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Public raises equity and legal-staffing concerns as committee finalizes ethics and legal language
Summary
Public commenters questioned whether simplifying equal-opportunity language and making the chief legal officer an external contractor could weaken protections for disadvantaged groups and concentrate legal hiring power. Committee members said federal and state EEO law and local ordinances remain enforceable and that the law department would be retained under the draft.
The Augusta Charter Review Committee’s proposed ethics and legal-staffing language prompted sharp questions from residents who warned the draft could unintentionally weaken protections for historically disadvantaged groups and shift too much authority to external legal counsel.
Pastor Anthony Booker and others said replacing more explicit disadvantaged-focused language with a simplified "equal opportunity for all citizens" phrase risks eroding protections for minorities, women and people with disabilities. "The language, I believe,…
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