Watching this past week’s committee meetings was really a hoot. To begin with Commissioners Alvin Mason, Wayne Guilfoyle and Bobby Williams were no shows. Mason was out for medical reasons, Guilfoyle was on vacation and Williams was just staying out and getting paid.
For Williams, that makes three weeks in a row of paid absence for his commission job.
The Public Services or Public Safety committee did not have a quorum, so all agenda items were forwarded to the full commission for the upcoming meeting. But you could have bet your last dollar and won if you bet that the Finance Committee would have a quorum.
Augusta’s Democratic Party Chairman Jordan Johnson was back from the Chicago convention and sitting proudly in his District 1 seat. After all, he had to lead the charge against Mayor Garnett Johnson, so he jetted back to take his position in battle against the windmills built by his nemesis.
Man, does Commissioner Johnson have some jousting skills. He can juggle and joust at the same time without jostling himself out of the saddle. Incredible!
Now to remind everyone who the four members of the Finance Committee are: Chairman Jordan Johnson, Vice Chairman Wayne Guilfoyle (who’s vote means nothing on this committee), Stacy Pulliam and Tony Lewis. With that majority, you can always guarantee a bonded three-together vote.
Jordan Johnson and his slimmed down gang are just hating on the fact the commission must reimburse Mayor Garnett Johnson the money he has spent on his personal credit cards doing Augusta’s business. It’s really more of a control thing than anything else. There is not and never has been a policy against the method that the mayor used to cover his on the job expenses.
The Gang of Five, well Gang of Three, want to show the mayor that they are in total control, not him. It is kind of funny to me how many lemmings in city government are willing to charge the cliff on their behalf.
To make their case stronger, they seem to have the backing of the Procurement Director Geri Sams, Finance Director Donna Williams and, of course, the interim Administrator Takiyah Douse.
Do these people not realize that a massive change is coming to the commission in January when Tina Slendak and Don Clark are sworn in?
The conversation before the committee got just a bit distasteful at times, and it was embarrassing to watch.
Commissioner Lewis indicated that Mayor Johnson was embarrassing himself for not using the city P-Card and credit card with the monetary limits in place. Actually, the embarrassing part is the monetary limits they are trying to put on the mayor compared to other cities in Georgia.
Speaking of embarrassing, it’s quite embarrassing for a commissioner to address the mayor in such a vile manner, basically calling him a crook because he got to keep the “rewards” offered on the credit card he used. But really, Commissioner Lewis is to the Augusta Commission what the character Suel Forrester is to Saturday Night Live.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson stated that he was trying to keep the matter from being political. HUH? It is political. It’s the city government. Besides that fact, everything Commissioner Johnson does is political. He strives purely to gain self-status for supposed bigger things and positions to come for himself; but, that’s another story for another day.
The members of the dwindling Gang of Five did vote to reimburse the mayor and mandate he use the city P-Card and/or credit card while a new policy could be worked out. The people who will be working to establish the new policy are none other than the procurement director, finance director, interim administrator and the city attorney, so I wonder how that’s gonna work out.
Kudos to Commissioner Catherine McKnight for having the intestinal fortitude to state exactly how embarrassed she felt having to sit and listen over and over to the disparity with which the mayor was treated. The sad part is that no one cared about what McKnight stated as long as they got their way. We will just have to wait and see come January.
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find a parking place whenever you have to go to the Municipal Building to conduct business? Have you ever wondered why or even said to yourself the building needs a larger parking lot? Folks, it really doesn’t need to be larger. It just needs to be used correctly.
Whenever you decide to ride by the lot on a weekend you will find from 35 to 45 city owned vehicles parked in the lot and on the surrounding streets. That’s the usual number parked during the weekdays as well. Now, if you have 45 city vehicles parked there for employee use, then you also have 45 city employee cars parked there as well. That makes 90 spaces taken up by the city. Add to that number another 40 to 50 city employees that also work in the building to that number, and you will have around 140 employee-related vehicles parked there. No wonder citizens can’t find a spot.
The Utilities Department has a large lot that is never full. It is one block away from the Municipal Building. Why can’t the city employees park there?
Brenda Durant is retiring and turning the arts in Augusta over to someone else. I for one will miss her. She and I had some differences on those dang entrances to Augusta sculptures. Never hateful, but more often to needle one another. Brenda taught me how to look at art and try to see the vision. It wasn’t easy, but I think she did teach me a thing or two.
Whenever I travel to another city, I purposely look at the public art displayed in those cities. Those cities seem vibrant and alive. I was especially captivated by National Harbor’s public art sculptures. San Antonio’s as well.
Brenda helped build the largest arts festival east of the Mississippi River with Augusta’s “Arts in the Heart.” It attracts thousands. It also costs thousands to put on the event. So, a $20 entrance ticket price for the three days is but a pittance to pay. The cost to set up and for security is much more than ticket charges cover, thus the need for space rental for the vendors.
This year’s festival is but three weeks away and, sadly, there is a bit of controversy. I don’t have all of the facts, but it has to do with a drum circle group not being invited back after a 10-year run. Many people are very upset about this issue.
Seems there was a misunderstanding between the organizers and the drum group. They are supposedly trying to work out the differences and I, for one, hope that they can. I always enjoyed watching the drum group. I really do hope that they are back this year.
Folks, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
