Last week's Augusta Commission meeting was filled with derision, division, schism and decision. Not to mention walkouts.

And dreams.

City Administrator Fred Russell dreamed of money, lots of money, from a $1 hotel tax that would fix up the inner city and pay for the maintenance and operation of the proposed trade, exhibit and event center on Reynolds Street next to the Marriott Hotel & Suites.

"And that's what I'm after," Mr. Russell said. "Until we get this motion to move forward today, we don't have that opportunity."

Commissioner Andy Cheek dreamed of a canal flowing down Ellis Street, bringing tourists by the boatload to the new Venice of the South. He made a PowerPoint presentation showing the canal flowing under the J.B. White store bridge, tourists under tents on verdant banks and the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. sign visible in the distance.

Andy is really into this, and the mayor finally had to call time on him so they could go ahead with the rest of the meeting.

THE ELLIS STREET OPTION: Some people think Mr. Cheek has flipped out with his Ellis Street Option. Others call him a visionary.

One who thinks he's flipped is Broad Street businesswoman Bonnie Ruben, whose hotel and department store back up to Ellis Street.

"This is bizarre," she said. "The whole thing. The Ellis Street Option. So a space station would be a nice option. It could hover above us and monitor traffic."

Anyhow, she already has a canal behind her hotel every time it rains.

When the city separated the storm drain from the sewerage eight years ago, they didn't put the pipes back together, she said.

"When it rains, we'll get 3 or 4 feet of water at our back loading dock. You can put your canal boat right over there. It would be nice if they fixed that. It would cost a lot less than $34 million," she said.

Mr. Cheek plans to hold three town hall meetings in coming weeks, the first one at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bernie Ward Community Center.

But I wonder who will push this if he moves to North Augusta, as he said he plans to do at the end of the year. Maybe Commissioner Joe Bowles, because he's so enthusiastic about it. And he is young enough to live to see it happen.

JAWS 2022: It's been 15 years since Andy presented the Ellis Street Option. He's since retired from Savannah River Site and runs Andy's Bait Shoppe at 12th and Ellis. Mayor Deke is still in office, though he keeps saying he's going to give it up, let his beard grow and go back to the quiet life as executive director of the Central Savannah River Land Trust. Sheriff Ronnie Strength, now the state's oldest sheriff, is also still around, though he says this will definitely be his last term.

The city is in crisis. A great white shark has been spotted in the Ellis Street canal, and some of the folks who fish along its banks with concrete blocks - plus a few winos - have disappeared. The last straw was when a Petersburg boat full of tourists disappeared and police later found chewed lumber and body parts.

A commission meeting during the summer of 2022 becomes heated during a discussion of what to do about the shark.

Mayor Deke and commissioners aren't prepared to make a connection between the shark and the missing persons, much less the Petersburg boat.

The sheriff has been called before the commission to answer for closing down the canal.

"Ronnie, you gonna shut down the canal on your own authority?"

"Well, what other authority do I need?"

"I'm only trying to say that Augusta is a summer town. We need summer dollars. If the people can't boat the canal here, they'll be glad to boat in Savannah, Charleston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City."

"That doesn't mean we have to serve them up as a smorgasbord," the sheriff says. "What else could have done that to those tourists?"

"Boat propeller." the mayor says.

Commissioners decide they just needed a bigger Petersburg boat.

BEFORE YOU STAGE A WALKOUT, COUNT TO SIX: Commissioners Marion Williams. J.R. Hatney, Calvin Holland and Bernard Harper each said they want a TEE center, which is short for trade, exhibit and event center. They just didn't like the way the latest proposal was presented Tuesday, which really means they couldn't think of any other excuse to reject it. They said they didn't know enough about it. Well, I can't imagine why not. They've been talking about it for years.

The first study was commissioned in 2001 and updated to the tune of $130,000 last year. The recommended site was and has continued to be on Reynolds Street. So now it's two years after the voters approved building a center in a sales tax referendum - not renovating the civic center, as Mr. Hatney proposed doing Tuesday.

So the latest proposal to implement a $1 hotel tax is expected to pay operation and maintenance costs with $750,000 a year left over to revitalize the inner city, with Mr. Williams' and Mr. Hatney's districts in the heart of it. You'd think they'd be happy. But no. After voting against the proposal Tuesday, they, Mr. Holland and Mr. Harper left the meeting, which left the six remaining commissioners free to do anything they wanted. So they brought the center proposal back up and approved it.

Afterward, Commissioner Don Grantham said, "We had 15 minutes of the smoothest conversation we've had in a long time."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Personally, I'd like to walk out the door myself, but I'm here for the duration, I guess."

- Mayor Deke Copenhaver as commissioners were walking out Tuesday

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The Augusta Housing Authority has finally taken the bull by the horns to empty out the Gilbert Manor housing project and make way for the expansion of the Medical College of Georgia. It probably would have been done sooner save for a few petty politicians worrying about losing voters in their districts and thereby jeopardizing the future of MCG. Remember the $20 million federal Hope VI grant they thumbed their noses at two years ago? It was such a farce! Politicians pretending to be so very concerned about the poor residents, who would actually be moved to much better accommodations.

Anyway, probably at the urging of city leaders who see the writing on the wall, which is the eventual loss of a big part of the medical college to the University of Georgia, the housing authority met with Gilbert Manor residents last week to let them know what's ahead.

Officials will be writing the Department of Housing and Urban Development in October to say that the housing authority is applying for disposition of the property. If HUD approves, which it almost certainly will, the authority will move the residents, either into Section 8 housing or other authority properties, such as Olmstead Apartments on Broad Street. Seniors will be moved to the Peabody Apartments. The authority will pay moving costs. There are 150 newly renovated units available at Olmstead and 60 units at Peabody.

HOPEFULS: People said to have voiced an interest in being appointed to the Augusta Judicial Circuit Superior Court judgeship being vacated by Judge Neal Dickert are Columbia County Chief Magistrate Judge Wade Padgett, District Attorney Danny Craig, State Court Judge Richard Slaby and Clay Stebbins of Warlick Tritt Stebbins & Hall.

Word is, some have towed the Republican line better than others.

City Ink thanks Staff Writer Johnny Edwards for his contribution to this week's column.