Wednesday, August 06, 2008

6 AUG 08: BACK TO THE MAX



An old familiar face returned to the Phenix City Council meeting Tuesday. Actually, I'd better be careful not to call him "old." He's already filed one lawsuit, so he may come after me with another.



The returnee was Max Wilkes - a man who has held many Phenix City government position. He's been the Parks Director, interim City Manager and Municipal Court Clerk. Now he's running for office - and probably had to decide which of his hats to throw in the ring.



Max Wilkes is a candidate for Phenix City Council in three weeks. In fact, he's running unopposed -- which seems surprising to me. Someone could have declared Wilkes the "insider" candidate of city government. But then, Wilkes would have noted that the government loved him enough to fire him two years ago....



Max Wilkes was dropped as Phenix City Municipal Court Clerk in 2006, and promptly sued the city [18 Oct 06]. His attorney claims the dismissal was due to rumors Wilkes might run for mayor. I guess Wilkes showed them -- by running now for a different office.



Max Wilkes gave a victory speech of sorts Tuesday, saying he was grateful to Phenix City residents for allowing him to serve. Well, hold on here. Did they really support Wilkes - or were they simply too apathetic to run themselves?



The imminent election of Max Wilkes causes a curious situation. Come November, Phenix City will have a city council member who's suing the city for damages. So every emergency spending request could hurt Wilkes's retirement plans....



That reminds me: Max Wilkes says he was six months away from retirement when the Phenix City Council eliminated his job in 2006. Now he'll have a new paid "job" with the city, albeit part-time. So Wilkes seems more addicted to city government than off-and-on Mayor Sonny Coulter.



As for the Tuesday meeting Wilkes attended: the Phenix City Council approved a budget for the new fiscal year - more than a month into the fiscal year. You'd think the council members would want to set a better example for the StreetScape workers than this....



Mayor Jeff Hardin admitted the new Phenix City budget has some reductions, but he says NO employees are being cut. Don't you wonder if he said that within earshot of Max Wilkes? And don't you wonder if some employees will be asked instead to resign -- even if the City Manager still hasn't?



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E-MAIL UPDATE: The comment we heard about a Columbus Council candidate brought a reply Tuesday....



Mr. Burkard,



I would not at all be surprised if the powers-that-be were planning on exposing the number of traffic tickets Bert Coker has amassed, if that be true in any respect. Such is the sad state of affair in politics. If you speak out in Columbus, and you can be hurt in anyway, there are people ready and waiting to make life painful for you and to shut you up. One example is the Mayor and Councilor Red McDaniel proposing to limit the appearances of citizens on the Public Agenda at council to once a month, which is personal no matter how much they deny it.



After dealing with the rushed 1% sales tax issue and the the Citizens Review Board issue, an issue candidate Wetherington expressed his support for to a number of us to win our support but as mayor he has no remembrance of saying, nothing that is said or done would surprise me.



Well, I take that back. It would surprise me if we went before council made a presentation and request for the good of the whole community and they understood what we were saying the first time out and they found it in themselves to agree. Doing what is right would surprise me about mayor and council, not that they don't do some things right it is just never anything the Grassroots Unity Movement or NAACP would suggest to help.



The Citizens Review Board, intervention/prevention programs along with the sales tax was simply good sense. Not rushing the 1% sales tax before we could determine how well the city would do with the 5% in 2009 was good sense, as the School Board doesn't have a hope or a prayer of getting any tax passed for awhile, an we all know that. We could have easily voted for the sales tax, if really needed, in 2009 because BRAC will not be here tomorrow. Mayor and council could have at least given the citizens a slight break in these difficult economic times.



What I find as a community activist is resistance from elected officials just for the sake of resisting, just because they can, and many times because of a personal dislike for the individual. Moreover, it is the messenger they don't like or approve of so they can't find it in themselves to agree or approve the message, and they don't want the people to ever think we bring anything worthwhile to the table.



As long as elitist attitudes exist and you have these superior mindsets in this city, we will have strife and division.



I think we can do better as a city. I know I have always been willing to put forth the effort. And that we do.



God bless,



Grassroots Unity Movement For Change



Ron Jones, Co-Founder



Brother Love, Co-Founder



Hmmmm - we've sort of been "speaking out" here for more than five years. So who are the people trying to shut up this blog? The narcotics agents who raided the apartment next door in June still haven't visited ours.



Was the one-percent city sales tax question really "rushed" onto the ballot this summer? Mayor Jim Wetherington waited almost one year after taking office, before proposing it. He could have put it on last November's ballot instead of the Tax Allocation District vote - and now he'd be 0-for-2 at the polls.



Local civil rights groups need to keep something in mind, whether they like it or not. Some Columbus residents think those groups are the ones with the "superior mindsets," demanding their way is the "right" way or only way. And those groups don't tend to put candidates on the ballot, to see who's really superior -- either in mindset or campaign spending.



A blog reader in California has something else on his mind....



I saw an AP item similar to this in the L.A. Times last week. Was any news of this "cease and desist" order published in the L-E or did it air on other Columbus media?



Is this related to the June 10th press release by the FDIC regarding a settlement CB&T entered into? I believe that CompuCredit was somehow involved in that situation.



Here's a link....



I hope you are well.



Ed Joyce



A Google News search found no mentions of this order in the newspaper, and I don't recall any TV stations mentioning it. But I did find several web sites complaining about CB&T's offer of "Aspire Visa" cards. So many customers have complained that the name might as well be changed to Uninspired Visa.



But based on the June FDIC press release, it appears Ed is correct. CB&T accepted a "cease and desist order" and a penalty of $2.4 million for its involvement with CompuCredit [5 Jul 06]. For bank president Steve Melton, this may have been a tougher "thank you" to say than that trip to the dentist in the commercial.



Now let's see what else had people talking Tuesday....


+ The annual "National Night Out" found 150 Columbus police officers driving in procession to various neighborhood activities. Once the 100 extra officers are hired, the traffic around the Public Safety Center could be worse than Interstate 185 during morning rush hour.



+ Columbus Council considered ways to deal with street parking in the Northlake Parkway area. Customers apparently are parking on both sides of the road - and they don't dare park near the car dealerships, because the salespeople might consider them trade-ins.



+ Jim Martin defeated Vernon Jones, to win the Georgia Democratic runoff for Senate. Martin will face Saxby Chambliss in November - a challenge so imposing that Martin might actually think about doing some campaigning in Columbus.



+ Former Carver High School quarterback DeRon Furr decided to leave Auburn University, before even playing a game there. This simply makes no sense - because the Tigers and Furr seemed like a perfect match....



(DeRon Furr was in a fight with a teammate last Friday. Then he missed three practices, which was explained away as "studying for a summer exam." Now I wonder if the exam subject was Comparative College Playbooks.)



+ Instant Message to Sonic: Thanks for that little asterisk on your coupon sheet. That one explaining how the "Fried Ice Cream Blast" is made with "soft serve, rather than fried ice cream." Should I double-check the cheeseburger offers, for the same thing?



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