James May-June 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 48
hear, not necessarily what they wanted to hear and my
message began to resonate,” Johnson said.
Despite his come-from-behind election win, Johnson received no honeymoon period from the usual
obstructionists on the Augusta Commission, and they
made it clear from day one that they expected him to
serve in the same weak capacity as all former mayors
have since consolidation. Johnson ignored them.
The first order of business was for Johnson to lobby
the General Assembly to allow there to be a referendum
on whether to give the mayor a vote on the commission.
“That is something I campaigned on and think it is
up to the voters to decide, but giving the mayor a vote
is the only thing that is going to counter these abstention votes,” Johnson said.
The mayoral vote bill passed the General Assembly
and Gov. Brian Kemp signed it. Now the legislation is
up for a ratification vote of the people during the May
2024 primary.
Furthermore, barely four months into his administration, Johnson was faced with a big crisis.
After years of negotiations, deadlocks, abstentions
and heated rhetoric, Gold Cross EMS, which was operating ambulance service on a month-to-month basis,
gave the city a 12-hour notice that it would be withdrawing totally as of 8 a.m. on April 2, the eve of the
Masters Tournament.
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Johnson did not call the interim city administrator and tell her that it was her problem as the mayor
does not have the authority to make emergency EMS
arrangements. Instead, Johnson went to work assembling a team that included state agencies, city department heads and Central EMS, the state appointed
service that was originally supposed to replace Gold
Cross EMS on April 22.
Johnson worked through the night deciding arrangements and keeping the media informed of each
step, making it clear that Augusta would not experience a gap in ambulance service even if it meant he
had to drive an ambulance himself.
No one in the city government dared to tell Johnson
that he did not have the authority to do what he was
doing. They simply fell in line and followed his instructions. So the abrupt transition was seamless. No citizen
was left in want for life saving transportation.
“I love this city; this is my home. I want to be able to
take pride in my city and Iwant everyone who lives here
to take pride as well. To do that, we all have to roll up
our sleeves and get to work,” Johnson declared.
In the future, I hope to report to James readers that
progress is continuing.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial
Page Editor for The Augusta Press.