Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCalled Commission Meeting December 17, 2020 CALLED MEETING VIRTUAL/TELECONFERENCE December 17, 2020 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, December 17, 2020, the Honorable Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. B. Williams, Garrett, Sias, Fennoy, Frantom, M. Williams, Davis, D. Williams, Hasan and Clarke, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Mr. Mayor: Morning, everybody. We are here to do the business of the people at a special called meeting. We’ve got a few matters that are before us. We’ve got one addendum item that if there’s no objection we’ll accept that. That will be the one item that we’ll talk about on the floor and the rest of the items we’ll talk about in closed session so we’ll call this meeting to order if there’s no objection. All right, without saying there be no objection to the addendum item, the Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. 1. LEGAL MEETING A. Personnel Mr. Brown: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Happy holiday greetings to the Mayor and Commissioners. We request a motion to go into executive session for the – Mr. Garrett: So move. Mr. Frantom: Second. th Mr. Mayor: All right, Madam Clerk, commissioner from the 8 with the motion, Mayor Pro Tem with the second. Mr. Sias and Mr. B. Williams out. Motion carries 8-0. Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, thank you. We’re going to transition here and then we’ll be back as we move into closed session. \[EXECUTIVE SESSION\] Mr. Mayor: All right, we’re back out on the floor. The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: You’re muted. I have one more motion to craft about the EMA/Fire Chief matter. The motion is pertaining just to the, as Interim Fire Chief. Mr. Mayor: That is correct. Mr. Brown: The question would be do we want as a government not to have an EMA Director for any period of time. 1 Mr. Mayor: We currently have someone who’s operating as the Deputy EMA Director and has been in that role for a number of years at this point. Mr. Hasan: And who is that, Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor: That’s Mie Lucas. Mr. Hasan: We (inaudible). Mr. Mayor: She is EMA Director. We have not been without EMA support since the Commission made the decision regarding Chief Chris James. Mr. Brown: Would you at least consider making her an Interim EMA Director so that we have one because I do not believe there is anywhere, I don’t know, is it in her title that she is a EMA Director? Mr. Mayor: I think all of you are fully aware that Mie Lucas is the EMA Deputy Director. Those documents are also in HR and so no one should be surprised or give any sense of surprise that that’s not the case so what I would tell you is that the policy – Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, let me ask a final question. Mr. Mayor: -- being appointed as the Interim Fire Chief. That was the decision that the Commission has made. That is what you just voted on previously and you’re affirming that today. Mr. Brown: -- in the Commission meeting. Mr. Mayor: No, if we need to talk about other personnel matters, then we’re going to go back into closed session and have a conversation. But that’s not why we’re here on the floor right now. And at the appropriate time we’ll schedule a meeting about that. If we need to come back for a fourth special called meeting then I’ll certainly call one. But we’ve got a matter in front of us, three matters, that we are prepared to go ahead and respond to and that’s what we’ll do today. Attorney Brown. We’ll have a motion for the closed meeting affidavit. Attorney Brown: Are we back on the floor? Mr. Mayor: We’ve been on the floor. Mr. Hasan: (inaudible). Attorney Brown: Excuse me. Mr. Hasan: I’d still like that information – 2 Mr. Mayor: We’re waiting on you to announce that you’ll entertain a motion for the closed meeting affidavit. Mr. Brown: Okay. Mr. Hasan: I was saying I want that information still about the EMA Director. Mr. Mayor: I think you’ve asked Ms. Bonner to send that information to you. Mr. Hasan: That’s not what I asked. The Clerk: He asked the attorney to do that. Mr. Mayor: Okay. Whoever needs to send that information to Commissioner Hasan and to the rest of the members of the Commission please do so. Mr. Brown: Will do. Mr. Fennoy: Wayne, you don’t have to send it to me. Mr. Mayor: Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: Okay, I won’t send it to him. Okay, -- The Clerk: We need a motion on the closed meeting affidavit, Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: Yes, I was working on the motion. The conversation never stopped long enough for me to get it done. The Clerk: Okay. Mr. Brown: Mayor and Commissioners, we would like to request a motion to execute the closed meeting affidavit. Mr. Garrett: So moved. Ms. Davis: So moved. Second. The Clerk: Mr. Garrett and Ms. Davis, okay. Mr. Mayor: Yes. Voting. Mr. Sias out. Motion carries 9-0. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. 3 Mr. Brown: Yes, sir, thank you. We request a motion to accept the resignation of Attorney Geoffrey Als effective January 8, 2021 and pay him four months’ severance, pay in accordance with Augusta’s Personnel Procedure policies. Mr. Als will be required to perform consulting (inaudible) duties during that severance period in accordance with Augusta’s personnel policies and procedures. Mr. Hasan: So move. Mr. Garrett: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Sias out. Motion carries 9-0. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: Regarding the next motion regarding the Compliance Department and that would be effective Finance (inaudible). The Clerk: You’re breaking up, Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown: Pardon? The Clerk: You’re breaking up. Mr. Brown: Okay, can you hear me clearer now? The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. Brown: Thank you. Regarding Compliance position there was not a date given of the effective date. Accounting usually asks for it to begin at the beginning of the next pay period for easy accounting purposes. What date is the pleasure of the Commission? Mr. Hasan: Next pay period as you said, if you don’t mind, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Hasan, I’m running for Mayor of Augusta. Mr. Hasan: I’ve heard worse. Mr. Fennoy: I think you’ve already been elected, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Hasan: Did you vote for me? I didn’t get a response. Mr. Mayor: State your inquiry. 4 Mr. Hasan: I’m sorry, Mr. Mayor. I was just honoring what our attorney had said. I think he brought an excellent point that we had probably not considered and I think it just makes sense that it start at the beginning of the next pay period. Mr. Brown: If that is acceptable, we request a motion for the appointment of Phyllis Johnson to the position – The Clerk: You’re muted. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, you muted him? Mr. Mayor: No, he broke up. Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: I’m not muted. The Clerk: You’re breaking up. Mr. Mayor: Could you restate the motion? Mr. Brown: Yes, I’m sorry. We’re in this new building over here and communications seem to be affected. We request a motion for the appointment of Ms. Phyllis Johnson as Compliance Director with an annual salary of $125,000 and the customary benefits of a Director to be made effective at the beginning of the next pay period. Mr. Hasan: So move. Mr. Frantom: Second. Mr. Garrett: Second. The Clerk: That’s Mr. Hasan and Mr. Frantom. Mr. Mayor: Yes. Voting. Mr. Sias out. Motion carries 9-0. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Attorney Brown, next item. Mr. Brown: Or is that it? Mr. Brown: One more. We request a motion for the appointment of Mr. Shaw Williams as Director and Chief of Augusta Fire Department with an annual, oh, excuse me, a motion to request the appointment of Shaw Williams as the Interim Chief of Augusta Fire Department with an annual salary in accordance with Augusta’s Personnel Policies and 5 Procedures for interim positions along with the customary benefits to be made effective December 2, 2020. Ms. Davis: So move. Mr. Hasan: Second. The Clerk: Ms. Davis and Mr. Hasan. Mr. Mayor: Yes. The Clerk: All right. Are we voting, sir? Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Fennoy votes No. Mr. Sias out. Motion carries 8-1. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. I believe we’ve got one more item, the addendum item that was on the special called meeting agenda and Madam Clerk, if you’ll introduce that for the record. The Clerk: That is to discuss Augustans Agenda Initiative. Commissioner Williams has provided some supporting documentation and I’ll be sending that out to you now. Mr. Mayor: Okay, thank you. The Clerk: Have you all received it? Mr. Mayor: I think so, Madam Clerk. Can Jeff just put it up on the screen for us? The Clerk: We can get him to do that. Mr. Lewis: Yeah, if you send it to me, Ms. Bonner, I can do that. The Clerk: All right. th Mr. Mayor: Okay, I believe, commissioner from the 9, this is your item. Go ahead, sir. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. To all my colleagues I voted earlier than I normally do but I voted early and when I exited Bell Auditorium after I voted, there was a booth outside and a lady had some fliers she was passing out. She was trying to get out of the weather but she had a covered canopy type thing there so I picked up one and when I saw this I was very disappointed. Now if Jeff shows the other side of this thing, I guess Ms. Bonner sent the front and the rear. The other side talks about all the other things that Augusta has not done. If you look at 6 the other side it lists about, that’s upside down, Jeff, but it lists about 15 or 20 different things that the City of Augusta needs to be improved on or being done. As an elected official, I really took issue with that and I couldn’t understand it so I figured the Mayor had already talked to somebody. Mr. Kendrick, I’ve been knowing him for years, fine fellow, been on the Development Authority, but when I saw this Augustans Agenda and wanted people to attach to that as if we hadn’t did anything. We don’t even need to be here. No other commission needs to be here if another group and especially the Tax Commissioner have all of the answers and have all of the power. I’m very upset about this, Mr. Mayor, and I figured you had talked with him and you and him maybe had worked something out. I don’t know that for a fact, I hadn’t discussed anything with him, but I’m very disappointed. If you look at that list of stuff there, we are supposed to be handling it. Now the, Mr. Kendrick is on the Development Authority. I can’t tell you one restaurant they’ve brought here, I can’t tell you one business except the coffee place out here and the deal that was made with the, on the pension property down there that we haven’t (inaudible) because of the parking. Somebody needs to say something, somebody needs to address these issues. Now my first question, Mr. Mayor, to you is were you involved? Do you have any knowledge? Mr. Mayor: No, Commissioner, this is my first time seeing this document. I don’t know the origin of it of what I’m seeing here today. Clearly you know again at first blush you’ve got an elected official, the Tax Commissioner, who I guess it appears you’ve got a private organization that’s been created that “is interested in the issues that we are working on”. I think the bigger challenge is that the Commission has its responsibility (inaudible). You’ve got the Tax Commissioner who is leading (inaudible). That would be my broader concern and I think I’ve raised that in other settings before but this is the first time that I’ve seen this document. I think as we step into 2021 we clearly need to have a holistic discussion about the city role in economic growth and development projects. I’ve said that and I’ve been saying it since 2015. But if you look at what you’ve just provided us with – Mr. M. Williams: And I get that, Mr. Mayor, but I’m upset because an elected official – Mr. Mayor: -- working on racial equality, I mean that’s the reason why we’re having a discussion about the non-discrimination ordinance, you know. You’ve got the issues of affordable housing that we worked on. That was what Beacon Station was about so yeah, I’m not sure what genesis of this is. Mr. M. Williams: My question is how can we have the Development Authority who got no time limit and I hope this new commission understands that, got no time and can step out front and do this in a public forum where people are coming to vote, giving out this type of information as if we don’t exist. Now I think first of all they’ve got too much authority, they hadn’t done anything since they’ve been there except mess this city up and this is my opinion. We’ve got a parking element down on the pension property we can’t seem to get nobody there because they’re making deals but we as elected officials get the blame for it, Mr. Mayor. Now somebody else ought to be upset about this besides myself. Ought not to be something we just brush aside. Now if he wants to be the Mayor and look like that’s what I see, he can run for that. He can’t take the platform that people have voted for him to do that and step out on that. Am I right or wrong? 7 Mr. Mayor: Yeah, and I think you raise a number of real concerns or issues but I think again, you know certainly I can only speak to the issues that you raise as it relates to this right here. The Commission is who put him in the role as the Development Authority person. That’s an appointment that the Commission has. I certainly was not involved in that so again from the Mayor’s standpoint I’ve been real clear from day one about what the City should be doing from an economic growth and development standpoint. We’ve got two entities, one that’s effectively being starved out right now that I think I think we need to have a conversation about in January of 2021. The Downtown Development Authority has done incredible work around businesses downtown and all the way over to Laney Walker Bethlehem working with a host of other entities and then you’ve got the Economic Development Authority that more recently has encroached and is trying to get involved in the issues of retail so I there’s an appropriate way for us to have this conversation and kind of talk about what that needs to look like going forward.. I would hope that our Administrator having come from south Fulton and immediately before he came to Augusta, they were working on a deal there but that was a city-led effort working with economic development professionals but again, working with the Mayor there, working with the Council there in south Fulton, on a huge deal and I think that that’s where we have to be in the City of Augusta. I’ve long held that, I’ve held that and I’ve been pretty consistent for the past six years about how we should go about doing that. But this is my first time seeing that, Commissioner. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, let me say this. When the project came up about the, when the project came up, Cal Wray, I think that’s his name, with the Development Authority, I spoke with him about it and he talked about what a good project it was and how it could be done and all these other things, someone told him not to even talk to the guy who wanted to do this. He had already interviewed with the newspaper, talked about how great it was and what a good thing it would be for Augusta because somebody quiet him up. When the media had already talked to him in the beginning, he couldn’t retract that so the media ended up putting it out there. But he wouldn’t even have a conversation with nobody else about it because the people whoever put the quietest on him had him where he couldn’t say nothing. Now I am sick and tired of the dog not wagging the tail, the tail wagging the dog. It don’t make good sense. And it ain’t supposed to be like that and as long as we kind of let this stuff go we’re going to continue that. I’ve talked to Mr. Kendrick about the project. He said it’s a good project. Well, it’s a good project then he changed and said it’s a great project and if it’s a great project, why are you not behind it? If I had it brought to the Development Authority he said it would have went forth. I am sick of that. I’m tired of folks playing games with taxpayers’ money and then you’ve got to sit there and act like you don’t know what is going on. I’m tired of you wonder boys coming up with all the answers. His hands is in everything we do in this government. Everything we do in this government he’s got a part in it. Something wrong with that, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: I don’t disagree with how that’s happening. All right, going to the th commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, this is not to dismiss Commissioner Williams’ concern but I do think when we start talking about the Downtown Development Authority EDA this project that you’re looking at here currently the issues may be related from an economic perspective, but this program if you look at it it says (inaudible) youth leadership group who are addressing these issues and you’ve got about 12 young persons there addressing these 8 subject matters that’s on there. So this is not the Economic Development Authority, not the Downtown Development Authority or any of those authorities in fairness to this conversation that we’re having. This is a totally separate conversation. Also when you’re talking about being involved, not only do Mr. Kendrick’s have a group of this magnitude I think he also has a youth much younger group that he’s dealing with young kids and stuff in the high schools and things of that nature so he has several groups going on and still to Commissioner Williams’ real overall concern, initial concern about location and where it was. That could be problematic and I’m thinking I talked to Ms. Lynn Bailey this morning to try to get my arms wrapped around this per my conversation with Mr. Williams yesterday. I went to try to get a flier. Actually I didn’t know what those fliers looked like. I have seen these fliers before but I didn’t have no idea what was being passed out yesterday and so when I went through yesterday, nobody was out. The weather was inclement so I was not able to see exactly what it was. However I talked to Ms. Bailey this morning and she said in many ways she had authorized them to be able to do that probably not so much in a close proximity. They probably need to moving forward they need to move back the 150 yards because it wasn’t, what do you call the people when they exit the poll, when you do those pollings when you come out of the poll, it’s not that so other than that she didn’t see a problem with it if they moved 150 yards back. But for the record this is not the Economic Development Authority. This is a group called the Talented (inaudible) that are looking at and doing a deep dive into the subject matter and many times when a commissioner don’t do, thank God we’ve got a great administrator now that can help us get to where we need to get. So I just wanted to try to clear that up. So I just wanted to try to clear that up for the most part. I do understand Commissioner Williams’ problem if he was talking about location. I think he has a legitimate concern and I think that’s going to be addressed. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, I think that’s B.S and bulls do not escape. I called Commissioner Hasan to tell him about it as well. I’m tired of people making excuses. Now he’s an elected official. Now I’ve been in half the schools in Richmond County. I person can get any group they want to and do anything. You can’t come on city property, you can’t be an elected official and put out a piece like this talking about you’re with a group. That’s crazy to me and Ben Hasan knows better than that, Mr. Mayor. Don’t play me like that. Now you play somebody else but that’s not real. The issue here is addressing, the authority he has with the Development Authority with the amount of elected official power that he has, that’s crazy, man, you can’t do that. Mr. Hasan: What makes it illegal? Mr. M. Williams: You’ve got to step out of the box and get by yourself. You can’t use your political platform and get out there and do what he’s doing now. And you know better than that. No, because you’re going with the politics of it. You’re rubbing elbows like you’ve been doing for the whole time you’ve been here doing the same junk just like you did with Lynn Bailey, like you to say it all again. You’re another Kendricks in a different suit, that’s all. Mr. Hasan: Commissioner, you brought it to me. Mr. M. Williams: That’s right, I called you because I was concerned about it. I called you and told you about it. 9 Mr. Hasan: But what’s wrong with it? Mr. M. Williams: If you don’t see nothing wrong with it, I see a lot wrong with it. Playing that doggone politics game. I ain’t got time for that. Mr. Hasan: You say all of the time that we ain’t doing nothing and time somebody try to do something you criticize them. Mr. M. Williams: We, you’re elected. So you’re giving him your authority. Why you ain’t doing nothing then? You said I said we ain’t doing nothing. What have you tried to do? What have you brought? What have you talked about? Not one thing. Nothing. The whole time you’ve been here. You’ve been in every office in here now. You’ve been in every office in the building. We know that. In fact you ought to have your own office down here. Mr. Hasan: Well, they say the same thing about you and your twin brother. You remember that? Mr. B. Williams: Mr. Mayor, it’s time to go. They both have on the same color shirt so they’re brothers there. Come on, Mr. Mayor, I’ve got to go feed my cat. Mr. Mayor: Attorney Brown, yes, attorney Brown. You’re muted. Mr. Brown: Not related to the motion, Mr. Mayor, there needs to be clarification on the severance with Geoffrey Als that that will be a lump sum payout not a salary continuance and I’d like to adjust the motion once this discussion is completed. Mr. Mayor: Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, we request to revisit the motion and clarify that Mr. Als four months of severance pursuant to the Augusta Personnel and Procedures be by lump sum payout. Mr. Frantom: So moved. Mr. B. Williams: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Ms. Davis, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Sias and Mr. D. Williams out. Mr. Clarke votes No. Motion fails 5-1. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Clarke, we owe him to money. We’ve got to pay him. Mr. Mayor: So I don’t know what the posture is regarding this matter but – 10 Mr. Brown: Based on our policy, I believe that it will happen. I’m not sure a vote was necessary. The only alternative is we will pay him salary continuation which would be much more costly to (inaudible). A lump sum payout the money comes to an end but – Mr. B. Williams: Mr. Brown. Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Hold on a minute. Let him finish. Attorney Brown, are you done? Mr. Brown: Yeah, I believe that is the default position. I was simply asking the Commission, I was simply pointing out to the Commission that is how the money would be paid out. I do not believe a vote is necessary. However if the Commission wants to vote of course it can. Well, I guess my question to you would be why did you even bring it up then if you could have just administratively handled it? You know, we’ve just got to throw a monkey into the wrench and yeah, we had already adopted a measure and moved forward so it’s no reason to bring it up, I mean, you could have just handled it administratively working with HR and the th Administrator’s Office. I’m going to go back to the issue that the Commissioner from the 9 raised. I think the broader concerns is how we as a city is doing business and more importantly the business at hand and who is doing that. I look forward to us fully (inaudible) in that conversation in 2021. It’s been a longstanding concern, the flier, while it’s a private group I think the issue or the implication is around who is involved in that moving forward so I don’t think there’s any other business before us. I want to wish everybody a very safe and a prosperous Christmas and I look forward to seeing each of you soon. Mr. B. Williams: Mr. Mayor. th Mr. Mayor: Commissioner from the 5. Mr. B. Williams: I just want to tell Ms. Bonner something. Are you listening, Ms. Bonner? The Clerk: Should I be? Yes, sir. Mr. B. Williams: I was talking to Commissioner Frantom earlier today and he said he’s th going to do his swearing in on the 5 right before the meeting. I’d like to do the same thing on the th 5. The Clerk: Yes, sir. All right then I’ll get with both of you for the details. Mr. B. Williams: Thank you. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, can I ask a question? Mr. Mayor, are we going to stick with the th 5 to have a meeting or are we going to move it? Mr. Mayor: January 5 we’re still meeting. Mr. Hasan: Okay. 11 \[MEETING ADJOURNED\] Lena J. Bonner Clerk of Commission CERTIFICATION: I, Lena J. Bonner, Clerk of Commission, hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Called Meeting of the Augusta Richmond County Commission held on December 17, 2020. ______________________________ Clerk of Commission 12