For the past almost three years, the news coming out of the Mayor’s Office and city government in general has been almost a total embarrassment with a globe-trotting spendthrift mayor, a deadlocked commission and department heads who chronically failed to do something as simple as cut the grass on city property.
For the past decade, the city’s tax base has eroded and for good reason.
In the space of four months, however, it appears that Augusta is slipping out of its malaise era.
Mayor Garnett Johnson received no honeymoon period from the usual obstructionists on the Augusta Commission, and they made it clear from day one that they expected him to serve in the same weak capacity as all former mayors have since consolidation.
Johnson ignored them.
When Gold Cross EMS abruptly announced it was pulling out of Augusta within the space of 12 hours at a time when the city was becoming inundated with international visitors, Johnson did not call the interim city administrator and tell her that it was her problem as the mayor does not have the authority to make emergency EMS arrangements.
Instead, Johnson went to work assembling a team that included state agencies, city department heads and Central EMS, the state appointed service that was originally supposed to replace Gold Cross EMS on April 22.
Johnson worked through the night making arrangements and keeping the media informed of each step, making it clear that Augusta would not experience a gap in ambulance service even if it meant he had to drive an ambulance himself.
Meanwhile, no one in the city government dared to tell Johnson that he did not have the authority to do what he was doing, they simply fell in line and followed his instructions.
This is real leadership in action, folks.
In his short tenure, Johnson has organized county-wide cleanups and retooled the Mayor’s Masters Reception back to its original focus on the game of golf. He was rewarded with record setting crowds at the event.
A newspaper’s job is, of course, to expose the misdeeds of the government when they occur; but we, as an editorial board, feel that just as much column space should be awarded when a politician gets it right for a change.
Garnett Johnson’s first 100 days in office have, so far, been such a success that we believe it is safe to say that the era of malaise in Augusta government is finally coming to an end.
