Alabama and Georgia Will Hold Tax Free Holidays This Month
Alabamians are encouraged to begin preparing for the upcoming academic year by participating in Alabama’s annual Back-to-School Sales Tax
The Rev. Dr. Johhny H. Flakes III said it’s time for Columbus residents to become politically engaged in their community.
“I think that one, we have to change the landscape of the council and two, we have to look at revising our charter,” Flakes said during a recent interview with the Courier. “The city’s charter needs to reflect clear roles and clear actions to be taken as it relates to filling vacancies and seats and when it comes to misconduct by council members.”
The pastor of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus made these comments after the Columbus Council voted to fire City Manager Isaiah Hugley, who has since announced his bid for mayor.
“The current charter does not deal with ethical issues,” Flakes said. “Also, we have to increase our communication to city employees and to stakeholders. We have to come together as a community.”
He said for too long African Americans have chosen to stay on the sidelines, but it’s time for them to get into the game.
“The African American community and the community as a whole need to turn out the vote,” said the political science graduate of Tuskegee University.
Flakes speaks before the council often and explained that it is important to let the city leadership know where you stand and how you feel about things going on within the city and the community.
“Unfortunately, if you voice your opinion and do not agree with certain legislators or certain representatives or council persons, then you will be gaslighted,” Flakes said referring to the day of the firing when he spoke in support of the city manager. “They attempt to make one to feel as though one is wrong and to make one feel as though you are the problem.”
He said the current council has tried to use intimidation and fear as a subtle tactic to construct a narrative that what you say does not matter which allows them to do what they want to do.
“It breads complacency and apathy. We have to let people know that their voice does count. We cannot remain silent, and we cannot be fearful of what people think or say right, wrong, or indifferent. We must be willing to speak out,” said the son of the Rev. Dr. J.H. Flakes Jr.
Having grown up in Columbus, Flakes understands the history of the council and the local city politics.
“I think we have to keep people informed of what is going on. We have to construct a distribution system, but people have to be willing to share their contact information,” said the Morehouse School of Religion graduate, who received his Doctorate of Ministry from Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. “We need to have a database that can be a very powerful. We need a multi-platform of multimedia distribution that ensures that we are not reacting, but we are being proactive. I’m not sure if we have that model but we need to implement it in various places. We just have to take the time to do it, because it’s that important.”
Flakes, a father of two, said it will be important to galvanize young people. He said this is one of the reasons he joined other to form Columbus, Ga., United.
“One of the components is to actually engage people, but it basically started to identify candidates early enough so we can engage them and do a bootcamp for campaigning,” he said of the new civic organization. “Also, we wanted to create a vetting system, so we won’t get three or four different slates of candidates especially within a particular party.”
He said too often the African American vote is split between several candidates.
Still, he said everything starts with getting people to attend meetings and agreeing to get on the agenda for discussion.
“I think if we are consistently having the citizens show up, it will prove to be very effective. If it’s just one or two people coming up and we don’t’ have the kind of consistent participation, it will not have the kind of impact we want,” he said.
He said a good example was the public outcry concerning the humane society.
“People showed up and change came quickly, but we can’t start something and then let it die down. We have to be consistent and engaged about every subject,” Flakes said.