If what the city has done in the Teresa Smith lawsuit isn't illegal, it ought to be.
It sure is reckless, sloppy and offensive.
Without a formal, open and legal vote of the Augusta Commission, the city's legal department cut a $125,000 check to Smith's lawyers to settle the former city engineer's wrongful termination lawsuit.
And, oh by the way, apparently before Smith herself had even agreed to accept it.
As usual, it's been like pulling teeth to get any information on this situation from City Hall. First there was a settlement. Then there wasn't. Now there appears to have been one, but not really. Smith now says she also wants her job back, which shouldn't happen and wasn't part of the settlement offer. So the lawsuit may be headed for trial after all.
When asked by The Chronicle for a copy of the $125,000 check, city Finance Director Donna Williams said not without an official open records request.
OK. State law doesn't require such formalities, but our City Hall loves to make you sit up and beg for public records.
City lawyers argue that the check had to be cut quickly and without a commission vote -- and that it's all quite nice and legal -- apparently out of some fear that the litigant will back out or something.
Isn't that what written settlement offers are for? To get the other party's signature on the bottom line? Does a check really need to be cut?
Besides, we believe the act of writing a settlement check to someone suing the city before the commission has approved it is a violation of at least the spirit of the law. If it's not a violation of the letter of the law, maybe the law needs to be changed. We can't have such huge checks going out, cashed or uncashed, without some oversight by our elected officials.
Who's in charge at City Hall? Why is it so chaotic that no one seems to have known for days whether there was or wasn't a settlement in this case? Why are checks going out without explicit and open commission approval? Why is it so easy to cut a $125,000 check to a litigant who doesn't want it, but so doggone difficult for citizens to get public records?
It wasn't that long ago that we learned the city a few years ago took a $25,000 "charitable payment" from a developer wanting to do business with the city -- and that, despite legal advice and a commission vote to return the check, the money sat in City Hall for over a year.
Law enforcement authorities are investigating whether any laws were violated when the bulk of the $25,000 somehow made it to a city-employed friend of Commissioner Betty Beard's for a gastric bypass operation.
When is someone at City Hall going to be held accountable for something -- anything ?
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Why did this happen? Because the idiots down there eliminated the professional "county Attorney" position and hired a night-school attorney who subs out all the work to her buddies in Atlanta at twice the bill rate Steve Shephard charged. Everyone knows it was a race issue then and is one now. As long a Chi-quitta is black there will never be the six votes to fire her no matter HOW stupid or ineffective she is. When is someone at City Hall going to be held accountable for something - anything? Never, until we vote in better reps.
This is Russell's problem. Think about it he didn't document her file properly when they fired her. Shephard didn't advice the commissioners properly way back then when they originally fired her. He should have advised them against firing her because he knew it would not stand up in court because of the lack of documentation. As it stands right now they fired her for rumors or worse(her discrimination claim) is the way the court will view it. The city attorney now is black and appears to not be doing a good job by some. However, I think Russell probably was in on the check cutting on this one to if I understand how the city works. I would suggest that citizens start making formal complaints about Ms. Johnson before the commission and Russell if they have actual proof of incompetence.
I can't believe the AC mentioned the big secret. I was sure there was a gentleman's agreement not to say anything about the situation. No one is in charge at city hall. Not the city administrator, not the council, not the mayor. There's plenty of room for plausible deniability that way. Of course, the city continues to be rudderless since no one seems to be driving the boat. Leadership by committee is just too politically correct.
The commission needs a public accounting/ethics consultant. Obviously, they do not have a clue!
They need a stronger city admin or mayor in Augusta. But sadly who wants Russell or Deke to have more power. To make that work in Augusta you would need to attract more talent for those positions. I mean Sconyers (BBQ), Bob Young (TV), Devaney , not exactly men experienced in running govt entities. Although Devaney did spend 2 years on city council. What Augusta needs is an influx of intelligent city councilmen who groom into running for mayor that is what you find in more successful cities. Then we could have a stronger mayor. McIntyre was the best visionary and leader but he was a crook so it was all for not.
Told ya...the city will not be reduced to answering petty questions about legal issues to be use against them. The info, if recieved, would then be waved around the AWM and the non-minority airwaves and fingers pointed and the disruption to government and the business cycle would cause more problems. Just like the ol' Fry case, where an attempted bribe of two elected officials failed, and now being drugged through the sands of time, the city is authorized to exercise their own prerogative in requests for documents. Sound like the ol' ACES don't enjoy being on the short end, well, wait until U have to comment on the ol' Fry case because trying to justifing that secret process will be a hoot, while complaining "We can't get documents" from the city. See anything wrong with that picture...?
DeVaney was a 'strong' mayor. He was under the old system. FYI
justus, the City MUST give the information out. It is OUR information, you sound like a communist.
At times I want to give up on Augusta when I see things like this. The other day I said to dump all the county money on the Augusta Commons and just let everyone help themselves to what they need. Or maybe a cigar cash box like some roadside vegetable sellers have with a little sign: "Take what you need, leave what you think is right."
DeVaney may have been an old City Mayor, but he wasn't strong. To me the only way out of this absurd Kurt Vonnegut-like dystopian county is to elect a black mayor. Once the black hold on government is recognized and felt, the new leaders may be ready to accept the advice of competent experts in all fields. The big criticism I've had with the affable(TM) (we should trademark a word like that when talking about him) Deke is that he has delayed the transition to what I described and that's the only way out of dystopia.
7:15 post. "drugged through the sand". LOL.
The inmates are in charge of the asylum....
BTW, what ever happened with Stephen Kendrick's self-awarded pay raise. THAT was certainly not legal...
McIntyre = visionary leader. LOL concernednative. I guess that would make Walker a near deity.
I didn't vote for Devaney or Young.
McIntyre, did more for downtown that all the mayors combined after him. He also brought the races together better than any other. But he was a crook so all good things come to an end.
Riverman1 7:51am, you are on to something. That is exactly what happened in Atlanta way back and in Savannah in the late 90's. It is sad but true. A lot of blacks look at the numbers. Whites move to the suburbs in Augusta's case Aiken, NA, and Columbia County. The blacks are left with a majority in the city but don't get to govern as a majority. So the feel offended once they have the majority of elected offices which they feel is fair when they have the majority population they began to move things forward and be more open. See Atlanta, Savannah, and many other cities as perfect examples. The black powerbrokers in Augusta can't stand the fact that the city is 55%-60% black yet they have 5 of 11 seats at city hall. So look for a lot of no shows to prevent a quorum and all the stunts if Butch wins District 1. I talk to a lot of older blacks in Augusta and they really feel this way. Those my age in younger are a little more open.
Change the Charter...fire the bananna!!!
The theory goes either way too.
I don't think any of the modern day mayors have been strong. They are only a face, someone to cut ribbons, shovel dirt for new projects, kiss the babies and try to be Hollywood stars. No one will ever be held accountable for the lack of organization or professionalism by the administrator or the department heads, as long as the race card is used for everyone and everything.
Concernednative, I think you meant the city is 55-60% black, not white. And that is the problem. It is the root of all the disruptive black maneuvering in local government. A majority black population is not going to be satisfied until they control the city. When that happens, the black leaders may be more reasonable and take advice from ALL to move the city forward. Deke, an affable guy(TM), messed up the transition and has done absolutely nothing, but preside over the downward spiral.
Georgia is an "at will" state, the commission didn't need a reason to fire her. She, however, has to prove that the commission fired her because she's a black female... which I doubt she'll be able to do. She should have taken the $125,000 and ran with it, now she'll get nothing but legal bills up the ying-yang.
It would take blacks having control of the govt in their minds or a transformational leader which I don't think is in the pipelines. Deke is a nice guy from what I can tell but most people view him as a well connected figured head from Columbia County.
Mike, keep dreaming. She will get paid.
She wasn't doing her job correctly, "they let" her only licensed man transfer out of her department - If she isn't licensed and qualified to run the department - Why was she there to start with? Because she is a "minority" ? A Minority that can't do her job? THAT"S WHY SHE WAS FIRED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If the documentation isn't in her personnel records of an inferior job performance, and all they have to go on is hearsay, then she can laugh all the way to the bank after a jury trial. Why do you think they hoped she would take the $125000 and run? She may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer as far as job performance, but she will be the brightest crayon in the box when this is all over!
themaininthemirror, well said. She was more competant the Russell, Shephard, and 6 commissioners. They don't even know how to properly terminate someone. If I was the commission I would be calling an emergency meeting to double that offer. It will still save them money in the long run. People forget they have already admitted guilt basically. Remember they kept paying her for months after they fired her. If you feel you fight someone in just why would you continue to pay them for months. Her lawyer will ask a few questions and rest his case, was anything negative in her file or reviews?, why did you pay her for months after she was fired?. Those answers won't be good for the city and she will win.
Yeh, ain't it amazing. We have a minority female, who can't do her job, trying to defend the city against another minority female who couldn't do her job. And we have white and black commissioners in colusion with this incompetence. What chance does this consolidated government have......NONE. And who is penalized for all of thes incompetence.....the FORMER COUNTY RESIDENTS. REVERSE CONSOLIDATION. It is a PROVEN FAILURE. All of the blame for all of these employee problems goes straight on the shoulders of the commissioners. They refuse to give hiring and firing authority to the Administrator. They insist on the primary hiring parameter to be RACE and the primary cause for firing to be so much embarrassment that they can't stand the pressure.
madmax, Russell doesn't know how to hire and fire. That is the problem. So you better get a new administrator before you change the rules. No documentation in an incompetant department heads file. She is either not that bad or he is really bad.
The consolidation wasn't about better government. It was about balancing racial numbers and getting a tax base because Augusta was dying. The City of Augusta is becoming another Newark or Detroit.