District attorney takes it on the chin

District Attorney Danny Craig thought he was being invited to last week's Augusta Commission meeting to discuss the purchase of a new car for the district attorney's office, but when he got there, he found himself under attack.

Commissioner Betty Beard said justice in Augusta is not always blind, citing treatment she said she and her late husband, Commissioner Lee Beard, endured during a three-year special grand jury investigation.

Mrs. Beard accused Mr. Craig of destroying former Augusta Fire Chief Ronnie Few with alleged criminal charges that have not yet materialized. (Never mind that Mr. Few left Augusta to become the Washington fire chief and resigned after it was discovered parts of his resume were fabricated, including a college degree he didn't earn and an award he didn't win.)

Mrs. Beard and Commissioners Willie Mays and Marion Williams want the same focus put on an investigation into alleged double billing by a company that ran the city garage several years ago as was put on the grand jury investigation that produced 10 presentments critical of commissioners and city government.

Mr. Craig explained repeatedly that he's barred by law from discussing grand jury proceedings, which made the trio scoff. Mr. Mays said if they were being investigated, everybody would be blabbing about it.

Mr. Craig just had to stand there and take it on the chin, although we know he could have said a lot. Payback is hell.

RX FOR BRAINS: Later in the meeting, Mr. Williams scrutinized the district attorney's request for a Ford Crown Victoria and suggested buying a cheaper compact car unless the investigator who would be driving it presented a doctor's statement saying he couldn't use a compact.

When told a larger vehicle is needed for the district attorney's investigators because they often transport people, Mr. Williams withdrew his complaint.

EAST VS. WEST: A discussion about boarded-up inner-city houses at the meeting spurred a disagreement between Mrs. Beard and Commissioner Don Grantham.

It began when Mr. Williams asked for a new city ordinance to allow the city to take over boarded-up houses if they've been abandoned for more than 12 months.

Mrs. Beard, who represents areas where abandoned houses are a problem, said commissioners should consider allocating money to have some of them renovated.

"It would be a nice gesture for the city of Augusta," she said.

Mr. Grantham, who represents districts on the west side, quickly said such a move wouldn't be so nice for the city's finances.

"We're going to get to a point that Santa Claus won't keep coming," he said.

Besides, he said, some owners of abandoned properties are probably hoping the city takes such an approach.

"The only reason they're paying taxes is they think we're going to do just what we're talking about - bail them out."

EGGS BENEDICT MADDOX: Former Augusta Fire Chief Bill Maddox, who fought in World War II and Korea, now fights with Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center management and his colleagues on the Coliseum Authority board.

His latest salvo was aimed at the free "Waldorf Astoria-style" breakfast authority members enjoy after their meetings.

"Some of them wouldn't even come to the meetings if they didn't have breakfast," Mr. Maddox said as he was leaving the last meeting, Danish in hand. He said the meeting ended when one member said, "Let's adjourn the meeting; the eggs are getting cold."

When asked about the Danish he was holding, Mr. Maddox said it was the first time he has taken anything from the breakfast buffet.

IF THE BOOTS FIT: City Ink inquired once about the cost of the authority breakfasts and was told they were donated by the civic center's caterer, which brought to mind the story of the salesman who returned from a trip wearing an expensive pair of leather boots. When he turned in his expense account, his boss studied it for the longest time, frowning all the while. Finally, the salesman asked him what was wrong, and the boss said, "I know those boots are in here somewhere. I just can't find them."

WHIP ME UP ONE OF THOSE PIA COLADAS: Richmond County Democratic Party Chairman Lowell Greenbaum will be up early and late this week in his official capacity as whip of the Georgia delegation at the Democratic National Convention. He doesn't know exactly what a whip does yet but assumes one job will be "to get the delegates out of the bars to vote."

THE WINNER TAKES ALL: Adding insult to injury for anti-Martha Burkites in Augusta is the cruel fact that they'll be paying her legal bills - about $150,000, in addition to $53,000 to the city's counselors, Burnside, Wall, Daniel, Ellison & Revell, for their appellate court work.

Ms. Burk, who was denied permission to protest outside the main entrance of Augusta National Golf Club during the 2003 Masters Tournament, appealed U.S. District Court Judge Dudley Bowen Jr.'s decision that the city's protest ordinance was constitutional. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Ms. Burk.

The city then appealed to the full 11th Circuit Court, which agreed with the three-judge panel. So now it's pay up or try to take it to a higher authority, the U.S. Supreme Court, an unlikely scenario.

Ms. Burk says Augusta National Golf Club should be paying the bills because it wasn't acting to protect people but "to protect the Augusta National Golf Club from embarrassment."

UNDERTAKING THE LAW INTO HIS OWN HANDS: Two young punks stole Mr. Mays' SUV from his funeral home on Ninth Street recently. Mr. Mays located the vehicle and the thieves a few blocks away, just as a sheriff's deputy was driving away after warning them to move the vehicle because it was blocking the road.

Mr. Mays chased the deputy down and told him the vehicle he had just left had been stolen.

The deputy and Mr. Mays whirled around and sped back, but as they approached, the thieves escaped. But they'd better not come back to the neighborhood - ever. Mr. Mays got a good look at one of them, and he has a photographic memory.

City Ink thanks staff writers Preston Sparks and Greg Rickabaugh for contributions to this week's column.

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.