest with being a public ser
vant.”
“The perception — and that’s
an important word — of Mr.
Neel by many voters in this dis
trict and others is that he profits
from being a public servant.” He
said Mr. Neel’s occupation fre
quently makes it necessary for
him to abstain “when the voters
send him in to vote.”
Though he said there were two
reasons why he decided to run
for the District 3 seat, Mr.
Zetterberg came up with one
more: “Mr. Neel has served for
down died quickly and quietly
when Mr. DeVaney downplayed
Mr. McKie’s allegations.
In a called meeting during
which Mr. Plowman, at Mr. DeV
aney’s request, was supposed to
challenge Mr. McKie’s allegations
point by point, the controversy
ceased with Mr. Plowman’s read
ing a flattering letter signed by
Mr. McKie.
“l have reviewed Mr. Plow
man’s cash and 1995 forecastbud
get projections and fully concur
with them,” Mr. McKie wrote.
“Also, I would add that he has
done a remarkable job in manag
ing the city’s finances.”
Local News
nine years and I think that’s
enough.”
He also had something to say
about the other candidates who
had not made it to a run-off elec
tion, candidateslike Brian Green
and Hardie Davis, Brian Wil
son, King Singleton and Bill Law.
Mr. Zetterberg, who is white,
said he felt encouraged that so
many young black men were
getting involved in government.
“I don’t want them to be dis
couraged by the fact that they
didn’t win this time.” He said the
community should “start rais
ing them up as future leaders.
The community shouldn’t put
them off too long.”
He seems to feel these men set
a good example, not just for the
black community, but for the
entire community. “I encourage
anybody and everybody to be
come more involved in their com
munity,” he said, suggesting or
ganizations like neighborhood
watch groups and the PTA for
those who do not care to run for
office.
“The more involved we become
as citizens,” he said, “the better
this place is going to be to live.”
Mr. McKie also wrote, “Mr.
Plowman and I have reviewed
our 1995 operating forecast and
concurin our estimation ofa small
positive cash balance and no def
icit after appropriate transfers.”
Visibly upset by the original
report that contained accusations
he took personally, Mr. Plowman
coolly dismissed the matter.
“I didn’t think us having a cat
fight in the middle of everybody
wasnecessary,” Mr. Plowmantold
Augusta Focus.
He added, “I don’t know what
the intentions were. He (Mr.
McKie) said there were no per
sonal attacks, and I tal e his word
He is interested in programs
like First Presbyterian Church’s
Fireside Ministry, which helps
inner-city people to be self-suffi
cient by teachingskills like grow
ing their own vegetables. It pro
vides spiritual sustenance as
well, he said.
When asked if he is interested
in becoming more involved with
programs like that, he said he is
“looking to become more involved
with Augusta,” and wants his
office to provide a hub of commu
nications for those involved in
such projects.
He is especially interested in
promoting racial harmony.“l can
see whites and blacks in a very
cooperative relationship,” he
said. “Wouldn't it be wonderful
if Augusta can be the place where
racial harmony flourished?”
He concedes that it is not a job
he can do on his own, and wants
to see everyoneinvolved. “I think
that’s where we'’re going to solve
these problems,” he said, rather
than by trying to legislate them
away. “We've already tried to do
that and it ¢ doesn’t work very
well for us.”
for that.”
According to Mr. Plowman, Mr.
McKie’s report contained infor
mation that was like “comparing
apples and oranges.”
Whereas he worked with in
coming and outgoing cash, Mr.
McKie’s references were restrict
ed to the general fund with no
consideration of water works rev
enue.
After reading the letter, Mr.
Plowman said, “Unless everybody
thinks it’s necessary to go into it
item by item, I think we ought to
just leave it at that.”
Mr. DeVaney said he consid
"@Fes the “case closed”
AUGUSTA FOCUS November 23, 1995
School hoard still
mired in controversy
B Two concerned
citizens groups
unhappy with board
handling of advisory
board and
superintendent search.
Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Atwo-hour gripe session Mon
daynight at the Richmond Coun
ty Board of Education Staff De
velopment Office allowed School
Board support groups to air
grievances. The county Council
of Parent-Teacher Associations
is as predictably irritated that
the School Board has yet to
choose a superintendent. The
citizens advisory committee,
which is supposed to be a liaison
between the Board and the com
munity, feels its recommenda
tions have been repeatedly ig
nored.
One committee member, Dr.
Rice, hit the nail on the head
when she asked ifthe committee
had “outgrown our usefulness.”
Trustee Jeff Annis, who had
suggested Monday night’s fo
rum, lamented that he had re
ceived a resignation letter from
one committee member and
didn’t want to receive any more.
According to Eugene Hunt, ad
visory committee president, the
committee member had resigned
because, in 1993, he had done
extensiveresearch and prepared
areport on preparing people for
college who do not score well on
SATs. A report on which Gover
nor Zell Miller himself had com
mented. Yet the Richmond Coun
ty Board of Education ignored it.
“He spent ajot of time on that
project,” said committee mem
ber Mrs. Jenkins.
Mr. Hunt turned to look at
each Board memberin turn, sym
pathizing with the pressures
they are under. “Here’s a group
over here that can take some of
that pressure off of you,” he said.
“We want the ball.”
The trustees were full of sug
gestions, such as making a place
on the monthly agenda for advi
sory committee concerns, and
receiving verbal reports on a
quarterly basis. At the podium,
Mr. Echols promised to start us
ing the committee more, and said
he appreciated what he had
heard that night. Then he intro
duced his neighbor Sue
Burmeister, presidentofthe PTA
Council.
The PTA’s gripe, she said, is
that, after six months, there is
still no superintendent.
PTA representative Eileen
Faucette agreed. “People have a
sense that they do not know
what’s coming next,” she said.
“Give people something so they
feel some progress will be made.”
But School Board Vice Presi
dent Andrew Jefferson feels that,
in spite of the superintendent
stalemate, the Board has been
doing its job.
“We haven’t missed a beat,” he
insisted. “We have people in place
doing the job. ... We are trying to
come together.”
“Not a day goes by,” he said
when the Board members are
not talking to each other about
the superintendent standstill.
But the bottom line, he said, is
that “the kids are getting to
school and the lessons are being
taught.”
“The problem is,” said a gen
tleman in the back, “that we've
See SCHOOLBOARD, page 9
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