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LROISEAROR TR SFCHICIANS,. .0 " eST
Banks must do more for development
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‘State Senator Diane Harvey Johnson and State Representa
tive Tom Sherrill field questions at a hearing on economic
development.on Monday.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
’AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
e O R
AUGUSTA
Despite claims by many banks
:Mayor pro tempore position
‘From page one .
* government, said although oth
“ers such as Commissioner Willie
"' Mays have been considered, Mr.
“Handy's chances are best.
“He’s the vice-chairman now
"' and I think people are looking to
“him for leadership. I think he’s
~'going to have the votes to get the
‘job,” Mr. Beard said.
. If Mr. Handy’s colleagues do
“give him their approval,it'llland
Sthe commissioner, whose career
“has been marked by ethics viola
“tions and accusations of incom
" petence, in a position of power.
Many agree he’ll be more pow
erful than the mayor-chairman,
whose role is largely ceremoni
ous by design.
-~ “I'think it’s going to be a very,
important position. To me, it’s
almost a full-time job, and I think
- whoever takes it should under
- stand that,” Mr. Beard said.
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¢ %§* R | fA :g s 4 ‘B 2 g
12-oz. cans (Limit 4 Please with Purchases 3 S % 57, e-’ e TN .
of 10.00 or More, Excluding All Tobacco 2 R o i & w 2
and -Lottery Items.) Over Limit 2.89 3 4 ) : .
¥ i h,‘ = '.r.v“_;‘:: ~ pUb"x@
TeR e 3
- Surprisingly Low Prices! s
MEAT
s ’
Hamilton's Smoked Ham . ~L 1
Whole, Fully Cooked, Special Trim, Easy Kar,
33 1/3 Lower Salt (No Center Slices Removed,
Full Butt Ha1f...1b.1.39 or Full Shank Ha1f...1b.1.29)
Publix Young Turkey ... ... u,..69
Broad Breasted, Self-Basting, Broth Basted,
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10-Ibs. and up
“We will never knowingly disappoint you.
PUB“X If for any reason your purchase does not
give you complete satisfaction, the full
LIS purchase price will be cheerfiuly refunded
immediately upon request.”
Prices Effective thru.Sunday, December 24, 1995. In your North Augusta Plaza, National Plaza, Evans Towne Centre, Fury’s Ferry Plaza and Eastgate Shopping Center Publix Locations Only. Quantity Rights Reserved.
that they are striving to boost
black business growth, they're
not doing enough, said a Georgia
state legislator at a recent hear
ing on economic development.
“Those are lies. They haven’t
spent it and have no intentions
According to the consolidation
bill, the mayor vice-chairman,
restricted to a two-year term,
remains a full voting member of
the body. The mayor-chairman
can vote only to break or make a
tie.
As for committee appoint
ments, the mayor-chairman and
mayor vice-chairman will make
them jointly. If the two disagree
on a proposed appointment, the
commission-council will decide.
Unlike the mayor-chairman,
however, the mayor vice-chair
man still has a deciding vote on
the appointment.
“The chairperson-mayor shall
not have the right to vote on the
appointment of any member to a
committee. The chairperson
mayor shall not be a voting mem
ber of any committee established
by the commission-council and
appointed by the vice chairper
son-mayor protempore,” the con
solidation bill reads.
Publix
Honey-KutHam...... ... 117.2.19
Spiral Sliced, Whole or Shank (Butt Ha1f...1b.2.99)
*al?
Mrs. Smith's
Fam11y5ueP1e.................|.99
Frozen, Pumpkin Custard,
Hearty Pumpkin, Apple, Dutch Apple ,
Crumb or Cherry, 37-oz. pkg.
Save up to .70
LLocalNews
of spending it. Those are just
lies,” said Sen. Diane Harvey
Johnson of money banks have
boasted of putting in the black
community.
“Is there a bank (in Augusta)
that has the image of the one
that supports the black commu
nity?” Ms. Johnson asked of a
local businessman, whose answer
confirmed her criticism.
“In my experiences, no. There
hasn’t been overwhelming sup
port in the black community so
far as business growth and de
velopment in the minority com
munity to spur and grow black
businesses. Ican justflat out say
no,” said Mr. Calloway, presi
dent of Southeastern Security
Systems Inc. who said one of
black business owners’ biggest
obstaclesis limited access to cap-
With so much power vested in
the mayor vice-chairman, many
commissioners, as well as some
state legislators, are pushing for
a gentlemen’s agreement guar
anteeing a sharing of power
among the races. The 11-man
commission-council has five
blacks and 6 whites, including
newly elected mayor-chairman
Mr. Sconyers.
“It is my understanding that
there’s a gentlemen’s agreement
that if the mayor-chairman is
white, the mayor-pro tem will be
black so that all segments of the
community will feel part of the
new government,” said Sen.
Charles Walker, D-Augusta, a
member of the Consolidation
Task Force.
Mr. Powell said an agreement
similar to one observed in the
county is likely to ensure fair
representation.
“It hasn’t been committed to,
but it has been discussed, and I
ital and credit.
Ms. Johnson encouraged the
audience to be more selective of
banks they do business with and
suggested that blacks unite to
“adopt”abank. This would make
excluded banks feel the power of
the black dollar, Ms. Johnson
said.
The Monday afternoon infor
mal talk at Lucy C. Laney Muse
um of Black History was the third
of five forums scheduled by the
state Task Force on Community
Business Development, co
chaired by Sen. Charles Walker,
D-Augusta.
Created by this year’s General
Assembly, the task force’s pur
pose is to explore ways in which
the state can more aggressively
See DEVELOPMENT, page 16
have no problem with rotating,”
Mr. Powell said.
Although he said he hasn’t
talked with anyone else about a
gentlemen’s agreement, Mr.
Beard said the informal arrange
ment probably will be made.
“Wehaven’t discussed that, but
I think it’s just one of those un
written agreements in which, if
the top person is white, then the
second person will be African-
American,” he said.
Rob Zetterberg, whobeat long
time incumbent Lee Neel for a
seat on the consolidated govern
ment, said he hopes the mayor
vice-chairman’s job isn’t as im
portant as others want it to be,
which would eliminate the need
to guarantee a two-year rotation
between races.
“I'm not too sure that it’s im
portant that it be distributed be
tween races at all if it was a non
power job,” Mr. Zetterberg said.
GROCERY
Publix
Cranberry Sauce ... 2/1.00
Jellied or Whole Berry, 16-oz. cans (Limit 4 Please
with Purchases of 10.00 or More, Excluding All
Tobacco and Lottery Items.) Save .29
Del Monte Vegetables . L/1.00
Regular or No Salt Added Sweet Peas,
Summer Crisp Golden Sweet Corn, Whole Kernel
No Salt Added or Family Style Golden Sweet Corn,
Cream Style Golden Sweet Corn, French Style or
Cut Blue Lake Green Beans, Cut No Salt Added
Blue Lake Green Beans or French Style No Salt
Added Green Beans, 11 to 15.25-oz. cans
AUGUSTA FOCUS December 14, 1995
Chronicle siege
From page one
Sme i N S
of the abuses with which The
Chronicle occupies itself. Mr.
Morris and his stooge Mr. Kent
seem bent on controlling as many
aspects of the area’s political life
as they can get away with. Why is
it that they feel they must hand
pick every elected official? Those
elected officials that are not their
first choices soon find themselves
under constant pressure to capit
ulate or face the consequences. It
is no idle speculation that The
Chronicle sets out to destroy peo
ple and then brags about it. If
anyonesincerely doubts that state
ment, let them talk candidly with
any businessperson, white or
black, any agency head, white or
black, or any politician, white or
black. Most will tell you that it is
notworth tryingtobuck thetrend.
Look at what happened when,
recently, The Chronicle went af
ter Rep. Jack Connell over his
stance in the civic center squab
ble. Mr. Connell was subjected to
a blistering assault on his charac
ter, business dealings and legisla
tive reputation, merely for not
dancing to The Augusta Chroni
cle’s tune.
Is it any wonder that qualified
citizensarereluctant toenter pub
lic life and risk being subjected to
the tyrannical whims of Mr. Morris
and his posse? When Mr. Morris
wants something done, he attacks.
Look at the Richmond County
School Board. The Chronicle has
done everything in its power to
bully, intimidate, ridicule or oth
erwise harrassthe fiveblack trust
ees who dared to tell them to go fly
akite. When The Chronicle hench
men cannot get their way by play
ing by the rules, they attempt to
get the rules changed.
Why else would they now be
pushingtoincrease the number of
schoolboard trustees from 10 to
11? The only thing that prevents
Augustans from having The
Chronicle selections rammed
DAIRY
Publix Large
WhlteE}gs‘fl
Grade A, dozen (Limit 4 Please with
Purchases of 10.00 or More, Excluding
All Tobacco and Lottery Items.)
Over Limit .79
PRODUCE
Tangerme5................|2/|."9
The Perfect Stocking Stuffer,
each Save .50
down their throats is Senator
Charles Walker, who has already
told Mr. Morris and Mr. Kent to
Jjump in the lake.
Although they would be terri
fied to say so publicly, there are
many, many people in the major
ity business community who are
very much dissatisfied with The
Augusta Chronicle and its leader
ship. They speak of it in private
conversation.
How is it that such a large and
independent group of business
owners could be cowed in such a
fashion?
Some suggest that the very at
tempt to organize and exercise
some leverage against the abuses
of the daily paper would call too
much attention to itself. Potential
organizers risk isolation and re
taliation. As one business owner
put it, “A couple of negative arti
cles on my company as a result of
my activities, and I am out of
here.”
It is that attitude coupled with
the lack of local corporate clout
that has depleted this community
of substantive across-the-board
leadership.
Eventhelocal Chamber of Com
merce is powerless against Mr.
Morris and the excesses of his
newspaper.
“The Chronicle can destroy the
Chamber in a matter of days if we
goonarampage,”a source close to
the Chamber tells us.
This fearissoprevalent that the
Chamber will not even adopt an
agenda that does not first get re
viewed by The Chronicle. If they
want Mr. Morris’ support they
have to jump through the appro
priate hoops at the appropriate
times.
The Chronicle should be ap
plauded when it stimulates public
debate. It should, likewise, be crit
icized when it stifles public de
bate. When citizens are afraid to
speak and act freely for fear of
retaliation from a news organiza
tion, we are moving in the wrong
direction.
3