7 JUL 06: JIM-BOREE
The Jim Wetherington public relations drive continued Thursday evening, with the opening of his campaign headquarters on Wynnton Road. By comparison, Mayor Bob Poydasheff might as well be running his campaign from a fallout shelter.
No, your blog did NOT attend the grand opening of Jim Wetherington's campaign headquarters. There's one big reason for that - I wasn't invited, and I usually don't go to places where I'm not invited. Of course, this hasn't stopped me from e-mailing Power Frisbee news releases to total strangers....
Jim Wetherington promised to offer more details on his campaign platform when he opened his headquarters. The evening news mentioned where he stands on several issues. But one very big, important topic somehow was overlooked - is Wetherington for or against flag burning?
We already knew Jim Wetherington is concerned about public safety. After all, he's a former police chief - so he has blue genes....
Jim Wetherington promised when he becomes mayor, all the open police department positions will be filled. He didn't say how he'll do this - but after watching a "CBS Evening News" report on the F.B.I. losing agents to a mandatory retirement age of 55, I may have found his answer.
So what else is on Jim Wetherington's agenda? Here are some of the things which came up:
+ Growth and development. Uh-oh - he seems to be for it! So those of you who oppose condos on Rigdon Road might want to flee farther south, toward Cusseta Road.
+ Better communication between the mayor, Columbus Council and the Muscogee County School Board. For starters, the "IsOurCitySafe" guy could add all of them to his mailing list.
+ Improving pay for city workers overall. We don't want those Columbus Water Works employees running off, to bottle Callaway Blue.
So what is Mayor Bob Poydasheff doing about all these media "Jim-nastics?" Not much so far. Thursday night's late news found him relaxing at home - as if he's waiting for Governor Sonny Perdue to tape his first reelection commercial.
Mayor Bob Poydasheff says his reelection headquarters will be open by August, at The Villages on 13th Street. So he'll be down the hill from Jim Wetherington in geography, as well as the polls....
(Isn't it interesting that neither candidate put a campaign headquarters on the north side of Columbus? Donations to city races must be down this year, because they can't afford to rent the space.)
Mayor Bob Poydasheff says the open police positions will be filled under the latest city budget, because Police Chief R. Boren (to dodge THAT issue) now has a way to "market" those jobs. Marketing?! Is Columbus finally going to get its own season of "COPS?"
Mayor Bob Poydasheff also says he'll emphasize cooperation with "the Governor and the Chamber of Commerce." So the School Board can mind its own business, thank you - and send students to Columbus Technical College, to work on all those new homes for soldiers.
I didn't realize until qualifying week for city offices that incumbent Mayor Bob Poydasheff is 76 years old. The way he's approached reelection so far, he's acting his age - not getting out there and campaigning until he's good and ready.
E-MAIL UPDATE: Another big Columbus race comes first on the election calendar - the contest for State Senate:
Reginald Pugh was in my neighborhood knocking on doors and meeting the people in the community. Why hasn't Harbinson been knocking on doors? Only the one who knows my concerns can speak for me.
Maybe Ed Harbison is being courteous, and letting Reginald Pugh go first. Then he'll knock on doors last, and presume your memory is very short-term.
(But then again, if Ed Harbison DID knock on doors now, the people writing us would know how to properly spell his name....)
At 11 days to go before the Georgia Primary, no candidate has knocked on MY door yet. They haven't called me to offer Blog Exclusive interviews or advertising. We may be in 2006, but sometimes it still feels like 1996 around here.
Now other items which jumped out to grab our attention on Thursday:
+ Gas prices jumped about 12 cents a gallon in parts of Columbus, to $2.83 at South Commons. Some experts blame this in part on this week's missile tests by North Korea, while.... hey, there's an idea! The U.S. military should conduct some missile tests over Saudi Arabia and Venezuela....
+ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals staged a stunt on a downtown street corner, to protest the upcoming Ringling Brothers Circus. WRBL showed a man sitting in a metal cage at 13th and Veterans Parkway. So PETA may be soft on animals, but at least it's tough on crime.
(Of all the places to hold an animal rights stunt, PETA chose 13th and Veterans Parkway? Is this group trying to show up the beggars who sit in this area already?)
+ The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the constitutional amendment defining marriage is legal. This ruling didn't take long at all - so maybe the justices fear a special session of the state legislature as much as everyone else.
+ Three suspects appeared in an Atlanta courtroom, on charges of attempting to sell Coca-Cola trade secrets to Pepsi. What a shame - the secrets weren't revealed. So now we may never know the difference between Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero.
(Prosecutors say Pepsi executives actually tipped off Coca-Cola to the alleged effort to sell trade secrets. Now that we know there's a racket going on between these companies, countless Columbus residents can drink RC Cola with new satisfaction.)
+ Instant Message to Hibbert Sports at Peachtree Mall: Wow - you're selling dumbbells for 99 cents a pound? Could you please make them out of ground beef, so I can save money compared with the supermarket?
POEM OF THE DAY: Remembering a controversial executive, who died suddenly this week....
Here lies Ken Lay.
Did Ken Lay lie?
Did he drive Enron's price too high?
What Ken Lay knew
And Ken Lay said
Is left to court,
For now he's dead.
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