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Dougherty County Taxpayers Association speaks out

– May 3, 2012Posted in: Government

With all of the talk lately about the possibility of a raise in property taxes, it’s no surprise to many Albanians that the Dougherty County Taxpayers Association has something to day to it.

The group, responding to an email request by the journal, sent the following brief statement:

The Dougherty County Taxpayers Association will weigh all options to the City’s proposed millage increase (resulting from their gross mismanagement of taxpayer funds) including its legality and the many illegal exemptions including Phoebe’s giant exemption.

The group reportedly formed as a result of what was seen as poor practices with property tax appraisals and a high property tax rate.  The group made waves several years ago, though have quieted down a bit recently.

The above statement was made as an initial reaction.  We expect to hear back from the group with a more detailed statement.  Check out next week’s print edition of The Albany Journal for more.

Tags: Dougherty County Taxpayers Association, featured, tax increases
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It’s official: Riggins, Baker indicted by Grand Jury

– April 26, 2012Posted in: Uncategorized

Staff Reports

It is now official.  Embattled school board member Velvet Riggins has been indicted on multiple charges which include public record fraud, two counts of theft by taking, and providing false information to obtain free school meals by a child according to a report on the Albany Herald’s website.

Also indicted is Morningside Elementary principal Gloria Baker, and her husband John Baker. Gloria Baker was indicted on the same charges as Riggins, though she had three counts of public record fraud and two counts of providing false information to go along with the two counts of theft by taking.

The allegations against Riggins and Baker stirred many in the community as more allegations came forward from anonymous sources that these were not isolated actions, but were instead a relatively common practice among many in the Dougherty County School System.

In addition to Baker and Riggins, Baker’s husband was charged with two counts each of public record fraud and providing false information in addition to a count of theft by taking.

The Journal will continue to monitor this story for further updates.

Tags: DCSS, Dougherty County School System, featured, Gloria Baker, Velvet Riggins
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Protest votes highly unlikely

– December 13, 2011Posted in: Outlook

 

 

 

I sat in a superior courtroom for endless hours, listening to lawyers speak.  Apparently, I had angered God and was being punished for whatever transgressions I had committed.  After said punishment, I deeply apologize for whatever I did to deserve that. However, there was something entertaining about that visit to a courtroom to hear Ward 2 candidate Melissa Strother’s assertions on why there needs to be a Ward 2 election, and that was more of the Ivey Hines contention that 259 Albanians decided to protest with their votes.

The assertion, which was first made after Hines was declared the Ward 2 winner, sounded ridiculous at first.  Hines didn’t state it as a fact however, only a possibility why so many people voted for a woman who had been removed from the ballot.

However, as I listened to Hines’ attorney, Maurice King, as he questioned witnesses, it became clear that the assertion was becoming part of his reasons why the process as it was done should be upheld.

Now, I’m not going to get into all of that.  There were a lot of things going on, and few of them were good.  That’s been detailed within the pages of this fine paper previously.

The assertion though, that 259 people in Albany decided to protest Cheryl Calhoun’s treatment, seems fantastic at best.  In fact, I haven’t found any mention in local media that such an effort as afoot.  No squawks in the other paper’s box, no piece on WALB or WFXL, no evidence of mention on local radio.  Nothing. I know for a fact that this paper had no such mention, and have been unable to find anything in that other paper either.

Yet Hines and King would have us believe that 259 people came together and were able to engineer a protest vote for Calhoun, with no mention in local media either before or after the race.  Protests only work if people know you’re protesting.  Cheryl Calhoun says that no one has approached her to say they voted for her out of protest, so I find it unlikely that a living soul did.

The far more likely scenario is that 259 Ward 2 voters didn’t know she had been disqualified. Several voters testified Friday that they didn’t see news stories that Calhoun had been disqualified, but had learned about it “on the streets.”

However, King repeatedly questioned election officials as to whether they were allowed to prevent someone from voting a particular way.  They all said no, which was hardly surprising. That was never the issue though.

What King apparently didn’t grasp wasn’t whether people should be permitted to vote for Cheryl Calhoun out of protest, but whether any of them actually did.  The evidence that they do so is rather scant, if not outright nonexistent.  Frankly, they just didn’t do it.

It’s my hope that if Ivey Hines is going to be the Ward 2 commissioner, and should the courts decided he is, he will put away these ridiculous notions of what people did and didn’t do and focus on moving Albany forward.

Tags: Calhoun, featured, Hines, Outlook, strother, Tom Knighton, voter issues, Ward 2, Ward 2 election
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Allen to challenge Bishop

– December 12, 2011Posted in: Government, Headlines

Rick Allen explains his reasons in an exclusive announcement interview with The Albany Journal

 

Written by Tom Knighton

 

Rick Allen came late to the party.  That was the essential verdict of everyone who looked at the Georgia Second’s Republican primary.  Allen entered the race late and never could catch up with eventual winner Mike Keown, who went on to lose to Representative Sanford Bishop. However, Allen did earn a great deal of respect from area Republicans.

That respect turned to enthusiasm as Allen announced to supporters via email that he was going to run again.

Social media sites had numerous people expressing their pleasure that the business owner from Columbus was coming back into the political arena.  Allen himself feels that he could have had a better showing last time around had he entered the race sooner. “I got into the race very late last time, in mid March I believe. Mike Keown was running a strong race with a lot of support and funding already in place. Mike had already been campaigning seven months when I came into the race. As a political novice I had a lot of ground to make up in a short time,” Allen said.

So why run this time? One local report describes Allen’s defeat in the primary as him being “crushed”, so why run again?

“More than anything I believe our Country is heading into national decline at an alarming rate, and I am very passionate about standing with other patriots to stop this decline. I’m also running because Georgia District Two needs a strong conservative voice in Washington,” Allen said.

Allen has already come out swinging against Bishop, who is currently seeking his 11th term in the House of Representatives. “We are currently represented by a pawn of the Obama Administration, which has shown itself to be the most radical, leftist and ineffective Presidency in US history. Sanford Bishop’s tenure in the Second District has sewn a path of corruption and his actions and voting record endorse a Democrat Party agenda which is leading us headlong into big government European style socialism and class warfare, which voters of the Georgia Second do not want, and will hasten our downfall as a nation,” said Allen.

Allen says his platform will include specific positions on overturning President Obama’s healthcare reform law, cutting spending, cutting the national debt, and a push for a balanced budget amendment. In addition, Allen says he will also campaign on the idea of American Exceptionalism.

“My campaign platform will center on the idea of American exceptionalism. That is that we are the exception to the history and condition of man, in that we are the first serious country to prove that man can govern himself, without a powerful governmental authority, dictating and controlling every facet of human activity. Along with our Founding Fathers, I believe we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that it is the responsibility of the Government to protect these rights, and our liberty is best served when government is limited. I will also stress the ideals of self reliance, individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, the restoration of traditional American values, and a strong national defense,” Allen said in an email to The Albany Journal.

Allen’s fight is bound to be uphill.  Redistricting efforts to protect Congressman Austin Scott has created a strong Democrat leaning district in the Second District, with now parts of Macon as part of the district.  However, it was thought that Bishop was fairly safe at this point in the last election, only to have a strong challenge from Keown that nearly toppled the long time Congressman.

 

Sources also indicate that Lee Ferrell, who finished third in the last election behind Keown and Allen, is planning on running as well.
Tags: featured, House of Representatives, politics, Rick Allen, sanford bishop
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Slaps on the wrist accomplish nothing

– December 2, 2011Posted in: Outlook

 

 

 

The Dougherty County School Board opted to give the proverbial slap on the wrist to Morningside Elementary School principle Gloria Baker by assessing a 15 day suspension without pay.  While it was nice to see a decision that, for once, didn’t go down racial lines, it was still a sad moment for the taxpayers of Albany.

Baker and her husband knowingly lied on paperwork in an effort to give their daughter free school lunch, despite Baker’s $90,000 per year salary.  This is, plain and simple, fraud.  While the courts will be addressing Baker’s case, employment in Georgia isn’t contingent on what the courts say.

Dougherty County Schools Superintendent Joshua Murfree’s initial reaction was that Baker is an excellent educator.  Frankly, that’s neither here nor there.  A fine educator must still follow society’s rules; just let the rest of us.  If anyone else defrauded their employer – or a program that their employer administered for the federal government – then we would find ourselves as an unemployment statistic rather quickly.

Baker should not have been given a slap on the wrist like she was.  Instead, she should have been terminated immediately.  While it’s true that in our legal system, people are innocent until proven guilty, that applies only to our legal system.  Employers are free to fire employees who engage in such shenanigans and then let the legal system have its way.

Of course, when one looks at some of this school board’s own shenanigans, we really shouldn’t expect better.  For example, just look at Murfree’s hiring.  Two other candidates – candidates who I happen to feel were infinitely more qualified – were pushed to the side so that Murfree could be hired.  The board even declined to publish the names of all three finalists despite an earlier promise to do so.

The result of that action has been an ineffective school superintendent who’s brain children include taking all students of the Dougherty County School System to Atlanta and the aborted half day this past Friday, which was apparently decided on that Wednesday afternoon.

The poor decisions that the school board makes have lasting ramifications to the city, and this latest is no exception.  A 15 days suspension, even without pay, is no real punishment.  There is little incentive for others in the school system to not engage in similar activity.  Terminating Baker would have made it clear that fraud from school system employees was not to be tolerated.

While it is possible that Baker will be terminated after an actual conviction, that still doesn’t convey the correct message.  The message thing becomes, “don’t get caught” versus “don’t even think about it.”  Personally, and I think I speak for a lot of other Albanians, I think we would rather the message fall into the “don’t even think about it” category.  At least then there’s a chance we won’t see more of this type of thing.

However, when it comes to the Dougherty County School System, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

Tags: DCSS, featured, Gloria Baker, joshua murfree, Outlook, Tom Knighton
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Unemployment drops to 10.4 percent for October

– November 30, 2011Posted in: Columns, Tom Knighton

Local officials silent about long term improvement

 

Last week, the Georgia Department of Labor released the latest unemployment statistics for the Albany area, which was at 10.4 percent.  That was a drop of .4 percent over September, which the Department of Labor attributed to fewer layoffs than expected. The unemployment rate last October was also 10.8 percent.

However, it’s not just Albany that’s suffering.  The Department of Labor’s breakdown by county showed Dougherty was at 11.7 percent, Lee at 7.6 percent, Worth at 9.5 percent, Terrell at 11.9 percent and Baker at 9.8 percent.

By contrast, the Athens Metropolitan Statistical Area was at a mere 7.5 percent. The national unemployment rate was 9 percent.  That’s 1.7 percent below Albany’s rate for that same period.

The Albany Journal reached out to members of both the City and County Commissions on Friday when the numbers were released, asking what was being done to increase the number of jobs in Albany. Emails were forwarded from the city clerk, Sonja Tolbert, to all commissioners by Sunday afternoon.  There was no response by press time on Tuesday.

While many may point to the new Olive Garden that is slated to be brought to town, it’s important to note that not all jobs are created equal. Restaurant jobs, for example, are often minimum wage jobs or heavily tip oriented jobs like wait staff.  Meanwhile, the Albany area is still reeling from the loss of jobs from Cooper Tire and Merck Chemical, jobs that paid well above the median income level for the Albany area.

The unemployment numbers are expected to continue to drop as many retail stores begin to stock up on personnel for the all-important Christmas shopping season.  Again, however, these jobs do little to make up for the economic impact from large manufacturing concerns leaving town.  In addition, these jobs are temporary in nature, which will cause an increase in unemployment after the first of the year.

Many in the community argue that without new industry coming to town, the unemployment rate will likely never make it below 10 percent in the foreseeable future.

Tags: featured, georgia department of labor, jobs, Tom Knighton, unemployment, unemployment rate
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Albanian Rhapsody

– November 30, 2011Posted in: Community, Headlines, Lifestyle

 

‘Unplugged’ has Albany area residents expressing their artistic side

 

With dim lights, someone steps up to the microphone.  It’s a small gathering, but those who are there know that the next person could be doing almost anything.  Perhaps they are going to do spoken word poetry, or perhaps a humorous song with their acoustic guitar.  Anything is possible at Unplugged.

The small, intimate gathering started in late August of this year when Tannur “Shewritez” Ali decided she needed a bit of a change.  She had been performing at Wet Mike for a while, but wanted to step away from the night club type performance, when she first stepped into Global Essence on South Jackson.  She was going to lunch with a friend when they stopped in to check out the store’s shea butter when she realized that it would be the perfect venue for a poetry night.

Ali, a student at Albany State University, hoped to have a poetry night where people could recite poetry as well as have a conversation.  “Wet Mike was a club,” she recounts.  In contrast, Ali wanted her poetry night to be open to all ages.  When it came to Global Essence as a location, she found a kindred spirit in its owner, Patrick Jenkins. “Patrick shared the same vision as me.”

Unplugged is held every two weeks at Global Essence – the next is December 5 – but something unusual happens. “It always works out where I’m broke that day,” says Ali.  However, fate never seems to leave her hanging. “It’s organic and people call up and offer to handle the food or other things,” she says.  “I never have to ask for it.”  Additional funds are raised via voluntary donations, which almost always cover expenses. “It’s been short a time or two, but not often,” Ali says.

So, how has Unplugged changed since it’s August debut? “It’s gotten bigger,” says Ali, who still organizes the event. She points out that Global Essence can seat 30 to 40 people easily, yet the last Unplugged had about 60 people that stayed the whole time.  “That’s something when people are standing uncomfortably for all that time.” However, Global Essence’s size isn’t a liability to Ali. “If seven people show up, it’s fine.”

By having the event at a place like Global Essence, as opposed to a night club type venue, the poetry night is opened up to younger talent.  Ali mentioned one in particular, a talented young lady named Ze’leah King, young girl who sings, writes poetry, and acts.  King isn’t able to perform at other poetry nights.

However, calling Unplugged a “poetry night” isn’t really accurate. Ali mentions her sometimes collaborator, David Barnes.  Barnes is a guitar player and singer, and is also a significant contributor into what has made Unplugged so popular.

“One of the main rules of Unplugged is that the audience should respect the performers and the performers should respect the audience.”  That hasn’t been a problem either.

Ali tells that many times, people who have been creative at home have been fearful to share their works, only to learn that people were responsive. “They’re usually surprised by how many people absorb it,” she says. “Lots of people would be surprised by the number of normal people who are artistic,” Ali says.

Unplugged also features a listing of grants and awards and scholarships available to artists and writers, which Ali shares as she learns of them.  In addition, there are “two minute plugs” for people to plug things in the community or even their business, but only for two minutes. There are also discussions on a variety of topics.  One recent topic was the Occupy Movement.  Ali recounts, “Things got pretty heated,” so after ten minutes they went back to poetry.

Hot button topics would seem counterintuitive, yet Ali points out that her purpose behind Unplugged wasn’t to make people think like her, but to walk away thinking for themselves. “I want them to leave inspired,” she says.

For Ali, Unplugged is more than just a poetry night, or a collaborative art project.  She sees it as a step towards changing the world.

“I came to Albany in July 2008.  For the first couple of years, I hated Albany with a passion.  I understood why there wasn’t more people here.  It took a couple of years and a couple hard knocks to understand that the problem with Albany was me.  I’m not doing anything to change it,” she says.

Ali, who describes herself as being blunt, would ruffle people’s feathers. “If I see someone doing wrong walking down the street, I tell them,” she says.  People would tell her, “You can’t change the world.”  However, she isn’t buying that. “I’m trying to change the world, one Albany at a time.”  Ali believes that Unplugged is a great way to start because it gets people to thinking.

“That’s why I’m starting to love Albany,” She says.  “Albany’s just an example to me.  A place you can grow something, a place you can change something.”

“I want it to be a catalyst,” she says, hoping that more people will work to change Albany into what they hope it can be.  For Ali, Unplugged is the first step in her efforts to do just that.

Tannur Ali hosts Unplugged every other Monday night at Global Essence at 111 South Jackson street.

 

 

 

Tags: "Unplugged", featured, poet, Tannur Ali
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The Movement

– November 29, 2011Posted in: Headlines

 

 

November 17 is a date that should live on in the memory of Albany for eons.  It was that date, fifty years ago, that the Albany Movement was started.  In 1961, the organization formed with help from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  It mobilized thousands of citizens and received attention throughout the nation.  However, it’s most notable contribution may be that it ultimately failed to accomplish its goals.

The Albany Movement began a broad based attack on the institutions throughout the city.  Everything from bus stations, lunch counters and anything else was considered fair game.

On December 15, 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Albany, hoping to stay for a brief visit to offer advice to the movement. The next day, he found himself arrested when he and many other peaceful protestors were swept up in the mass arrests.  He declined bail until the city of Albany agreed to concessions.

Unfortunately for the Movement, Albany Police Chief Laurie Pritchett was a student of the movement.  While he too engaged in mass arrests, much like police chiefs in other southern cities embroiled in the civil rights movement, Pritchett made sure that arrests in Albany happened peacefully.  This minimized the negative press that many other communities were experiencing with regard to civil unrest.

After a year of activism, the movement was saw few results and began to lose steam.

However, it would be easy to call the Albany Movement a failure because of, well, failure.  It wasn’t.  Instead, it was an early defeat that helped to shape later victory.  It’s reported that after Albany, Dr. King opted to more tightly focus his efforts rather than attack segregation as a whole.  While the more narrow focus wouldn’t pay off as handsomely as a victory against an entire city’s institution of segregation, those smaller victories would have a significant impact.

In his autobiography, Dr. King wrote “The mistake I made there was to protest against segregation generally rather than against a single and distinct facet of it. Our protest was so vague that we got nothing, and the people were left very depressed and in despair. It would have been much better to have concentrated upon integrating the buses or the lunch counters. One victory of this kind would have been symbolic, would have galvanized support and boosted morale … When we planned our strategy for Birmingham months later, we spent many hours assessing Albany and trying to learn from its errors. Our appraisals not only helped to make our subsequent tactics more effective, but revealed that Albany was far from an unqualified failure.” (Quote courtesy of Wikipedia).

While Dr. King left Albany and considered it a failure, the Albany Movement itself kept moving along.  Shortly afterwards, the Movement received it’s sought after victory when the City of Albany struck down all of its ordinances regarding segregation.  In 1976, Charles Sherrod – one of the key members of the movement – was elected to the Albany City Commission.

In a 1961 issue of The Albany Journal, Albany Movement secretary M.S. Page was asked if he believed he would ever see Albany integrated.  He said, “Maybe not in our lifetime, but I am confident that it will come to pass.”

Meanwhile, Sherrod came to sit on the City Commission just fifteen years later and the city’s segregation ordinance didn’t even last three more years.  Albany elected its first black mayor in 2004. Few failures can hope to have such success as the Albany Movement.

Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy being arrested at Albany City Hall on July 27, 1962.

Tags: Albany Civil Rights Institute, Albany Georgia 1961 1962, Civil Rights Movement, Civil Rights Movement Albany Georgia 1961 1962, featured, Laurie Pritchett, Martin Luther King Jr.
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Cartoon obsession is in need of a drastic intervention

– November 27, 2011Posted in: Brett Buckner, Columns

Speeding down the freeway, I drove with one hand on the steering wheel – my eyes trained on the rearview mirror and watching the DVD screen – while my other hand groped in the backseat for the tiny fast-forward button.

If people think texting and driving is dangerous, they should see what parents of toddlers are forced to do when the only thing that’s keeping a screaming kid strapped into a car seat from contented silence is the right scene of the right movie.

In the midst of the honking, shouting and obscene hand gestures hurled at me by other morning commuters, I had a dark and devious revelation.

I’m must assassinate Cinderella … and her fairy godmother, too.

But my dastardly plan doesn’t end there. I’m gonna drop The Lion King off at the humane society, after having Pocahontas deported. And then children’s services can snatch Mowgli away from Bagheera and Baloo and take him back to the Man Village where he belongs.

It’s just a bear necessity …

I love Disney movies as much as any child of the ‘70s, but Jellybean’s obsession with these cartoon classics needs an intervention. Sure they keep her passively occupied, but so would a bottle of bong water, that doesn’t mean I should give it to her every time she asks.

Granted, at 3 years old Jellybean’s entertainment options are limited to playing with American Girl dolls, coloring with Crayons and arguing with me over which “twirly” dress to wear,  we’ve got to find something else … fast.

Over and over and over again – it’s always the same three movies. Such repetition is threatening my sanity. But it’s not so much the dialogue – though I’ve memorized most of that too – it’s the songs that are driving me mad.

The Beatles never wrote anything this catchy or psychologically corrosive. A grown man should not be roaming the beer aisle at Wal-Mart humming “Bibbity Bobbity Boo” unless he can actually pull a magic wand from his cargo shorts and turn a pumpkin into a horse-drawn carriage (or a six pack into a keg.)

Having successfully raised one child through this particular phase, My Lovely Wife seems immune to my Disney Dementia because the part of her brain that once registered such irritations has long since rotted away. She giggles when I whine and about having watched The Lion King for the fourth afternoon in a row while reciting lines in my best Pumbaa voice.

“But it makes her so happy,” she says. “And that’s what’s important.”

Resigned to my fate, not to mention having failed at interesting Jellybean in favorite titles from my childhood –Fox and The Hound, Pete’s Dragon, The Rescuers, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, Halloween – I try and take something positive away from each viewing.

For example, the lovely Pocahontas has taught me how to “paint with all the colors of the wind” as I constantly wonder “what’s around the river bend” (though I still think she should’ve married Kocoum).

And all the valuable lessons about responsibility, growing up, loving unconditionally and the dangers of playing in an elephant graveyard, one thing bothers me – what’s Disney’s problem with the nuclear family. I mean, you ever notice that either the mother or father’s dead in every movie?

Makes me wonder what kind of home life ol’ Walt had growing up. After all, his is the company that gave American kids the image of the evil step-mother.

Oh well, like they say on Lion King – “Hakuna Matata.” It means “no worries.” So I guess Simba and all his cartoon cronies are safe … for now.

Contact Brett Buckner at brettbuckner@ymail.com

 

 

 

Tags: Brett Buckner, featured
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SCREWED UP!

– November 25, 2011Posted in: Government, Headlines

Candidates allege that election officials screwed up and now voters are paying the price

Written by Tom Knighton

 

It would be easy to say that Ward II was a mess, but candidate Melissa Strother and former candidate Cheryl Calhoun might take exception to the use of the past tense.  In their minds, it’s still very much messed up, and the only solution is a runoff between declared winner Ivey Hines and Strother.

“We want your voices to be heard, and that hasn’t happened in this election,” Strother told reporters Monday outside of the Government Center.  The contention stems from election officials’ decision to throw out 259 votes cast for Calhoun, some of which were cast prior to her disqualification from the race due to an issue with residency.

The story first begins in August, when Calhoun attempted to qualify in the Ward I race to challenge commissioner John Howard.  She reports that election supervisor Ginger Nickerson told her that she didn’t reside in Ward I, but Ward II and would need to qualify during the special election qualifying period for the seat Dorothy Hubbard vacated in her bid to be Albany’s next mayor.

Calhoun and her husband Randall say they argued the point, even showing Nickerson on a map that they did indeed live in Ward I. Nickerson held her ground, and eventually Calhoun relented and eventually qualified for the Ward II race.

Several weeks ago, the Journal reported that was in fact a Ward I resident.  A meeting of the Election Board was held and Calhoun was disqualified.

Election officials claimed that it was too late to change the electronic ballot and proceeded along with the election.  Election night, early numbers showed Strother with a clear lead, when suddenly things changed. By the time the votes were all counted, Calhoun had garnered 259 votes. The decision was made to throw out all of Calhoun’s votes. “I was blindsided when they said they were going to throw her votes away,” said Strother.

Strother could have just shrugged and walked away, but there were factors at play that made her decide to dig in and fight.

In a 2,400 word report distributed to reporters at Monday’s press conference, there were many allegations made to what are described as “irregularities” in the voting process.  One allegation, which the Journal also received from Ward II voters, regarded signs.  According to state law, signs must be place prominently to inform voters that a candidate is no longer a valid selection.  However, voters in one precinct report that the sign regarding Calhoun was located on an exit door.  In another precinct, the sign was reportedly placed on a bulletin board full of papers having nothing to do with the election.

Ward II voter Robin Goodson says she didn’t see anything at her precinct.  “I did not see anything saying she was not a candidate. The room you vote in at the church on Palmyra is a very small room and I don’t see how I could have missed it,” she said.

Still other allegations stem from an unusual number of absentee votes cast at Jackson Heights precinct.  The report states that Hines received a staggering 102 votes by absentee ballot, 62 of them mailed in, at Jackson Heights.  These are far fewer than the total he received at Palmyra Road Methodist Church (17), Phoebe Educational Building (7), or at Albany Middle School (14).  In fact, the totals of all absentee votes at these three (39) are far fewer than the absentee ballots filed in person at Jackson Heights.

The percentage of votes by absentee ballot is also rather lopsided.  Palmyra Road Methodist Church totaled just 3.8 percent, Phoebe Educational Building totaled 3.31 percent, and Albany Middle School totaled 4.04 percent of their votes coming from absentee ballots.  Compare that to Jackson Heights 7.93 percent.

So what can be done to make this right? As far as Strother and Calhoun are concerned, a runoff between Strother and Hines is the only option. “You can’t just throw away 259 people’s votes,” Calhoun said.  “It’s not her fault,” Calhoun went on to say. “They took our rights away.”

“I’m asking for a runoff,” Strother said.  When reporters asked about Calhoun’s place in Strother’s challenge, Strother replied, “Cheryl’s backing me.”

“1 million percent,” Calhoun followed up.

Calhoun and Strother weren’t the only ones taking issue with the race.  Also at the press conference was Ward II resident Johnny L. “Rabbitman” Williams, who had harsh words for the Elections Board. “Something’s wrong with the officials running this election.”

Williams also attests that he didn’t see a sign regarding Calhoun no longer being a valid candidate. When a reporter asked him when he first learned Calhoun had been disqualified, Williams responded “I learned it from reading the Herald, the next day.”

“These people are constantly making mistakes,” Williams said.  He too asked for a runoff election to settle the matter. “I’m questioning the Civil Rights Act,” Williams said about votes being discounted.

Calhoun believes that there were more mistakes in this election than just the Ward I race. “Even Ward I wasn’t fair because I wanted to run. I deserve a chance to run,” she said.

Also at play in the report are the 55 votes cast for Calhoun prior to her disqualification.  While it is uncertain who those voters would have backed, the fact remains that they voted for a valid candidate for the Ward II race at the time, only to have their votes be thrown out without cause.

Strother and Calhoun will meet again at the Government Center on Wednesday at 4:00 pm.  The Albany Journal will be there as well.  Look for details on our website () to find out more.

 

Former Ward II candidate Cheryl Calhoun  stands behind one-time opponent Melissa Strother as a show of support as Strother speaks with reporter outside the Government Center to outline problems with the election process.

Tags: Cheryl Calh, election, featured, Melissa Strother, voters, Ward II
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