Mayor outlines 2001 agenda

Young says major challenges will be reducing government, bolstering economy, beautifying city

Web posted Monday, January 15, 2001

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By Heidi Coryell
Staff Writer

Mayor Bob Young says the state of the city is a reflection of the state of local politics. And in his view, both images are out of focus.

Mayor Bob Young is planning a summit of business leaders in the coming weeks. FILE/STAFF

A recent presentment from a special grand jury investigating city government supports the mayor's statements. He says that creating a sharper, better-defined and more attractive community will come from Augusta government's finding its focus in the coming year.

``If we've got issues to deal with, then 2001 is the year to deal with them,'' Mr. Young said in an interview after his second annual State of the City address, which he delivered Jan. 8.

During his televised speech, Mr. Young set forth what he says will be the three biggest challenges for Augusta in the coming year: reducing the size of government, bolstering economic development and beautifying the city through continual cleanup efforts.

He concedes that his role in accomplishing the goals is mostly that of a facilitator and little more. But he said his job has been to push forward agendas that will bolster economic development and improve government functions.

``These are the things each day that I should make an effort to find out about,'' Mr. Young said.

To start making things happen, he said he plans to organize a summit of local business leaders in coming weeks. The summit will start with a small, hand-selected group of business people who will meet with him initially, although he's not sure who they will be.

``I want to hear from the people in the business community - what their situations are, what their perspectives are for the long run, things we are doing to help them and the things we do wrong to hurt them,'' Mr. Young said. ``We need to formulate an action plan to address the problems.''

Ultimately, he hopes the small mayoral group will lead to a larger summit that would include commissioners and area business groups.

Ultimately, Augusta commissioners will be the ones responsible for passing the policy changes that would make Mr. Young's goals a reality in the coming year.

So the mayor's ability to accomplish his goals likely will depend on his ability to swing the votes of the commission.

``He can swing us, and he should be able to influence us,'' Commissioner Steve Shepard said. ``On the budget, he indicated to us that it was a year that we needed to cut expenses, and I think that was important in marshaling our support for the budget.''

But commissioners went against Mr. Young's repeated recommendations to avoid revenue increases in the 2001 budget, including ones for cable franchise fees and business and alcohol licenses. The mayor says the increases serve as a deterrent to private business.

``We're sucking too much out of the private sector,'' he said. ``We need to start maximizing revenue so we can stop the upward spiral of increasing fees and taxes.''

Mr. Young says commissioners - half of whose seats are up for election in 2001 - will not raise property taxes this year, but might choose to do so in 2002, when he will run for re-election.

He supports collecting outstanding debts, in the form of parking tickets, court fees, property taxes and utility bills, in lieu of revenue increases. He said he hopes voters will remember his strong stance against tax increases during his four-year tenure when election time comes.

A preliminary grand jury report released Friday recommended Augusta's mayor be given the power to veto commission decisions, with a seven-vote commission override. Mr. Young has supported such a change, along with the creation of a city charter, since he stepped into office.

Currently, the only time the mayor can vote is to break a 5-5 tie.

``I've said all along that the mayor should have a veto instead of a vote,'' Mr. Young said. ``The mayor needs a bargaining chip if the mayor is going to be a player.''

But there is little support from commissioners to grant Mr. Young that power, partly because most commission votes seem to be a 6-4 split. Commissioners say they haven't heard overwhelming support from constituents for changing the current voting setup.

``The people have agreed on the procedure,'' Commissioner Lee Beard said. ``I think anything else would have to come from the people.''

In the meantime, Mr. Young keeps tabs on the projects that are going on throughout the city.

During his State of the City address, he gave an update on several downtown projects, including the creation of Springfield Village Park, which will honor the civil rights movement, and the construction of Augusta Common, a greenspace area set to be located between Eighth and Ninth streets.

``We definitely stay in contact with Bob,'' said Robert Osborne, the city president of Wachovia Bank and a board member of Augusta Tomorrow, the group that conceptualized the Common project. ``We try to stay in contact with all the commission because a lot of what we do is the organization, and the planning part we've undertaken with the help of the city. We feel like that's probably the most important part of what we do.''

Mr. Young said demolition for the Augusta Common should begin in a matter of weeks.

Though every specialty organization - such as Augusta Tomorrow and the chamber of commerce - has its own area of expertise, Mr. Young says he ultimately is responsible for every project in Augusta.

``There is a leadership vacuum that should be filled by the political sector, and the political sector hasn't done as good a job as we need done - the finger of blame always comes back here to government,'' Mr. Young said. ``Each time a new mayor gets elected, the bar gets raised. I've put focus and perspective into this office in the last two years, and I will continue to put as much or more over the next two.''

Reach Heidi Coryell at (706) 823-3215.

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