Since Mayor Hardie Davis is pushing for an anti-discrimination ordinance aimed at fining Augusta businesses found guilty of real or perceived discrimination, maybe he should look at the city’s hiring practices first.
Based on the city’s website, out of 20 departments with currently active directors that the Augusta Commission has total authority to hire or approve, 17 are black, four are white and one is Middle Eastern. The departments with white directors are 911 Emergency; Finance; Planning and Development; and Utilities. The Engineering director is Middle Eastern.
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Out of 15 top court, elected and appointed officials in Augusta government, only three are white. They are the elections board director, the coroner and the circuit public defender.
No systemic racism in the Marble Palace like the mayor frequently refers to.
The fact that other cities in Georgia with anti-discrimination ordinances similar to the one Davis is propagandizing haven’t had a single complaint filed doesn’t mean Augusta wouldn’t spend millions of dollars trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Discussion at a commission workshop on the proposed anti-discrimination ordinance Thursday involved talk about the possible need for more compliance department employees to receive and copy the complaints and more marshals to serve the complaints on businesses accused of real or perceived discrimination. Also, they would need to hire professional mediators and lawyers to take the cases before judges in an already backlogged court system.
Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight was the only commissioner to say she doesn’t think Augusta needs an anti-discrimination ordinance because it would hurt the city’s business owners. Commissioner Sammie Sias said he had concerns with the draft the law department presented Thursday, and Commissioner Ben Hasan had a quibble about the part the compliance department would play in authorizing the marshal’s department to serve the complaints.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson, however, questioned the lack of specific types of discrimination in the draft, such as hair styles and natural hair.
General Counsel Wayne Brown said the document was only a draft that commissioners could tailor to suit themselves.
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Oh, What a Burden!
Oh yes, I almost forgot, all four finalists for the Augusta fire chief’s job were black. Of course, we don’t know much of anything else about three of them because it was such a secret process. But one thing we do know because of The Augusta Press is that they could hardly have done worse than choosing DeKalb County Deputy Chief Antonio Burden as the sole finalist.
Not only is his name Burden, he’s becoming a big PR burden to the officials who orchestrated his selection in a most secretive way, refusing even to release the names and workplaces of four finalists to Augusta commissioners until about 36 hours before they were to interview them.
Thursday’s article in The Augusta Press by Scott Hudson reveals that not only was Burden suspended last May for being at a liquor store in his city vehicle, he’s also had financial and legal issues over not making alimony payments. And surprise! Surprise! He’s had issues with his credit card.
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Augusta pays the mayor’s credit-card bills, although nobody knows what he spends the money on unless they want to hire a lawyer to try to find out like The Augusta Press, The Augusta Chronicle and television stations WJBF and WRDW did over the fire chief applications.
The news outlets requested an injunction to force the city to hand over the applications and related documents for all of the candidates as the law requires, not just Burden’s.
Superior Court Judge Jesse Stone will hear the case the news organizations have filed against the city over the records at 2:30 p.m. Monday in Augusta.
Anyway, I’d love to know how commissioners arrived at “mutual consensus” in selecting the top candidate and who actually voted that way in the closed meeting. Of course, they probably didn’t even vote because, as we all know, Augusta’s been doing business with a wink and a nod for the last six years.
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Through a Glass Darkly
Looking for transparency in Augusta government is like trying to look through the tinted windows in the mayor’s city vehicle or looking for a needle in a haystack. So, I wonder why he has created a website called the “Office of Civic Engagement,” because in my opinion, engaging with citizens on a person-to-person level, especially about their potholes and backed-up sewers, is the last thing he wants to do. To get an appointment with him you must apply 45 days ahead and wait as long as 10 days for a response.
Consolidated Augusta’s four previous mayors – Larry Sconyers, Bob Young, Deke Copenhaver and interim Mayor Willie Mays had an open-door policy that led to friendly and cooperative interactions with the public and the media. Most of the time.
Mays had an open-door policy, but he was seldom there. When we’d drop by his office to see him, his assistant would always say, “He’s on the way.”
On the “Office of Civic Engagement” website that cost taxpayers $5,000, and more than that for logo design, it states, “The Office of Civic Engagement was created to enhance the city’s engagement with its Residents, to aid in building a trusting relationship between the city
and the community and to implement various civic awareness initiatives.”
The first thing you see when you click on the link is the mayor’s picture and then a photo of voters lined up to vote. Categories to click on are Health Services, Education, Quality of Life, Real Estate and Community Organizations. They’re coming soon. Meanwhile, local and
national companies have contracted to advertise on the site and not for chicken-feed prices. You can click on their logos and treat yourself to a 30-second advertisement although one question is “Why would you? Another is “Who’s getting the advertising money?”
Politispeak
State Sen. Harold Jones has a bill in hand that would give hefty raises to the mayor and Augusta’s part-time commissioners.
Jones said higher salaries would attract a higher caliber of candidates’ like professionals with solid incomes.
There are two issues with that. First, Jones implied the current crowd is low caliber. That’s pretty brave for a politician, but maybe he knows something we don’t know. And raising the salaries to attract candidates with solid incomes doesn’t make a lot of sense. If you have
a solid income, you’d be running for election because you’re public spirited, not just for the money. It seems to me that by increasing the salaries, you’d be attracting people with no real job who need the money like some commissioners we already have.
More from Sylvia Cooper: Open Letter to King Hardie, Part II
They Never Learn
“There are no secrets in the courthouse,” said the late great Augusta Commissioner and Mayor, Willie Mays
You’d think these overpaid bureaucrats and consultants would get that through their heads, but they never will.
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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