Bowles makes sense for Augusta

I've come to appreciate the common sense and informed approach Bowles brings to the table. Plus, since he's a Citadel grad he knows he can get called out into the surf at the beach house by plebes to prove he's man enough to back up his words. :) He appears to be man enough.

I don't think that his race will or should be close. Congrats in advance. Keep up this good work.

I said this last year ...GO JOE !!!!!!

He's the only one on there that has any common sense.

Joe Bowles is one of the few Commissioners who understands the need for a Chronic Nuisance Property Ordinance and is backing Concerned Citizens of Richmond County. Crime has begun to reach his backdoor and he knows that it is going to get worse if we don't get creative very soon. I for one will look forward to working with him.

once again the textbook definition of privatization is the public entity..in this case the city gov't selling it's intrests in the particular asset...no hiring a management firm to run it. in this case by hiring a management service is not privatization..if so then the JBA and BELL should not have a coliseum authority to oversee it's operation, who incidentally are appointed by the city/state representitives. again to privatize the golf course will less than 3% of the overall projected deficit, of course his other idea of fourloughing county employees you may think makes sense but who to fourlough??? remember a few years back there were layoffs of what was deemed non-essential employees, most dept's are already working understaffed, plus its easy when you have potholes in your neighborhood or it's not your job..everyone is songing his praises but were is the marketing analysis or demographic/reasibility study to support the county going 30-40 million dollars in debt???? i bet he will not recommend to one of his clients to incur debt with any kind of market analysis/feasability study being done, so what makes the county any different...maybe because it's taxpayers money.....

lifelong, I think people feel Joe is upstanding in his dealing on the commission doesn't mean you agree 100% I am against the TEE center also.

concern, my point of contention is not that he is upstanding, it's his judgement...as a CPA he is obligated to work in the best intrest of his client...if you or i were to hire him as our accountant for a business venture i am sure he will ask for market/demographic data or a feasibility study to support our idea that the venture will be viable and make money...in the case of the TEE center he throws his support behind obligating every augustan to a 40-50 million dollar debt WITHOUT the same scrutiny then you have the HUD debacle where was his outrage when the paperwork was submitted without the knowledge, review and consent of the entire commission...whether he supported it or not the he should have been on the side of the commissioners who questioned why it was done in a back handed way? or when the residents of goshen came in to protest, did he publically side with them..i watch the commission meetings and i didn't see/hear him object at all, lastly as a resident of rich cnty, his insensitivity, because his street doesn't have potholes, as a RESIDENT OF AUGUST he should be concerned if there is even one pothole in the entire county and willing to work to get them all filled

Lifelong, How do you figure my street doesn't have potholes????

If all commission races were based upon the qualifications of the candidates and election results rewarded only the most qualified, RC would be far from the laughing stock it represents. Joe Bowles is at least an educated financial mind, a proven conciliator, and a man with enough sense to sacrifice a largely symbolic vote to get the Gov moving. Good job Joe and I disagree with a lot that you do.

When the worst problem in RC is potholes, you'll indeed know you live in a great place. Priorities, people. Jobs. Financial responsibility with taxpayer money. Economic development. Educational opportunities. Infrastructure maintenance and improvement.

I have to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Bowles showed incredible guts by doing what he knew would be unpopular but in his mind the right thing to do. I know I will never see eye to eye with him 100% on everything, but for what it is worth, he has my vote.

dear mr., i didn't say potholes are the worst problem....it shows his lack of sensitivity for parts of augusta he does not represent...let me ask you this since you spend more of your time in your home but your garage was falling down wouldn't you fix it????, well the same goes for augusta, you have bad roads in certain sections of augusta, you have more crime in certain sections of augusta, you have more crumbling infrastructure in certain sections of augusta, there are more blighted homes, than what occurs in SUMMERVILLE, so wouldn't be for the BETTERMENT of augusta as a whole to work to improve the entire city than to say "i don;t have pothole on my streets" , when it was brought to his attention about the potholes throughout the city...o by the way i guess you are not worried about the 40-50 million dollar debt he is supporting that the citizens of augusta will be saddled with if he and his supporters get theri way..BTW, this does not include the 250,000 per year that billy morris's subsidiary will be paid to manage the TEE center....NAW..that's some not to worry, BTW MR., do you have copies of the feasibility study/market analysis suppoting the proposed TEE center's success?

Lifelong. what you have to say is very interesting, but do you remember when your English teacher talked about runon sentences? I can't hardly figure out what you're saying.

PS: CPAs do not ask for feasibility studies. That is the responsibility of upper management. No reputable CPA would take on that kind of liability, because if it flops, he would then be legally responsible for the failure and the wrong statistics. He may write a management letter and suggest it, but there's nothing a CPA can do if a client does, or doesn't want to do a study. You are confusing management consultants with CPA's. CPA's do not make those kinds of decisions for clients and they don't hire management consultants, nor are they responsible for their work. Also, he is not allowed to perform accounting work for the city or county- that would be illegal- and the County is not his client. That is a very important distinction and you need to understand that. He was elected to represent the people of the County, not to be the CPA of A-RC.

Any good politician is beholden first and foremost to the people who voted for him. Second to the greater community. As for potholes, did you know just how simple it is to repair one? Go Joe. May Richmond County find more JUST LIKE YOU to build a county of which we can all be proud.

Joe, is a republican/libertarian so he can't help but have a little bit of subsidizing ol Billy Morris in him. But over all he does a good job. The only two commissioners that I would ever vote for are Hatney and Bowles and maybe Jackson or Johnson time will tell.

I would like to think that Bowles is more libertarian, but his position the TEE is the antithesis of what libertarian is about. I do like the fact though that on the Ruffin issue, he did exercise Independence and distanced himself from Grantham's racial power play. I think it was pretty obvious that Grantham wanted to use naming the courthouse after judge ruffin as polictical leverege to get certain black commissioners to change their vote on TEE. Luckily Bowles did NOT go along with that crap. Good for him.

gee corgimom..i am soooooooo sorrry, i did think this was grammer class, my main goal is to project my ideas/opinions into the public arena inorder to obtain feedback either positive or negative which helps expand my intellect....if i offended you then i suggest you don't read my posts....did the paper, thesis thing in grad school...3.87 GPA, very few grammatical errors BTW...more concerned about exchanging ideas...so if i as an individual went to mr. bowles and retained his services regarding a business venture he would not want to see a feasibility study or market analysis to assist me when approaching a lender to obtain financing???. so tell me when making a decision which could cost the taxpayers of this county 40-50 million dollars so you are fine with mr. bowles just taking the word of one statkeholder whose vested intrest is for the TEE center to be built??? a little one-sided don't you think.

P. S. corq...i would love for you to own a bank, i am sure you would love to lend money based on the word of the applicant...not sure how long you would stay in business...i wonder when you applied for your mortgage did the bank go by your word/promise you would pay them back?? if so tell me where and everyone else where they are located. this is the same situation..bond are nothing more that contractual obigligation to repay a debt at a certain rate of interest over a specific period of time..so as a representitive of the people of richmond county he should require more than a "promise" that the TEE center will be viable and bring economic benefits predicted to augusta...BTW, with mr. bowles being a republican and all if the TEE center is such a great idea then why isn't there a line of private investors lined up????

I wasn't offended but it has nothing to do with grammar. Your posts are very difficult to read. Your ideas won't do you much good if no one can read and understand them. No, he wouldn't want to see a feasibility study or market analysis AS A CPA. That is the responsibility of management and management consultants. You are confusing the two jobs and his responsibilities to citizens as an elected official versus responsibilities to clients as a CPA. It's an important distinction.

I don't think you understand that a consultant comes in, pulls the data, does a feasibility study, and then makes a recommendation. They NEVER guarantee anything. They do not have a crystal ball. They will say "This is what the data shows, this is our opinion, these are the projections, we think (and they are always careful just to express an opinion, the client has to make the decision) but NO ONE can guarantee the success of anything. And, BTW, a consultant can make just about any study come out any way they choose. Because consultants know that the client pretty much has his mind made up before the study is done. If you think it wouldn't work in the first place, why would you do a feasibility study?

Despite the endorsement of a newspaper notorious for its dullness and hostility to excellence of any kind, other than thievery, Mr. Bowles has grown into the position and has earned the public's respect and gratitude. He and Deke Copenhaver are the best people we now have in government.

i did not say anything about anyone or anything being a guarantee...maybe you need to slow down an listen to what i am saying..any sound business decison should be back up by some type of research data...whether it is buying a house, a car or making any type of business venture....mr. bowles was elected on a platform of FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!! all i am asking is what is the basis for his support of the
tee center??? WHAT EMPERICAL DATA DOES HE HAVE OR HAVE ACCESS TO which will allow him to committ 40-50 MILLION DOLLARS of money that doesn't belong to him????? is just the work of the head of the CVB??? is it the flip of a coin????? is it a talking dog??? if it was his money i would not care less but it isn't this TEE center is proposed to be financed 100% by the taxpayers of this county and if it flops who is stuck paying for it???? remember the radisson building??? of which the county built for billy morris then the remaining debt was forgiven by the commission, of another way of putting it the taxpayers goe stuck eating the remaining balance due...he job is to make sound financial decisions what basis does he have to supporting the TEE center is all i am asking

Lifelong, This is not financed 100% by Richmond County taxpayers. These funds (27million) have already been collected in our sales tax, of which locals and outsiders pay. Also, the other funds are coming through our beer and wine tax, of which only people that drink pay. We have the money in hand, so we are not obligating the future on the taxpayers. The agreement to run the facility is only 125,000 a year and thats it. Much less than the 900,000.00 we lose at the civic center a year.

Lifelong. He is basing it on PROJECTIONS. Because that's what the study says. Remember lies, damn lies, and statistics? When you buy a house, do you know, with 100% certainty, that you will have a job for the next 30 years to pay for it? No. you don't. And, by the way, I'm against the TEE center, because I think the study is wrong. I think you can make studies read any way you want to. How do I know this? Because that's what I went to school for. To be a management consultant, as in an MBA in management. I think that the projections are wrong, I think that the consultants looked at the wrong things, and that they didn't know Augusta. I still want to know all of these mythical companies that have said they want to come to Augusta, and I don't need to read anymore of Julian Wiz's nonsense. I get it, and so does everyone else. Augusta cannot afford anymore of the nonsense projects, like the Golf Hall of Fame, and that's the harsh reality of it. If the other projects hadn't been so ill-conceived, maybe. But now Augusta can't afford to spend that kind of money on "We think".

Much todo about nothing.