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Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009

Political Notebook: Erickson to be on 'Colbert'

Macon’s most famous city councilman, Erick Erickson, is scheduled to appear next month on “The Colbert Report.”

This is something of a fame threshold that Erickson will be crossing. Sure, he’s an oft-quoted national pundit due to the popularity of Redstate.com, the conservative Web site where he is editor-in-chief. He’s been on Sean Hannity’s show, and in fact he’s scheduled there the day after appearing with on Stephen Colbert’s show.

But this is Comedy Central and Stephen Colbert, where conservative politicos go to be made fun of.

“This is actually the first big interview I’ve been nervous about. ...” Erickson said Friday. “Everybody just tells me not to be the funny person and I’ll be OK.”

That could be difficult for Erickson, who has a quick wit and tendency toward the outlandish. But he promises to play it safe and “do my best not to get eaten alive on national television.”

Erickson said he’s been told to expect a seven minute interview, during which he’ll talk about Redstate.com and take a look at political races around the country. And, though Colbert’s show generally pokes conservatives with a stick, Erickson said it’s one of his favorite shows on TV.

“I think he’s pretty well equal opportunity,” Erickson said. “And I think he’s a nice guy. ... Some times you’ve got to laugh at yourself.”

In other Erickson-related news, he was honored this week at the Weyrich Awards Dinner held Thursday in Washington, D.C. Named for conservative Heritage Foundation founder Paul Weyrich, the award recognized him as “new media person of the year.” The award puts Erickson in well known conservative company, as he so often is. Fox News host Glenn Beck, for example, was the group’s media person of the year.

FIVE COUNCIL VOTES ABOUT TO BE IN FRANCE

With a third of the Macon City Council scheduled to be out of town on a sister city trip to Macon, France, in a couple of weeks, the council’s Dec. 15 meeting could get interesting.

Council President Miriam Paris and council members Tom Ellington, Alveno Ross, Nancy White and Lauren Benedict won’t be there, and several relatively major issues could be up for a vote.

For starters, NewTown Macon wants the City Council to shift its monthly “First Friday” waiver of the city’s downtown open container law. The downtown booster group and its partners are planning a New Year’s Eve bash on Dec. 31 — the Thursday before the traditional “First Friday.” There seems to be support for the change, but these waivers always seem to inspire debate, and who knows how the shrunken council will vote on the issue with just a couple of weeks to go before the party.

Then there’s Mayor Robert Reichert’s push to hold back on cost-of-living increases for retired city employees next year. Those increases go into effect automatically after Jan. 1 unless the council agrees with the mayor and votes to stop the increases. That would have been a tough vote at any time of the year, but with some of Reichert’s traditional allies on the council out of town, it looks to be even tougher sledding for the proposal.

There’s also Councilwoman Elaine Lucas’ push to install interim Emergency Management Agency Director LaTravius Smith as the agency’s permanent director. That may be up for a vote and Lucas was concerned earlier this week that “there won’t be enough votes for it” with the sister city travellers out of town.

There’s also an outside chance something could come up on the proposed merger of the city and county animal control operations, though it seems unlikely Reichert and Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart will hammer out that agreement in time for any council vote.

At any rate, the council’s normal dynamics will be out the window. Paris has said that, if need be, the full council could meet again before the end of the year to take care of things

8 TO MEET, 10 TO OVERTURN A VETO

Poor City Council President Miriam Paris. We’re going to make fun of her.

In discussing the prospect of that Dec. 15 City Council being held despite the fact that five council members (including the president herself) will be out of town, Paris noted that she was “fully aware” it takes 10 members to even hold an official meeting.

She quickly corrected herself. “I mean nine,” she said.

Other members quickly corrected that. It takes eight to constitute a quorum and hold a Macon City Council meeting.

AMBIVALENT ABOUT G-RAMP

Plans for a $45 million to $90 million expansion of Robins Air Force Base inched forward this week as only one of three governments voted to front money for a $200,000 environmental study.

Supporters of the Georgia-Robins Aerospace Maintenance Partnership are asking communities to pony up for the study, splitting the cost among their population. Centerville’s government voted to put about $7,400 in to the project, but Bibb County tabled a motion to put about $20,300 into G-RAMP and Perry also deferred a request for about $14,800.

Both Bibb County and Perry could reconsider later.

GOOD BOOKS LEAD TO PILE OF AWARDS

Few Bibb County residents probably worry about the quality of the government’s financial reports, but they can still take some reassurance that the county government picked up the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting — for the 25th straight year.

The lengthy term is more remarkable because each year is a new review from a different set of judges, said Bibb County Finance Director Deborah Martin. “A lot of people think if you get it one year, then, ‘Hey, no problem,’ but that is not true,” she said.

Good financial reports blend solid accounting with an ease of understanding. Judges evaluate the content, layout and even details, like how numbers on a different page get referred to.

County commissioners honored the staff Tuesday night, recognizing Martin; Bill Vaughn, the now-retired former finance director and chief administrative officer; Assistant Finance Director Christy Iuliucci; internal auditor Kim Roberts; and clerk Pamela Lawson.

But 25 years of work only goes so far. This year’s award is a plaque that looks pretty much just like others. Martin knows numbers, but doesn’t want to hang 25 plaques. The latest is still sitting in a chair.

GOVERNMENT IN THE CAMERA’S EYE

Bibb County commissioners started talking about internships that would let more people learn more about the government’s workings.

The chairman, Sam Hart, thought some activities from an internship could be placed on a public-access channel. Joe Allen took up the issue, saying it’d be great if children or anyone else could see county commission meetings.

Allen was outnumbered — as he said, “200-to-1” — but other commissioners saw his point amid laughs.

“In the parlance of lawyers, the chairman opened the door,” commissioner and attorney Lonzy Edwards said. “Let me see if I can close it,” Hart returned.

The county attorney, Virgil Adams, offered his own opinion on televising the commission.

“I don’t think there’d be any redeeming value,” Adams said to more chuckles.

Proposals to televise committee meetings are offered every few years, then shot down by other commissioners. But with county commissioners thinking money from next July’s sales-tax vote could let them renovate the current courthouse into county government office space, it may be hard to resist wiring rooms with cameras. When you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you’ve got television cameras, everything looks like a show.

A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Visitors to Macon’s City Hall may notice new Christmas decorations outside, a tree in the lobby and other decorations spread about.

They were donated by Unforgettable, a local floral and gift store, as well as Christmas decorating service. Company President Sandy Cadle said she thought it would be a nice thing to do, particularly for city employees who won’t get a raise this year.

“This was our gift to the mayor and employees,” Cadle said.

Staff writers Travis Fain and Mike Stucka contributed to this column.