Staff Writer
In a surprise move Tuesday, Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority members fired their attorney and certified public accountant, prompting board Chairman Harry Moore to call for the authority's elimination.
"It's time for a change," Mr. Moore said. He said he would ask state Sens. Ed Tarver and J.B. Powell to disband the board.
Authority members voted 4-3 to fire attorney Ed Enoch and Harry Dolynuik during a closed-door meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel issues, including manager Robert "Flash" Gordon's performance evaluation.
But an hour-and-a-half into the session, before any discussion of Mr. Gordon's performance began, member Willie Law made a motion to fire Mr. Enoch and Mr. Dolynuik. Mr. Law and members Janice Jenkins, Keith Brown and Mildred McDaniel voted for the motion, and Richard Isdell, Jack Usry and Freddie Sanders voted against it. Mr. Moore votes only in case of a tie.
Afterward, Mr. Moore immediately left the meeting. Both he and Mr. Isdell appeared shocked.
"They tell legislators how great everything is, and then they get right here in this closed-door, as they do in every meeting, and they sit there and lie, and they tell stories," Mr. Isdell said. "And they just fired the two best employees we've got down here. The other two employees in there are the two that should have been fired -- Flash Gordon and Ms. (Margaret) Ellis, his financial administrator who's supposed to know all the financial information and don't know nothing."
He said he did not know the grounds for the firings.
"I don't think they had any grounds," he said.
Mr. Moore said he has "fought like the devil" to make the operation successful.
"I think we need a management company to come in and take over," he said.
Mr. Law and Ms. Jenkins would not comment on the firings. Ms. Jenkins, who took over the meeting as the co-chairwoman when Mr. Moore left, would not provide the official motion and vote to a reporter who waited outside while the vote was taken.
Mr. Brown did say that the board had complaints about the performance of Mr. Enoch and Mr. Dolynuik.
The board met Tuesday morning with state Sen. Ed Tarver and Rep. Hardie Davis, who had come as part of the Richmond County legislative delegation's review of the authority. Mr. Isdell said board members told the lawmakers that everything was fine. The board continued to meet after the lawmakers left. Among the topics was a Christmas party Mr. Moore had spearheaded without taking a board vote and for which Mr. Law, Ms. Jenkins and Mrs. McDaniel criticized him.
"That's not the way you do business," Mr. Law said, "and I'm upset about it."
"You make a lot of unilateral decisions; you don't consult the board in some of your decision-making," Mrs. McDaniel said.
Mr. Dolynuik has worked for the Coliseum Authority since the early 1990s and originally served as auditor. Mr. Enoch has been board attorney for 41/2 years.
Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.
