(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
There are 91 days left in Mayor King Hardie Davis’ reign.
Folks who’ve been watching the weather 24 hours a day for the past few days must be thankful Augusta didn’t suffer the damages Florida and North and South Carolina did. And I’m sure everybody’s glad the weatherman got this one wrong for our area.
My husband, Ernie, helps deflect hurricanes by spending half a day battening down the hatches for every storm that doesn’t come.
“You do this every time, and we never get anything,” I said.
“That’s why I do it,” he replied.
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Mr. Nice Guy
In last Sunday’s column, I asked where Hardie was off to because he’d been a no-show the last three times Augusta commissioners met. Well, leave it to Michael Meyers, columnist for The Augusta Press, to answer the question. Michael gets around. He knows what’s going on. All kinds of things, many of which he hints at but never tells you because he doesn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. He’s a pastor and has to set a good example for his flock. Fortunately, I’m not so constrained.
Anyway, Michael asked, “Did anyone see Mayor Davis in the picture from the White House, as the Braves visited President Biden, to celebrate their World Series win?
All this time people have been thinking he’s working at Georgia Tech and really he’s…Here I go getting ahead of myself again.”
See what I mean? He can keep a secret.
But please tell me what Hardie going to the White House to see the Braves celebrate with Joe Biden had to do with the city of Augusta? I hope he didn’t use taxpayers’ money to go up there, but we all know he didn’t use his own money. I’d venture to say that since he’s been mayor, taxpayers have paid for at least a hundred trips. And to what good effect? Did it help make the city safer? Did it help decrease homelessness? Did it help keep kids or their negligent parents off the streets? Did it make Augusta a cleaner, more inviting place to live? Did it help Keep Augusta Beautiful?
Oh, that’s a joke.
He Ignores the Law. You Pay the Fine.
Anyway, I’d like to know just how much having Davis as mayor for eight years has cost taxpayers. They’ve already paid a pretty penny in legal bills for his defense in an open records case. The city paid former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens now of Dentons US LLP in Atlanta $21,446 last year for representing Davis in an open record dispute with The Augusta Press over receipts and invoices Davis refused to submit as the law requires.
And taxpayers also paid for what was supposed to be an audit of his office that Davis requested last year that turned out not to be an audit at all but “consulting services,” according to the author of the supposed audit.
And now, Davis is asking the city to pay the legal bills in two civil lawsuits with The Augusta Press over his failure to provide records and receipts pertaining to his campaign and a nonprofit.
One of the suits clearly involves work Davis did for the city, but the other revolves around the question of work by a nonprofit to which Davis has no direct connection, and it names a non-city employee as a co-defendant, according to Scott Hudson, senior reporter for The Augusta Press.
The bills so far total nearly $15,000.
The city of Augusta is not named in either lawsuit although one of them relates to matters that are tied to Davis’s official duties, which makes the city responsible for paying the legal bills, Hudson states.
One of the lawsuits names Davis and his campaign manager Tonia Gibbons in a matter regarding their nonprofit, Mayor’s Masters Reception Inc.
The Augusta Press has requested documents from Davis and Gibbons regarding the nonprofit, and they refused to provide them, which ultimately led to a lawsuit.
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Did He Lie to the Ethics Commission or to the Judge?
“The other lawsuit, which has already been adjudicated, contends that Davis told the Georgia Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission that certain receipts it requested were actually expenses his campaign paid for even though they covered costs incurred as part of his work as mayor of Augusta. He has refused to turn those receipts over to investigators, claiming they were exempt from the Georgia Open Records Law,” Hudson reported.
“The Augusta Press next made an open records request for the same receipts on the grounds that the money was spent in the mayor’s official duties.
Davis then flip-flopped and told Superior Court Chief Judge Daniel J. Craig the very opposite, that the receipts were campaign-related and had no connection to his duties as mayor.
Craig ruled against Davis and compelled him to provide the receipts. Davis responded by filing an appeal.
The bill for the first round of that suit is $9,766.66, according to the invoice.”
I Don’t Need No Stinkum Permission from the Tree Commission
So, when Augusta Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight’s agenda item to discuss the trees removed in the Augusta Common, as well as tree cutting in general throughout the city, came up in a committee last week, Parks and Recreation Director Maurice McDowell was locked and loaded.
He said the four maple trees that were cut down in the Common that McKnight was upset about endangered recreation department employees who had to come to the Common at three or four o’clock in the morning to get everything ready for an event. The trees blocked the sight line beside a building the employees had to access for equipment. And homeless people congregated there and menaced them, McDowell said. The city code allowed him to have the trees removed under those circumstances without asking the Augusta Tree Commission’s permission, he said.
“Why do we have a tree commission then,” McKnight asked. “We appoint people to that. Do we disregard what they do? That’s a poor weak excuse.”
“Nothing Maurice said made sense,” said Commissioner John Clarke, who wants the city to hire an arborist.
So, if they cut the trees down to discourage homeless people from congregating beneath them and blocking sight lines, wouldn’t it be a good idea to cut down every tree in downtown Augusta? That way, visitors out for a stroll down Broad Street wouldn’t jump out of their skin when a panhandler suddenly stepped out from behind a big oak asking for enough money to buy gasoline for his car to get home.
And the city could use the lumber to build those expensive tiny houses commissioners are talking about building for the homeless. Of course, even with a tiny home, they’d still have to come downtown to panhandle, but it would be too hot to hang around for very long. Remember what happened when city workers cut the roots of the trees around the James Brown statue a dozen years ago and made it so unbearable during the summer nobody could congregate there?
Quote of the Week
“Augusta needs to hire a degreed arborist, not someone’s cousin with a chainsaw.”
– Augusta Commissioner John Clarke
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NOG Brain and FOG Brain
NOG Brain stands for Naturally Old Granny Brain. FOG Brain is what people who have what they call “long Covid” are afflicted with. As you’ve probably figured out “long Covid” lasts a long time, weeks or months after you don’t have Covid anymore.
I will cite examples of the effects of both NOG Brain and FOG Brain since I have both.
NOG Brain forgets to take her nighttime pills. FOG Brain gets confused by all of the pill bottles on the counter and takes the dog’s pills.
NOG Brain goes to bed with the chickens. FOG Brain goes to bed with the chickens, too, but gets up during the night and wanders around in the kitchen looking for her glasses.
NOG Brain forgets where she put the car keys. FOG Brain forgets where she put the car.
NOG Brain tells the members of her sewing circle three times about her brilliant granddaughter’s academic scholarship. FOG Brain tells the members of her sewing circle three times about her brilliant granddaughter’s academic scholarship, her son’s promotion four times and her daughter-in-law’s extravagance five times.
NOG Brain goes into a room and mumbles, “Why am I here?” FOG Brain goes into a room and mumbles, “Why is this room here?”
NOG Brain goes to the Post Office and sends a registered letter and puts the receipt in a safe place. Now she can’t find it. FOG Brain goes to the Post Office and sends a registered letter and puts the receipt in a safe place. She finds the receipt but can’t remember why she sent the registered letter.
Sylvia Cooper is a columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
