Recall time in Warner Robins?

Back in the days when Mayor Donald Walker enjoyed what seemed like supreme power in Warner Robins, I remember writing columns that decried his overly congenial relationship with the city council. For much of his time in office it seemed as if Walker had the council in his hip pocket, and they would rubber stamp anything he wanted to do. At the time I felt that a little independence on the part of the city council might be a good thing. I guess you have to be careful what you wish for.

No one is going to accuse the current mayor and city council in Warner Robins of being too congenial with one another. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how there could possibly be any more ill will between a chief executive and a legislative body than there seems to be between Chuck Shaheen and the majority of the council right now.

The situation seemed to come to a head a few weeks ago when the council reversed the suspension of Police Chief Brett Evans that had just been levied by the mayor. Shaheen made the decision to suspend Evens when it came to light that chief had very openly campaigned for Shaheen’s opponent in the last city election, in clear violation of an ordinance that prohibits city employees from getting directly involved with local campaigns.

I have heard no plausible argument to justify what the council did. Their “everybody does it” excuse simply does not hold water with anyone who has an IQ higher than a potted plant. They were looking to slap the mayor in the face, law and order be damned, and that’s exactly what they did.

Many city residents are growing tired of this nonsense. Former Warner Robins council member and mayor Henrietta McIntyre is one prominent citizen who has clearly run out of patience. She is 85 now and has trouble getting around, but she made the effort to stand up and let the council feel her wrath when they rescinded Evan’s suspension, telling them that if she could walk she would “be out there with a petition to recall every one of ya.”

Apparently after thinking the matter over, Ms. McIntyre decided that her inability to walk wasn’t going to keep her from taking the necessary action. When the city government next convened, she was there collecting signatures in the audience for a petition to recall the 5 council members who voted to rescind the Evans suspension. Good for her.

But the council did not seem to get the message. They have now decided to conduct an expensive audit of the city’s operations and to they want to hire a former city employee to conduct the audit, one who was fired by Shaheen and has supposedly stated his intentions to “get” the mayor. This all might be funny if it was happening somewhere else, but for residents of Warner Robins it is no laughing matter.

“Embarrassment” is the perfect word for what is going on in Warner Robins, and the mayor and the council need to deal with whatever their personal differences are like grown men. You don’t have to like each other, but you need to realize that you were elected to do a job, and you are failing at it, miserably, for the whole world to see.

If you can’t act like grownups you have no business being in office and you will richly deserve to feel the wrath of your constituents via a recall effort. Recalls are always an uphill battle and they rarely succeed, but if there was ever a situation where one would be appropriate it is here in Warner Robins in 2010. I can’t imagine that getting the required 100 signatures to get the ball rolling will be hard to do, even for a lady that has trouble walking. I’m sure the voters will come to you, Ms. McIntyre.

Time to cast out the Demon in Warner Robins?

I’m sure you’ve heard all about the local pastor who was arrested at Warner Robins High School earlier this week for leading a protest against the school’s choice of mascot. This isn’t the first time someone has gotten their blood pressure up over the green-eyed Demon, and it probably won’t be the last. It’s tough to fight tradition though, and I expect the movement to cast him out will be just as fruitless in this instance as it has in the past.

But before we completely dismiss this (probably futile) effort to banish the Demon from Warner Robins High, perhaps we should at least consider the argument these protestors are trying to make. Is it possible that extended exposure to demonic symbology could have a negative impact on the minds and spirits of our impressionable young citizens?

I am in a position to shed some light on that question since I was a Warner Robins Demon myself in the early 80s. I guess I could trot out the old saying that “I went to school there and I turned out just fine”, but frankly I bet that a lot of people who know me well might take issue with that assertion. They might say that I could have turned out a whole lot better than I did, and who’s to say whether or not having that scary-looking demon looking down on me with his bright green eyes as I stumbled through my formative years might have had something to do with that?

So maybe we should at least think about changing the mascot for Warner Robins from a Demon to something a little less dark and satanic. And if we did decide to do that, why not take the opportunity to go completely in the other direction and bestow upon Warner Robins a mascot that speaks to our better natures, one that will lift our young citizens’ eyes upwards towards the light instead of down into the pits of despair?

Here are a few possibilities to consider:

- The Saints. The problem here is that everyone associates this nickname with the NFL team from New Orleans. Although they have erased their legacy of being perennial losers with last year’s Superbowl win, we would still have to worry about the lewd behavior commonly associated with the city itself. We might not want the image of inebriated young women exposing themselves to earn a string of beads to be associated with the local high school sports program.

- The Angels. This would be a welcome about-face from the current mascot, but I’m afraid the cute and cuddly cherubs that most people think of when they hear this word might not strike terror into an opponent’s heart on the field of battle the way a demon does. I considered some more intimidating alternatives like the Avenging Angels or the Angels of Death, but those sound like the names of motorcycle gangs, and I don’t think we want to go there either.

- The Holy Warriors. This name sounds tough and righteous at the same time, which is good, but it also has some negative connotations by being associated with the Crusades and some of the nasty things that were done in the name of religion during that conflict. Given the average person’s ignorance of history however, I’m not sure how much of a concern that would be.

- The Wrath of God. I think we have a winner! I mean seriously, does any sane person not quake in fear at the thought of drawing the ire of the Almighty? Imagine an opposing coach trying to get his team ready to face Warner Robins and telling his squad that “this week we will be facing the Wrath of God.” It sounds much more intimidating than some garden-variety demon, don’t you think?