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Charter Review Committee asks consultants to reconcile ethics, transparency language after public comments
Summary
The Augusta Charter Review Committee heard public testimony urging retention of civil‑rights protections and transparency measures, rejected a plan to table ethics language, and unanimously asked the Carl Vinson Institute to produce a single ethics/transparency draft for a March 19 vote.
The Charter Review Committee on (date not specified) heard public comments pressing the panel not to rush a complete draft charter and asked the Carl Vinson Institute to prepare a single, reconciled document addressing both ethics and transparency ahead of a March 19 vote.
The committee chair asked the body to consider whether to allow extra public speakers; committee member Gaines moved to add four additional three‑minute speakers and the body approved the accommodation. Members then heard a series of scheduled and additional public comments.
Ben Hassan, who gave his address as 3529 Monte Carlo Drive, criticized proposed mandatory outside counsel wording in the draft and said the current outside‑counsel arrangement had been costly. "That is an egregious abuse of the taxpayers' money," Hassan said, referring to his view that the contract terms (hourly rates and hours described in the draft) could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Dr. Gayla Casey, co‑president of the League of Women Voters of the CSRA, told the committee the…
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