Money trail shows director’s missteps
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Recent posts
oh my lordy noooo….so sad to see River Boathouse in such disrepair….so many happy memories of it during boat races and rowing races….
I too enjoyed river raft races , the rowing regattas in which 20 college teams would participate, and the professional drag boat races .
BUT , it has been DECADES since those events were held in Augusta.
What is now called the BOATHOUSE was originally built as a restaurant (Palmers) in one of those public-private partnerships that failed leaving the CITY with a restaurant for which it had no use then and has no use now .
IS SPENDING ONE MILLION THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND ($1,300,000.00) DOLLARS TO REPAIR THIS BUILDING AN APPROPRIATE USE OF TAXPAYER’s MONEY ???
What do we want?
Department audits!
When do we want them?
Now!
85 Checking accounts, why??? a model of efficiency…its past time to clean it up Augusta.
That was my thought also. I have no idea of the number of parks / buildings that these accounts cover but I’m assuming for instance that each park might have its own account. Good business practices require that each account is balanced every month. How many of those accounts are costing the taxpayers account fees every month? Those are the things a prudent business owner keeps an eye on. Is it being done and if so, how many employees does it take to do so? Seems to me any competent person could use an accounting program to manage all of the parks & rec monies out of just a few accounts while still keeping records for each individual park or building. 85 accounts???!!!!!
When growingup my father PREACHED that ‘half of having anything is taking care of it’. The City wants to build this or build that but then whatever they build rots away or falls apart from lack of up-keep. Most people don’t mind paying taxes if the money is spent wisely but year after year money is flushed down the toilet. STOP trying to be a 2nd Atlanta and take care of what we have.
https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/2020/07/08/augusta-recreation-director-finalistsrsquo-prior-jobs-ended-abruptly/114777474/
I would check and see if the proposed buyer for the Boathouse was still interested. At one time the proposed buyer offered $1.2 million for the Boathouse as it sat. That would save the City $1.3 million + and get the place back on the tax rolls. The question is who nixed the possible sale and why??
Most dysfunctional government I’ve ever seen..with the exception of 2 or 3 people they should all be run out of town!!
Augusta voters need to demand departmental audit’s!
Here we go again and sounds like a Hardee Davis twin is running things!Past time to demand an audit as this McDowell person needs oversight like starting now.
It’s Putin’s fault.
Just goes to show there is absolutely NO accountability in this “government”. Just following in the dishonorable mayors footsteps. IMHO.
Why do we pay for a finance department if each department can have their own checking accounts?
There was someone local who wanted to buy the Boathouse almost a year ago. Myself along with another sitting Commissioner were in support of selling it. Knowing that the individual would turn it into something nice would have been a win win for all. There is no excuse for buildings owned by the city to sit empty falling into despair. The longer they sit the more money it will cost to renovate them. If the city isn’t going to take care of this property along with others then they need to be sold.
I agree, the city cannot be in the business of condemning blighted property if they themselves have blighted property!!
And the hits keep a coming!
When a person is spending the taxpayers money record keeping is of the upmost important task that comes with the ability to dip in to those funds., I am appalled that we have another person akin to our current mayor that also thinks he can spend and not keep records. They should be held accountable and off to prison if it shows there was intent to not keep records and hide the truth because you are misappropriating funds and you know it. You have to know it. Every single penny should have to be account for in all departments that have a checkbook with our name on it.
Time to blame this sorry, “have no plan” performance on Trump and Putin!! It must be the Ukraine war that causes this misdirected and bloated effort to oblivian! Time to get rid of the director and get a planner/executioner in the job. Richmond county continues to permit non-performers to non-perform forever. Time to kick butt! Just take a walk along the canal for starters!
Maybe he and Davis could room together in prison.
Obviously this poor guy is grossly incompetent. In the private sector he would have been long since gone… You just cannot fail that many times and still keep your job! He needs to be removed and a complete forensic audit done.
But he met all the hiring criteria for that position!
We need to insist on an accounting of the nearly $8,000 of taxpayers money paid to the Metro Courier and Barbara Gordon. What the heck was that for?
Fellow residents and taxpayers of Richmond County, there are many matters like this in Augusta Government. The reasons we have these types of issues with substandard department heads is because we keep voting in politicians that place individuals in those roles for personal gain. Just Follow The Money !! And please look into the upcoming splost and how much money has been allocated just for the recreation department.