Matt CAN represent all people like Obama represents all people!!!!!!!
No election in memory -- not even last year's ballyhooed presidential contest -- has offered as much hope and change as the modest little District 1 Augusta Commission runoff this Tuesday.
Nor could the choice be more stark: It's a pick between progress and stagnation for the entire community.
It really is that simple.
We hope District 1 voters choose well. We hope they vote for Matt Aitken on Tuesday.
We wish everyone could know Matt Aitken the way so many civic-minded Augustans have come to know him. A good man with a great temperament and a big heart, Aitken is the answer for every voter who's ever become jaded by egotistical, self-serving politicians. He is the kind of friend, neighbor and civic activist you've always wished you could vote for.
His candidacy has become almost a movement in this town, attracting a diverse and optimistic following of people here who truly want progress and cooperation and racial unity. Aitken has shown his heart through his work with downtown, and through his jail ministry, his church work and his leadership in the unity-building Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.
Most important, Aitken will provide the kind of principled, open-minded and colorblind votes Augusta so desperately needs in order to move beyond the distrust and loggerheads at the commission that have kept this community mired in lethargy.
It is quite revealing that, as opponents attack him personally and even assail him for his race -- check your calendars everyone, it's time to move them ahead to 2009 -- Matt Aitken has done nothing but take the high road. He won't be dragged by wild horses into the sewer. We know Matt Aitken. We can promise you he will continue taking the high road in office, and will act as a beacon to his colleagues -- whom he will work with and reach out to regardless of race, creed or background.
The choice Tuesday is clear: It's between forces that would keep Augusta fighting each other over race and falling behind competing communities, and those of us who want to fight with each other for progress.
Presidential elections get all the attention. Big, statewide elections get a lot more neon signs pointing at them. Even most other local elections are on more people's radar. Tuesday's election is just a runoff to settle the outcome from a prior vote in one of Augusta's 10 commission districts.
And yet, this little runoff election is a watershed event in Augusta politics. It's "The Little Election That Could" -- the election that could remove a clog at City Hall and finally move this city forward.
That's because Matt Aitken's kind of candidacy, this kind of opportunity, only comes around every great once in a while. He's that rare candidate whom you can actually get excited about voting for.
District 1 voters are key to this community's future at this key moment. Whatever you have to do -- cut out this editorial, write it on your calendar, call the front desk for a wake-up call -- the rest of Augusta is counting on you to move this city forward with a vote Tuesday for Matt Aitken.
Comments
Matt CAN represent all people like Obama represents all people!!!!!!!
Matt Aitken is the change agent in this race. The choice is simple, vote for change with Matt Aitken or staus quo with Bill Fennoy. GO MATT!!!
will be an interesting outcome. u can bet other districts will be watching with interest. are we, finally; at last going to see some progress for a more unified local government. a few days will tell.
I'm hoping for bad weather so the Fennoy supporters will stay on their porches.
The election will be contested in court if Aitken wins.
I need to call my brother and make sure he takes our grandparents to vote Tuesday. If the AC is writing pieces like this about Aitken they definately need to go vote for Fennoy.
Election results:.....60% Fennoy....40% Aitken....my 2 cents
ACES-you left out one platitude. And Matt Aitken is the best thing that could happen for the AC ownership.
I don't like Fennoy, but the "Check your calendars everyone, it's time to move them ahead to 2009" little comment is key to the whole matter. The last figure I saw on the racial make-up of Richmond county is that it is only about 45% white and the white percentage is dropping. Also, keep in mind that it's perfectly normal for cities to vote along racial lines all over the country. There's nothing unusual about Augusta because it happens here. A white run government is the anachronism here. The Boardmans, Osbon and Morris found Aitken to hold the Bastille just like they put it in brother-in-law, Deke's head, to become the boy mayor. THIS is what creates the hostility.
Justus, you sit where ever you are with a fake name and accuse all white people of racism and then never respond. Why should Aitken show up at a mostly black forum and then be shouted down if he says something the mob doesn't like. He'd be stupid to show up at something like that.
I predict that when the 2010 Census is completed, Augusta will drop to the position of 4th largest city in Georgia, behind Savannah and Columbus. This result will be directly attributed to the inability of Augusta's leaders to put aside their differences and work past racial and economic lines to do what is best for the entire region. Instead they will have continued to dwell on what they feel is "owed" to their individual districts, governed by prejudice and will have maintained the trend established over the last 15 years and failed to produce any tangible results. I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong.
ColCo, it's the metropolitan area that matters and that's not changing. For every resident Richmond County loses, Aiken and Columbia Counties more than make up for it in growth. We have over a half million in the metro area. I expect Augusta will follow the Atlanta model with a predominantly black inner city that is governed by blacks surrounded by white communities. That seems to be the normal pattern.
Matt is a caring and honest man. I wish he lived In my district.
I believe that Matt was a good person and then along came the TEE center and a bunch of wanna-bes, who can't stand not having their way regardless of the cost to taxpayers, and turned him into a spokesman for Billie. A vote for Matt is really a vote for the added cost of the TEE center period. That is the only issue being decided.
Sorry, Mr. Ryan. All the people who would listen to your spiel live in Columbia County, remember? Looks like Billy will have to use his own money for the T-Center. Oh, I forgot. He doesn't have any. Typical of the AC. Whining out one side of the mouth about government dependence while wanting the tax payers to buy Billy a new toy to play with. The obvious hypocrisy of Mr. Morris could have a lot to do with why your paper is failing, coupled with the stubborn insistence on not serving Richmond County's residents. Why don't you move your paper to Columbia County - where the populace appreciates your daily screed - and get your friends out there to build you a new sandbox, Billy? You folks are so obvious that it's comical!!!
It seems to me that the black contingent of power brokers in this city want it both ways. They had District 1 gerrymandered to have a black majority but now want to complain when a white man is poised to take the seat. I smell reverse racism. To paraphrase.. with apologies to MLK, "It's not the content of your character that matters but that the color of your skin matches mine that's REALLY important".
This sort of reminds me of the Atlanta mayor's race. An AP report in the Chronicle today says voting was along racial lines in the primary and will be in the runoff with notable blacks getting behind the little known black candidate. UGA Professor Charles Bullock noted although there are more registered black voters, whites turned out in a higher percentage on Nov. 1 in the Atlanta race. This could be an interesting election as we all know. Aitken is the unlikely chosen candidate with a tremendous amount of power and money behind him. It would have been Butch Palmer, but he said no to the TEE Center. For some real insight into this election, listen to Dave Barbee.
Riverman, while I agree that you have to take the five county metro into consideration, the growth in the Savannah DMA and the Columbus DMA over the last decade may have outstripped ours. Too much of our growth is a direct result of Richmond County residents moving to one of the other four counties in the Augusta DMA. We are not attracting new residents in large enough quantities to keep pace with other areas of the state.
Let me see if my logic is on point. The endorsement says Aitken will represent a color blind vote on the Commission. It also says he will side with, "those of us who want to fight with each other for progress" (are these the white commissions? just asking). The side he will not go along with are. "forces that would keep Augusta fighting each other over race (are these the black commissioners? just asking). So if Matt will vote with the appointed and approved faction for progress, is that color blind? Your endorsement is your right but you could put up a better argument. He may be a nice guy but it sounds like he has been "bought with a price."
ColCo, well, Savannah has a good ways to go to catch us. Our metro area as of 2008 is 534 thousand, up from 499 thousand in 2000. Savannah's is 334 thousand, up from 293 thousand. By the way the Augusta metro area consists of 6 counties, not 5. In addition, Richmond Cty did not drop in population over that same period. It stayed about the same.
hummmmmmmm - I hear celebrations in all Greater Augusta's regional competitive communities when we get stuck on the black-white issues -- Macon, Charleston, Greenville, Savannah, Columbus, Chattanooga, etc -- economic opportunity goes to those smart enough to realize that green is the color of success -- not black or white -- if Augusta keeps it racist by voting based on skin texture the poor will stay poor and the rich will take their resources elsewhere -- back to the future -- economic segregation and slavery -- yes, Fennoy promises us more of the same -- he is frighting in his commitment to stagnation & keeping the poor dependent on government & forever poor - Aitken promises us a change -- but then so did Obama -- pick your man/woman and pick the future of you, your children and your grandchildren -- "but as for me & my house I will serve the Lord -- and not the God of Race."
Greater Augusta is more than Augusta the city. Our multi-county trade area is unique with its quality of life, recreational venues, the arts, medical resources, educational opportunities, historical assets & low cost of living. Unfortunately, a popular tactical sport here is to beat up on the City of Augusta because of the leadership void that puts race ahead of competence. This is a problem for the entire trade area & not just Augusta. Criticisms are particular loud from some living in Aiken & Columbia County who proudly & publicly brag they do not 'live in Augusta'. They denounce Augusta, the epic center of their community & don't seem to realize that all will suffer if we don't address our challenges together. We need community leaders who can cross racial, political & geographical lines to unite for a common goal. We are one community & in the same boat together. If the City of Augusta's end starts to sink the other end will soon follow. A Fennoy victory Tuesday could be a death sentence for Augusta & the CSRA - even one Thanksgiving turkey got a reprieve from the President - maybe Augusta will get one Tuesday from the voters in district one.
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