When will Augusta be a major city?

[The Magician]

Augusta won't ever be like Atlanta or Charlotte, but areas like Greenville, SC and Chattanooga, TN are attainable. First, just so everyone will know, it wouldn't take Augusta 5 yrs. to, not only get to their level, but surpass them. G-man let me explain! Augusta builds the ballpark, replace JB arena with a 18,000 seat arena, build convention center, and build a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden or all three. That's it. Hotels/Condos/Apartments/Shopping/Dining and other things will come. Basically, the city needs to invest heavily in the CITY. Augusta can't expect anyone or company to do it for us. The city needs to stop spending tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on studies. The citizens of Augusta want to enjoy downtown Augusta but their isn't anything to do. Now, I'll say that it will take yrs for Augusta to become like Greenville or Chattanooga because we have an inept government. Also, did anyone read in the AJC.com that Atlanta is going to be building casinos? Augusta politicians should go and study the Atl government in action so it can see how a Real government is supposed to function.

[thedudewiththeplan]

Haha, thanks for the laugh The Magician! Atlanta has had so many problems with corruption it is hard to keep track. Heck, the last mayor (Bill Campell) was actually convicted of some pretty underhanded things after he left office.

[The Magician]

Hey, We had Charles Walker. He not only victimized Augusta, but Atlanta as well. My point was that Atlanta seems to investigate every revenue stream possible. As money comes through a major city like Atlanta, some greedy politician(s) is going to be looking for handouts. They take the money and always get caught such as Blagoevich-IL(go to wikipedia for the full list). Once again, whether it's for the best interest of the citizens of MSA Atlanta or themselves a lot of the politicians think outside of the box. Greed is a great motivator!

[The Magician]

Glad to see you live in Augusta thedudewiththeplan. Another example is Marion Willams. His son-in-law bought land across the street from the proposed drag strip at a price, correct me if I'm wrong, below market value. He was going to call the place Drag Snacks. Of course we both know the place was never built. Ha Ha Ha... Just goes to show how inept Augusta government really is. Atleast it would've been built in Atlanta and they would've sucked it dry.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I've lived in the Atlanta and Augusta area and Atlanta politicians are just as bad if not worse in my opinion much of the time. Don't even get me started on Clayton County

[nature's message]

Originally Posted by thedudewiththeplan

I've lived in the Atlanta and Augusta area and Atlanta politicians are just as bad if not worse in my opinion much of the time. Don't even get me started on Clayton County

But Atlanta is not in Clayton County....

[thedudewiththeplan]

True, but some of the politicians I've encountered in Atlanta are just as bad.

[All4Augusta]

Man I bet Atlanta or Clayton have never divided their politicians with Black vs White. Can you believe that the Augusta commission actually had the nerve to divide the board with Black vs White I mean I thought the common goal was a better Augusta, hell the city needs to fire all the commison and try it again...Will the TEE center ever go up ??????????/

[lilmusket]

The consolidated government was specifically designed to have a 50/50 racial split. Replacing individual commissioners will not change the flawed structure of gobernment we have.
Number one the consolidated government needs to be reformed in this way:

Have an odd numbered commission.. either 9 seats or 11 seats.. where majority rules.
Give the Mayor real authority.. either a vote, a veto power or real administrative power where the mayor is over the city departments and has hiring and firing capacity.