Mayor Hardie Davis, who co-pastors a South Augusta church with his wife, has violated the public’s trust through his extravagant spending and disregard for his accountability regarding that spending, and no policy or law will change that fact.
The mayor’s new call for an audit or policy to regulate his spending has arisen out of his desire to control the narrative and turn the focus from his own behavior to that of the county commission’s failure to implement a spending policy in 2016. However, laws and policies governing elected officials’ use of funds already exist.
Editorial: It Is Time To Demand An Audit Of Mayor’s Spending
Spending over $5,000 on one vendor requires that procurement department procedures be followed. Mayor Davis completely disregarded this existing policy multiple times. His explanation was that he followed the “normal practices” that he has followed in the past, seemingly admitting he has violated the policy before without any calls for accountability from the county commission.
Procurement department procedures exist to protect taxpayer funds from being spent inappropriately, as well as to prevent conflicts of interest in selecting vendors.
Petula Burks, the mayor’s chief of staff, has a significant conflict of interest with LC Studios, which has been paid over $17,000 of taxpayer money for a variety of video-related services. The mayor openly and unapologetically lied about the conflict of interest, saying no conflict exists and all the spending was appropriate.
Davis stated in an interview with WRDW, “Let me be clear. We did not use a vendor who has ties to my chief of staff.”
The truth, however, is that records show that Burks has an extensive relationship with LC Studios. Open records law requests show a slew of email communications between Burks and LC Studios while she worked in Florida. In addition, Cameus Chicoye, owner of LC Studios, is an assistant vice president of a non-profit that Burks started and runs. Yet, Davis has no problem going on camera and lying, saying Burks has no ties to LC Studios.
The Mayor’s Office lack of ethics is astounding. The mayor doubled down, stating that all the spending was appropriate rather than owning up to a mistake and offering to pay the money back.
It is illegal for the mayor to make charitable donations using taxpayer money, yet thousands of dollars were given away to non-profits. Davis claims his use of funds in this manner is legal and appropriate.
Editorial: Augusta’s Leaders Are Video Divas
“Appropriate,” according to Davis’ definition means that he is entitled to have the citizens of Augusta buy his lunch on a regular basis, pay for his subscriptions to a variety of websites; pay to have his makeup done; and fund the re-writing of his resume, despite him being termed out. It also means citizens should buy him a plaque and pay thousands of dollars in speaking fees, and nearly $1,000 in transportation from Atlanta to Augusta, for a speaker.
If city employees behaved the way the mayor has, they would be terminated and prosecuted.
The mayor clearly feels like he is entitled to all these perks because of his office, despite state laws or policies of Richmond County. No amount of regulation can fix that lack of an ethical code.
