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14 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989
the perception that he resists the administrative requirements of the office. “There have been some comments, and I think Scott made some comments, about pushing the pen,” he says. “I made that statement, and it wasn’t directed at any candidate. It’s basically saying that I’m not in the office pushing a pen, because I’m not.” He does his administrative work when he first gets to the office, he says, then he’s on the streets. “I’m not going to just sit in the office with my feet propped up, which I could if I wanted to,” he says. “To me, I want to get out there and make a difference. That’s what I meant about pushing the pen. I’m not in the office pushing a pen
“With the black and white issue — I think there is some disparity with black supervisors in our department,” he says. “However, there have been some black folks that have turned down promotions — and white folks, too — because what happens most of the time is, when you get promoted now, especially in road patrol, you pretty much go to night shift. A lot of folks — they don’t want to change their lifestyle, so people have given it up.” Such a slight answer might have drawn fire from those at a recent NAACP forum, but Silas left after the introductions, citing a previous engagement. Another thing Silas says he would
all the time. I’m out there on the street.” As a candidate, he is running on the platform of adding more officers, building better community relations, revitalizing youth programs and creating a citizens advisory board. The citizens advisory board is something Strength strenuously opposes. “Some people have a different take on it,” he admits. “My thing is — I don’t want a group of folks coming in telling me how to run my department. I want a group of folks to come in and see how the department is being run.” That kind of public understanding does more than help public awareness, he says. It can trickle down to the commissioners, who hold the purse strings. “That way, when it comes down to the commissioners having to add another millage rate to the taxes or whatever, they can say, hey — I’ve seen it in action. I’ve seen how things are going.” He also wants to tighten up the promotions procedure, making it less about who you know and more about being qualified.
like to see is more communication among the divisions, and he points to one of Peeble’s shining moments as an example. “This Operation Smokescreen,” he says. “They had a lot of folks they were supposed to arrest, but it was weeks later before we even got photographs of the folks that we wanted. When you’ve got 300-some people on the road patrol, it would be nice to have those pictures, because we’re out there every day. We see what they’re doing.” Silas says he finally got the information, but only after requesting it. Regarding his association with South Augusta and its long but fading legacy as the real seat of Augusta’s political power, Silas shrugs. “People have misconceptions about the Southside Mafia trying to restore itself with me being a candidate,” he says. “That’s not the case. What’s the difference between a group of folks in South Augusta wanting to better their community when you’ve got a group of folks in West Augusta who meet on a regular basis, too? They don’t call it the West Augusta Mafia.” 26JULY2012