After weeks of stonewalling, attempts to sidestep the Georgia Open Records Law and veiled threats of libel action, Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis decided to make his case directly to the public through a statement submitted for publication in The Augusta Press.
Augusta Press readers were not persuaded. Instead, they were quick to point out that Davis’ narrative just nitpicked grains of sand while ignoring the 800-pound gorilla over in the corner.
Rather than address the multiple reports of his unchecked spending, Davis attempted to evoke public pity for his staff for having to put up with what he portrayed as relentless media attacks on them.
MORE: Op-Ed from Mayor Hardie Davis
In his statement, Davis wrote that his staff are not elected by the public and therefore should not be subject to the prying eyes of the media. While it is true that his staff are not elected, they are paid by the citizens of Augusta/Richmond County. The public has every right to know who is hired to work in the Mayor’s Office, their job descriptions and their work experience, as well as their past and current salaries.
Davis accused The Augusta Press of “borderline libel.” However, state and federal libel laws both specify only demonstrably false statements are libelous. Truthful statements are not and cannot ever be considered libelous. That’s a principle espoused in American libel law since before the United States became a country – 31 years before the United States became a country, in fact.
After hurling the libel accusation, Davis did not explain away My Brother’s Keeper or offer any proof that The Augusta Press lied to the public with its report showing the well-funded Augusta branch of the charity does not seem to be viable.
Davis did not use his chance to speak directly to the public to show that his credit card spending is perfectly reasonable.
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Instead, Davis wrote that his staff works diligently to solve Augusta’s direst problems: “rampant blight, rate of homelessness, lack of affordable housing, rampant disparities, and, of course, navigating the impact of the pandemic.”
Davis made his assertion without providing any evidence that his staff is even empowered under the city charter to tackle any of those issues.
The mayor had the opportunity to prove his transparency in the pages of the very newspaper that has reported on his office’s lack of financial transparency, but he decided instead to try and paint himself and his staff as being victims of a poisoned pen.
The citizens of Augusta should demand more of their elected officials, and they should make those demands known next time the name Hardie Davis appears on a ballot, as it undoubtedly will some time after he steps down as mayor.
MORE: Augusta Mayor’s Staff Increase Raises Eyebrows
Richmond County commissioners should step up and demand an accounting of the mayor’s spending, and they should vote to take away any and all credit cards from any and all county-elected officials. Only civil servants who need credit cards to conduct city business should have them — and a proper accountability procedure should be put in place if it does not already exist.
Georgia state employees are often called on to make purchases with personal credit cards and to seek reimbursement later. University System of Georgia employees, for example, cannot use state credit cards to pay for lodging or food when they travel or when they conduct state business over a meal. They must pay costs themselves, submit receipts to document expenses and then wait — sometimes months — to be reimbursed. There is no reason the same procedure should not be adopted for the Augusta/Richmond County consolidated government.
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