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CITY COUNCILMAN SAYS:
It looks had!
City council divided on pension for itself
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
“Hell no,”blurted Augusta City
Councilman Travers Paine Mon
day duringaroll call vete on wheth
er he and other elected city offi
cials should receive a pension.
Although not as crudely expres
sive, many people shared Mr.
Paine’s anger at the thought of
part-time politicians getting paid
forthe rest oftheir lives at taxpay
ers’ expense.
“‘My understanding is there’s
still a cost to the city, and there
might still be a cost to the new
government. Forthatreasonthere
is just no way I could support
this,” said Councilman Gerald
Woods.
If six council members have it
their way, they will start getting
paid immediately after their posi
tions expire in less than 30 days
for the new government to take
over.
Council members Margaret
Armstrong, Kathleen Beasley,
James Tarver, Oscar Baker,
Carolyn Usry and C.S. Hamilton
are old enough and have served
enough years to benefit from the
pension.
They cast the six ‘yes’ votes for
the ordinance that would cost tax
payers approximately $37,000 the
firstyearand possibly justasmuch
forthe next 10 years. Costsforthe
following years depend con factors
such as how long participantslive.
Mayor Charles A. DeVaney,
Councilman William Calhoun, Mr.
Paine and Mr. Woods opposed the
ordinance, while members Colis
Ivey and J.R. Hatney abstained
from voting. Councilman Lee
Beard was absent.
If for no other reason, opposing
councilmen say the measure
should fail for the sake of appear
ances.
“It just looks bad. We are going
out of office, and we have no busi
ness doing this kind of thing that
strikes at the heart of what people
believe about elected officials,” said
Mr. Woods.
“We have nobusiness going out
there trying to ask for something
How the city council voted
Proposed ordinance permit
ting city council members to
receive a pension.
YES
Margaret Armstrong
Kathleen Beasley
James Tarver
Oscar Baker
Carolyn Usry
C.S. Hamilton
that we don’t need. We shouldn’t
have come down here to get a
retirement after we leave this of
fice,” Mr. Woods said, adding that
local elected officials’ work should
be strictly voluntary.
Mr. DeVaney echoed Mr. Woods’
comments about the unfavorable
perception.
“I don't think it sends the mes
sage that ought to be sent. I think
it looks like it’s a raid on the trea
sury,” said Mr. DeVaney, adding
that it wouldn’t look as bad if the
city weren'’t going out of business
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DeVaney: “It
looks like a
raid on the
treasury.”
tions were when they took office,
they would have considered this
NO
Travers Paine
Gerald Woods
William Calhoun
ABSTAIN
J.R. Hatney
Colis lvey
ABSENT
Lee Beard
to be unacceptable. They would
have never done this, and if any
body else had done this, they would
have been hollering very, very
loudly against it,” he said.
But the pension-seeking coun
cil members say they’re not being
greedy.
Asked why she was deserving
ofa pension, Ms. Beasley respond
ed, “Because it’s legal, because
there are other cities that have it,
and why not?”
Mr. Baker said as long as coun
cil members are willing to pay
their share into the pension fund,
“I don’t see anything wrong with
it.”
Ms. Armstrong, who said she
puts in full-time hours, said they
should get paid for the rest of their
lives because other politicians,
including the president, get bene
fits while “the bulk of the work is
done on the back of the local elect
ed officials.”
Even if the measure passes af
ter its required second vote Dec.
18 during council’s last meeting
— which is unlikely because of
Mr. DeVaney’s threat to veto —
it’s uncertain whether council
members on the plan will actually
gain anything.
The plan calls for council mem
bers with at least five years of
service to pay 3.5 percent of their
$6,042 annual pay for each year
served since 1987, plus interest.
“Ifthey look at it, it will not be a
financial benefit. It will cost them
more money than they’ll get out of
it,” Mr. Woods said.
Although council members had
suggested paying most of the pre
mium cost out of their own pock
ets, accordingtoActing City Comp
troller Mary Grady, the Georgia
Municipal Association, which ad
ministers the plan, prohibits pen
sioners from contributing more
than half of the cost, leaving the
government to pay uncovered fees.
Onlooker John Godfrey ad
dressed council members.
“Whatever you do right, we'll
remember for a little while; what
you do wrong, we'll remember for
a long, long time,” said Mr.
Godfrey.
at year’s end.
Mr. DeVaney
said suchamove
only solidifies
the public’sneg
ative image of
politicians, and
he urged recon
sideration.
“I'really think
that if they go
back to what
their motiva-
AUGUSTA FOCUS December 7, 1995
i COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Local housing rehab
benefits from public
private partnerships
'MW Richmond County
'Department exceeds
'state average in form
'ing partnerships with
'local banks.
e
\ By Rhonda Y. Maree
| AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
{' AUGUSTA
. ‘Partnerships’is the buzz word
| for business progress, and the
' Richmond County Economic De
. velopment Department’s perfor
' mance shows it knows how to
make them work.
| Economic Development Direc
| tor Keven Mack received the Best
| Public/Private Partnership
' Award Tuesday from the Geor
gia Housing and Finance Author
ity.
Mr. Mack and his staff were
chosen for the honor because of
their impressive ability to win
money from local banks in their
effort to upgrade area housing.
For every dollar that GHFA
invested, Mr. Mack’s department
“attracted 45 cents from the pri
vate sector. This nearly doubles
| the statewide average of 26 per
cent for other participating coun
| ties.
: “'m here to do basically one
| thing and that istotell you some
| thing that you probably already
l know: Your Economic Develop
‘ment Department, under the
| leadership of Keven Mack, does
Lan outstandingjob...,” GHFArep
! resentative Irvin Mitchell told
| the Richmond County Board of
Commissioners during the award
presentation.
Mr. Mitchell stressed the im
portance of building financial
relationships between govern
ment and private businesses.
“We think that’s particularly
important because the partner
ships between public and pri
vate sectors are the things that
are going to carry us through
and make our operation that
much more efficient,” Mr.
Mitchell said.
Mr. Mack agreed on the signif
icance of such partnerships.
“Any economic development
department should have a mar
riage with the private sector to
get this community the way we
need to get it,” he said.
Mr. Mack said the merger of
city and county governments
should help make this possible
by creating a common goal for
the new Augusta-Richmond
County.
“Hopefully they (elected offi
cials) will settle their differences
and concentrate on the develop
ment and improvement of the
community,” he said.
Mr. Mack thanked commis
sioners “for having the foresight
to get into the business of help
ing people who are less fortunate
to have safe, decent and sanitary
houses.”
In only its second year of giv
ing such awards, GHFA has rec
ognized Mr. Mack’s department
twice. They were awarded last
year for outstanding achieve
ment. The department closed 19
loans and had banks leverage
$35,000 in 1994,