Ronnie Few is a terribly divisive figure whose candidacy to be Augusta's mayor is damaging race relations. This was the big story coming out of his four-hour residency hearing Thursday, not the fact that the Richmond County Board of Elections voted 3-1 to keep the former fire chief on the mayoral ballot in November.

Whether the panel's ruling will prevail on appeal remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that a number of Few's supporters - and some of his detractors as well - conducted themselves as if they were at a Hugo Chavez rally in New York instead of at what was supposed to be a civilized hearing in a dignified courtroom setting.

Audible snickers and comments prompted board chairwoman Linda Beazley to call in more security and threaten to remove raucous attendees. Even so, a scuffle almost broke out when a woman implied that Joe Neal Sr. - attorney for the watchdog group challenging Few's residency - was a Ku Klux Klansman.

She later apologized and asked forgiveness, but the ugly incident demonstrated just how taut racial tensions were at that hearing.

If Few can generate such destructive racial passions as a candidate, imagine the ruin he could cause if he were elected mayor.

As Augusta's failed fire chief, he stirred much racial animosity. As mayor, he'd steamroll the city back to that awfully divisive era that progressives of all races hoped was well behind us.

Indeed, if Few really cares about the city - instead of his own ego-tripping political ambitions - he'd withdraw from the race and spare our community a lot of pain.

Despite his victory Thursday, Few may not be out of the residency woods yet. His counsel, Eleazer Carter, persuaded a board majority that his client actually lived at an Augusta address for more than a year, even though a number of documents, including a homestead exemption, indicate Few was a resident of Columbia County. Other documents - utility bills and voting records - supported his residency claim.

But chairwoman Beazley pointed out that state law makes clear the place a person signs a homestead exemption is that person's legal address. She knows what she's talking about, having been a top aide in Georgia's Secretary of State's office, where voting law is interpreted. In any event, the final word on residency will be decided on appeal by Superior Court.

Beazley made another important point: People running for public office have the responsibility to make sure they fulfill all their legal obligations. If they don't, there's something wrong with them. Even if they're not crooked or dishonest, such carelessness shows they're bungling, inattentive or worse - hardly who you want leading your community. Unfortunately, Few has already demonstrated those buffoonish qualities - not just in Augusta, but in Washington, D.C., where he also failed as fire chief.

Basically, Few is a racially divisive incompetent who's bad for Augusta. The best way he can serve our city is to get out of public life.