Some Augusta commissioners, still smarting after losing one political battle after another to Mayor Garnett Johnson, have decided to hit him in the wallet to the tune of $40,000. It seems they want to let him know who is still the boss in this town.
The only problem is, like their other exploits in the past, they are pointing their own loaded weapon back at themselves.
Commissioners Tony Lewis and Jordan Johnson are in control of the Finance Committee, and it appears that the two are determined to keep the matter of the mayor’s expense reimbursement in committee and away from the full commission where the matter would end and the mayor given his reimbursement check.
The endless delay, though, rather than make Garnett Johnson look bad for spending that amount of money in six months, has only served to highlight the incompetence of the directors of the Finance and Procurement departments.
Donna Williams, director of finance, told commissioners that no policy prevented the mayor from using a personal card for city expenses, that no policy existed to force the mayor to accept a city “P-Card” and that the mayor’s expenses were all accounted for with receipts.
After grilling from Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle, Williams had to finally concede that the mayor broke a policy that did not exist.
Next up to the podium was Geri Sams of procurement. Mind you, this is the same department head that issued former Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. a credit card with no limit and never once complained when astronomical amounts were charged on the card with no receipts submitted to back any of it up.
This time, Sams has boldly decided to be the voice of community virtue and, while conceding that all the mayor’s expenses were legitimate, told the committee that it would be inappropriate for the mayor to be reimbursed one thin dime.
The new grandstanding gargoyle of the commission, Tony Lewis, attempted to castigate the mayor for waiting six months to turn in the receipts. Lewis claimed that even though the amounts would not have changed in the long run, it would have been more palatable if the mayor submitted one month’s worth of receipts at a time.
Ridiculous.
The public needs to demand that one of the commissioners who has an actual spine place this matter on the full commission agenda and pay the man back his money.
