Q & A with Matt Aitken

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Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff

District one candidate Matt Aitken

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We interviewed Matt Aitken on Nov. 23 at his home on Telfair Street, a 139-year-old house he spent more than a year renovating, and where he lives with his wife, Melissa, and 3-year-old daughter, Cecilia.

The interview wrapped up just as a group of pastors and politicians gathered a block over, behind the Municipal Building, to assail his candidacy.

Mr. Aitken, a 51-year-old compressor building operator for Olin Corp., is running on a platform of economic development and growing Augusta, and he came in first in the four-way Nov. 3 general election with 40.19 percent of the vote to Bill Fennoy's 32.39 percent.

Our conversation covered his refusal to appear at forums with his opponent, and fears in the black community that, if elected, a white voting bloc would run the city. He touted his record of volunteer work in the black community, which began shortly after his 1990 release from prison on drug charges and his conversion to Christianity.

Q: In the choice between you and Mr. Fennoy, what's at stake for the city as a whole?

A: I guess that depends on who you talk to. I just want to see our city progress, but I think there are other issues that may be at stake as you look at what we need as far as the people of the district, and it's very important that we have a leader that can connect with all of the people.

I think some of the gridlock has broken us from that ... If we don't interact and communicate, we can't move forward.

Q: I asked Mr. Fennoy this question and I'll ask you the flipside of it. What can you say to District 1's approximately 65 percent black registered voters to assure them that if you were elected, you would be their commissioner as well as the commissioner for the white constituents?

A: As I've mentioned through all the forums, you've got to look at my 18 years of involvement. A lot of what I've done, I've reached out within the African-American community, and all of my volunteer work has been within District 1, whether it's been in jails or in the streets. I've gotten to meet a lot of the professionals that live in these neighborhoods or in District 1, so I think we've got to look at past experience ... I think it boils down to what's going to be the best representation for leadership, for how we move Augusta forward.

Q: Since the general election, you refused to do any appearances with Mr. Fennoy. Could you explain your reasoning?

A: Well, I think if we look at the divisiveness that has been in Augusta -- and it's sad that it's gotten to this point -- but I think that our city is hurting ... We've had six or seven forums, we've done two newspaper question-and-answers, Comcast did one where we did the big media forum. So pretty much, everyone knows where we stand now.

So I think we're in second gear now as far as the campaign. We're going to continue to move forward with our campaign strategy. It's not politics as usual, and that's kind of what people are dumbfounded with, that we're not willing to do that ... The other camp, they don't know what else to do but to use this issue of not doing that. Everyone that I've talked to that was concerned about that, once I explained my reasoning with it, they were for it.

Q: Don't you think there are some people that would like to see you go head-to-head with your opponent?

A: Well, they still have newspaper articles, that they can look at all the issues that we've talked about. Comcast is still running their show, on the one you were part of the host committee there. Again, I'm available to talk to them ... It's just a way that I feel. We have a hurting city, it's been hurting for some time and I'm a change agent.

Q: What does that mean and how does that relate to appearances with Mr. Fennoy?

A: Because those kinds of forums would not be real productive. When we had the forums, they weren't very well-attended. Since we had the runoff, there were about four or five people that wanted to have the forums again, but we declined all of them. Forums are not as effective as getting out and knocking on doors, doing interviews where people can talk to me about particular issues.

Q: Some of the apprehensions of some people in the community [are that, if you win], we're going to see a bunch of 6-4 votes, everything is going to be done 6-4, 6-4.

A: We need to go back to what I've done in this city for 18 years, and I mean being all-inclusive to those who I've worked with and ministered to. I think I bring that to the table.

Depending on the issues, people know my stance when I came in as far as economics. We're going to be working hard to bring that to the city. Everybody knows that and the 40 percent that voted for me has accepted that ...

I don't think the 6-4 is going to be such a big issue as everybody's thinking. I'm going to enlist the people in my district and find out what those needs are, and I'm going to strive to work at those the best I know how.