Although the final makeup of the commission won't be determined until next month, one change is certain: Two of its most controversial members won't be on it next year.
Marion Williams and Andy Cheek came on the commission together after winning seats in 1999, and both stated their desire to work together to close a growing racial divide on the Augusta Commission. Eight years later, the two have been lightning rods for a group whose popularity has plummeted and left many Augustans disenchanted with their local government.
Joe Jackson will replace Mr. Cheek in District 6, handily beating four other candidates. Freddie Handy and Corey Johnson will meet in a Dec. 4 runoff for the District 2 seat vacated by Mr. Williams, who, like Mr. Cheek, was term-limited.
Mr. Jackson and the District 2 winner won't command the stage, at least early on, like the men whose seats they're taking, one local political analyst says.
"I don't see any real lightning rods among the people who are running," said Ralph Walker, a political science professor emeritus at Augusta State University. "I think there will be more of a chance to build a coalition that maybe will move us forward. I think there is a good opportunity to do that right now."
In their initial desire to form an alliance, Mr. Cheek and Mr. Williams took to calling themselves "twin brothers." Their partnership, however, was short-lived, and disagreements on a number of high-profile issues came to symbolize a government many see as dysfunctional.
The controversy over who would become mayor pro tem is a case in point.
Mr. Cheek supported Mr. Williams in his bid to become mayor pro tem in 2005, but his colleague didn't return the favor the following year when Mr. Cheek was nominated because he wanted to keep the job. In that Jan. 3, 2006, meeting, Mr. Williams first abstained from voting on his own nomination, preventing Mayor Deke Copenhaver from breaking a tie. Later at the meeting, he abstained from voting on Mr. Cheek's nomination.
Those machinations eventually led to a lawsuit to try to force Mr. Williams to give up the position and bitter recriminations by the public that fell along racial lines.
So that's why a number of people see this election as an end to a disharmonious era.
"I believe the 2008 commission should very well have the potential to dramatically improve the public perception of the way this government functions," Mr. Copenhaver said. "My message to new commissioners is, why don't you want to be ranked No. 1 in municipal governments? I don't pull for the (Georgia Bulldogs) to be ranked No. 2."
Mr. Cheek also believes the government will be looked at more favorably after this election because some of the old guard will be out.
"What it will do is bring a lot of cohesiveness," he said.
Staff writers Sylvia Cooper and Johnny Edwards contributed to this article.
Reach Mike Wynn at (706) 823-3218 or mike.wynn@augustachronicle.com.
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