Russell wants to claim he is hogtied in his attempts to drag Augusta into the “age of enlightenment” by these cavemen with their collective foot on his neck, but a quickly assembled laundry list of Big Fred’s Greatest Hits would sure seem to indicate a different story.
Teresa Smith: When she ran the city Engineering Department, she was described by some local construction contractors as a “one woman rolling roadblock.” If there was a way to drag her feet on an issue, she found it. If there was a way to be disagreeable on the specifics on a project, she discovered it. If there was a way that a construction crew could be thrown a curveball, she would throw it. Things got so bad that a collection of local construction leaders gathered at City Hall to complain about her, with one of them telling the daily: “They don’t like to say that (there are problems) publicly because of the backlash from public works. It’s tough to do business with Richmond County. Engineers are unhappy. Developers are unhappy. Contractors are unhappy.” Interesting thing about all this unhappiness: Even though we all knew about it, all talked about it and all saw the stalled projects all over town, Fred Russell, Smith’s boss, never managed to write any of it down. The politicians had enough, though, and voted to fire her anyway. It may be the best single personnel move they ever made. Her replacement, Abie Ladson, has not only whipped the whole department into shape, he has done it while saving money and becoming one of the most popular civil servants in recent local history. Despite the fact that Abie’s success would seem to indicate his predecessor must not have known her butt from a hole in the ground, Fred’s lack of documentation on her many shortcomings translated into a settlement check to the tune of six figures when she threatened to sue for wrongful termination. All this in a right to work state, no less. That takes talent.
Chiquita Johnson: Described by critics as a cross between Star Jones and Karen Ann Quinlan (brain dead for 20 years), Johnson was hired without a thorough background check, which would have revealed that she had more than a few problems in past employment. While that is not directly Russell’s responsibility, had he bothered to glance at her personnel file, ever, he would have seen enough blank spaces and holes to plant a 100-year-old oak tree. That is ultimately his responsibility. As a former cop, he should know the value of a couple of a few well-placed phone calls to get the low down when hiring a municipal attorney. Well, I didn’t say he was a good former cop. When she was forced to resign for poor performance and that pesky undocumented past, Russell advised the commission to pay her salary for the rest of the year, to the tune of almost 100 grand. If Fred Russell had been the European commander during World War II, there is a good chance we would still be writing checks to Japan and Germany.
The Fire Department: The fire chief answers directly to the city administrator. Not that Fred ever asked any important questions. Nuf’ said.
The Betty Beard Bariatric Surgery Gratuity Mess: A city vendor wants to donate 25k to some good local cause, and after red tape sends the money bouncing around, it somehow ends up going to pay for a city employee’s gastric bypass surgery. Beard said Russell knew about it (and it seems he would have had to) and just didn’t want to tell any of the other city commissioners. I believe her.
The Procurement Department: Lawsuit payouts and settlements from screw ups coming from Augusta’s procurement department are well into the high six-figure range. That department and its manager, Geri Sams, have also been slammed with one of the most bizarre grand jury presentments in local history. Guess who Mrs. Sams reports to? Guess what he has done to correct problems down there?
Reorganization of local government: Has there been one? How much did it save? Besides a few dinosaurs, was anyone cleared off the payroll… I mean a living, breathing person? Not so much.
The TEE Center Fiasco: This one is still playing out, but I can tell you one thing, if Fred Russell keeps up with his personal real estate deals the way he keeps up with the city’s, he will be lucky not to be living in a rented shoe box at 2,500 bucks a month.
The Judicial Center: It occurs to me that the total lack of parking for the Judicial Center may have been a harbinger of things to come with the TEE Center. Obviously, Fred doesn’t believe in parking lots.
This just in… Sarasota passed.
Crap.
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Balls the Size of Churchbells
Don’t get me wrong: I agree with much of Fred Russell’s “anti-Augusta government” soliloquy.
In a job interview in Sarasota, Florida, our embattled city administrator said in so many words that the government suffers because of infighting, micromanagement and a lack of intestinal fortitude.
Ironically, the only reason the inept Mr. Russell still has a job running that same suffering government is because the men who should have fired him years ago can’t get around their own infighting, micromanagement and lack of intestinal fortitude to do it.
In other words, Russell better be thankful he works for those clowns, because if they had anything much on the ball, his ass would have been grass about five years ago. Fred complaining about politicians is like the captain of the Titanic fussing about the ship’s string quartet.
Russell wants to claim he is hogtied in his attempts to drag Augusta into the “age of enlightenment” by these cavemen with their collective foot on his neck, but a quickly assembled laundry list of Big Fred’s Greatest Hits would sure seem to indicate a different story.
Teresa Smith: When she ran the city Engineering Department, she was described by some local construction contractors as a “one woman rolling roadblock.” If there was a way to drag her feet on an issue, she found it. If there was a way to be disagreeable on the specifics on a project, she discovered it. If there was a way that a construction crew could be thrown a curveball, she would throw it. Things got so bad that a collection of local construction leaders gathered at City Hall to complain about her, with one of them telling the daily: “They don’t like to say that (there are problems) publicly because of the backlash from public works. It’s tough to do business with Richmond County. Engineers are unhappy. Developers are unhappy. Contractors are unhappy.” Interesting thing about all this unhappiness: Even though we all knew about it, all talked about it and all saw the stalled projects all over town, Fred Russell, Smith’s boss, never managed to write any of it down. The politicians had enough, though, and voted to fire her anyway. It may be the best single personnel move they ever made. Her replacement, Abie Ladson, has not only whipped the whole department into shape, he has done it while saving money and becoming one of the most popular civil servants in recent local history. Despite the fact that Abie’s success would seem to indicate his predecessor must not have known her butt from a hole in the ground, Fred’s lack of documentation on her many shortcomings translated into a settlement check to the tune of six figures when she threatened to sue for wrongful termination. All this in a right to work state, no less. That takes talent.
Chiquita Johnson: Described by critics as a cross between Star Jones and Karen Ann Quinlan (brain dead for 20 years), Johnson was hired without a thorough background check, which would have revealed that she had more than a few problems in past employment. While that is not directly Russell’s responsibility, had he bothered to glance at her personnel file, ever, he would have seen enough blank spaces and holes to plant a 100-year-old oak tree. That is ultimately his responsibility. As a former cop, he should know the value of a couple of a few well-placed phone calls to get the low down when hiring a municipal attorney. Well, I didn’t say he was a good former cop. When she was forced to resign for poor performance and that pesky undocumented past, Russell advised the commission to pay her salary for the rest of the year, to the tune of almost 100 grand. If Fred Russell had been the European commander during World War II, there is a good chance we would still be writing checks to Japan and Germany.
The Fire Department: The fire chief answers directly to the city administrator. Not that Fred ever asked any important questions. Nuf’ said.
The Betty Beard Bariatric Surgery Gratuity Mess: A city vendor wants to donate 25k to some good local cause, and after red tape sends the money bouncing around, it somehow ends up going to pay for a city employee’s gastric bypass surgery. Beard said Russell knew about it (and it seems he would have had to) and just didn’t want to tell any of the other city commissioners. I believe her.
The Procurement Department: Lawsuit payouts and settlements from screw ups coming from Augusta’s procurement department are well into the high six-figure range. That department and its manager, Geri Sams, have also been slammed with one of the most bizarre grand jury presentments in local history. Guess who Mrs. Sams reports to? Guess what he has done to correct problems down there?
Reorganization of local government: Has there been one? How much did it save? Besides a few dinosaurs, was anyone cleared off the payroll… I mean a living, breathing person? Not so much.
The TEE Center Fiasco: This one is still playing out, but I can tell you one thing, if Fred Russell keeps up with his personal real estate deals the way he keeps up with the city’s, he will be lucky not to be living in a rented shoe box at 2,500 bucks a month.
The Judicial Center: It occurs to me that the total lack of parking for the Judicial Center may have been a harbinger of things to come with the TEE Center. Obviously, Fred doesn’t believe in parking lots.
This just in… Sarasota passed.
Crap.
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Russell wants to claim he is hogtied in his attempts to drag Augusta into the “age of enlightenment” by these cavemen with their collective foot on his neck, but a quickly assembled laundry list of Big Fred’s Greatest Hits would sure seem to indicate a different story.
Teresa Smith: When she ran the city Engineering Department, she was described by some local construction contractors as a “one woman rolling roadblock.” If there was a way to drag her feet on an issue, she found it. If there was a way to be disagreeable on the specifics on a project, she discovered it. If there was a way that a construction crew could be thrown a curveball, she would throw it. Things got so bad that a collection of local construction leaders gathered at City Hall to complain about her, with one of them telling the daily: “They don’t like to say that (there are problems) publicly because of the backlash from public works. It’s tough to do business with Richmond County. Engineers are unhappy. Developers are unhappy. Contractors are unhappy.” Interesting thing about all this unhappiness: Even though we all knew about it, all talked about it and all saw the stalled projects all over town, Fred Russell, Smith’s boss, never managed to write any of it down. The politicians had enough, though, and voted to fire her anyway. It may be the best single personnel move they ever made. Her replacement, Abie Ladson, has not only whipped the whole department into shape, he has done it while saving money and becoming one of the most popular civil servants in recent local history. Despite the fact that Abie’s success would seem to indicate his predecessor must not have known her butt from a hole in the ground, Fred’s lack of documentation on her many shortcomings translated into a settlement check to the tune of six figures when she threatened to sue for wrongful termination. All this in a right to work state, no less. That takes talent.
Chiquita Johnson: Described by critics as a cross between Star Jones and Karen Ann Quinlan (brain dead for 20 years), Johnson was hired without a thorough background check, which would have revealed that she had more than a few problems in past employment. While that is not directly Russell’s responsibility, had he bothered to glance at her personnel file, ever, he would have seen enough blank spaces and holes to plant a 100-year-old oak tree. That is ultimately his responsibility. As a former cop, he should know the value of a couple of a few well-placed phone calls to get the low down when hiring a municipal attorney. Well, I didn’t say he was a good former cop. When she was forced to resign for poor performance and that pesky undocumented past, Russell advised the commission to pay her salary for the rest of the year, to the tune of almost 100 grand. If Fred Russell had been the European commander during World War II, there is a good chance we would still be writing checks to Japan and Germany.
The Fire Department: The fire chief answers directly to the city administrator. Not that Fred ever asked any important questions. Nuf’ said.
The Betty Beard Bariatric Surgery Gratuity Mess: A city vendor wants to donate 25k to some good local cause, and after red tape sends the money bouncing around, it somehow ends up going to pay for a city employee’s gastric bypass surgery. Beard said Russell knew about it (and it seems he would have had to) and just didn’t want to tell any of the other city commissioners. I believe her.
The Procurement Department: Lawsuit payouts and settlements from screw ups coming from Augusta’s procurement department are well into the high six-figure range. That department and its manager, Geri Sams, have also been slammed with one of the most bizarre grand jury presentments in local history. Guess who Mrs. Sams reports to? Guess what he has done to correct problems down there?
Reorganization of local government: Has there been one? How much did it save? Besides a few dinosaurs, was anyone cleared off the payroll… I mean a living, breathing person? Not so much.
The TEE Center Fiasco: This one is still playing out, but I can tell you one thing, if Fred Russell keeps up with his personal real estate deals the way he keeps up with the city’s, he will be lucky not to be living in a rented shoe box at 2,500 bucks a month.
The Judicial Center: It occurs to me that the total lack of parking for the Judicial Center may have been a harbinger of things to come with the TEE Center. Obviously, Fred doesn’t believe in parking lots.
This just in… Sarasota passed.
Crap.
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