Augustans have waited a year for a new city administrator. It’s time they have one.
Lots of backroom jockeying took place late in 2022 on who was to replace interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse. Douse replaced Odie Donald II after a short tenure during which the city’s spending swelled to unsustainable levels.
Opinion
Douse is not likely to be the permanent administrator considering the qualifications for the job had to be amended to be able to include her. Whomever the new administrator is, though, needs to be granted the authority to manage department heads. This includes the ability to fire them.
Without rattling off a list of names, it is clear that many of the department heads have created their own little fiefdoms where they are untouchable due to the required six votes by the commission required to fire them. This is true even if the department head isn’t doing his or her job, as was discovered last year with the Parks and Recreation Department. That situation was so bad the city had to spend millions of dollars on outside consultants to ensure the job is getting done. How there are not six votes to replace that employee is unfathomable.
A big part of a city administrator’s job is to manage staff. It is impossible to effectively manage staff who you can’t terminate. If a department head can call his buddy who is a county commissioner, that grossly undermines the city administrator and his or her ability to do the job.
The commission has enough problems to deal with beyond managing employees. Commissioners were elected to craft policy and not run the day-to-day operations of government.
The commission can vote with a simple six to four vote to change the current ordinance that hamstrings the administrator’s role. In doing so, Augusta would follow cities such as Savannah and Columbus. Hopefully one of our commissioners will have the courage and intestinal fortitude to go out on a limb and make the suggestion.
