Austin’s Daily Commentary – July 12, 2023

AUSTIN: The crisis that we've seen with the homeless issue in West Richmond County, in downtown Augusta has literally been years in the making. Business owners have been begging the sheriff's department and I guess the city commissioners for relief. The sheriff of Richmond County is not paying much attention to the issue at all.

And as a matter of fact, it took a near fatal shooting of one of his own men to bring the community together in the way that they did last night at Warren Road Gym. Literally hundreds of local residents get together to hear what the sheriff had to say. His plan to bring businesses together as a core approach to, well, one approach to fight the core problem is what I mean to say of this homeless encampment in West Richmond County.

I tell you, it's a shame that so little has been done in the past to combat this. It's a shame that business owners have been made more aware how important it is that they report in a very timely fashion. When the homeless show up. Private property owners in West Richmond County that are ignoring their own, you know, sight unseen property have allowed these folks also to get a foothold in the area. And once they are here, man, it is like getting rid of the out of control vermin.

It's a problem everywhere. This is not a unique issue in Augusta, Georgia. The problem that we have, though, has become far more intense because of a lack of aggressive, addressing the issue and again, letting the word get out to all the homeless people. And they do talk to each other, believe it or not, that they are not wanted or welcomed in our area. The sheriff's action at this point, far too little, far too late. But at least there is some attempt being made to solve the issue as late as the solution may be coming. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

That's about what we're faced with now could lead to those West Richmond County businesses and residents are trying to solve a problem and in many cases save their businesses from further attacks and further degradation from the homeless. And that's comment of Austin Rhodes AM  580/95.1 FM News Talk WGAC.