As many of you have noticed, I sometimes connect a song or song lyric with a meaning that connects with the Augusta Commission meeting. This past Wednesday, July 17, gets the Waylon Jennings 1977 hit song, “Wurlitzer Prize.”
The meaning of this song is about the struggle to let go and move on from a past relationship. In this case, the past relationship is one that concerns power.
The Commissioners epic struggle to give up any real or perceived power is worthy of the Wurlitzer prize. Wednesday’s meeting was full of tears dropping into a mug of stale beer..
A special one p.m. meeting was held with the Georgia Municipal Association/Carl Vinson Institute of Government. This is the official organization that each newly elected commissioner has to take classes with in order to receive certification as a commissioner.
The reason for this meeting was to gather information as to how best go about rewriting or making changes to Augusta’s city charter.
When the commission was informed that one way to get started was first to appoint a review committee that included no seated Commissioners, no department directors or the interim city administrator, there was a collective gasp on the dais. The mayor and each Commissioner would appoint someone of their choice to the review committee, but they would not sit on it themselves.
That’s when the Wurlitzer prize started to manifest itself.
Commissioner Francine Scott indicated that maybe an 11 member committee would be too many. Commissioner Jordon Johnson seemed to lean toward the Carl Vinson Institute doing the job of reviewing and making suggested changes to stay away from any perceived political implications.
“If that is not the will of this body, then politics is what’s going to guide this decision,” Johnson said.
WOW, what a statement. Especially coming from a commissioner who, in my opinion, everything he does seems to be politically motivated.
If the Gang of Five can’t control the people appointed to a review committee, then they want everyone else’s appointee eliminated. At any rate and any way of doing it, a charter change is still many years away.
Wurlitzer prize number two comes from the vote concerning approving the Procurement Department to seek, once again, bids for the audit on the Parks and Recreation Department.
Again, Commissioner Bobby Williams left before a vote was taken. Also remember that District Four Commissioner Alvin Mason is out for medical reasons with no return date noted. So, that left only nine votes, counting the mayor’s vote.
Already you can see where this is headed.
A motion was made and a second was received. When the vote was recorded, oops, Commissioner Tony Lewis meant to vote no instead of yes. He pressed the wrong button.
If left as was, the motion would have passed, and a new audit procurement would be sought. Instead, the motion to reconsider was called for and for some reason passed. The vote was again taken and the motion failed. No new procurement would happen, as was the plan all along for some.
Voting to call for a new procurement was Commissioners Catherine McKnight, Wayne Guilfoyle, Sean Frantom, Brandon Garrett and the mayor. All were a resounding yes. Of course, voting no, as usual, were Commissioners Scott, Lewis, Stacy Pulliam and Johnson.
Talking with Commissioner McKnight, she had this to say. “I am disappointed with the audit vote. However it is not over by any stretch of the imagination. The fight for an audit will continue.”
Folks, I first called for a forensic audit on July 20, 2021. It was soundly defeated. When McKnight was elected to the district three seat, she joined in my fight to get an audit. It became our fight and every time it failed.
McKnight continues the fight. What are the elected and department directors so afraid of? Will some of them be found to be or have been complicit in financial wrongdoing?
Remember when I stated that just because a vote to procure bids for an audit took place, an audit was far from being a done deal. It seems that was the case and I have been proven correct.
The Procurement Department sent to the commission an approved procurement bid. Then, no, wait, we found another better bid that was delivered late. And, from there, it was a downhill slide of confusion and double talk.
The bid was voted no and that was a done deal. Then with this past week’s vote of NO, the Gang of Five strongly believe they have completed the task of covering it all up.
Wurlitzer Prize #3 came from the Animal Services Director James Hill. He took a play out of Code Enforcement’s playbook. Have all of the Animal Services officers show up in full uniform with the badge included on their uniform shirt. A few of the other workers were in attendance as well, leaving the question, “Wlho’s watching the animals?”
They were in full force against any outside help with resources to save the animals.
Now, before anyone gets into a nasty narrative about dangerous animals, I will agree that not all animals can be saved. But I do not agree or condone wholesale slaughter of the dogs and cats that find themselves in the custody of Augusta’s Animal Services.
Augusta has the highest kill rate of any shelter in Georgia. That is a fact.
I also place some blame on Best Friends for not being willing to bend with their attitude of all or nothing. But that’s not why Hill doesn’t want help. He just doesn’t want anyone looking over his shoulder and stumbling upon what is really going on.
Hill’s reported numbers of intakes, adoptions, releases and euthanizations doesn’t seem to match the final numbers. He was even having an issue reporting the numbers to Commissioner Guilfoyle when asked for them to be clarified.
Best Friends has received some bad publicity from some other cities that they have been connected with. Aggressive dogs adopted out to families that didn’t go well. That part of their program seems to need a lot of work to correct. Everything else seems to be beneficial to the services and animals.
People on each side of the issue have told many untruths. False narratives abound and no common ground seems to be reachable. Each just has to maintain power and forget about what is best for the animals.
Folks, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
