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Another Fine Mess: So, there's probaoly noth
ing anybody can do at this point about the
Local legislative delegation's completely
shameless structural reorganisation of
the Athehs-Clarice County government That
action is being taken in direct defiance of that
government—-as well as of two different do
zens' committees appointed by Mayor Nancy
Denson, neither of which was exactly stacked
to preserve the current structure.
It doesn't seem crazy to think that after
those two groups both recommended no dra
matic changes, the matter would have been
considered put to rest But such sanity would
fail to account for two unlikely bedfellows:
Doug McKillip and Keith Heard.
McKillip's craven motivations are well
known: he wants to show the massive
Republican majority in his newly customized
district that he's now seriously hostile to the
AtKens Democrats who once were his friends.
That district was crafted at the expense
of Oconee voters who liked their loyally
Republican county to be contained in one dis
trict as well as of Rep. Chuck Williams, whose
constituency will now be considerably less
Republican than the one that elected him.
That cynical self-serving strategy is no
surprise from McKillip, though it remains to
be seen whether it'll be enough for him to
overcome the blocs of disenfranchised Oconee
voters and crossing-over
Clarke Democrats when he
faces Regina Quick in the v
Republican primary. But he's
only pulling off his redis
tricting gambit thanks to
the cooperation of Keith
Heard, the only Democrat
in the Athens delegation,
who appears to be listening
to the contingent of local
African-American activists
who continue to oppose the
superdistricts.
That contingent does not
include Harry Sims or George
Maxwell, the two current
African-American commis
sioners, or John Jeffreys,
the former commissioner who chaired Denson's
superdistricts committee. But, it does include
the recently re-formed Athens NAACP chapter
and local attorney Ken Dious, who collabo
rated with McKillip on an earlier version of the
10-district map now under consideration—
and it appears Heard considers them to be
more important constituents. If Heard, like
Williams, had adamantly backed the expressed
wishes of ACCs elected officials—again,
including Sims and Maxwell—it's likely
Senators Bill Cowsert and Frank Ginn would
have sided with them, leaving McKillip out on
a raft by himself.. Heard's decision to cast his
own lot with McKillip in overriding the deci
sions of the local government is probably the
reason why we are where we are now.
All this screwing around with the com
mission districts will throw a wrench into our
local electoral process already, whether or
not the new map is in place for the July 31
election. That could be a tall order, inciden
tally, since it would require the U.S. Justice
Department to sign off on the new districts
before qualifying for local races begins May
23. Even if Governor Nathan Deal signs it into
law this week, it still has to be returned to
ACC and submitted to Justice, which could
take a couple of weeks. Justice then has 60
days to approve the redistricting, deny it or
ask the county for more information, in which
case even more time would be required. Given
the extreme and highly contested changes
being made to the local map, that seems a
likely scenario, and that would make it tough
to get the map approved before qualifying.
Meanwhile, only one non-incumbent—Ron
Winders in District 6—has announced for any
of the five commission races in July, which
could have something to do with the fact that
a lot of people who might consider running
don't know what district they'll live in when
the election rolls around. Two of the incum
bents of those seats, Harry Sims in District 2
and Ed Robinson in 6, won't seek re-election,
and this uncertainty isn't helping to bring
forth quality candidates for vetting by the
voters in those districts. Whose representation
does that improve?
Rush to Judgment: More than 40 national
companies have pulled their advertising from
Rush Limbaugh's popular radio show in the
wake of the host's recent controversial com
ments about women, sex and contraception.
The conservative talker, whom many regard’
as the intellectual leader of the Republican
Party, caused a firestorm when he assailed
Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke on the
air following her Capitol Hill testimony in
The Classic Center is undergoing seme highly disruptive renovations-
and so is the ACC government.
advocacy of insurance coverage for female
contraceptives. The rant, which extended
over three days, became an open attack on
birth control and female sexuality in general.
Unmentioned, and thus left innocent, were
men, whose pure and pious gametes make
contraception necessary.
AM talk radio station WGAU, the local car
rier of Limbaugh's show, has even begun to
bear some of the brunt of the advertising exo
dus. One local advertiser has moved its spots
from the Limbaugh time slot, while "a handful
of others have expressed dismay," says WGAU
Sales Manager Eric Lauer, who wouldn't name
the sponsor that removed its ads. Program
Director Matt Caesar reports that the station
has received phone calls and emails from lis
teners, but that number is low and includes
form letters provided by organizations. In
fact, Caesar reports that listening is actually
up since the controversy gained attention.
By the Mar. 9 show, a number of local
advertisers had remained loyal to Limbaugh,
including George Gibson's Menswear, Bone
Dry Roofing, Bee's Knees Bakery & Gifts, AAA
Sanitation and Bulldog Kia, whose spot fea
tures Barbara Dooley. [Matthew Pulver]
Dave Marr & Matthew Pulver news@flagpole.com
4 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH L4.20L2