Seeking a better ending to today’s column, I called longtime radio personality John Wrisley based on a bum tip that he was an Azar supporter. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought he was a possibility.
“Joe called me just the other night” and asked for help, Mr. Wrisley said. “And I said, I can’t do that, Joe.” Why?
“Because I really can’t take him seriously," he said. “I’m not even sure he takes it seriously.”
It’s not that he prefers one of the other candidates. Mr. Wrisley said he’s not happy with the choices before him. “Most of all, I’m not happy with Mayor Bob.”
“He is a likeable guy. I just feel like the city has bitten off more than it can chew.”
As for Mr. Azar, Mr. Wrisley told him, “You’re not ever going to get anywhere with the empty rhetoric — ‘vision,’ and ‘we need to be leaders instead of followers.”
He said he’s served on a lot of committees with Joe over the years, and "He’s filled with ideas. He really likes to talk," but he’s short on action. Mr. Wrisley said at one meeting, he interrupted a long harangue from Mr. Azar to suggest that the committee adopt his proposal, and delegate him to get it done. The affirmative vote was unanimous. But noting got done.
“I don’t see him as the sort of person who will stick his nose into the nitty-gritty to do what it takes to get what needs to be done… done,” he said. “I don’t see him as the executive that he wants to be.”
“He’s kind of full of himself,” Mr. Wrisley said of Mr. Azar. “And that’s fine. We need people like that.” If that’s true, Mr. Azar certainly meets the need.
Finally, since he knew him so well, I asked if he could recommend anyone else who was supporting Joe. "No," he said. Not in his circle of acquaintances. But he added, "I like this guy. I think he’s got a nice business going…. He should not get distracted."
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One thing Joe Azar has done is keep a steady drip of legitimate criticism going against the mayor. It is to the point now that the middle class voters know what a failure Coble has been, and want him gone. All Coble has left are the core Democrats – rich old families and poor blacks, led by blacks in good-paying city handout jobs.
At some point, even the blacks will wise up and we will have a new mayor and a new city council that is not owned by the Good Ole Boys.
Lee, check out Coble’s campaign contributors–The State printed them several days ago. Coble has quite a few hardcore conservatives on his team.
I agree that a lot of people’s eyes have been focused on the accomplishments (or lack of accomplishments, some would say) of Mayor Bob through Joe Azar, but its simply not true to say that Coble has no support outside the core Democrats.
Bob Coble is supported by people who make money from real estate development subsidized by the taxpayers. “Liberal” and “conservatives” both play that game.
I’m just wondering – Do these people who have these conversations with you know they may appear in a blog for all to read? Do you ask them? This just doesn’t seem like a conversation that someone would anticipate appearing verbatim for all the world to read.
If it’s not made clear to them, seems to me there are some blog ethics issues here.
Everybody is disappointed with the Five Points construcion project, but isn’t it ending up to be a fantastically valuable
addition to Columbia! I spoke with a contractor 25 years ago that told me his firm was doing a piling job at Blossom & Harden only to see a telephone pole piling completely disappear before their very eyes!
So we know it was an historical swamp! I read where we got Fed. Highway funds in the upper millions for the project! So lets finish it up, have a show place for our City, the Businesses can recoup their losses
in the future by having a fantastic location to do businness! Hooray for those behind the project for their far sightedness, and lets do more of it in our City! John Casey
When I saw how much money Joe Azar had raised toward on his campaign
it was clear the guy isn’t serious.
Apparently (and I don’t have anything against him at all) he is more interested in just running than actually winning.
If he was interested in actually winning, he would work to get some financial support so he could actually win.
At this point, I don’t even read anything Joe says. I just ignore him – and he seems like a good guy. But it is a waste of time to consider anything he says.
The Five Points work was long overdue, and going well. Five Points sits over a creek which was made into a tunnel long ago.
What people object to are projects like Lady Street, never ending, Main Street redone several times, Gervais Street done and redone, AirSouth, convention centers, city-owned hotels, the filth and crime downtown.
Interesting that the author denies backing Kevin Fisher, acording to this article, in the Feb 4th editorial, he encouraged him to “avoid another lopsided Coble-Azar match-up.”
http://www.columbiacitypaper.com/joe_azar.shtml
Fix the RED LIGHT PROBLEM! Driving in Columbia Sucks!
Bob and I have worked out at the gym together and his son is a student at my alma mater Wofford. And, I actually made money working with Kevin during the No-Lottery campaign. I wrote the radio ads that ran in the black community and was contracted thru his firm. I purchased my stereo from Joe. I speak with both Joe and Bob often, so, ya know, it does me very little political or personal good to get in this fight.
I won’t say who I am voting for. But the fact that Bob has Steve Benjamin in his ads turns my stomach. Benjamin while running for statewide office used the image of Dr. King in his campaign material as to suggest King would be for the death penalty And of course now he represent the payday loan industry.
Maybe Bob has older and politically connected blacks sewn up, but Fisher may get a piece of the black even without a real campaign in the black community. I was suprised the other day when one of my older neighbors expressed dissatisfaction with Bob. Sure, there are a lot of Bob sign’s in the hood, but many are in front of homes of older people who are ususally active.
I wish there were more competition for the black vote. And I wish someone, be it one of the candidates or the State paper ask the mayor how and why Hope VI money was used to fund the Vista Commons, hardly what the program and funds were designed for.
And, if the encouraged migration of younger, working-class black families to MungoLand in Northeast continues and the development that is taking place on Bull Street and in other areas of the city is “high-income” or “upscale” -in ten years or so the black population will be around 40% as opposed to the present 46%. I believe the phenom i called gentrification and disbursement.
If only Joe or Kevin could say something about that beyond tossing out the words and have a solution to a future of further economic stratification.
And one more thing. Being against the State may get Joe more votes. People hate the media as much as they hate politicians these days.
I mean, stranger things have happened in politics – George Bush was elected and re-elected.
Me, I’m waiting for the revolution.
I like the MungoLand comment.
But I thought that was more out towards the Harbison and Irmo areas –
you know – 500 homes on 10 acres type stuff.
Mr Lips
Encouraging someone to run and “backing” them are two different things. Isn’t that obvious?
I’ve encouraged people I knew to run for elections before but I didn’t vote for them. I encouraged them because I thought they had some good ideas and might bring some spirit to a race – but I didn’t think they would be good in the job.
and tell AZAR that raising money to get your name out isn’t “buying” the office.
Buying the office would be promising sweet heart deals to friends or supporters.
The reason he still gets his butt beat when almost no one cares to go vote in the first place for Mayor of Columbia is because people don’t really know who the heck Azar is.
Raise some money, get out some mailers, put up some billboards, and do some old fashioned campaigning instead of sitting around and whining about “not wanting to buy the election.”
Brad – The State doesn’t even pay city taxes. Which candidate wants to annex your tax-free enclave into the city?