Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson had barely settled into his office before some on the commission were putting politics over sound policy, despite public professions of unity and willingness to work together for the betterment of Augusta.
Some of the commissioners have signaled they may try to accommodate Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse by voting to change the administrator’s job description to require only six months of experience. This is wrong on many levels.
While Douse is a likable person, she does not have the time in the job to qualify for the job of city administrator. Since taking over for Odie Donald, Douse has allowed city government to run on autopilot and has refused to make tough decisions that might draw the ire of Commissioner Bobby Williams, Jordan Johnson and their bloc.
Meddling around with the job qualifications is also an attempt to circumvent the mayor, who will likely be pressured to nominate Douse even if he does not think she is the right candidate.
What will likely follow is an unproductive power struggle andbackroom political arm twisting that will end up in a public spectacle of commissioners creating a five to four vote with one abstention to prevent Mayor Johnson from casting a tie vote. That would put further pressure on Johnson to bow to the obstructionists.
Williams and Johnson need to realize there’s a new chief in town, and their shenanigans could backfire spectacularly.
Garnett Johnson has presented himself as the Great Unifier who has a contagious smile, but he did not build a successful business empire by always being the nice guy. The mayor understands that the next administrator will have the critical task of supporting government reform in a dysfunctional city and that has the potential to look a lot like when Charles Devaney was mayor.
Johnson does not want to be remembered as another Devaney.
It is up to the mayor to propose three candidates for the job of administrator, and therefore, it is also up to him to decide the qualifications.
