When Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson gave his “state of the city” address, he bragged about the strength of Augusta’s economy and pointed out the efforts of many individuals, both within and outside of government, working for this city’s prosperity.
In his speech, Johnson demurred from bragging on himself; however, this is what we have come to expect from the self-made-business-wiz-turned-politician and CEO of the city.
The centerpiece of Johnson’s mayoral campaign was to, at long last, allow the public to decide whether the mayor should receive a vote on the commission, something no mayor has dared to ask for, much less make it a campaign issue.
Barely in office, Johnson faced his first emergency as Gold Cross EMS abruptly gave the city 24 hours’ notice that the company would be ending EMS service to Augusta. Rather than complain that he had no power to act on behalf of the city and wait for the commission to appoint a focus group to discuss the sudden loss of ambulance service, Johnson rolled up his sleeves and got to work getting Central EMS ambulances on the roadways.
When city information technology workers discovered that the city had fallen prey to hackers, Johnson did not hide in his office; but rather, worked closely with IT Director Tameka Allen to resolve the issue and stood before the television cameras to calm the fears of the public.
Behind the scenes, Johnson has been continuously bullied by a faction on the commission that wants their anointed pick nominated for the city administrator position. Not only has Johnson held firm, he announced his three candidates on his own terms and stood by calmly as his “colleagues” on the commission devolved into a near melee.
Johnson has demonstrated that he has the courage to lead and the spine to be stoic in adversity. The public should not only reward him by giving him a vote on the commission, but we need to vote to oust the elected leaders who styme progress so as to provide Johnson with a panel more in line with his vision for the future of Augusta.
