11 JUL 08: STRONG SAFETY?

If what I'm hearing is accurate, the supporters of the one-percent city sales tax have done private polling - and found "Yes for Public Safety" is leading. Of course, the money that side is spending on polls could provide a nice raise for a few police officers....

Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington cast an advance vote on the sales tax question Wednesday at the central library - and amazingly, all the TV stations were on hand to watch him mark his ballot. I didn't know that many members of the paparazzi had infiltrated the Government Center.

The public relations drive for the Yes side of the sales tax question has been quite well-organized, and almost machine-like. The effort against it has been.... well, what HAS the No side been doing? It has no commercials, no web site, no billboards, still no campaign financial report on file - I mean, it's as completely "No" as you can get.

The two sides in the sales tax debate held perhaps their final face-to-face forum on the afternoon news Thursday. It actually was a duel between Democrats: Frank Myers on the Yes side, Edward DuBose on the No side. The only local Republican who seems to be doing anything right now is Josh McKoon - writing us.

Frank Myers was called a "political adviser" with "Yes for Public Safety." Edward DuBose appeared as chair of the Georgia NAACP, not an organized campaign committee - but we can say he's Ed set against it.

Frank Myers repeated a common theme of the Yes side - that the one-percent sales tax will "make Columbus safe again." But over on WLTZ, Mayor Jim Wetherington admitted it might take 18 months to hire 100 new police officers. So don't move the home security contract cost from your budget over to gasoline quite yet.

Edward DuBose responded by saying Columbus actually has enough law officers now, to meet F.B.I. standards. He counts not only the police, but marshal's officers and sheriff's officers. If all the sheriff's deputies standing around the Government Center would kindly talk a long walk on their lunch breaks....

Edward DuBose argued Columbus doesn't have a police staffing problem - it has a "management problem," because city resources aren't being used properly. Why can't those Junior Marshals be assigned to patrol middle schools?

But Frank Myers says the average Columbus citizen "doesn't feel safe" these days. I'm not sure that's due to a shortage of police officers. It could be due to all the Third Brigade soldiers leaving for a year at a time, then needing therapy when they come home.

Frank Myers seemed concerned about police officers working second and third jobs to earn extra money. He says he wants an officer who's "in a good mood, who's had plenty of sleep...." This is why WWCG-TV 11 needs to keep showing old cartoons throughout the day.

Edward DuBose said the sales tax question comes down to one big word: accountability. He says the tax money promises from Columbus Council lack that. And if Bert Coker gets elected to Council this fall, he might suggest all the money go back to citizens in a city-run raffle.

Frank Myers concluded his comments by noting "Yes for Public Safety" has run a "positive campaign." Uhhhh - well, a "yes" vote normally is a positive statement about something....

No wait: Frank Myers meant the sales tax supporters have NOT tried to scare Columbus voters. He makes a good point there. I haven't heard a single Columbus Councilor utter the words "Doctors Hospital" once.

Edward DuBose ended his arguments by saying a No vote is economically smart. In his words: "You don't increase taxes in a recession." How many Columbus Republicans heard that, and thought DuBose had changed parties?

(Muscogee County Republican Chair Josh McKoon told WLTZ the committee has decided to remain neutral on the sales tax question. As if members have anything else to do, before the party convention in Minnesota....)

If the Yes side doesn't curb its enthusiasm, its positive poll numbers might disappear. Thursday evening's news brought the revelation that someone used a Government Center computer to send messages supporting the sales tax question. So? Where has Mayor Wetherington been holding his news conferences?

That news came one day after the Muscogee County Prison Warden was accused of holding meetings with his staff, encouraging Yes votes. Bill Adamson denies doing any such thing. But then again, if inmates are allowed to fill out absentee ballots....

>> Thursday night's poker tournament featured a cold spell -- no, make that spill. Read about it at the all-new "On the Flop!" <<

E-MAIL UPDATE: We're now ready to post a message which required a phone call on our part. And thankfully, we were able to avoid calling State Senator Ed Harbison again....

Richard,

I am sure you are tired of getting e-mails from me regarding Ed Harbison and I promise this will be the last one until we get the APA Hearing set.

Ed Harbison's campaign filed his campaign finance disclosure late last night for the period of 4/1/08 - 6/30/08. I have attached it to this e-mail in PDF format.

I will draw your attention to three different contributions listed:

KMWC Pastoral gave Harbison $2,000.00. KMWC stands for Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Centre, located at 3001 Airport Thruway. Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Centre is a non-denominational Christian church. You can find more about them on the web at http://www.kmwc.org/. Of course, churches are prohibited from making such donations due to their tax exempt status (this would be akin to the American Red Cross giving Harbison $2,000).

But to borrow a line from television, wait there's more.

Marshall McGill Ministries gave Harbison $2,100.00. Marshall McGill Ministries is also located at 3001 Airport Thruway. Pastor Marshall McGill is the senior pastor at Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Centre. While the same church issue applies that I mentioned above, the fact that Marshall McGill Ministries and KMWC Pastoral are one and the same means that the common source total donation is $4,100.00 for the 2008 Primary Election, some $1,800.00 over the legal limit established at O.C.G.A. 21-5-41(b) and O.C.G.A. 21-5-41(k).

In addition, Donald M. Leebern, III gave Harbison $4,600.00, twice the legal limit for the 2008 Primary Election, in violation of the law above. It is commonplace for donors to make two separate donations of the maximum for the Primary and General Elections, but as you can see from the attached report this contribution has been reported as being for only the Primary Election.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Regards,

Josh

We addressed Josh McKoon's complaint about the Leebern donations Thursday - but the Kingdom Centre is a bit more complicated. A pastor there assured your blog Thursday church money was NOT used for campaign donations. It's probably being used for other things - like the "VIP Suite" mentioned on its web site. I never knew modern churches needed revenue from skyboxes.

Pastor Walter Rooks told me "KMWC Pastoral" is a private account kept by Senior Pastor Marshall McGill. So is Marshall McGill Ministries -- with one serving as a form of savings account, while the other is a checking account. Don't you wonder if McGill and Cascade Hills Pastor Bill Purvis subscribe to the same investment journals?

Walter Rooks explained one of Marshall McGill's private accounts was closing, so two checks were written to the Ed Harbison campaign to make sure the donation was received. The account which closed was eight dollars short of $2,100. McGill must have remembered that Bible verse about owing no man anything except love.

Walter Rooks apparently reviewed the Ed Harbison campaign reports, as he concluded there was a "clerical error on their part." Maybe so - but some people thought the same thing four years ago, when Gray Conger filed for District Attorney as both a Democrat and a Republican.

By the way, remember the complaint by Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Centre last February about campaign literature being left on worshipers' cars? [6 Feb] Walter Rooks told me that has NOT happened so far in the primary season. But as ministers so often say - Friday's here, but Sunday's coming.

Walter Rooks noted his congregation is not against politics completely. He says if a campaign wants to express a viewpoint, it should ask for permission first. Wow - this minister expects political campaigns to be polite?! Maybe he needs to talk a while with Jesse Jackson.

(P.S. When we called up the Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Centre's web site, we noted how it described its location. It's near "the prestigious Columbus Metropolitan Airport." Prestigious?! It can't even persuade a second full-fledged airline to locate there.)

We're still not satisfied with our research into a second e-mail accusation, so we'll hold that for another day. Let's check other Thursday headlines, in the meantime....

+ Which downtown construction site has spray-painted giant words on an outside wall: "NOT HIRING, KEEP OUT"? Shouldn't the crew have searched for workers down the street at the House of Mercy in the first place?

+ Steve & Barry's filed for federal bankruptcy protection, less than a year after opening its Columbus store. What do we call this - the Service Merchandise curse?

+ The LaGrange Daily News reported Hogansville police broke up a check forgery ring. Officers say one suspect tried to cash a fraudulent check at a grocery store, and was caught "eating the check" and chipping a tooth. I would have guessed rubber checks were softer on the gums.

+ The LaGrange City Council voted to raise taxi fees by one dollar. It now will cost five dollars to ride a cab inside LaGrange. In Columbus, five dollars might get you from Peachtree Mall to Columbus Park Crossing.

+ Harris County's 16-year-old team advanced to the Babe Ruth baseball regionals in Virginia by forfeit. The opponents from Atlanta were spotted using an illegal pitcher and catcher. Baseball is like your smoke detector - a bad battery simply asks for trouble.

+ Instant Message to Chick-Fil-A: OK, so today is "Cow Appreciation Day" at your restaurants. But if you really care about them that much, couldn't you pay some money to give the cows in your ads some spelling lessons?

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