8 AUG 07: CUTTS LIKE A KNIFE

Word spread early in the week that trouble was coming. Something was going to happen at Tuesday night's Columbus Council meeting, to put the Mayor at odds with the City Manager. In fact, some people actually sounded like they were ready to see it - as if we need a new controversy, to replace the library land debate.

The rumor-spreaders turned out to have a grain of truth. Several people at Columbus Council objected to City Manager Isaiah Hugley's choice for a new Public Services Director. I'm not sure why they're so upset - since Kenneth Cutts is just as alliterative a name as Rufus Riggs.

Well, check that - I do know why some people are so upset. They say the City Manager selected Kenneth Cutts based on something besides his qualifications. Cutts is an Albany attorney, who's worked in the office of Rep. Sanford Bishop. Critics say that's not good enough for directing Public Services - unless the city expects a flood of lawsuits about sewer leaks.

Longtime Columbus Council critic Paul Olson made his first media appearance in some time about this matter. He told WXTX "News at Ten" Kenneth Cutts seems to be a political appointment. I think the key letter here is D - as in Democrat, and in Duh.

Former Columbus mayoral candidate Bert Coker complained for days that the choice of Kenneth Cutts smelled like "cronyism." But hold on here - my Webster's New World Dictionary defines a crony as a "close companion." Cutts is in Albany, and that's a 90-minute drive away.

Paul Olson and other critics said the City Manager should appoint someone from inside city government as Public Services Director. These people are never satisfied, are they?! They want an "outsider" Mayor to clean up Columbus's problems, but they want a team of insiders to have the first shot at doing it.

So what did Mayor Jim Wetherington have to say about the Public Services appointment? He tried to come across as a peacemaker - saying he had discussed his concerns about Kenneth Cutts with the City Manager in an executive session. Behind closed doors, you probably can yell as loud as you want....

The Mayor, Council and City Manager agreed in executive session to contact Kenneth Cutts, to discuss some of their objections. For instance: can he spot a 36-inch pipe from a 48-inch pipe without using a tape measure?

The other big issue at Tuesday night's Columbus Council meeting was a topic we promise above to discuss here - the flow of the river. Apparently the city is concerned about it. I haven't noticed any difference lately - but then, I tend to jog alongside it and not IN it.

Columbus Council voted to jump into a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers, about how much water flows down the Chattahoochee River. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue asked the city NOT to sue - so this vote could mean the governor's about as much of a "lame duck" leader as President Bush.

This lawsuit is the latest step in a long fight over how to divide water between Alabama, Florida and Georgia. There's an easy way to resolve all this, you know - and it could make those college football rivalries in the fall more important than ever....

E-MAIL UPDATE: There's nothing quite like back-to-school time....

I just had a relative register at CSU..HOPE pd everything and gave him a book allowance...Keep buying those scratch-offs...He worked hard in high school to keep his grades up..Many kids do not realize that working for the HOPE starts with 9th grade grades.There are so many kids who get HOPE for the freshmen year.But,along comes the soph.year and they don't qualify..I think if they don't make the grade they should pay back interest on the money they wasted..Not pay the total back,but just what the money would have earned on interest...

It's fair to say HOPE springs eternal for Georgia college students. But if they don't keep their grades up, HOPE scholarships can run dry in the spring as well.

But don't look at me, when it comes to buying lottery scratch-off tickets. I've never purchased one, for several reasons. For one thing, what happens to all that dust people scratch off? Shouldn't it be recyclable - maybe making it from the same ingredients as Roach Prufe?

So I'll save my dollars for cookies, while we consider other news from Tuesday:

+ Our condolences to the family of former Auburn University President William Walker. His name came up often in the first two years of our blog - and perhaps closure will come at the funeral, if football coach Tommy Tuberville can sit down for a chat with Bobby Petrino.

+ An afternoon rainstorm saved Columbus from having its first 100-degree day of the summer. Yet something didn't seem quite right. As I drove around downtown after the storm, I didn't see any steam rise from the pavement. Were drivers actually obeying the speed limit, to make this happen?

+ The annual "National Night Out Against Crime" found Columbus Police visiting several neighborhood watch groups. But did I hear it right - one group held a barbecue at 11:00 a.m.? I've never heard anyone call it a National Day Off.

+ Former Phenix City Central baseball star Doc Brooks was suspended from the South Coast League for ten games. He violated the league's drug policy, and reportedly has had this problem elsewhere in the minor leagues - so maybe it's time to find a new nickname.

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