I’m Just Saying: Schools, Candidates, and Law Enforcement Cooperation

YOUR BEST FUTURE IS ALREADY IN THE OFFICE DOWN THE HALL

For the first time since Dr. John Strelec retired 30 years ago, we had the current Richmond County School System superintendent live and in the studio for an interview on “The Austin Rhodes Show.” Dr. Malinda Cobb and newly promoted Board of Education President Shawnda Stovall had a brief but informative visit with us Wednesday, March 12.

I enjoyed meeting them both.

While I am sure that Ms. Stovall's political opinions are likely a far cry from what anyone would call conservative, she is a common sense public servant who agrees - for the most part - that successful education begins and ends in the home of the student. While professional educators are key to the specific technical education of our young people, it is vital that they are supported and directed at home. That’s not just during the teen years, but from the moment those children arrive in the world.

The intel on Dr. Cobb is pretty clear. She is a sharp academic with real world experience and success as a teacher at T.W. Josey High School, where she was named Richmond County Board of Education Teacher of the Year. She later found success as the principal at Goshen Elementary and then Richmond Academy. During her predecessor’s five year tenure, she was widely regarded as his best and most proactive associate superintendent. Hand to heaven, in a dozen conversations with some of the most involved educators and civic leaders in the area, I have not heard one bad review or negative comment about Dr. Cobb.

But, as always, we are having a nationwide search to find the best candidate to lead our system, during which Dr. Cobb is serving on an interim basis. The good news is that this impressive leader has applied to take the reins permanently, and not since the ascension of the aforementioned Dr. Strelec, has there been a better suited candidate for the job. She knows the system, the students, the teachers, and the unique challenges Richmond County deals with every single day. She should be a slam dunk shoo-in to be selected as the new superintendent.

The Board of Education needs to park the journeymen and out-of-town ladder climbers that intend to use Richmond County as a check mark on a resume. Augusta is Dr. Cobb's home, and the Richmond County School System represents her professional heart and soul. Here is hoping the elected trustees do the very best thing they can, not just for the parents and students, but as proof they recognize and reward professional excellence and decades of proven loyalty.

Dr. Cobb deserves this position, and the taxpayers and families of Richmond County deserve the stewardship and leadership she can bring.

SHE'S BBBBAAAACCCKKK....OR, IS SHE?

The calls and messages started fast and furious about 11 a.m. Friday: Pam Tucker is contemplating another run for county chairman.

Not one to immediately fall for every rumor or bit of gossip that comes down the pike, I reached out to Columbia County's former emergency management director to ask her personally.

As of press time, she had not answered.

While I know she proclaimed herself "retired" shortly after her loss to Doug Duncan, it is certainly within her rights to reconsider that proclamation. She did, after all, come close in the runoff against Duncan, finishing behind him a respectable four points and carrying 48 percent of the vote.

That, of course, was after an initial GOP primary that included local home builder Mark Herbert.

That race broke down 47 percent Duncan, 44 percent Tucker, and nine percent Herbert. Herbert's painful distant third place finish came after a substantial personal investment in his own campaign. He easily outspent Tucker in the failed effort.

The tough reality is, in the years since, her popularity has plummeted. On her very active Pam Tucker Community Activist Facebook page, she has shown herself to be incredibly thin-skinned and unwilling to engage with any citizens that disagree with her opinions. She is notorious for banning dissenters outright which, while her right, does not bode well for someone who hopes to court voters countywide.

Pam Tucker was once the best emergency management director in Georgia, and it was a huge loss when she retired from that position. It was a move I did everything in my power, as Tucker's longtime friend and ally, to discourage. She didn't appreciate my loyalty to Doug Duncan or the fact that I had pledged to support him for chairman years before he publicly declared. As a result, I soon found myself excised from her life, and we have rarely spoken since. That was not an estrangement I sought nor was I happy about it.

The only declared candidate, so far, in the race to succeed the retiring Duncan is District 4 Commissioner Alison Couch. So far it appears Couch has the support and endorsement of virtually every elected official including, specifically, the unanimous support of all current sitting county commissioners. It is hard to imagine Tucker finding enough conflict with Couch to consider taking her on. Then again, over the last 40 years, the nastiest battles in Columbia County have all been within the local Republican Party.

Stay tuned!

YES, YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT!

In the aftermath of this week's officer-involved Richmond County shooting, the deputy in question has been put on administrative leave with pay, pending an investigation into the situation. It appears to be a righteous use of potentially deadly force. An armed and aggressive suspect was shot and is currently recovering from his injuries.

While the specific episode seems to have been handled well, and with no need for concern as to the use of force, there was one detail in the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Staff’s statement that garnered attention:

"The incident has been turned over to the Columbia County Sheriff's Force Investigation Team for review."

Wow.

That would never have happened under former Sheriff Roundtree. So many amazing changes and gigantic leaps forward have been made under the leadership of new Sheriff Geno "Rock" Brantley that they are often hard to keep up with. The level of trust and spirit of cooperation at the highest level of these two departments was lacking for most of the last 12 years. But now the tides have turned, and that benefits every citizen living in both Richmond and Columbia County.

When someone says, "I hate to say I told you so," they are lying. It is often a blast, and in this case, it is also spiritual declaration. When it comes to the damage done by the wholly inadequate and downright dangerous management of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office since 2013, I did, in fact, tell you so.