As the Charter Review Committee nears the end of its attempts at information gathering and begins the process of deliberation to craft the framework of a new charter, they and the taxpayers at large are at a crossroads.
Most of the living former mayors favored a more robust role for the mayor and giving future mayors some decision-making power and greater responsibility.
Augusta does not need a mayor that is invisible or is constantly jetting off to other places, nor do we need a glib, TV-ready character with no experience being tasked with crafting a $1 billion budget.
Several prominent Augustans who have served in government in some capacity, such as former Commissioner Jerry Brigham, are staunchly opposed to the idea of giving the mayor much power at all; meanwhile, former Mayors Deke Copenhaver and Bob Young, to name just two, can speak from experience on the difficulty of being mayor of the state’s second largest city and having to deliberate with 10 other people on what to order for lunch.
In times when a natural disaster or other calamity occurs, the mayor is basically limited to calling the governor and begging for help, yet he becomes the focus of blame when the traffic signals go out or the canal overruns its banks.
Brigham makes a good argument that a majority of Augusta voters do not seem mature enough, based on their voting record, to make informed decisions at the ballot box when choosing a mayoral candidate.
That thinking, though, ignores the fact that, over its near 290 years of existence, the city of Augusta has had some truly dynamic men occupy the top job, mayors who stood up to the challenges of the Great Depression as well as the many wars in which the city has played a prominent role in helping the nation’s soldiers.
Names such as Louis “Pop” Newman, Patrick Walsh, Nicholas Ware and Julian Smith come to mind as men with a forward vision and the skills to get the job done.
Augustans also do not want to suffer through another DeVaney era where ineptitude caused the city to go in the hole financially.
Before citizens accept the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee, we must take a long, sober look at ourselves and ask, are we mature enough to do a little research on future candidates for office so we make competent decisions based on something other than information presented in a campaign ad? Are we up to the responsibility of doing our due diligence to prevent grifters from making it into office.
If the answer is no, then no framework or working blueprint is going to cure Augusta’s ills. It is time for taxpayers to grow up and face the fact that no matter the form of government, we end up getting what we deserve when votes are tallied.
