Editor’s note: This editorial has been updated to indicate the requirement for the mayor to nominate three finalists is in the city code, not the city charter. Also, by law the city is required to release names of finalists two weeks prior to a formal vote.
The Augusta Commission will meet today to make what may be the final vote on a new city administrator.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson will, as prescribed by the city code, nominate up to three finalists for Augusta government’s top management position.
Johnson has indicated that he feels that the discussion and vote on a new administrator should be held out in the public rather than behind closed doors; however, there are some on the commission who want to usher in their choice for the position by subverting the mayor and the city law, and they know that can only be accomplished by keeping the discussion secret and out of the view of the public.
The process of accepting applications for the position should be kept private so that people can apply for the job without facing any repercussions at the job they currently hold, but once the finalists are named, that privacy concern flies out the window, both according to law and to good practice. City officials, by law, are supposed to release the names of finalists two weeks prior to making a formal decision.
We believe that Mayor Johnson is sincere in his quest to make Augusta’s government as transparent as possible and we applaud him for his efforts, but Johnson is only one man leading the charge against a machine that has operated behind closed doors with absolutely no oversight for decades.
The next person to assume the role as city administrator will have their hands full cleaning up the mess that Odie Donald Sr. left behind, a mess that interim Administrator Takiyah Douse has only managed to make worse.
If the public is to have any faith in their government and the elected leader’s choice on who will run said government, then the selection process must be held in front of the public.
Any commissioner who demands the process be done in secret has something to hide and does not have the public’s best interest in mind.
As a citizenry, we must demand that the commission open the doors, pull up the window shades and let the sunshine in.
