Testing the waters...

The following was a test column of sorts. I wanted to see just how far my editor would let me go without editing. To her credit she let it run the way you will read it now.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if during the course of your employment when you did not measure up to the expectations of your employers or there were questions about the legality of your actions, it took an act of congress to remove you from your position? Instead of being fired for lack of job performance or questionable activities, wouldn’t it be nice if you received a generous severance package of say $97,000, and were kept on to consult in order to make your 40 and draw full retirement? Maybe they would need to keep you as a consultant in order to hone their illegal skills. Maybe by studying you they could avoid the same pitfalls. Maybe they could just fire you because you didn’t do the job and you were suspected of stealing. What a novel idea. Our neighbors across the river thought this was be best solution when terminating their Fire Chief; they were afraid of a law suit.
Then there is ex-commissioner Brown. He wanted his filing fee back. Is he going to give back the money he made during his stint as a commissioner? After all he was on the board illegally, shouldn’t he give it back?
There are two things politics in Augusta are guaranteed to do, continue the racial divide and be a source of amusement. It never fails to amaze me that otherwise fine, intelligent citizens would rather support a known criminal or a blatant liar or a convicted thief because of the color of his skin rather than his integrity or what he may be able to do for their city. Every single time former Fire Chief Ronnie Few has been asked on camera about his fraudulent filing of the Homestead Exemption in Columbia County, he has had a different excuse or a different reason for going there in the first place. People telling the truth usually never waiver in their stories. It should be enough that he was the subject of a thorough investigation by a grand jury for the citizens to have second thoughts about him. No charges were ever filed that is true, but the statute of limitations had something to do with that and then for their commissioners to travel to Washington D.C. to sing his praises was a joke. Allegations have been made in D.C. concerning missing equipment but none of that seems to make a difference when choosing candidates. D. C. fired him and now he is back running for office.
I can see reasons why some may want him elected. His middle name seems to be nepotism consequently one can assume the relatives are lining up for jobs, budget cuts or not. If elected Mr. Few can help himself to the general fund for his eight by ten glossies, or gifts for his nephew or seminars to teach people how to power nap. Alternatively, instead of Chicago or Hawaii, maybe the commissioners would rather travel to New Orleans on the taxpayer’s dollar and while there can donate more taxpayer money to Mr. Few’s favorite university or have gold foil letterheads printed for the famous Mr. Holmes who teaches the power nap seminars. Then he could import people from Atlanta Health Systems for another $36,000 to lecture their government employees on the benefits of staying healthy instead of utilizing the vast knowledge housed in local medical complexes. Oh and don’t forget the vast array of vendors he will now have access to if elected. It was rumored that while Mr. Few was Chief of the Fire Department he gently persuaded vendors to be generous with him if he guaranteed purchases from the county.
Some say it is a conspiracy by the Caucasian side of Richmond County. Some say that none of these criminals or accused criminals were guilty, that the charges were trumped up just to keep the Caucasians in power. But, as former Chief Few should know, where there is smoke there is usually fire.