When former Parks and Recreation Director Maurice McDowell tendered his resignation on Feb. 13, red flags went flying all over the commission chamber.
What we are slowly learning was that this was a resignation in name only.
This newspaper has repeatedly called for McDowell to be fired based on his pathetic job performance for years. Even with failures on virtually every level, from the Boathouse at the Marina implosion, the Aquatic Center and area swimming pools and splash pads left unmaintained, the Newman Tennis Courts left not fit for competition and knee-high grass at parks and cemeteries, the commission has never acted.
McDowell put the city in civil rights legal crosshairs after purging the department of White people, and it is clear that he has refused to listen to the $7 million consultants the commission paid for to teach him how to do his job.
MORE: Former Augusta commissioner’s prison sentence reduced
At first, the rumor mill buzz was that it was a quid-pro-quo to get that magic sixth vote to hire Takiyah Douse as permanent administrator, but that could not be the case. The fact that Commissioner Bobby Williams voted not to accept the resignation skewers the quid-pro-quo fears.
Now, the rumor mill has gone darker, much darker, with no way to substantiate the claims being made.
Unnamed sources say McDowell did not voluntarily quit. They say that the final details were hashed out in the mayor’s office between McDowell, Mayor Garnett Johnson and Commissioner Brandon Garrett.
One official has stated that the commission simply followed past precedent and politely allowed McDowell to save face while pulling the ripcord on his golden parachute.
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why this commission refuses to fire people when they sorely deserve it,” the official said.
There is obviously more to this story, and both the mayor and commission have a responsibility to the public to be transparent and come clean about what really happened behind those closed doors.
