AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It was in Atlanta, but a Georgia Senate Committee approved allowing Augusta voters to decide if they want a change to the city charter in November.
“I’m truly excited about it. The bedrock of our democracy ultimately is letting the voters decide. I’m excited about that,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.The change would put a city manager in charge of things like hiring and firing department heads, instead of the commission.“I think it’s a really good thing. This is what we voted on. This is one of the issues we’ve been talking about for a while, is to change over to city management,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith Rice.The Charter Committee recommended a manager form of government, but two members went to Atlanta this week to speak against it, saying there’s too many questions surrounding the position’s duties and responsibilities.
“The devil is in the details that is sort of where the apprehension for this bill came from we can want something but if we don’t have the details how it’s going to be implemented there in lies the problem,” said Dr. Sheffie Robinson, Charter Review Committee member…