The 124-page document, which was released Tuesday and blasts the city's Fire Department under the tenure of former Fire Chief Ronnie Few, is not the grand jury's last, Augusta District Attorney Danny Craig has said. Future reports could be accompanied by criminal indictments before the grand jury wraps up its work sometime in the next 30 days.

In the meantime, Augusta commissioners, the city administrator's office and the Fire Department say they are studying the report and its findings and recommendations but have no plan for action. The report makes accusations about several current city employees, including a deputy fire chief and Purchasing Director Geri Sams.

The item has not been placed on the agenda of next week's full commission meeting, and city officials appear to be in no hurry to release a statement responding to its findings.

"If there were any action based on anything in this document, if there was discipline involved and it came to any official's attention, I would think that action would have taken place prior to my arrival (one year ago)," City Administrator George Kolb said last week. "If not, I would question whether I can do anything at this point in time."

Both Mr. Kolb and Augusta Fire Chief Al Gillespie have been out of town and said they will address the grand jury's report when they return.

Augusta commissioners could address the report in their next Public Safety Committee meeting later this month, but the committee's chairman - Commissioner Marion Williams - has expressed doubt in the report's findings, saying he has always supported Chief Few.

In their report, grand jurors said Mr. Williams accused then-City Administrator Randy Oliver of "not protecting Ronnie Few enough."

Other commissioners named in the report share similar apathy about addressing its findings.

"People keep telling me they've referenced me a few times, which is their prerogative, but I don't think I've done anything," Commissioner Lee Beard said. Grand jurors accused Mr. Beard of bullying other city employees into protecting Chief Few.

"I've looked out for this city so far, and I think I've done the right thing," he said, adding that he has not read the grand jury report.

"I haven't had the time," he said Thursday. "I don't feel in any rush to look at it."

Other commissioners said they feel more compelled to react to the report's findings, even in the absence of any criminal indictments.

"Certainly it seems like Chief Few's problems have come back to roost," Commissioner Andy Cheek said. "Perhaps it's the way he conducts his business, based on what we're hearing from Washington. The bottom line is, the responsibility for making sure things run properly squarely falls on the commission, the mayor and the city administrator."

Commissioner Bobby Hankerson said the report indicates the city's need to look at its operations and hold people accountable.

"I don't know where we're going to go with it," Mr. Hankerson said. "It's an eye-opener, and I think there are some things that have to be different."

Fire Department officials - including Deputy Chief Carl Scott, whose firing was called for by the grand jury - are also waiting to respond to the report.

Deputy Chief Scott said he wants to sit down and defend himself but he plans to wait until Chief Gillespie returns from vacation next week.

"Chief Gillespie said he's going to be the one who stands behind us - I talked to him (Tuesday), and he told me that," Deputy Chief Scott said. "He's our leader, and we've got to follow what he says."

Mayor Bob Young is the only official to move forward with some recommended change, announcing Friday that he plans to place a proposed ordinance on the agenda of next month's commission meeting that would give the city administrator hiring and firing power.

"Had this change been in effect when Ronnie Few were fire chief here, he would never have dared to ignore and disobey the administrator, as the report says he did," Mr. Young said. "It might have been more likely that the administrator would never have hired him in the first place."

Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215 or heidi.williams@augustachronicle.com.