AUGUSTA, Ga. – The city of Augusta is gearing up for discussions on potential legal actions in upcoming sessions, yet city officials find themselves uncertain about the specifics of a high-stakes lawsuit recently brought to their attention. This upcoming session marks the first since Augusta received a formal notice of a multi-million dollar lawsuit, leaving city leaders publicly acknowledging their lack of detailed information.
“I can’t comment on it because I simply don’t have the facts,” expressed Commissioner Francine Scott, highlighting the current information gap among city officials.
Just last week, Tanya Kitchings, who formerly served as the Administrative Assistant to Steven Kendrick in the Tax Commissioner’s office, officially notified the city attorney of her intentions to file a lawsuit against the city. Her claims include wrongful termination and sexual harassment, and she is seeking damages in the range of $5 to $6 million.
While the nature of these claims would typically be addressed in a legal session, city leaders have stated that discussions will only advance once a formal lawsuit is filed.
“We generally don’t delve into ad-litem notices until there are official court proceedings or served papers,” explained Mayor Pro-Tem Wayne Guilfoyle, clarifying the city’s stance on handling such legal matters.
A floor below the commission meeting where early voting is taking place this is being discussed as Kendrick is on the ballot as one of three challengers for the mayor’s seat.
“Of course, as a female it’s definitely on my mind but I also understand how people in politics can bring out the worse in people, so I do keep that in mind as well,” said Esshaunda Rasher.
“Is that impacting how you are voting?”
“No, because I know there’s a lot of times there’s a lot of mudslinging and people get things set up to try and get somebody else, not dealing with the issues,” said John Sampson.
But in future legal sessions, commissioners will also have deal with the issues with options like a court fight or settlement.
“Would you advise the attorney to settle this before going to court?”
“Absolutely not I’m not going to throw five, six million dollars at this. I think everybody has a day in court,” said Guilfoyle.
With four candidates in the mayor’s race, a run-off is possible, so this political cloud could be hanging over the mayor’s race until the middle of June.