Former Augusta Commissioner Andy Cheek and Tom Wiedmeier, both longtime public servants, will be honored by having their names enshrined on public-owned properties.
The Augusta Utilities Department building, located at 425 Walker Street, will be named in Wiedmeier’s honor, and Cheek’s name will appear on an athletic ballfield at Diamond Lakes.
Wiedmeier died in 2021 from complications due to Covid-19, and Cheek died in March of this year after a battle with cancer.
On June 20, former Augusta Commissioner Bill Fennoy petitioned the commission to have the building where Wiedmeier worked named in his honor. Wiedmeier first began working for the city in the early 1980s, left for a time to work in the private sector and then returned in 2009 as director of the Utilities Department, according to Susan McCord, writing for The Augusta Chronicle.
“(Wiedmeier) looked at the need, and if he could make this city a better place, he didn’t hesitate at all. He was a good guy,” Fennoy said.
The Augusta Commission actually approved renaming the building in 2020, but the process stalled, prompting District 7 Commissioner Sean Frantom to ask why the building did not already have Wiedmeier’s name attached to the façade.
“There were six votes two years ago. It was approved, so why has nothing been done for two years?” Frantom asked.
Interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse and Clerk of Commission Lena Bonner attempted to explain that the commission vote only started the process and that the applicant at the time, Clyde Rouzan, withdrew his request before the Planning Commission.
According to Bonner and Douse, Rouzan decided to construct a memorial garden instead.
“The petition had to go to the Planning Commission. Since (Rouzan) withdrew, it went to the dead-docket at that point. That’s our process,” Bonner said.
At the same meeting, former Augusta Commissioner Marion Williams and the brother of former Commissioner Andy Cheek, Robert Cheek, petitioned the Augusta Commission to name an athletic ball field in Cheek’s honor.
Cheek served as a commissioner from 2000 to 2007 and became well known for crossing the aisle on the then racially divided commission, sometimes angering his White colleagues.
During his time on the commission, Cheek formed a bond with (then) Commissioner Marion Williams, earning the pair the nickname of “the twins.”
Cheek was an avid outdoorsman, loved athletics and was heavily involved in “green city” initiatives even after leaving office.
In 2006, along with former Commissioner Joe Bowles, former Commissioner Joe Jackson and others, Cheek created the First Saturday Initiative in which volunteers met on the first Saturday of each month to clean up the canal area and restore Aqueduct Park back to its original glory.
“He was one of the best public servants this city has ever had. He didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk. He was a man of action,” Williams said.
Commissioners bundled the two requests into one motion that passed on a 9 -1 vote. The lone ‘no’ vote came from District 4 Commissioner Al Mason, who has been quoted in the past as saying the naming of buildings and other infrastructure should be a more deliberative process.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
