An Augusta committee gave the go-ahead to Mayor Garnett Johnson’s push to create a charter review committee Tuesday.
An agreement with Best Friends Animal Society to provide free services to Augusta Animal Services did not fare as well.
The Tuesday meetings were marked by the absence of Commissioner Alvin Mason, who announced last week he will be out a lengthy period for spinal surgery.
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Commissioner Francine Scott called for a moment of reflection in honor of Mason’s mother, Hazel Sturdivant, to whom he was devoted. Born in 1932, she passed away at the start of his leave of absence.
After nearly two hours behind closed doors, the full commission OK’d approving part of a $1.2 billion settlement with Kroger in ongoing state litigation over its role in dispensing highly-addictive opioids.
The commission also approved extending General Counsel Wayne Brown’s resignation date from July 12 to Aug. 15. The commission previously OK’d Brown’s resignation with a six-month severance package.
The commission approved hiring former employee Angela M. Corbin as engineering manager for Augusta Utilities at a salary of $110,000.
Johnson took a point of personal privilege to encourage Augusta parents of teens not to allow them to “loiter and congregate” downtown after hours. Many were present early Saturday when a gunfight involving a Hephzibah 19-year-old with an assault pistol was stopped by police.
The Administrative Services committee agreed with Johnson’s item, engaging the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to assist the city in creating a charter review committee.
The Consolidation Act, which joined Augusta and Richmond County in 1996, has never been updated, Johnson said.
The institute has provided similar services to other local governments and is the “best option for us to at least start having the conversation about how we review the charter,” Johnson said.
A motion to engage the institute passed the committee 3-0 with Commissioner Sean Frantom absent Tuesday.
Staff, including interim administrator Takiyah Douse and Animal Services Director James H. Hill III, is not recommending Augusta move forward with a proposed agreement with Best Friends Animal Society.
The well-funded animal welfare organization has offered to embed staff and provide veterinary care and other assistance at Augusta’s high-kill shelter, where animals die more often than anywhere else in the state.
“While we appreciate many of the options, the program was presented as all-or-nothing,” Douse said. “Augusta’s not at a point to accept their proposal in full.”
The organization’s no-kill policy has led to lawsuits when animals with a history of attacks are adopted out to unsuspecting families or volunteers.
Douse said Augusta is interested in some aspects of the program, but not all.
Hill said the city’s decision has led Best Friends to end its year-old agreement to provide a “community cat” program, where stray cats are caught, neutered or spayed then released back to their former environments.
The program provided free spays or neuters to 627 cats.
Hill said residents are “upset” the city can no longer trap and euthanize stray cats, and mad they will be released back.
In addition, embedding Best Friends staff “could cause some challenges as far as who is responsible to who,” Douse said.
A Best Friends spokesperson said embedding staff in leadership roles enables shelters “to implement this program a little bit more quickly than they are usually able to on their own.”
Asked by Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Garrett why so many pets die at Augusta Animal Services, Hill said it is a “reflection of the community.”
By comparison, Columbia County Animal Services celebrates its very low kill rate.
Garrett made a motion to approve the agreement with Best Friends. It failed 2-1 with himself and Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight in favor, Commissioner Bobby Williams voting no and Mason out.
