The results are evident all over the county, and the Augusta Commission members have only themselves to blame as the body has gone from rewarding mediocrity to rewarding flat out incompetence in the Parks and Recreation Department.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Maurice McDowell has blazed a trail and left embers in the wake of his wake termination spree. He has also created a culture of fear in the department that has led most of the senior staff either to accept early retirement or to quit.
Rather than accept that McDowell has been in over his head from day one, the commission kept paying his $115,000 annual salary and also pays a private company $7 million to tell McDowell what he should be doing to keep the grass cut and city buildings maintained.
The taxpayers of Augusta should demand that their elected officials do a better job overseeing the recreation department’s spending and its director’s decision making.
We believe the commissioners could start addressing the problem by reassigning McDowell as a project coordinator, a position at which he has previously excelled.
McDowell scored very well on his performance reviews early in his career in Augusta government while working under Tom Beck, a leader known for not mincing his words when giving direction.
Citizens of Augusta need to contact their commissioners and demand they take corrective action now. Reckless spending on consultants, rather than holding department directors accountable, will result in a reckoning when the next Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax appears on the ballot.
