17 DEC 08: MUSCOGEE'S TOP 40

Tuesday should have been Julia Slater's day. She took the oath of office as Muscogee County District Attorney two weeks early, explaining she didn't want city employees occupied on 1 January. You'd think Slater would have consulted Mayor Jim Wetherington about this - because he became mayor on 2 January, and Columbus somehow survived having no mayor for a day.

In some positions, the early inauguration of Julia Slater would provide an orderly transition of power. But it's now clear that this will NOT happen with the District Attorney's office. Instead, we may have a year-end political feud on our hands -- and six weeks after the election at that. Didn't George W. Bush and Al Gore start reconciling by this time in 2000?

Outgoing District Attorney Gray Conger confirmed he's asked Columbus Council to put 40 members of his staff under the city "merit system." That means they could NOT be replaced automatically by his replacement -- and she couldn't start with a clean Slater.

Gray Conger says his request for 40 staff members in the District Attorney's office is designed to guard against termination for reasons beyond bad job performance. I can hear objections already from the Columbus Career Center. If former Bill Heard Chevrolet employees were unable to escape layoffs, why should assistant prosecutors?

Why does this smell like a political feud to me? Because of all the interviews Julia Slater has conducted with staff members since Election Day - and Gray Conger's claim to us last week that law partner Mark Shelnutt is joining in the questioning. It sounds like a classic case of my cronies versus your cronies....

The city's Personnel Review Board will consider whether or not the District Attorney's staff should receive "merit system" treatment, and keep their jobs. It turns out a similar request is pending from outgoing Municipal Court Judge Haywood Turner. He doesn't want incoming judge Stephen Hyles to say, "Turner? Loosed!"

When Barack Obama becomes President, he'll have his own team of aides and Cabinet members in place. So why can't new local officials have the same privilege? Are Gray Conger and Haywood Turner claiming their staff is non-political, and can work with anybody? If so, they should have followed Ralph Johnson's example and run as independents -- even though they still would have lost.

Julia Slater had little to say about Gray Conger's move Tuesday. She told WRBL she didn't have time yet to develop an opinion on it. Slater is going to have to get used to quick opinions -- especially if she wants to object to defense requests for low bonds from Recorder's Court.

In her inaugural speech Tuesday, Julia Slater said she refuses the idea that "a prison cell or a grave is the inevitable destination of our young people...." The prison part of that, I can understand - but is she going to give all teenagers Geritol to lengthen their lives?

The incoming District Attorney also promised to use "every resource in our community" to keep young people away from a life of crime. If Home Depot would kindly provide cases of locks, to keep unruly teenagers in their bedrooms....

Plenty of other things happened around the area Tuesday as well:

+ Phenix City Fire Chief Wallace Hunter was named the first African-American City Manager in city history. Hunter admits he never dreamed of being anything other than a firefighter. But his new job will have some similarities - such as constantly being on a hot seat.

+ Columbus Council approved a request to the state, to raise the city hotel-motel tax from seven to eight percent. WRBL reports the extra money will be allocated to the Columbus Sports Council. How much more does it cost to put up fancier signs for the Tuskegee-Morehouse game?

+ New Birth Missionary Church gave away 1,000 turkeys to all comers at two Columbus libraries. The project was called "Turkey Tuesday." Shame on all of you who want to put that title on Columbus Council meetings.

+ WFXE-FM's "Lav Luv" was declared the winner of a cable TV competition called "Who's Got Jokes?" If he stole any good lines from this blog, then his victory party Friday night certainly will be in the right place - Club Tabu.

(The victory means Lav Luv will have his own one-hour comedy special on the TV One channel. I suppose he could record it on a Thursday comedy night at The Loft - as long as they tell the billiard players to calm down on the other side of the second floor.)

+ The Columbus Cottonmouths made their annual visit to the pediatric ward of The Medical Center. Several players presented sick children with wrapped presents. Most of the time, of course, Cottonmouths players hand out checks....

+ Instant Message to Opelika High School teacher Betty Mae Love: I realize you're innocent until proven guilty. But if you really did try to choke a student, this may be the strangest case of "tough Love" I've ever seen.

-> Our other blog starts with poker, and goes in unusual directions from there. Visit "On the Flop!" <--

2008 BLOG YEAR IN REVIEW: January began with many signs of trouble across the Columbus area. WRCG-AM was off the air, due to vandalism. Restaurants were closed on the 280 Bypass. And so many people applied to work at two new Wal-Mart stores, some feared the only remaining open restaurants left might be inside the SuperCenters.

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce announced a campaign in January to bring more young adults to the city. But I guess that didn't last long. At least, I didn't see a Chamber table set up near Fort Benning on SOA Watch weekend.

This blog caused a stir in Hurtsboro during January, when we discovered Police Chief Marvin Christian had a record of six speeding convictions in other Alabama towns. Christian was given a vote of confidence by the city council -- then promptly went out and lost his job, for a more serious arrest in July.

The Harris County town of Shiloh had high drama in January, after a city council member and the Mayor-elect got into a brawl. The two men settled their differences, without the Volunteer Fire Department being called to cool down their collars.

"Cool" wasn't the word in Columbus in January. It was cold and snowy at times, with a low of 19 degrees F. one morning. It's nice to see this week that the cold air is back in North Dakota, where it belongs.

Since 2008 was an election year, the political news started early. Jeremy Hobbs went back and forth about running for Columbus Council, then finally decided to support potential opponent Red McDaniel. Hobbs went "in and out" faster than Backyard Burgers on Airport Thruway.

Actress Kerry Washington even came campaigning in Columbus during January. She urged people to vote for Barack Obama, and said Election Day should be a holiday. Muscogee County could make this happen, by moving up early voting to Labor Day.

But the biggest position to open in Columbus was the school superintendent's job. John Phillips announced plans to retire in January - and now it may be February 2009 before Susan Andrews takes over the job. Which "Big Switch" do you think actually will happen first?

The Muscogee County School Board made a controversial decision in January, to issue bonds for a new administration building. Work on that building is moving right along - as if the construction crew actually expected supporters to be voted out of office.

January ended with a low gas price in Columbus of $2.89 per gallon. You're enjoying all that extra money in your pocket right now, right? Unless, of course, you're under pressure to buy Christmas gifts....

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Our review of 2008 will continue over the next several days.)

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