Newspaper Page Text
Fryer decries legal “harassment”
Sheriff’s candidate
dogged over qualifying
fingerprints.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
If Bill McCracken has his way,
Woodrow Fryer will be stricken
from the list of candidates vying
to get Sheriff Charlie Webster’s
job. Fryer wants to know why
McCracken is so enamored with
having him disqualified from be
ing considered as Richmond
County’s top cop.
Although McCracken presented
a May 12 challenge to the Rich
mond County Board of Elections
and claimed that Fryer’s finger
prints were invalid due to a dead
line miscue, the board concluded
that Fryer’s fingerprints were
valid — based on the candidate’s
interpretation ofthe Georgia Elec
tions Code.
McCracken said he initiated a
June 1 hearing to appeal the
board’s decision because he con
2002 Georgia Games may bring economic,
social impact back to Augusta leaders say
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
More than 10,000 of the most
athletic people in Georgia
flocked to the Augusta arealast
year at this time, turning the
city into an expanded sports
arena for everything from ar
chery to track and field, during
the ninth annual Georgia
Games.
Now, Augusta is one step
closer to repeating the same
economic and social success of
the‘99 gamesin 2002, local lead
ers say.
“Thisis something thatisvery
significant to our community,”
Sen. Charles Walker (D-Au
gusta) said, Juring a May 26
press conference about the
games. “The last time it was
held outside of Atlantaithad an
economic impact of about $3.5
million on the city of Augusta.”
Fire chiefs
From page one
ing at the forefront. In keeping with
the standards that are put before
them, education has become the fo
cal point of their existence. The
theme ofthe conferenceis “Flames of
Excellence ... A Fire that is Never
Extinguished.” The objective of this
conference is to ignite that burning
desire for continuing education.
Speakers addressing the confer
ence will include:
- A.D. Bell, assistant fire chief of
Technical Services, Fulton County
Fire Department.
- Kenneth O. Burris Jr., chiefoper
ating officer of the U.S. Fire Admin
istration.
- Dennis Compton, fire chief, Mesa
Arizona Fire Department.
- Mel Cosgrove, fire code analyst,
Southern Building Code Congress.
- Robert L: Demmons, fire chief,
San Francisco Fire Department.
- Dr. Carl Holmes, CEO of Holmes
& Associations, retired chiefof Okla
homa City Fire Department.
- Eric Robinson, fire inspector, Ft.
Walton Beach Fire Department.
A highlight of the conference will
be the Fire Department Parade on
Broad Street on Saturday, June 3,
beginning 11 a.m. The parade will
have fire engines, ambulances and
other new and antique emergency
equipment from around the South
east starting at Sixth Street and
ending at 13" Street near Curtis
Baptist. Clownsanddalmatianswill
also be featured.
siders the earlier decision on be
half of Fryer as a “political deci
sion by a non-political body.”
McCracken, who is a local at
torney, called the board’s first
decision to maintain Fryer’s can
didacy status as “180 degrees
wrong,” adding, “I'll point out that
Fryer neverread the Georgia Code
and he should not be acandidate,”
he said.
Fryer, Ronald Strength and
Elmer R. Singley are the three
Democratic Sheriff’s candidates.
Leon Garvin is the lone Republi
can hopeful. The Sheriff’s primary
race is set for Tuesday, July 18.
A Burke County native who
currently works in Fire Protec
tion at the Savannah River Site,
Fryer said he’s unclear why
McCracken wants to derail his
campaign. “I'd like to know why
he’s checking me out and not any
one else. A blind man can see he’s
for Ronnie Strength. Why doesn’t
he want the people to decide who
they want? Let the Democratic
process work,” said Fryer.
But McCracken discounts
Fryer’s support Strength theory.
“That’s his opinion. It’s obvious
I'm not supporting him (Fryer),
Abit Massey, chairman of the
Georgia State Games Commission,
agreed to waive the $50,000 bid fee
for Augusta, and said he will rec
ommend the commission choose
Augusta to host the 2002 games.
“Last year’s games were the best
gamesin the history of this cham
pionship,” Nick Gailey, founder
of the games and executive direc
tor of the state games commis
sion, said. “It managed to connect
to the people of Augusta in a very
personal way, and brought every
one together. It’s the leadership
of Augusta that did that.”
Because of last summer’s un
matched success, the chances of
Augusta winning the bid again
are strong, Gailey said.
“There are a couple of things
that still need to be finalized, but
Augusta’s chances look very good
at this point,” he added.
The Georgia Games are the larg
eststatewide athleticcompetition
in the country, and rival only the
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but I'll vote for somebody,” said
McCracken. In response to why
he even considered challenging
Fryer’s fingerprint status in the
first place, McCracken said, “I had
talked to a lot of different people
and it (the information)just came
out.” He also said he’s not chal
lenging Fryer’s status in his offi
cial (attorney) capacity but as “Bill
McCracken —thecitizen.” He also
said he doesn’t have a personal
vendetta against Fryer. “I wish
Mr. Fryer well,buthehasn’ttaken
this seriously. He’s not ready to
be Sheriff,” said McCracken.
Fryer said the hearings have
stalled his campaign momentum
and caused him to postpone the
printing of campaign posters,
bumper stickers and other pro
motional paraphernalia. “It’s cost
ing me money. I call it harass
ment. Where are the black lead
ers in Augusta? Why aren’t they
questioning this?” asked the
former Richmond County Sheriff’s
Department deputy. Fryer also
said the hearings are “a waste of
taxpayer moneybecause the board
is using the services of the county
attorney (Jim Wall)” in defense of
McCracken’s actions. “There are
Olympics in number of sporting
events and athletes who partici
pate. The statewide champion
ships have hosted an average of
about 12,000 competitors in 43
different events, while the larg
est Olympic competition in his
tory had only 10,500 athletes in
36 different divisions, according
to Gailey.
But bidding for the Georgia
Games is just as competitive.
Interested cities send a letter of
interest to the state commission.
The commission sends back a
booklet with specific requirements
on everything from finance to
medical preparedness and other
infrastructure requirements.
So far, Augusta is the only city
that has hosted the games be
sides Atlanta, since its founding
10 years ago.
“Nocityoutside Atlantahasever
bid on this besides Augusta,”
Gailey said. “It’s a very intensive
program, many have sent in let
Finish My Bachelor’s Degrée
some old people in Augusta, and
they aren’t all white, who don’t
want to see a young black man
make some changes here. Before,
McCracken was against me. Now,
he’sagainst the entireboard,” said
the 37-year-old Fryer.
Lynn Bailey, executive director
of the Richmond County Board of
Elections, said statewide,
McCracken is not alone in his
challenging of a candidate. “It’s
been happening all over the state
this year,” said Bailey. A spokes
person with the Georgia Secre
tary of State’s office in Atlanta,
said 22 candidates were chal
lenged in state-level races prior to
upcoming primaries and over half
have already dropped out of con
tention, the spokesperson said.
Earlier this month in Warren
County, Sheriff’s candidate Ken
neth Tarver was disqualified af
ter a judge ruled Tarver was not
legally fingerprinted prior to the
qualifyingdeadline. The state has
nojurisdiction over county offices,
the state spokesperson said.
Bailey said McCracken’s appeal
of the board’s initial decision for
Fryer was unprecedented.
ters or requested information,
but Augusta is the only one that
has stepped up to the plate and
run with it.”
During previous years it was
agiven that Atlanta would host
the games since it donates more
than 90 percent of the game’s
sponsorship dollars, according
to Gailey.
“The games werenot only held
in the city of Atlanta, but in
outlying towns of the Atlanta
metropolitan area,” he added.
“But the unity seen during last
year’s games prove that it can
be held successfully outside of
Atlanta.”
Though more than 3,600 vol
unteers from Augusta came to
gether to make the games work
last year, local political leaders
deserve most of the credit for
putting Augusta on the map as
a city capable of hosting the
event, leaders from the Greater
Augusta Sports Council, said.
Voorhees College
Organizational Management Program
802 East Martintown Rd.
North Augusta; SC 29841
AUGUSTA FOCUS
City nixes request
for biz loan relief from
small businessman
BPizzaria owner :
seeks relief from
payments on
$125,000 city loan.
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
After months of attempting to
get assistance from Richmond
County’s Housing and Neighbor
hood Development, a small busi
ness owner went before the county
commission, not for assistance,
but to make public the
department’s “lack of support.”
Andrew Garnett, owner of
Buck’s Pizza, and former owner of
Baldino’s sub shop, lodged a com
plaint against HND for refusing
to give him a moratorium on a
$125,000 loan he made from the
city’s UDAG (Urban Development
Action Grant) funds.
But HND directors claim that
Garnettis 10 payments behind on
his loan, and refuses to submit
the information requested in or
der for the agency to decide if a
moratorium — which would give
him a payment free grace period
— is necessary.
But during this week’s admin
istrative services committee meet
ing, Garnett claimed to have sub
mitted all the requested docu
ments to HND several times over.
Agentswithin HND also gave him
contradictory information, telling
him he needed different informa
tion every time he called, Garnett
said.
“Ididn’t really want this to come
out in a public manner, but in
order to get anything done about
this it seems like I had to,” he
added. “I have given them every
thing they are asking for and I
don’t think I should have togiveit
to them again.”
HND case workers say that all
of the information Garnett sub
mitted was either incorrect or in
complete and that it is impossible
for them to process his request
without completed versions.
“What Garnett said during the
[administrative] meeting was sim
ply not true,”an HND worker, who
wished to remain nameless, said.
Garnett received the loan from
aremaining $7.5 million Housing
JUNE 1, 2000
L o
and Urban Development grant,
given to the city. The grant was
originally used to build the;
Riverwalk, along with other ma-,
jor downtown projects. The re-,
mainder was set aside to provigi_‘es
“gap fund” loans for small busi-;
nesses who may have trouble get--
ting smaller loans from banks to
tidethem over for acontract, Mack:
said. 1
“We have no reason to say that.
Mr. Garnett submitted informa
tion if he didn’t, and we have ng
reason to deny him a moratorium
if he deserves one,” he added.
Garnett was one of three mi+
nority business owners to borrow?
money from the fund, but instead!
of giving him a “gap fund” loan;
they gave him a collateral based!
loan for the full amount. .
Since then Garnett has lost one
of his restaurants, and is having
trouble paying off the loan withe
revenues from the other, but res
fuses to give the county detailed
financial statements, receipts or
accountinformation, all necessary
for the granting of a moratoriumg
HND administrators said. {
However, instead of asking son
action against HND from the com,
mission, Garnett came to them }i
seeking “any kind of help the
could give.” .
“I'm not really requesting any-i
--thingfromyou,” Garnettsaid, when{
asked what he wanted from the!
commission. “Iwouldn’teven know)
where to begin. Ijust want you tor
know what’s been going on.” %
But Garnett’s attempt to exs
pose the actions of HND was lost
on most within the county who'
were looking for a way to resolve !
the issue. t
“You need to come to us with a;
plan if you are expecting to get;i
help,” Oliver said. “If you're a:
businessman you should have a;
plan of where you want to be in
three months, in six months and :
have some idea of what you need .
in order to get there.” {
Commissioners voted that!
Garnett gather all the informa-!
tion requested from HND and;
present it to the department’s!
Citizens Advisory Committee ]|
within six weeks. !
The committee will decide if a’
moratorium is appropriate, and:
pass their decision on to the full!
commission. = :
: gHH ; " Call Today!
803.279-6174
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