Résumé showcases chamber's 'one-man superband'

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2007

Who knew?

Thomas L. Wyatt, the erstwhile Athens Area Chamber of Commerce director of development and government affairs, was a regular one-man, superband. At least according to the résumé Wyatt is pitching to the Georgia Economic Developers Association.

Who knew the power and influence this man wielded from his chamber position?

What about his role in getting Clarke County's state Senate districts realigned? "Successfully lobbied state officials to redraw state senate districts and enjoyed unanimous support from the Georgia Supreme Court when it was challenged," Wyatt states on his résumé. Wow! What power. What influence. And to have that kind of clout with the state Supremes. Remarkable.

Wyatt also claims responsibility for bringing Athens-Clarke County voters non-partisan elections on the local level. "Overwhelming passedMLK ecumenical service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, guest speaker the Rev. Winfred Hope of Ebenezer Baptist Church West called on Athenians to attend to "the unfinished business" for which Dr. King gave and sacrificed his life. The Rev. Hope sang verses from the Weavers' "If I Had a Hammer," a Peter, Paul and Mary hit and civil rights movement anthem, and even demonstrated by taking a hammer to the pulpit with each phrase.

"Until we are able to get along with one another," Hope said, We must "hammer out oppression, hammer out injustice and hammer out inequality."

Thank you, Hope, for your sermon, its musicality, its humor and its earnestness.

Here's to hoping that, unlike how people forget the environment the day after Earth Day, people will remember and live a