At the last Richmond County Commission meeting May 21st, the mayor and commissioners Ben Hasan and Marion Williams were discussing a proposed turn lane at the Augusta Regional Airport, with the mayor siding with the turn lane and Williams and Hasan against.
Commissioner Williams took issue with the mayor on a procedural rule.
That’s when the verbose commissioner adds a couple more specs of gray on the mayor’s dome.
We’ve replaced the mayor’s monotone with Charlie Brown’s teacher.
As the mayor asks Hasan to withdraw a motion, Williams steps up to the plate.
Commissioner Williams: “Nno-nono, I ain’t withdrawing my second nowhere.
We could talk about the speed and have the speed limit changed in that area.
It’s extremely dangerous.”
Mayor: Wah Wah Wah
Williams: “The attorney just gave us some advice.
Whether we take it or not is up to us.
Now if he gave us some advice I want to hear the advice.
I want to hear from the engineer.”
Mayor: Wah Wah Wah Wah wah Wah
Williams: “Ain’t no sense in having no attorney if we ain’t gonna listen to what he’s advising us.
Well did you get a chance to hear that?”
Mayor: Wah Wah Wah wah Wah wah Wah Wah
Williams: “Well Mr. Mayor, you just had a sidebar conversation behind us. The rest of the commission sat at the table while y’all had a sidebar conversation-the whole BODY should have known what the bar was talkin’ about, now you want us to agree to a sidebar you just had standin’ in front of us? No Sir.”
Mayor: Wah wah wah Wah Wah
Williams: “You got a main motion Mr. Mayor. You can’t put a substitute motion when you got the main motion you never voted on. I mean, I know you makin’ some rules up, but ah, these ain’t makin good sense.”
“You gotta follow the first one then go back.
You got a substitute motion you voted on-it failed-you got a main motion now you got to go to. You can’t get a second substitute motion cause you don’t like the first one.”
Mayor: Wah wah Wah wah wah wah.
“Well evidently you don’t like it, you don’t want to vote on it.”
“After you go through the process you can get another substitute motion but you need to go through this one now.”
“Mr Attorney, you might want to step in and speak to the matter at hand and let the mayor know what the rules are.”
“Mr. Mayor, I want a point of clarity.
I want a point of order.”
Mayor: Wah wah wah Wah.
“You can’t vote on a substitute motion, Mr. Mayor, when you got a main motion you hadn’t resolved with yet.”
“You gonna add another substitute motion when you ain’t even…??”
Mayor: Wah wah wah wah Wah.
“Yeah, let the lawyer tell us.
People break the law everyday don’t never get caught.”
(((Lawyer speaks and agrees with Williams)))
That’s right, that’s what it is. You can’t just come up with another motion cause you didn’t like the last one.
“Man, I tell ya what. You been here five years doin that?”
“Commissioner Hasan: Heh-heh-heh-heh”
And in true Marion Williams style, the commissioner placed discussing Robert’s Rules of Order 101 on today’s packed meeting agenda.
So the mayor’s got that going for him.
