When the Augusta Commission meets on Tuesday, there will be plenty for the panel to discuss, including kicking off the search for a new city administrator, replacing a prominent monument on Greene Street and a request for a full audit of the storm management fee program.
District 7 Commissioner Sean Frantom has placed a motion on the agenda for the commission to use the same job description that was approved in 2020 by the Administrator Recruitment Process Subcommittee.
The motion also sets a target date of November to complete the process and select a finalist.
The city of Augusta has been without a permanent city administrator since Odie Donald Sr. abruptly resigned in February after barely two years on the job.
Takiyah Douse, a former deputy administrator under Donald, has been serving as interim administrator since Donald departed for a job in Atlanta.
MORE: Notorious apartment complex given new lease
According to multiple sources, including District 8 Commissioner Brandon Garrett, the issue of starting an immediate search is being pushed by outgoing Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. who wants to be involved in the process.
If the city moves forward before the end of the year, then the three incoming commissioners and Mayor-elect Garnett Johnson will have no say in the job description nor in picking a finalist.
Garrett says that he favors being more deliberative and not getting into a rush to fill the city’s top job only to end up with another finalist like Donald, who never bought property in the city he was hired to manage.
“I’m hoping this next search will have an updated job description with clear expectations of what we need to see out of the position,” Garrett said.
District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight agrees and says Douse is doing a good job as interim administrator, so the job does not need to be filled immediately.
“Sometimes when you rush to get things done, you make mistakes. There are a lot of discussions we need to have as to whether this will be a local search or a national search,” McKnight said.
MORE: Augusta Commissioners fail to set tax rate during special called meeting
At the Tuesday meeting, local historic activist Kevin de l’Aigle will petition the commission to move ahead quickly to replace the monument to Emily Tubman. The monument was located in the median on Greene Street until it was destroyed by a motorist who lost control and collided with it on July 28.
De l’Aigle told The Augusta Press on Aug. 1 that he feels the city should immediately move forward to replace the monument before it is forgotten about.
“Emily Tubman is responsible for both educational and religious institutions in Augusta, she was forward-thinking and progressive in the 1830s. She was really amazing, for a woman of her stature to go to such great lengths to free her slaves should mean something to all of us. We should always honor her name and memory,” de l’Aigle said.
The Augusta Commission will also entertain a motion from District 10 Commissioner John Clarke to conduct a full audit of the city’s stormwater management fee program.
At the Aug. 9 special called meeting regarding whether to raise the milage rate, Clarke indicated that before the commission decides to raise taxes, it needs to know where money is being spent and specifically pointed to the stormwater fee.
Clarke and others on the commission have asked for audits in the past but have never been able to garner the needed six vote majority.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
