Thoughts on Last Night's Montezuma Debate

I attended last night's debate over in Montezuma held by the Macon County NAACP for the Mayoral & City Council seats & I came away impressed by the individuals on stage last night.

It was a smooth debate among the candidates for 3 seats currently held by Incumbents Charles Ivey, Norman Carter & a open seat left vacant by Jim Trask who decided against re-election on the Montezuma City Council & the two up for the mayoral seat currently held by Willie Larry

Newcomers Judy Gilmore, who moved back to Montezuma in 1999 after a long stint in Savannah (30 yrs), Judy Hasselkus, who moved here from Clearwater Florida in 2002 & is currently a member of the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, Beau Palmer, a opera singer who also moved back to Montezuma a coupe of years ago did fairly well in last night's debate

Incumbents Charles Ivey & Norman Carter didn't miss a beat as they both showed a great knack of the issues facing the city of Montezuma. Both gave very impressive performances & didn't hurt themselves among those in the audience & listening on Radio WMNZ 1050 AM which carried the debate live.

Tarshea Fudge-Riley showed why she is considered the favorite for one of the council seats at one time going head to head with Incumbent Mayor Willie Larry. She was sharp, crisp & quick on the answers & it would surprise me if she didn't win it this time around.

Although she didn't say much during the debate, but Judy Hasselkus was solid in her performance. Her problem could be that she is low key, but she has signs signs all around montezuma.

Incumbent Mayor Willie Larry & challenger LeVonda Journey- Bush are both fighting for the chance to be Montezuma's next Mayor in next month's municipal elections. I must say I was surprised how effective Journey-Bush was in the debate, especially for a first time candidate. She felt very comfortable in her own skin, she was precise & direct with her answers & clearly was the better debater over Mayor Larry who didn't perform all than well, at times reading his answers from a sheet of paper he had at his disposal.

The winners: LeVonda-Journey Bush, Tarshea Riley, Charles Ivey, Norman Carter, Dee Gilmore

The Losers were: Mayor Willie Larry, Frank Lester III

My prediction on who might win:

City Council:

Tarshea Fudge-Riley, Charles Ivey, Norman Carter.....BUT (It wouldn't surprise me if Dee Gilmore or Judy Hasselkus wins one of those three council seats)

Mayor:

If the disdain of City Hall is legit, LeVonda Journey Bush will defeat Willie J. Larry on 11/8/2011. Larry is the favorite because of name recognition, but based on what I saw in last night's debate, it wouldn't surprise me if Journey-Bush unseat the long-time mayor of Montezuma. From my view, Mayor Larry is running on the status quo & for a city that has lost so much over the last 6 years, that may not be enough this time....but I could be wrong!

Looking ahead to 2012, if Mayor Larry wins re-election one have to believe that Councilman Charles Ivey will get a serious push to run for Mayor. He has all the tools to become a great mayor, question is would he make that jump?

Crucial Debate Tonight for Races for Montezuma City Council & Mayoral Seats

Tonight there will be a debate at the Preston Williams Center in Montezuma for seats on the Montezuma City Council, as well as the office for Mayor.

Incumbent Willie J. Larry is facing a tough challenge from LaVonda Bush-Journey.

Incumbent City Councilmen Charles Ivey & Norman Carter seats are up as well as Jim Trask, who decided not to seek re-election.

Challenging for the three seats are:

Tarshea Fudge-Riley who narrowly lost by a razor-thin margin in her first bid for council back a few years ago.

Frank Lester, who lost his seat last time around & is looking to get back on the city council this time around

And you have first time candidates Beau Palmer, Judy Hasselkus & Judy "Dee" Gilmore

All Council seats are elected citywide...

Issues likely to dominate the forum are: 1) The future of manufacturing plant Allens, Inc. 2) The contined rising cost of water/sewage rates that are plaging the citizens of Montezuma, with no answer as to why were the water/sewage rates were increased in the first place. 3) Economic Develpoment. 4) Transparency in City Government, etc, etc, etc


Macon County Branch 2011 Political Forum
When: Tuesday Oct 18th 2011
Where: Preston Williams Community Center-Montezuma, GATime:
TBA (5pm or 6pm)
For: Cities of Ideal and Montezuma All candiates, incumbents and citizens invited to attend

Montezuma, Georgia: A City on the Decline

Rarely I don't dwell on local politics here in my home county (Macon), but this time, I am. Montezuma, Ga once a thriving city is now only a shell of itself. It doesn't help that its also located in the second poorest county in the State, with Hancock (1) & Randolph (3). Macon is ranked 89th out of the 100 poorest counties in the United States 100 counties with the lowest per capita income.

Macon County is one of the poorest counties in Georgia. According to data collected in 2000 by the U.S. Census bureau, 22% of families and 25.8% of individuals in Macon County live below poverty levels

As you ride downtown Montezuma, you see buildings that was once booming with business are now sitting vacant & deteriorating & there seems to be no progress on the horizon anytime soon.

Job losses due to closing of the former Integrated Composites Technology (ICT), Riley's Manufacturing & the uncertain future of Allen's Inc ought to have many citizens of Montezuma worried.

But the biggest problem is within the city government where strife between the mayor & city council at times look like a episode of Jerry Springer, with the name calling, shouting, drowning out the opinion of others. There have been protest concerning the direction of the city to charges of nepotism & cronyism, which is in someways true!

Current Mayor Willie James Larry (D) is up for re-election this year, along with councilmen Norman Carter (D) (who was appointed to fill the term of late councilman Cordel Jackson), Charles Ivey (D) & James R. Trask (D).

Larry who was elected back in 2000 became the first African-American Mayor of the City has been subject to controversy concerning his tenure as mayor of the troubled city. No word on whether he will run for re-election, but one thinks that it time for mayor to step aside. When there is friction between the council & mayor, you know its time for a change.

Now I admit, I know a few of the councilmen who are currently serving over there, but hey you know me, I call it like I see it & time for the people of Montezuma, MTZ to make their voices heard & elect new leadership to get Montezuma back on its perch once again.

New councilmen Bobby Lewis & Carl Peaster have tried to shake things up since being elected in a almost sweep back in 2009 when the ticket of Lewis, Peaster & Riley (Tarschea Fudge-Riley) almost made it 3 for 3, with Riley losing by a razor thin margin. Some citizens like the things they are doing, while others say they are going too far & going over the edge when criticizing the mayor.

Now the question is will another anti-incumbent wave hit the city of Montezuma? Time will tell, depending who's running against who.

You can go to meetings & say this & that, but if you want change, its going to have to happen at the ballot box this November.

But in order to do that, someone will have to rise to the occasion to do what's necessary. You can't let fear rule the day!