The Coalition for Action in Downtown Augusta (CADA) will host an “Augusta Town Hall and Talk Back” regarding the administrator role for Augusta/Richmond County on Monday, Feb. 19, Presidents’ Day, at noon.
The event will be held in the Crystal Room at the Pinnacle Club on Broad Street. The event is open to the public.
Organizer Kevin de l’Aigle says that local officials have been invited to hear observations from the public and answer questions, but so far no elected officials have confirmed they will be in attendance.
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“Citizens are concerned and frustrated that a qualified administrator has not been named in two years, with no solid choice in sight,” de l‘Aigle said.
The Augusta Commission has been deadlocked for weeks with two different factions on the commission refusing to budge in their support for either current city Information Technology Director Tameka Allen or Interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse.
After multiple votes with abstentions that led to no action being taken, the selection process may have to start from the beginning and try to recruit a new slate of potential candidates.
According to de l’Aigle, the local downtown group is not going to allow the commission to “kick the can down the road” and then hold a vote away from the public and call the search over.
“People are really frustrated about this selection process, and the fiasco that occurred at the last commission meeting was just embarrassing,” de l‘Aigle said.
CADA is a citizens advocacy group working to facilitate dialogue with the local government, and to ensure that citizen services, infrastructure, park, cemeteries and monuments are worked on and maintained.
Over the past year, CADA has held monthly cleanups throughout the downtown area and have monthly projects scheduled through May.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
