A. K. Hasan

A Mayor for The People

 

For The Rights of The People

1. Reduce Property Taxes
2. Reduce Crime Rate
3. Support Local Businesses
4. Create High-Paying Jobs
5. Expand Bus Services
6. Push Tourism, Parks & Recreation
7. Support Faith-Based Organizations
8. Create Affordable Housing
9. Change City’s name to Augusta
10. Revise or Repeal Ordinances

 

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1. Reduce Residential Property Taxes
 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will reduce residential homeowners' property taxes.

Dearly Beloved People: My administration’s primary mission will be to reduce residential property taxes for homeowners. We will look to model tax reduction strategies after other cities and states with low residential property taxes and a strong and viable economy. As your Mayor, I will lead the fight to get the Augusta-Richmond County Commission to utilize portions of the SPLOST Revenues to reduce property taxes as the SPLOST was originally designed to do. Reducing property taxes isn’t rocket science, tax reduction simply needs to be a top priority.

 

 

 

2. Reduce Crime Rate
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration shall work tirelessly and strategically, with consultation, coordination, and wisdom to Reduce The Crime Rate.

Dearly Beloved People: My administration will work with the commission, law enforcement, the legislature, and the courts to revise or repeal ordinances and laws that target blacks, poor and middle-class whites, and people without political connections. I will change the practice of exploiting our residents like human ATMs for cash fines and imprisoning people to keep our jails, prisons, and courts open to milk the spirit of competition from the masses and brand you criminals to create systemic slaves.

Our city-county ordinances must be legally fair and just to anyone that violates them. The county’s administrative personnel, Law enforcement, and the judges must act without biases, prejudices, profiling, undue pressure techniques, etc in the enforcement of city-county ordinances.

 

 

 

3. Support Local Business
 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will first and foremost promote and support existing local businesses.

Dearly Beloved People: My administration will implement the Bird-In-Hand Strategies Approach for economic and business development. If we take care of our existing local businesses first and foremost, we’ll keep our local economy stable, steady, and growing. We’ll look for ways to strengthen our local businesses during the covid pandemic and beyond. My administration will study the cities and states that are the most business-friendly in the United States. We will work to create new business models that will enhance our relations with local businesses. We will promote Augusta-Richmond County as business-friendly. Once word of our business-friendly climate is verified and spread, recruitment of new businesses and industries will become easier as many non-local businesses will offer themselves as prospects for locating in Augusta-Richmond County.

 

 

4. Create High-Paying Jobs
 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will work diligently to create High-Paying Jobs, and to attract other economic development opportunities.

Dearly Beloved People: Economic development and job creation will come easier once we officially change the name of our consolidated city-county to Augusta. It is ridiculous to promote optional names for our city when Augusta is recognized and respected worldwide. When the name change occurs, the promotional messages in our ads, brochures, and conversations will be Augusta.

We are fortunate that our area has lots of lands, and quality water for drinking, recreation, and industrial use. My administration will work with the local, state, and federal Economic Development Authorities, the Convention and Tourism Bureaus, and the Parks and Recreation Bureaus to generate the jobs, tourism, recreation, and growth that our area needs to once again become the second largest county in Georgia.

 

 

 

5. Expand Bus Services
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will work to expand bus services and reduce the cost of public transportation.

Dearly Beloved People: My administration will foster public mobility. Our residents must be able to get to and from where they choose to go. When a county’s people are not able to move about freely for work, shopping, or entertainment that city is dying a slow death like a bicycle or car tire with a slow leak the city will eventually go flat, economically, as a workforce entity, and as an entertainment venue, etc.

Public transportation services must not be viewed as a profit center. Public transportation is one area of government that is vital to its successful operations but is most likely unable to generate break-even income budget-wise. Nevertheless, it is essential to budget funds to cover the financial shortfalls in our public transportation because the services are necessary and bus transportation is a great public service for the people.

 

 

 

6. Push Tourism, Parks & Recreation
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will push promotions of Tourism, Parks & Recreation.

Dearly Beloved People: Some of the most productive ways to generate an influx of new tax dollars from non-residents of Augusta-Richmond County is via tourism, Parks, and Recreation. We would be remiss if we do not add entertainment to that list. Yet, we must be honest. To attract tourists, the outdoorsy, and those seeking entertainment we must do what we can with what we have to get what we want.

It is solely within the Augusta-Richmond County Commission's power to clean up and fix up our parks and recreation areas to attract regional and national patrons. We must repair and upgrade facilities, and landscape our parks to be appealing all year round. Our visitor tours should include sightseeing samplings of all areas of our city. Why? Because if we are shamed when our visitors see certain areas, perhaps we will be shamed into doing something to improve those areas before touring them with the tourist?

There is a world of money out there with Augusta’s name on it. Let’s change our city-county name and seize all the money our Patrons of the Masters and visitors bring with them to spend with us. If they return home with the money they planned to spend here, we failed to properly entice them..did we not? Under my administration, we’ll do better to be better.

 

 

 

7. Support Faith-Based Organizations
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will hold in high regard the priority to engage faith-based organizations as healthy branches to aid in the delivery of public services.

Dearly Beloved People: Our faith-based organizations are founded on community outreach activities. Because faith-based organizations inherently make the call or outreach to all kinds of people my administration will enthusiastically forge relations with them. Faith organizations own a key to the social principle of meeting people where they are. We’ll foster partnerships with these organizations in the delivery of government-backed services that will empower them to create and or expand existing services that are most beneficial to the residents of Richmond County.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Create Affordable Housing
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will implement new strategies to create affordable housing.

Dearly Beloved People: One program I will recommend to the Augusta-Richmond County Commission for approval is a Purchase & Resale Affordable Housing Plan. Rather than allow private investors to purchase homes and permit our residents to live in inhumane conditions, or leave the properties in dilapidated uncured, and unsafe conditions, we’ll propose the city purchase some of these properties, hire contractors to bring the homes up to the city code and sell the much needed affordable homes to our residents at a truly affordable price.

The home sales need only generate a small profit. It is the property's annual tax revenues, neighborhood improvement, and residents' safety that matters most to the Commission. I have more ideas for creating and expanding the Affordable Housing Market.

 

 

9. Change the Consolidated
City-County Name to Augusta

"The name of the place is Augusta, GA"
Lyrics from Entertainer James Brown's song, There Was A Time.

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will lead the fight for the Commission to change the name of our consolidated city-county government to Augusta.

Dearly Beloved People: I pledge to you upon the first opportunity in January 2023, I will ask my colleagues on the Richmond County Commission to officially use Home Rule to change the name of our consolidated City-County, or call for a City Name Change Referendum to let the voters decide. If approved by the voters, the referendum will change Augusta-Richmond County to Augusta in the Commission’s Charter. As James Brown so boastfully said of his hometown in his song, There Was A Time, " The name of the place is Augusta, GA.

Using a sports analogy, in 1996, our leaders benched our international tourist attractor, the City of Augusta, in favor of the compromised and consolidated name: Augusta-Richmond County.

Augusta-Richmond is a far less formidable brand than Augusta. The game changes on May 24. Early vote A. K. for Mayor.

 

A lesson in brand marketing:

According to Wikipedia.org, " in April 1985, the Coca-Cola Company introduced a new formula for its Coca-Cola soda, known as new coke...It was renamed Coke II in 1992 and was discontinued in July 2002." Today, Coca-Cola Classic is the most popular soda in the world.

The Augusta National spends tens of millions of dollars annually promoting Augusta. Augusta National Golf Club's name, location, and the Master's Tournament are synonymous with Augusta. Any other name undermines Augusta National marketing of Augusta and weakens our city's brand.

By reinstating an Augusta-Richmond County Commission Home Rule Approval or a Voters-Referendum Approved the Uncompromisable, “Augusta” into our city’s marketing network, The City of Augusta shall surge in her attraction of new residents, businesses, and tourists. Just - as Coca-Cola dared to abandon new coke and coke II and return the Coca-Cola Classic to its consumers. The Commission must act therewith enabling residents, businesses and entertainment, tourism, and economic development authorities to champion the City of Augusta to Augustans and its millions of fans throughout the world.

 

 

10. Revise or Repeal Ordinances
 

 

The A. K. Hasan Mayoral Administration will review, revise and or repeal Ordinances and Policies.

Dearly Beloved People: My administration will work with the commission, law enforcement, the legislature, and the courts to revise or repeal ordinances and laws that target blacks, poor and middle-class whites, and people without political connections. I will change the practice of exploiting our residents like human ATMs for cash fines and imprisoning people to keep our jails, prisons, and courts open to milk the spirit of competition from the masses and brand you criminals to create systemic slaves.

Dearly Beloved People, unite behind me to execute a landslide vote that wins this race without a runoff. With that voter's mandate, I pledge to spend the remainder of 2022 working diligently with my transition team to identify those ordinances that should be revised, or repealed. To ensure that every resident is treated with dignity and respect even when suspected of committing a crime. If suspects in Beverly Hills are treated with respect, it can be done in Augusta-Richmond County.