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COLUMBUS, Ga. — “The legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands: for it being but a delegated power from the people, they who have it cannot pass it over to others.” — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, published anonymously in 1689.
The mayor and city manager praised the outsourcing of local governmental responsibilities to a new state-funded, Atlanta-based non-profit program during the city council meeting held on July 11, 2023.
City councilors, on the other hand, rightfully voiced some serious concerns during the meeting, noting that the state-funded program blatantly undermines their own jobs as our city’s elected representatives.
THE PROGRAM
The program, titled ‘Neighborhood Navigator,’ is a new initiative conducted by the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Inc. Its operation, however, permits the state-funded organization to conduct many of the same functions city councilors and other local government entities are already responsible for conducting.
The program is organizationally housed under the charge of City Manager Isaiah Hugley.
During the meeting, a representative of GaFCP gave a presentation to city council on the new ‘Neighborhood Navigator’ program. Councilors took serious note of what the state-funded program entails, which undermines their own responsibilities as our city’s elected officials.
According to the presentation and a job listing published by the City Manager’s office, the program would require its state-funded employees to perform the following:
NOTE: It is of absolute importance to note that all — all — of the items listed below are directly-equivalent to a city councilor’s existing responsibilities; the new program would undermine our city’s elected officials by performing these duties through a private, unelected, state-funded, bureaucratic organization.
COUNCILORS RESPOND
Immediately upon hearing what the new program entailed, several city councilors boisterously voiced their extreme concerns — and not only about how the state-sponsored program undermined the integrity of local elected offices, but also about how it was being housed in the city manager’s office.
The incident is yet another in a slew of recent examples of City Manager Isaiah Hugley being called out for overstepping his authority in apparent efforts to undermine the integrity of city council to tyrannically achieve his own desired political ends.
City Councilor Charmaine Crabb (District 5) gave the following immediate feedback, wasting no time to point out the obvious problems with the new program’s presentation:
“It seems like a lot of the things that you’re doing are duplicates of what’s already happening in the government in different departments … (as for the Navigator Program), I’m sorry, but that sounded like a description of my job as a city councilor. And so I don’t understand why the Navigator Program is necessary.”
Mayor Henderson failed to see the issue with having unelected state-funded organizations under the charge of the city manager perform the duties and responsibilities of city councilors. Henderson attempted to justify the program by framing it as an “addition to” and not an “instead of” sort of program.
Henderson did not, however, recognize the dangers of outsourcing the ability to hold governmental town hall meetings to a state-funded NGO based in Atlanta under the sole local direction of the city manager — let alone doing so without even bothering to consult city council until after the fact.
Councilors, however, were quick to point out the mayor’s shortsightedness and apparent naivety. Councilor Crabb then asked the mayor a rather sensible question, pointing out that councilors were yet again being utterly blindsided by the City Manager’s office on an issue that undermined their own power and responsibility:
“If this is an ‘enhancement’ (as the mayor said), then why is this the first time we’re hearing about it? I mean, she (the presenter) just said that she’s about to have her (one-year anniversary on the job), and this is the first we’re hearing about it?!”
City Councilor Toyia Tucker (District 4) also had some curiosities regarding the program’s connection to the City Manager’s office. Tucker asked Hugley the following:
“If you go online and look at the job announcement, they fall under you as the City Manager … that’s what it says on the job application. It says ‘City Manager.’”
Tucker’s observation was in fact correct, though Hugley responded by twisting reality to separate his office from the program as much as he could. While admitting his office does in fact house the program, Hugley responded to Tucker’s logical question as follows:
“No, no, I mean, yes, she’s housed in my department … but it was not under a particular department. I don’t want to get into the issues, but we had to take charge.”
Tucker replied by reiterating her fairly simple question to Hugley:
“But why is it housed under the City Manager if it’s a state entity?” Tucker asked again in plain English.
“Well, well the city provides some funding, but the primary funding comes from the state. So when we had to locate it somewhere, because I was involved when they were going to take the funding away and discontinue (the program) in Muscogee County, it was a non-profit. And because we’re the fiscal agent, we said we’ll take it.”
The mere fact that councilors had to ask these questions to Hugley proves on its face that Hugley did not even bother to consult city council before unilaterally choosing to house the state-funded program in his own office, which just-so-happens to perform many of the powerful responsibilities of city council itself.
Hugley did not ask; he just did it.
After Hugley’s excuses, Tucker went on at great length to further explain her concerns with the program’s duplication of duties and how they step on the elected toes of city councilors.
“My district is like my children,” Tucker said. Their (other councilors) districts are like my nieces and nephews. And that’s how we are. We are very territorial of our districts. So I don’t go in Pops’ (Barnes) district and try to do anything unless I contact Pops, and I don’t go in Charmaine’s district unless I contact Charmaine (Crabb), Joanne (Cogle), Bruce (Huff), or whoever. We are very territorial on our districts. So when you’re talking about doing things (stares at Hugley) and I’m just being honest, and then the Council’s not involved, and you’re planning town halls — because what the constituents want to know is what their councilor is gonna say. And that’s what (my constituents) say. (They) don’t want to hear from all these other entities. (They) want to hear from the councilor.”
Tucker delivered those words to Hugley’s face in what could only be described as a mother reprimanding her own child who had gotten on her last nerve. Tucker was firm, well-spoken, and resolute — and her constituents greatly thank her for that.
A LITTLE LOOK AT FUNDING
According to the most recently-published tax form 990 of the program’s parent non-profit entity, Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Inc. suffered a 14% decrease in its annual revenue during tax year 2020. Though the organization had been operating with roughly $7.2 million in funding for the three prior years, that number dropped by a cool $1 million in 2020, bringing their total revenue down to $6.2 million.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Perhaps city councilors should seriously and promptly — very promptly — consider the long-term effects of outsourcing local government to state-funded nonprofit entities who now have the power to lead town halls in your districts.
Perhaps they ought to also take note of where those state-funded powers are housed within CCG, along with how they were kept in the dark and blindsided yet again with a serious topic they were just expected to smile at and go along with at the expense of their own constituents’ duly-elected local representation.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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