Darrel Rye Looking to Become District 5 Commissioner for Macon County.

There are only two contested races in Macon County this year, one in District 5 where Challenger Darrel Rye (D-Five Points) is looking to unseat Incumbent Bob Melvin (D-Montezuma) to represent District 5 on the Macon County Board of Commissioners.

Rye is a businessowner (Badcock Home Furniture) and has lived in Macon County for close to 30 years and have been a resident of District 5 since 1995. Rye is a native of Westfield, Oklahoma, graduating from Westfield high School & later attended NE Oklahoma University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He later moved to Georgia in 1980

Rye platform if elected is (1) Hire Macon County Residents whenever possible for County or City Positions. (2) Lower Gas Prices for Macon County Residents and (3) Help attract industry to Macon County and run Macon County like a business and (4) Cut Wasteful Spending by the County.

Recently there have been a uproar  from Macon County residents over the hiring of the new Recreational Director for Macon County Stevie Young of Jones County who was fired from a previous Recreational position in Putnam County rather than hiring a local resident Johnny Edwards, someone with deep ties to the county who is heavily involved in County affairs. The hiring was made by County Manager Regina McDuffie, a resident of Bibb County, not by the County Commission, which is unusual according to some other county commissioners I've talked to in other South Georgia Counties. "I feel like Macon Co need to hire local people", said Rye in a interview with a local newspaper. "How can you be involved in a community of you live in Byron"? Rye also goes on to say in regards to the county, fiscal management, "The Commission needs to run a tighter ship. They spend the little money they make. It's like a business, you can't spend more than you make".

Rye is active in his church, Cedar Valley in which he's held a number of positions, Chairman of the Deacons Ministry, Sunday School Director. Also he's been a Relay for Life Team member, member of the Gideons Choir of Americus. 

There will be a candidate forum on May 8 at the Preston Williams Center in Montezuma and voters of District 5 will have a chance to hear both Melvin and Rye make their pitches.

Macon County: It's Time To Rise Up!

Its Time To Rise Up Macon County. Enough of the talk about Im tired  of this, Im tired of that, we need change, there aren't any jobs here, our school system are underperforming, our young people are moving away, we're losing population, our healthcare is the worst in the state, our poverty level is the top 3 worst in the state, Enough! Enough! Enough!

We as a county have a prime opportunity to send a strong message that yes our vote counts & it will be heard. We need Hope, We need  fresh blood, we need new blood in the state legislature, we need J.O.B.S.! J.O.B.S.!! J.O.B.S.!!!

This election is all about Jobs & that's it! Education matters, Values Matter, Ag Issues Matter, but JOBS is issue #1.

All I can say is if you're unhappy with the current elected officials, then vote them out! If you're happy with them, vote them back it, but one race Im sure certain of is that now is not the time to screw this election up. We need a experienced Business person who can help attract industry to this down & out area. We need someone who appeal across racial & party lines, we need a coalition builder.

Drive thru downtown Montezuma & what do you see....NOTHING! Drive out to the Industrial Park & what do you see...NOTHING! Drive Throughout the county & what do you see...NOTHING! NOTHING!! NOTHING!!! Our young people are just wondering aimlessly around our citizens with nothing to do during the summer months,al facilities are crumbling, some parents seem not to give a damn what their children are doing. This has to change! Its got to change or it will be too late!

Its Do or Die for Macon County in this election. Its NOW OR NEVER for the 3rd pooerst county in Georgia. If you want change, vote for Tom Coogle, if you want a want a citizen, not a establishment favorite, vote for Tom Coogle, if you want a businessperson, not a politician, vote for Tom Coogle, if you want a workhorse, not a showhorse, vote for Tom Coogle, if you're tired of seeing our county continue to crumble with no hope in sight for our children & grandchildren, join me & elect Tom Coogle, Democrat out of Montezuma.

Let's Go To Work!!!!

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 Election 2011: Your Vote, Your Voice, You Decide!

This coming November will be no doubt the most important city election Montezuma has ever witness as the direction & future of the city will be decided in November.

4 years ago saw the election of Bobby Lewis & Carl Peaster to the Montezuma City Council, while Tarschea Fudge Riley came within inches of victory.

Well here we are again as Incumbent Mayor Willie J Larry of Montezuma will have to defend his record as Montezuma Mayor, which has been less than stellar as LeVonda Journey-Bush will seek to unseat him as mayor of the City. This maybe the best shot to unseat Larry who was elected in 1999 as the city continues to deteriorate. If Larry runs on his lackluster record, his goose is cooked!! COOKED!!!! Expect him to run a personality based campaign to distract voters from his not-so-stellar record as mayor. Journey-Bush who has been a regular at the Montezuma City Council Meetings will be making her first bid for office, but she will a formidable candidate, make no mistake about it!

JOBS, ECONOMIC DEVELPOMENT, PUBLIC SAFETY, ACCOUNTABILITY are the issues in this election. You can also apply this to the city council races as well

Also incumbent City Councilmen Charles Ivey, Norman Carter & Jim Trask will have to defend their seats against challengers Beau Palmer, Frank Lester III (who previously served as councilman), Juliath 'Dee' Gilmore, Judy Hasselkus & Tarschea Fudge-Riley who lost by a mere margin back in 2007.

No need to highlight elections of Oglethorpe, Ideal, Marshallville. Montezuma is the one to watch!

The race to watch is Montezuma as the city has been hit hard by loss of businesses, jobs, friction among the city council members & the mayor. One of the main issues will he the ridiculously high wate & sewage rates the voters have been saddle with for years now..........some citizens have seen their bill go as high as $290, even higher!

This is what I call a BACK DOOR TAX INCREASE!

The city is definitely at a crossroads with no light at the end of the tunnel. Rumors of its major employer Allens, Inc leaving town continues, the loss of population over a 10 year period deepens & with no real plan for the city on the horizon, this is a opportunity for voters to make it known that they are fed up with the lack of progress the city has made & want to stop the regression the city has been in during the last 6 years.

I rarely cover happenings in my home county, but I will be keeping my eye on this one leading up to November

Retirement Watch: State Rep. Lynmore James (D-Montezuma) to retire in 2012

State Rep. Lynmore James (D-Montezuma) will step down as representative for HD 135 in 2012. This has nothing to do with redistricting of his district which basically remains the same except it loses northern Talbot County & picks up the rest of Dooly County in the proposed map presented by the GOP which renames the district HD 139.

James, who will turn 75 in two weeks have been recovering from back surgery since 2009 have been battling heath problems since that time & recently early this year he spent some time in a Atlanta Hospital battling a unknown illness.

Elected in 1992 riding the Zell Miller, Pierre Howard gubernatorial ticket, James, a moderate democrat & farmer have represented the constituents of Dooly, Peach, Talbot and Taylor Counties. Presently, he is serving on several House Committees: Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Regulated Industries, and Retirement.

James is a graduate of the Flint River Farm High School in Montezuma and earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the Tuskegee University in Alabama & he has been a member of the Flag Bank Board of Directors, the Flint River Community Hospital Governing Board, the Georgia Center for Youth Advisory, Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum, the Fort Valley State University Foundation Board and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

So if the new map of HD 135 holds up, there will be a new state representative for the counties of Macon, Dooly, Taylor & Southern Peach County. Already several names have been mentioned as possible candidates for James house seat. There is a strong possibilty that the next State Rep will come out of either Macon or Dooly County.

Will Black Voters in Montezuma Vote for a White Candidate for Mayor?

I have a friend who thinks he’s figured out Black folks voting behavior in Montezuma (Macon County) predilection for voting for black candidates. He believes that black folks will vote for incumbent Willie J Larry regardless if a white candidate rises t challenge him in the democratic primary this summer because he is black black. That’s it! No mystery, or political theory behind it. Sure he cites several polls detailing the overwhelming support President Obama received from black voters during the 2008 election. That's 2008!

Black voters makeup close to 70% of the population in Montezuma, so many out there will say Hell No! But I think they could.

My friend's theory is false, based upon an old-time, monolithic group thinking mentality. All he’s done is herd black people in Montezuma into stringent race camps which reinforces the idea that blacks are preoccupied with race and skin color–thereby perpetuating the victimization stigma. (For the record– I don’t know for a fact that this is his exact thinking, but I know it can’t be far off.) Let’s take a look at a recent example of how this line of thinking is myth more than fact.

Back in 2007, Robert Reichert, a white democrat bested 6, 7 other candidates who happened to be African-American in the race for mayor of Macon despite the city being 65% African-American. Reichert won by running as a centrist & appealing to the black community & running against the establishment. He was basically running a general election campaign before the general election.

Yes Willie Larry is a incumbent who haven't had a challenger since being elected, but that doesn't mean since he is black, black people will automatically vote for him. There are serious problems with the city of Montezuma, which is deteriorating day after day, month after month, year after year. Yes a majority of black voters support progressives liberals, whichever, but they identify with issues and ideology that best reflects what they believe, not what they look like. Black people aren’t sheep, and they don’t practice identity group politics anymore than any other group does. Does that mean they are immune to race politics? Of course not. You’ll find that blacks are more driven by issues they care about, more than the skin color of the candidate speaking about them.

So what I'm saying here is the issues, not race will drive the 2011 City of Montezuma Elections. If you are a conservative, run as a moderate. If you are a left winger, you are a lock, but given the makeup of the city, a centrist approach is what's needed. Look at Macon Mayor Robert Reichert as a example

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!