AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Augusta’s longest serving administrator is telling the Charter Review Committee that commission votes should be used to hire department directors.

“You appoint people that have expertise in specific issues but to find an engineer who can get six votes of find whatever sort of defeats the purpose of looking for skills and abilities,” said former City Administrator Fred Russell.
Russell is advocating for strong manager form of government, with the manager in charge of hiring and firing department heads.
The current charter gives that authority to the commission.
“I agree. I mean let the manager manage. That’s what they get paid for,” said Commissioner Tina Slendak.
“Right now, if it was managers hire department directors would you support that, would you vote for that?” 

“Not at this moment. I would not. I would not go with hiring at this moment,” said Commissioner Francine Scott.
The committee is looking at recommending changes to the city charter, and giving hiring power to a manger and not the commission would be one of the biggest changes it could recommend.
“You can’t be adverse to change all the time. Sometimes you have to accept change,” said Charter Review Committee member Lonnie Wimberly.
Russell also supports this change and says having commissioners making those hiring decisions sometimes kept the best and brightest from getting a job.
“Did the six commission votes get in the way of good hires?”

“Yes,” Russell said.

“More than once,” he added.  
Russell spent 11 years as administrator. He should know how the government works, and what didn’t.