Ask any Augusta commissioner if their decisions are made along racial lines, and they'll say no.
Ask the public, and a majority will say yes.
The truth is, at least on paper, the vast majority of decisions made by the 10-member group have broad support among the five white and five black commissioners.
An analysis of this year's 1,104 commission votes through November shows that 635 (58 percent) were approved without discussion as part of the board's consent agenda. Of the 469 that were discussed before action was taken, 390, or 83 percent, were passed or defeated by unanimous or majority vote.
The analysis of the commission's votes in 2004 show that isn't necessarily true. But, like most numbers, the vote tallies paint only part of the picture. They do not capture the racial overtones that arise during discussions about which commission districts government money will be spent on.
One such example came when commissioners were hammering out the fifth special purpose local option sales tax issue this fall. Commissioner Betty Beard, in making the case for the inner-city district she represents, said black districts in Augusta had always been neglected and black people didn't even get the 40 acres and a mule promised them. Augusta's race problem is not among commissioners but in the community at large, she said.
"I'm not a radical, but we have a lot of people in this community who have never visited the inner city," said Mrs. Beard, who is black. "They don't know what is there or what is taking place, how they live, their culture or anything. But we all live in this city, but it is important for us to come together and relate to each other if we're going to see improvement."
Commissioner Marion Williams, who is black and represents District 2, said the issue is not black versus white but right versus wrong.
"It's not a black-white thing," he said. "They want to put it on race, but it's not about race. It's the haves and have nots. And I represent most of the have nots, and I'm trying to get them to get some before it's all gone."
Mayor Bob Young, who seldom agrees with Mr. Williams on anything, does agree that the issues that divide the commission along racial lines involve power and resources.
"The election of the mayor pro tem is one," said Mr. Young, who is white. "It has always been if there's a white mayor you have a black mayor pro tem. That's an unwritten. So that shuts any white commissioner out from being mayor pro tem as long as there is a white mayor."
And on some commission policy issues concerning recreation, senior citizen or indigent issues there are differences because of race, the mayor said.
"African-American commissioners I have observed tend to have more interest in those type issues than white commissioners who are extremely involved in infrastructure and public safety issues," he said. "But that's not unique to Augusta. That's true in most urban cities. We're no different than any other urban center that is transitioning from a majority white to a majority African-American population."
The most recent census figures show Augusta's racial mix to be 51 percent black and 46 percent whi te.
Commissioner Don Grantham, who is white, said people see more of a racial problem from outside the commission than he does from within and that the public's perception is based on the board's racial m akeup.
"When you have equal representation based on race, what else can be expected?" he asked. "And that's the perception the people have. We have it already designed to have a racial tie. If it was not for that, I think the people would have a better perspective of what we do."
A review of other similar governments in the state shows that the consolidated Augusta government is unique in that it was designed to almost guarantee an equal number of black and white commissioners with a mayor with no vote, except in case of a tie, and no veto.
In Athens-Clarke County, which consolidated in 1990, the government, unlike Augusta, has a charter that was drawn up by a charter commissions of residents, not politicians. The mayor votes only in the case of a tie but does have a veto. There are eight white commissioners and two black commissioners, and there has been no racial disharmony, said former mayor Doc Eldridge, who is white and served from 1999 through 2003.
"That's from my perspective," he said. "If you asked someone else, someone from the minority community, they might have a different opinion."
The city of Savannah government is composed of four white council members and four black council members and a mayor who has a vote.
Mayor Otis Johnson, who is black, said the council has not had any issues that divided them "totally along racial lines" since he took office 11 months ago.
Before that, however, there were a couple of issues that did divide the commission, Mr. Johnson said.
"They weren't the kind that made permanent enemies, but when it came time to vote it was clear that the vote went down racial lines on some of the zoning issues and economic development issues," he said.
"I think that's to be expected. These people run in districts, and they have to be sensitive to the politics in their districts. But above and beyond that, they need to be sensitive to the community as a whole. Sometimes, people are more sensitive to their district's interests than to the interests of the greater good. On those kind of issues you may get polarization."
"Less than 1 percent of the time would race issues be brought up in discussions of the budget or any other public issues," he said. "If it was there, it was kept at a very low profile from public view. You would very rarely see the race card played. If I saw it 10 times in 17 years in public discussions I would say that was a lot."
Not so in Augusta though, he said. Here, it is a way of life, he said.
"Discrimination is discussed on an ongoing basis, compared to Savannah," he said.
And there was much diversity in Savannah, said Mr. Persaud, who is Indian.
"The budget was built on a uniform basis for the benefit of the community, not for one sector or one race. You do see that in Augusta. It's obvious. It's more common up here."
Dave Barbee, chairman of the Richmond County Human Relations Commission, couldn't agree more.
"I think Augusta has a race relations problem," he said. "The problem with Augusta, they will not admit it. It's like an alcoholic. It's like repenting of your sins. You have to admit it before you can heal it. And right now, no one, the minority and the white community will admit they have a race prob lem."
Mr. Barbee, the chairman of the Richmond County Republican Party, who is white, offered up several examples he sees fuel the public's perception of the commission.
For instance, he said, when commission discussions turn to the Augusta Museum of History, the first thing that "pops up" from the black commissioners is the Lucy Craft Laney Museum.
"When they talk about the Augusta Arts Council, then the first thing you hear about is the Augusta Mini Theater. That's where the racial divide shows up. The minority community perceives that the Augusta Museum as a white museum and the Lucy Craft Laney Museum is a black museum. You see the Augusta Arts Council perceived as a white arts thing, and you see the Augusta Mini Theater as a black theater."
And downtown Augusta is Laney - Walker Boulevard for black commissioners, not Broad Street, Mr. Barbee said.
"Whatever goes here has got to go there," he said. "If you fix Broad Street, you've got to fix Laney -Walker Boulevard. That's where the perception comes that there's a problem."
Mr. Williams said someone has to speak up for the residents living in the city's poorer districts, and it's time that they get a fair share of Augusta's economic pie.
"When you got folks in your district, black and white, who don't get the services they pay for," you're going to see a conflict, he said. "District 2 hasn't gotten nearly the stuff they should have since we consolidated (in 1996)."
NOTABLE QUOTES
What they say about the perception there is a racial divide on the Augusta Commission:
Mayor Bob Young:
"This is all a natural evolution of the community. Atlanta has been through it. Albany has been through it. Look around, you'll find cities everywhere that have been through it. Detroit. Philadelphia. So what you have is a new-found majority that has power that comes with that majority. And you have a new minority which is reluctant to yield power."
Commissioner Tommy Boyles:
"If you want me to be honest with you, I think the media causes most of it. "I've only seen three tie votes since I've been on the commission. Only one was along racial lines. That was the Martha Burke protest ordinance. The black commissioners voted against the protest ordinance. The white commissioners voted for it. The other tie votes were mixed. One was on the location of the judicial center where the mayor voted to break the tie."
Commissioner Betty Beard:
"With most minorities when they get a job, especially a pretty good job, you have many whites who are very happy about that, but you're always going to have one white, I would say, who thinks he's better and that he should have that job. So he's going to do everything he can to get that job. You may think this sounds crazy, but this is absolutely the truth. I think it stems from long ago. You tend to know how to come after us, but we don't tend to know how to go after you. So it's really something we don't do because we have always been able to take, no matter the situation, to take it and keep your mouth closed."
Commissioner Andy Cheek:
"I think I've built a bridge of trust between me and the black commissioners in that they've always helped me, and I've always helped them in that we've taken each other's issues to heart. The thing is there is still a lot of mistrust on both sides of the aisle and an immediate knee-jerk sometimes, as things come up, to view it from 'What are they trying to do?' or, 'Here they go again' instead of analyzing events and then trying to come together on a solution."
Commissioner Marion Williams:
"When a black commissioner stands up on an issue it's not a commission on an issue, it's a black issue, and the newspaper says, 'Commissioner Williams says blacks are not treated right.' Then the news media paints a picture to the public that I'm looking out for black folks. I look out for folks. I don't care what color you are."
Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.
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