City officials received the names of 12 candidates for Augusta administrator Monday in a nudge toward hiring the city’s first permanent administrator in nearly three years.
Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle said search firm Developmental Associates has provided 12 candidates from 21 who applied for the job. Of the 12, the commission will recommend seven to Mayor Garnett Johnson.
“Something got done today in a positive way,” Guilfoyle said, after several on the 10-member body left the two-hour closed session early or with frowns.
The commission didn’t emerge from the session with any recommendations. According to the search firm, applications were due Nov. 13, and successful semifinalists would be invited to participate in virtual interviews and skill evaluations Dec. 14-15.
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Before going behind closed doors, Guilfoyle pressed for city staff to restate the process by which the commission and mayor would make the hire. The position wasn’t included in the 1996 Consolidation Act but was carried over from the former position of county administrator.
Augusta’s interim administrator, Central Services Director Takiyah Douse, was present for the start of the meeting. She’s held the role since early 2022, when former administrator Odie Donald resigned after 14 months, and is a favorite of some on the commission for the permanent job.
General Counsel Wayne Brown initially objected to describing the process in open session Monday. He said the commission only advertised it was having a closed-door discussion about personnel. The Georgia open meetings exception for personnel applies only to discussions about specific identified personnel.
“Unless (the commission) adds something to its agenda now, it cannot discuss the process on the floor,” Brown said.
The commission brought forward Human Resources Director Anita Rookard, who has acted as an intermediary between the commission and the search firm, to give an outline.
Rookard said the firm’s role is to “help you get to 12, and then get you to seven, and then you send those seven to the mayor and the mayor sends you three.”
Guilfoyle asked, “What happens if we fail to hire any of the three?”
Rookard replied, “Then I believe, and please help me with this one legal, that we would start the process again.”
The process gives the mayor authority to recommend three top candidates and refer them, including his personal favorite, to the commission for a vote. The commission added the guidelines for narrowing applicants to 12 and seven earlier this year.
According to the city code, “The mayor shall present as many as three top candidates for appointment, along with his recommendation.” But if none is selected or appointed, the mayor “shall nominate as many as three new candidates” from those who applied.
Brown said he’d explain in “casual conversation,” adding it was Johnson’s responsibility “to make sure that the subject matter you discuss is permitted by law” on the floor.
“Once the process whittles down to seven, the commission will send those to the mayor. The process that you approved stated that each of those seven will be interviewed,” Brown said. “The code section, 1-2-30, says the mayor can send up to at least three and then assign his preference or priority to those three.”
If none are approved, “The mayor shall send another round, up to three, back to the commission,” Brown said. “There is no limitation on the number that can be sent, except within the process approved by the commission.”
Johnson asked Guilfoyle if he was “clear with that,” and the District 10 commissioner said he was.
