When the Augusta Commission meets on Tuesday, June 7, all eyes will be on Parks and Recreation Department Director Maurice McDowell when he gives a follow-up report on his plans for spending American Recovery Plan funding.
McDowell made headlines last week when he appeared before the Public Service Committee and rather than give an expected presentation on using $1 million in American Recovery Plan funding to rehabilitate Riverwalk, fix the non-functioning water fountains downtown and expand the tennis courts at Diamond Lakes Regional Park, McDowell instead asked that the bulk of the funding be spent on upgrades to the Julian Smith Casino Barbecue Pit.
The request for the barbecue amounted to $515,000 and McDowell also requested $330,000 be given to the Saturday Farmers Market for unspecified reasons, leaving only $150,000 for Diamond Lakes and not a penny for Riverwalk.
At the May 28 meeting, commissioners demanded that McDowell appear again in a week’s time with a detailed priority list.
Throughout his two-year tenure, McDowell has enjoyed the support of the commission and Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr. However, it appears that the support has largely eroded, with the exception of Davis who has repeatedly tried to calm dissent on the commission by reminding them, “Don’t forget that he has only been on the job a short time.”
District 10 Commissioner John Clarke says McDowell has been given plenty of time to prove his mettle but keeps coming up short.
“I have tried to back him up, but I just can’t keep backing him up when what he is doing is wrong,” Clarke said.
Over the past year and a half, McDowell has had to come before the commission numerous times to ask for emergency funding when issues have arisen due to neglect, such as the massive amount of money that had to be spent to make the Augusta Aquatics center safe for use. Rather than face the plumbing problems at Diamond Lakes headlong, McDowell asked for funding to place more portable toilets at the site.
In the same time span, McDowell has paid the Metro Courier newspaper $7,167 with no explanation as to what that money was spent for.
In fact, McDowell has access to 85 separate checking accounts under Parks and Recreation but cannot recall which of the accounts pay the power bill for the Boathouse at the Marina. The Boathouse has its own checking account, but the power bill is paid under some other unknown account, according to McDowell.
McDowell claimed publicly that the city should close Pendleton King Park because the city has to pay $250,000 for maintenance, when city records show that number was inflated by $75,000.
In 2020, the commission authorized $6 million for a complete and thorough overhaul of the Henry Brigham Center and when the lowest bid came in at $8.3 million, McDowell did not request a change in scope of the renovations, ask the commission for more funding or send out a new bid package. Now, two years later, the renovations are expected to cost north of $10 million.
McDowell yanked the funding out from under the Augusta Port Authority and simultaneously allowed the Boathouse at the Marina to fall into such disrepair that the building cannot be used by the public. Despite being well funded by past special purpose local option sales tax initiatives, McDowell now claims it will cost $1.3 million to repair the building, and he is some $800,000 short.
Instead of completely reorganizing the Parks and Rec Department to make it at least efficient enough to maintain the buildings and cut the grass at the city’s parks and cemeteries, McDowell took commissioners on a bus tour of parks he would like to close in an effort to save money.
McDowell has abandoned the claim his department’s woes were caused by the COVID pandemic and now insists to commissioners he is a target of “media misinformation,” even though documents from his department, check registers and his own public statements have been the foundation of the media reports made public by this media organization.
District 3 Commission Catherine McKnight says she has heard enough talk and that now is a time for action.
“We have got to get this back in shape. Over the past two years, things have just gone to hell. When people come into Augusta and see a sign “the Garden City,” they wonder where the garden is. It is time we demand our department directors to either shape up or ship out,” McKnight said.
