The Augusta Commission interviewed six candidates for city administrator Monday.
Among the six were interim administrator Takiyah Douse, who has held the position on a temporary basis since March 2022.
The city has not released the names of the remaining five candidates, although commissioners have said several of them are local.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said the interviews “went well” but declined to comment on the candidates.
“We’re following the process. There’s been very little discord. We’ve been pretty much on point,” he said.
The commission hired a search firm, Developmental Associates, earlier this year to conduct the search. Candidates had to be from the southeastern U.S., have experience as an administrator, a master’s degree in public administration or business or related experience.
The session lasted nearly four hours.
Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle said listening to the candidates describe how they’d handle certain situations was an “eye-opener.”
The commission has conducted the entire process behind closed doors, in contrast to prior years, when it conducted interviews in public.
Other cities, such as Savannah, host public forums on the selection.
“I’d prefer it to be open,” Guilfoyle said.
The commission has been limited in the materials it has had to review, he said. The candidate qualifications the commission reviewed Friday, for instance, were not available to them Monday. Candidate resumes weren’t provided until Monday, he said.
But the in-person interviews, conducted via Zoom, provided insight beyond what the information provided by the search firm, he said.
Now, the ball is in Mayor Garnett Johnson’s court, he said.
The Augusta code calls for the mayor to present as many as three finalists to the commission, including his top pick, for a vote.
If the commission can’t agree on one, the mayor can present additional finalists until the commission approves one or the search is discontinued.
Agency to meet about jail bond issue
Tuesday, the city’s Urban Redevelopment Agency is meeting at noon the Ramada Inn on Broad Street. The commission recently authorized the agency, chaired by former mayor Bob Young, to issue bonds to add a $37.5 million wing of cells at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
