'The city's got to go on': Augusta administrator tenders resignation

Odie Donald II, Augusta's administrator for 16 months, is resigning Feb. 25.

Donald informed commissioners by telephone late Tuesday, saying he had a job offer somewhere else.

"It was awfully late, and we really didn't get into the details," Commissioner Dennis Williams said. 'I figured it was just a good opportunity he couldn't pass up."

Commissioner Ben Hasan said Donald will be missed, but his departure is not entirely unexpected.

"It's been a pleasure having him to exert the type of leadership in the time he was here," Hasan said. "And the pandemic, he was the best person at the right time. He helped navigate through some tough issues."

Donald's tenure has been brief at his last few positions, which is not uncommon among city administrators. His longest was as city manager of South Fulton, where he served for two years and nine months before coming to work in Augusta in November 2020. Prior to South Fulton he worked for the Washington, D.C. city government in two positions for two years and three months.

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Tuesday, Donald presented a fiscal year 2021 impact report, the first of its kind for Augusta. The report noted the city's recognition for its financial reporting and clean audits, and tallied the number of service calls, transit rides and other services city departments provided over the year.

"Our major milestones and accomplishments, when viewed together, provide insights into the City's most common themes – inclusion and transparency," Donald said in the report. Pending, he said, is a strategic plan for the local government under development with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

Augusta's struggle with government transparency, such as state sunshine laws, surfaced during Donald's handling of the search for a new fire chief. The city refused to release the names of finalists other than selected chief Antonio Burden. Several media outlets took the government to court and got the records released.

Later the commission adopted an open records policy that routed all records requests through an open records officer in Donald's office. It was said to centralize the process and ensure all requests are fulfilled, but the position remains open.

Donald signed a three-year contract with the city in November 2020 at a salary of $240,000, the city's highest ever. He can break the contract by giving a month’s notice, but that is makes him ineligible for his severance package of one year's salary and benefits.

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Danielle Harris, the city communications manager who works out of Donald's office, confirmed he resigned but said the office had no further comment Wednesday.

Donald has hired two deputy administrators who might serve as a interim administrator as the commission has done previously. His tentative resignation date is late this month, Hasan said.

"He's going to be missed, but the city's got to go on," Hasan said.

Donald departs ahead of the Masters Tournament, May elections and suspended Commissioner Sammie Sias' federal trial, set to begin in late March.

Donald leaves behind several large projects he has designed and overseen, including the city's spending plan for more than $80 million in COVID-19 relief funds. He's also been the point person so far on the commission's decision to allocate $1 million apiece plus the mayor, from sales tax revenues for their selected projects.

Reporting to 10 is a challenge

Former commissioner Jerry Brigham worked with three administrators during his two terms. He said having 10 bosses is a tall order, especially for a newcomer to county administration.

“I can’t imagine the dynamics of dealing with 10 people is that easy,” Brigham said. “I’m surprised he stayed as long as he did. He had been city manager of South Fulton, which was a brand new place, which is nothing like Augusta.”

What some commissioners tend to forget is while the body can direct the administrator to do something, one individual commissioner cannot.

“The group has the authority to do that but the individual does not have the authority to do that,” Brigham said.

Augusta has experience hiring administrators

Donald is Augusta’s fifth permanent administrator since consolidation in 1996, while his tenure is by far the shortest.

The first was Randy Oliver in 1997. Oliver, who last week tendered his resignation as administrator of Citrus County, Fla., worked in Augusta for about four years before his name began surfacing as a finalist in other cities.

Next was George Kolb, Augusta’s first Black administrator.

Kolb resigned in 2004 to go to Wichita, but not before hiring his former colleague, Deputy Richmond, Va., Police Chief Fred Russell. Russell would have the longest tenure of any modern administrator and lasted nearly nine years until the commission voted in 2013 to fire him.

It took nearly a year for the commission to bring Augusta native Janice Allen Jackson in as administrator, and she served until the spring of 2019.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta, Georgia city administrator Odie Donald resigns