![]() ![]() – No one, except perhaps for me, is going to criticize an elected official attending church services with his or her constituents. These sound like examples of good government at work and that may be the case, but let me adjust the lens a little bit to give you a look behind the scenes: ![]() These events, again typically held in the black and lower income communities of Aberdeen, were paid for out of the pocket of the golf course owner. – When doggedly pursuing the annexation of the Wetlands Golf Course property into the city, owner Sam Smedley worked with Simmons to host several “Unity in the Community” events. Since being elected, both of the men have made a concerted effort to show up for Sunday services at several city churches – largely churches with a traditionally black congregation. – Simmons and city councilman Dave Yensan have both made very public the role religion plays in their lives. Let me run off a couple examples that come to mind: You might be asking by now what exactly is so wrong about city officials finally recognizing and representing ALL of their citizens and not just those who vote or donate to their campaigns or have political or business clout. Indeed in the last two years, since Simmons was elected mayor, he and select other members of the city council have been spending more time than ever in these traditionally overlooked areas, which are predominantly black and happen to be home to many of the city’s lower income families. I thought that having an additional polling place over there would increase the number of voters participating in the election,” he wrote. money, man hours and so on) and the results are tangible. “We’ve spent a considerable amount of effort in the “Historic District”/East Side (i.e. ![]() I’ll let Hiob explain it in his own words to me via an email last week. The new polling place would essentially sit just on the other side of Route 40 and the only hardship it would prevent is would-be voters having to cross Pulaski Highway.īut that’s not even my biggest problem. That’s where I begin to have a problem with the idea of an eastern polling place in Aberdeen.įor starters, the existing and traditional polling place is at the Senior Citizens Center next to Festival Park and City Hall and just a block or so out of downtown Aberdeen. The opening of a new polling location is designed to provide new opportunities for those for whom voting might otherwise be a hardship. Simmons’ idea, which actually appears to have originated with city council president Mike Hiob, would have opened a second location in the “historic district,” the east side of the city near the Boys and Girls Club, for voters to cast their ballots. But, as with most things in life, this idea unfortunately cannot be taken simply at face value. In fact, it sounds like a damn fine idea – giving Aberdeen residents more opportunity and more convenience in voting, which would hopefully bolster what has typically been an abysmal voter turnout for city elections. 6 municipal election.Īt face value, there’s nothing wrong with that. Fred Simmons and buried in the final paragraph, indicated the mayor, who had already announced his intentions to seek re-election, was investigating the possibility of opening a second polling place for the upcoming Nov. In case you missed it, there was a brief and seemingly innocuous statement printed in The Record newspaper a few weeks ago at the bottom of an election story. Since Matt already brought it up in an earlier comment, I suppose it’s time to discuss some racial implications that have worked their way into Aberdeen politics. This is a story about hotdogs and why they are occasionally given out for free. ![]()
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