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Charter review committee backs commission‑manager government and grants manager hiring authority
Summary
Augusta Richmond County’s Charter Review Committee voted to move the charter toward a commission‑manager form of government, vesting hiring and removal authority for department heads in the manager and clarifying the mayor’s duties; votes were unanimous on the main motions.
The Augusta Richmond County Charter Review Committee voted this session to recommend a shift to a commission‑manager form of government and to grant the manager authority to appoint and remove department heads, subject to established human‑resources policies.
Committee members approved substitute language that changes an earlier proposal to a commission‑manager model and clarifies that the county manager will report to the commission (which includes the mayor). The substitute motion for the government structure and the accompanying motions on managerial authority and the mayor’s duties each passed unanimously.
The package of motions grew out of four original motions from the now‑sunsetted form‑of‑government subcommittee. The committee first voted to remove those original motions from the record and then took up the current motions. Under the approved substitute language, the manager will have hiring and firing authority over department heads; appointments and removals must comply with established HR policies, performance standards and any procedural frameworks adopted by ordinance or resolution. The committee also voted to restate the mayor’s role as official spokesperson and chief policy advocate for the consolidated government and to require the mayor to see that ordinances and other governing rules are faithfully executed.
Committee counsel and the clerk led members through parliamentary steps before votes, explaining that motions moved by subcommittees belong to the full body and must be disposed of, withdrawn or voted on. Committee members used substitute motions to replace earlier text; the substitute moving the county to a commission‑manager model was offered by Commissioner Anthony Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Natasha Robinson. The substitute on managerial authority was offered by Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Angela Backus. The motion clarifying the mayor’s powers was moved and seconded during the same session.
The committee also took a separate procedural vote to retain its regular 10:00 a.m. full‑committee meeting time and to schedule a committee‑of‑the‑whole working session at 1:30 p.m.; that procedural motion passed 8–2.
Next steps: the committee indicated additional technical details and relationship definitions between the manager, mayor and commission will be refined in future sessions and in draft charter language that would follow this set of policy decisions.
