Augusta’s charter review committee is nearly fully appointed, with 11 members selected by the mayor and commission to recommend changes to the city’s governing document.
Tuesday, the commission announced the names and discussed what comes next.
Members of the committee as of Tuesday include:
- Roderick Pearson (Mayor Garnett Johnson)
- Lester McCorn (Commissioner Jordan Johnson)
- Stephanie Clarke (Stacy Pulliam)
- Marci Wilhelmi (Catherine Rice)
- Tanya Barnhill-Turnley (Alvin Mason)
- Marvin Cole (Don Clark)
- Virginia Cody (Tony Lewis)
- Lee Powell (Tina Slendak)
- Charlie Coleman (Brandon Garrett)
- Lonnie Wimberly (Francine Scott)
- Steve Foushee (Wayne Guilfoyle)
The commission didn’t formally approve the list Tuesday, opting to wait for members to be checked for serving on other city boards. The commission’s criteria excluded anyone serving on other city boards.
“If they do, I think they would have to resign,” Mayor Johnson said.
Interim General Counsel Jim Plunkett said he and Jasmine Sims, Johnson’s chief of staff, ascertained details about what comes next during a call with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The commission hired the institute to facilitate the charter review process.
Plunkett said he’d already begun drafting bylaws for the committee, based on bylaws used by similar committees in DeKalb County, Ga., and Portland, Ore. The preliminary rules include the election of a chair, vice chair and officers; establishing the number of members needed for a quorum and to pass a measure and other basic details, he said.
Several commissioners raised questions about the process, including their ability to follow it.
“It’s critical that we not be left out of this process,” Scott said.
Plunkett said the committee’s first meeting or two would be “probably introductory,” with the second meeting producing “a schedule,” followed by “having the committee decide what tasks or subjects they want to discuss, in what order.”
The committee would have community input at each of the meetings, held once or twice a month, while the chair would likely meet more often with Carl Vinson personnel, he said.
Despite starting about three months behind schedule, Plunkett said officials at Vinson believe the committee could make its Dec. 31 deadline. The commission action establishing the committee said it would have a report of recommendations by then.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson questioned why the city administrator and clerk’s office had not yet been involved in the process but the mayor’s office has.
“How do we stay politically independent if y’all are leading those meetings?” Johnson asked.
