(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
Mayor Hardie Davis made news again last week – not because of his exorbitant spending and lack of receipts. Not for two state ethics commission investigations. Not for seeking a divorce from his wife who accused him of adultery with a staff member/consultant. And not for taking the Fifth when asked in divorce interrogatories about possible assignations with that consultant.
And it wasn’t because the Atlanta area staff member/consultant was paid $34,425 of your tax money for writing press releases and such over seven months last year, or because he gave her another $8,000, according to divorce filings.
The news from the commission’s administrative committee meeting last week was nothing as juicy as all that, but it was extra cheesy.
Davis compared Gold Cross EMS to a local hamburger joint. It was apparent why he chose Burger King because everybody knows how attached he is to the royal trappings of the mayor’s office. I’ve even heard that he orders a Burger King kids’ meal to get the crown.
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“What continues to be asked of Augusta is equivalent of opening a Burger King in order to have it your way on eight corners,” Davis said about a proposed contract and financial subsidy to Gold Cross for transporting Richmond County’s indigent patients and deadbeats. “And the city is asked to provide funding for infrastructure, staffing and then operation and maintenance costs.
“And here’s the caveat for that when it comes to EMS,” he continued. “As a rule of thumb, statutorily, it is not an essential service, i.e., required by law to provide for its citizens. But yet, we’re talking about 40 percent of the people picked up don’t pay. The state tells us the 75 percent of Richmond countians are insured, which causes me to question the 40 percent. We’re not having that conversation. We’re having a conversation about whether or not we’re going to open a Burger King and support the Burger King.”
When Davis finally stopped comparing Gold Cross to Burger King, Commissioner Sean Frantom tried to speak.
“That was ridiculous,” he said. “Not a clue. Not a clue.”
But Commissioner Ben Hasan, who’s running the show, interrupted, so he could announce his suggestions for changes in the proposed contract, all of which were to the disadvantage of Gold Cross.
When he’d finished, Frantom asked Hasan, “Based on your recommendations, do you believe it’s the city’s best interest to own the zone and be in the ambulance business?”
Hasan said he did.
Frantom then said Davis’ comparison of Gold Cross to Burger King was “just really disrespectful.”
“They have to pick people up whether they pay or not,” he said. “That’s their job. I have sat up here on this commission seven-and-a-half years, and all seven-and-a-half years, this body has attacked this company in some manner. The former fire chief tried to take the zone and all matter of things. This is very disappointing. But for us to act like we’re giving them money. From a subsidy standpoint, at the end of the day, they’re taking care of our people. It’s evident everybody up here wants the zone – some of you want the zone. It’s just tough to hear, to be honest with you.”
Hasan said Gold Cross applied to the state and took the zone and now it could just say it wasn’t profitable and turn it back over to Richmond County.
Before they do that, however, everybody should ask themselves this question: Do I really want to trust the government that has a billion-dollar budget but can’t figure out how to maintain its facilities, keep our homes from flooding, or the cut the grass on roadsides and cemeteries with carrying my loved ones to the hospital in times of emergency?
Anyway, the committee voted 3-1 for Hasan’s contract suggestions and Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Williams’ motion for a $900,000-a-year subsidy for Gold Cross, which has requested $1.6 million.
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The Heat Ran Them Out of the Kitchen
Friends, if you think the Augusta Fire Department could provide ambulance service for less than the $1.6 million annual subsidy Gold Cross wants, think back to the fiasco that occurred when the fire department got into the ambulance business two years ago.
They spent $500,000 on two new ambulances and forced firefighters to work overtime against their will on ambulance calls, causing a near-insurrection in the ranks. Davis talked about Gold Cross being a Burger King. Well, the fire department-run EMS was the Cookie Monster who ate the bills people didn’t want to pay, which would have ended up being everybody without insurance. It was a half-baked idea, bound to lead to the loss of a lot of dough, which it did.
The Cookie Monster’s recipe and receipts were closely guarded secrets, and it cooked the books along with the cookies, so how much dough that was can only be estimated.
Where the Real Dough Is
The commission’s usual modus operandi is to pay outside consultants to do the job the city is already paying employees to do. For example, they recently hired former city engineering department director Abie Ladson’s and his partner’s firm for almost $7 million to shore up the recreation department to keep Director Maurice McDowell from getting fired because he can’t do his job.
So, maybe Gold Cross would be better off to let the fire department run the ambulances and bid on the contract to consult with them on keeping the Cookie Monster out of the kitchen.
Old Fire Stations
Old fire stations, like old soldiers never die. They just fade away like Augusta Commission discussions about selling or renovating city properties like the historic Engine Company 7 Firehouse on Central Avenue.
District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight placed an item about the station’s maintenance on Tuesday’s public safety committee meeting agenda. She said it was the fourth time she’d done so, but nothing has been done.
Well, she shouldn’t feel like the Lone Ranger because former Commissioner Barbara Sims, who represented the district before her election to the state Legislature, tried to get her commission colleagues to restore the fire station and make it a firefighters’ museum. That was about 20 years ago. But they didn’t do anything, and talk about the fire station just faded away.
“The fire station is a diamond in the rough,” McKnight said Tuesday. “The roof looks like it’s about to cave in.”
Fire Chief Antonio Burden estimated repairing the roof would cost $250,000, and he doesn’t have in his budget.
Burden said his administration is taking the first steps in restoring the station and operating it as a museum.
In the meantime, “Where are we going to get the funds to get this cleaned up and fixed?” McKnight asked.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said, “Maybe we could get it out to get it marketed.”
Maybe. Or interest could just fade away again like it did after they talked about renovating or selling the dilapidated Boathouse at the Marina a few months ago.
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What Were They Thinking? Or Were They?
The commission’s public safety committee approved Burden’s request for $6.8 million the first time it came before them, but the full commission rejected that because that was almost all of the $8 million of unallocated American Rescue Plan money left, some of which they said they might need for something else. So, they cut Burden’s request down to $3 million, and that’s the amount the public safety committee approved when it came back before them Tuesday.
Burden said he needs the $6.7 million for equipment, fire trucks and support vehicles this year and next year, but there is no money in SPLOST 8 for the fire department, which has traditionally received SPLOST money. So, if commissioners don’t approve Burden’s initial request, they might be forced to raise property taxes next year.
And the real question is, “How did something that important fall through the cracks when they did SPLOST 8?”
Can’t help thinking if certain members of the commission had paid as much attention to what was going into the SPLOST 8 package when it was being put together as they have paid trying to crucify Gold Cross this wouldn’t have happened.
Sylvia Cooper is a columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
