“…Tell Him We Said Hello!”
Over the course of the last few weeks, I have had several friends of Fred Russell contact me with the request that I talk to him, privately, off the air, to understand “his side of the story” in the still unfolding pay raise scandal that has put him in the crosshairs of virtually every elected official in Augusta, Georgia.
Sorry, I have no interest in such a private conversation.
He lost me years ago when his lack of documentation on the many job-related shortcomings of then Public Works Director Teresa Smith led to a horrific meltdown on the commission.
Fred did not have the courage to do his damn job, and either demote the incompetent manager and get her out of a supervisory role, or fire her outright. Thanks to his failure to officially chronicle her many, many failings in her personnel file, the commotion caused over her eventual departure via termination was nasty, and, of course, the race card was pulled and played repeatedly.
Any of the critics who called her leadership into question were called “racists” (if they were white) or “Uncle Toms” (if they were black). It was arguably one of the lowest points in recent municipal history, and resulted in the commission being forced to give Smith a year’s salary as a lawsuit settlement. They should have taken every dime of that out of Russell’s backside.
Time and the incredibly successful track record of her successor, Abie Ladson, have shown and proven most all of the complaints about Smith were on the mark, and the concerns of racism pure fantasy.
In fact, the promotion of Abie Ladson (who just happens to be black) may ironically be the crowning achievement of Russell’s run as city administrator. Pardon me, though, if I don’t bubble over with too much enthusiasm about this, because while Russell’s hire cleaned up a big mess, it is a mess that would not have existed in the first place had he done his aforementioned “damn job” in the first place.
So no… I have no desire to hear Russell’s perverted logic as he attempts to rationalize giving retroactive pay raises to some employees (at last count maybe 50 employees to the tune of over $350k), while others are being furloughed, and facing increased duties at the same time.
My wife is a Columbia County school teacher, and though she has been “furloughed” several days the last few years, if you think her workload has lessened, I have some oceanfront property in Beech Island you are gonna love.
In the private sector, we call a “furlough” a reduction in pay. As far as getting “days off” at the same time… forget about it. And yep, many of us (including me) have endured those over the last few years, not through any fault of our own, but because we chose to accept that rather than see colleagues laid off completely.
The point being, you are going to get little sympathy, particularly for well-salaried management types, having to accept more work for the same pay while so many others are being s*** canned outright.
There are folks that would take that deal in a heartbeat; I can see their protest signs now: “Will be overworked for food!”
If Fred Russell knew he had the authority to give these raises, and there is no doubt that he did, his lack of common sense in making the move without prepared documents in hand showing the rationale and math involved is beyond the pale.
But he did have the right to give the raises, which brings us now to a sticky wicket: Does the commission have the authority to rescind them? That is a question being asked all over the Marble Palace, and you can bet your sweet bippy that if it is legal to do it, it will be done. That question was the crux of the commission’s closed-door legal meeting Tuesday.
One commissioner was said to have told Russell to go straight to former county attorney Bob Daniel and get his opinion on the matter. When Russell reminded him that Daniel was dead, the commissioner said, “I know… tell him we said hello.”You Might Also Like:
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