THE CITY EMPLOYEES who worked overtime to clean up the overwhelming mess of the raucous St. Patrick’s Day celebration all deserve medals as far as I’m concerned.
Unfortunately, these hard-working public servants were represented on Savannah’s biggest day in part by a City Alderman who was publicly intoxicated while carrying out duties of his office.
As everyone has seen by now, Sixth District Alderman Tony Thomas was photographed in a state of heavy inebriation in the lobby of the DeSoto Hilton on St. Patrick’s Day, literally falling out of his chair and spilling his cocktail on the polished marble floor.
He was wearing a green jacket and the regalia of an elected official and public servant while representing the City on the taxpayer-funded City Council float.
Thomas ended up having to be escorted — at the front of the City parade delegation! — because he was too much of a liability to be on the float itself.
Perhaps symbolically, a mostly inert Thomas was helped off the floor by an out-of-town police officer or firefighter here to walk in the parade.
Here’s what that uniformed public servant will tell his friends, family, and colleagues back home in New York or Chicago or wherever: In Savannah even City Council members get blasted out of their minds on St. Patrick’s Day, and no one seems to care. They do it right out in the open.
Thomas later apologized for his state via Facebook, but then again his behavior has been the fodder for social media, and this column, for years.
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It appears that Tony Thomas needs to seek professional help.
I hope this very shaming incident can serve as a catalyst to get the help he needs.
But the more difficult question is:
Who is responsible for enabling the behavior of Tony Thomas?
The rest of City Council, which after many similar incidents still refuses to censure him publicly? Thus ensuring that Thomas continues to undermine not only Council’s own credibility, but that of hard-working City employees as well?
How about the local District Attorney, who impaneled a grand jury to investigate claims which were already known to be outside the stat ute of limitations? Thus ensuring that nothing came of said claims?
How about Savannah itself, for making millions of dollars a year encouraging excessive alcohol consumption on St. Patrick’s Day, and indeed all year-round?
We sell T-shirts that say: “I Got River Faced On Shit Street.”
What did you expect would happen?
About the same time the incriminating photos of Thomas began making the rounds on social media, I checked out the post-parade scene at Ellis Square, packed with a huge but peaceful crowd.
In a group of other people laying in the grass in various stages of drunken immobilization, one young woman rolled over, got on all fours, and vomited heavily, in front of everyone.
People walked by like it was nothing. She simply rolled back over and passed out again, steaming pile of vomit inches from her face.
Fifty feet from her in the square, a group of young men with unleashed dogs were smoking joints unmolested as police foot patrols walked just yards away, looking right at them.
A few squares away, in Chippewa and Lafayette, the huge piles of litter left behind were jaw-dropping even by St. Patrick’s Day standards. And these are the “well-heeled” squares, generally staked out and claimed by local families.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m thankful police used common sense and discretion and didn’t escalate what was a mostly peaceful St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah.
Kudos to SCMPD and other law enforcement agencies for a job well done.
So if you’re mad about Tony Thomas doing the same thing tens of thousands of others did on St. Patrick’s Day, except while representing taxpayers, I’m right there with you. He should be held to a higher standard, no doubt about it.
But please, just spare me the moralistic hypocrisy.
Speaking of hypocrisy, let’s switch locales. Let’s take a trip to Tybee Island.
Next month, a similarly raucous annual event takes place there, Orange Crush.
Just like St. Patrick’s Day, people at Orange Crush will get drunk and high. People at Orange Crush will litter. People at Orange Crush will misbehave.
But while Savannah sells St. Patrick’s Day hard, and looks the other way at just about anything that happens– including elected officials literally falling down on the job — Tybee does its best every year to stigmatize Orange Crush.
As videos clearly indicate, there is no way that there is more trash produced at Orange Crush than at St. Patrick’s Day.
As arrest records clearly indicate, there is no way that more crimes are committed at Orange Crush than on St. Patrick’s Day.
Yet which event is considered “good old-fashioned fun,” and which is considered a dangerous, drunken menace to society?
The difference of course is that Orange Crush is an overwhelmingly African American event, the St. Patrick’s Day celebration predominantly white.
One of my epiphanies this year came when a group of green-clad partiers, drinks in hand, stumbled out into the middle of traffic, staring down drivers who had to slam on brakes.
It occurred to me that if those partiers had been African American, police would be called. Some people would hysterically demand to “call out the National Guard.”
There would even be calls to shut the whole thing down — indeed as is the case on Tybee every year.
But on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s “just folks” having “good clean fun.”
So let’s not kid ourselves about what we’re really talking about here. If you want a discussion, let’s make it a real discussion, and a brutally frank one.
If you live in the Sixth District, which I don’t, perhaps you can vote Thomas out at your next opportunity.
Or maybe you’ve decided, as many of his constituents have, that his service to the district outweighs his public persona.
Until then, the onus is on other members of City Council to expect more from their colleagues, and do something about it — even if Thomas won’t.
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This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2017.
I agree, for the most part. Unfortunately, I was assaulted by a Savannah girl out of the blue on Friday night and the police did absolutely nothing. This girl blindsided me as I was checking on her inebriated boyfriend who was sitting alone, then lied to the police, saying I had verbally assaulted her before she pushed me. The police took her word against mine. Had it been me that pushed her, I’m 100% positive that I would have been arrested.
Are the police there during St. Patricks Day for decoration? Don’t they have a job to do just as any other day of the week?
Amen. glad someone else saw this as I did. Great editorial…
Thoughtfully articulated. We do live in a dumbed down society which perpetuates this behavior which is relative of course and often seems funny and harmless but we should have some empathy when a member of the tribe is sick in their spirit or health. I can’t say I know much about Tony Thomas personally or his politics but hope he can find healing and health before its too late. Maybe that’s too kind in the minds of some as I know he’s been the target of much, and maybe rightly so, but he’s also stood some test of time for one reason or another and maybe that means there’s some sort of hope left.
Thomas gave a typical politician’s watered down apology, then went on Facebook trashing one of the people who disseminated the photos (and his dog, no less), then added “by the way, I had a good time”. So, yeah, he’s really sorry. As far as what St. Patrick’s Day has become, there are 2 St Patrick’s Days in Savannah – the one full of idiocy and inebriation all but encouraged by the city “come party in Savannah!”, and the one planned and worked on all year by the Parade Committee, the one that begins in February with the Irish Festival, and begins with Mass every March 17, and continues this weekend with Irish Road Bowling. The Parade Committee expressly forbids anyone marching in the parade from drinking while doing so, and does their best to enforce it. Do not confuse the 2 sides of the holiday in Savannah. There’s a reason why you don’t see many green jackets farther north than McDonough’s on March 17. That’s not us, and the vast majority of us want nothing to do with all the crap that goes on in City Market and on River Street.
This is the same Tony Thomas who was so loaded at a previous St. Patrick’s Day event, he got a ride home courtesy of Savannah-Chatham Metro. After the brouhaha about that, he reserved a hotel room the following year. He apologized via his Facebook page but come next year he is going to do the same thing again only difference is he will have “handlers” in his employ to prevent being photographed and video taped in less than flattering situations.
1.Let’s be honest here, if Tony Thomas were a woman, he wouldn’t have lasted a minute with his foolish public behavior. A. I know from personal experience even without getting elected that the public will not tolerate the blatant disregard of morality in service as a servant to the public. I fortunately have “adulted,” and taken full responsibility for my mistakes. B. However, people disregard his behavior as he’s a public servant. If you are serving as a bureaucrat, what level is enough for a man who treads on morality of taxpayers hard earned money. C. I personally have met Tony Thomas. He’s a straight shooter. He’ll admit to his actions. I’ve talked to people who have said, his redeeming quality is his honesty. 2. However, while we point fingers at Tony, let’s just talk about the scandals across the board with a few members of City Council?! How about aspects of nepotism, favoritism, and variations of clientelism on city council through back door deals. It seems acceptable if a few people benefit, while the rest of us remain humiliated by the idiocracy broadcasted to the general public. However, we live in a democracy with oligarchy tendencies. Enough is enough when voters loose money to visitors choosing Hilton Head, Charleston and St. Augustine over us; or rather when we have lost enough continuity of leadership and learn when the, “dark comes out into the light.”
Re. Orange Crush v. St. Patrick’s Day: bingo.
Ahhh, so what? Everybody gets blasted on St. Pat’s Day. I don’t like this guy and I don’t live in his district, but I understand that despite all his flaws, he does a good job for the voters out there. I suppose that is why they keep electing him. If you don’t want to see a pack of drunks stumbling, falling and barfing, don’t go downtown on St. Pat’s Day–its just that simple. As to the green jacket, any chump can pick one up in just about any men’s store.
Let’s be equitable in how we CHOOSE to see these events in reference to one another…be careful of drawing false equivalencies.
Perhaps the”tradition” aspect won’t ameliorate your impression of the negative aspects of St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah but the overall beneficial impact upon the local economy over private property infringement makes St. Patrick’s Day week much more palatable…racial considerations or not.
It is my opinion, that if these Orange Crushers were white while remaining college aged, the uproar would be similar. I will not say that it would hold the same magnitude, but I am certain that it would draw considerable ire and relative to the level it currently draws from the citizens of Chatham County, in particular, Tybee Island.
If public officials want to drink on St Pats day, they need to take a day of vacation leave. I dont want to pay for their fun!
A SAVANNAH POLITICIAN DRUNK ON ST. PATTYS DAY???? OH THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!