AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Augusta officials want to choose a DeKalb County fire leader as the consolidated city-county’s new fire chief, amid a threat to sue by news organizations that claim the government is violating Georgia’s public records law by refusing to release information on other finalists.
The city-county posted notice Wednesday that Antonio Burden, now a deputy fire chief in DeKalb County, is the sole finalist for the job, local news outlets report. The Augusta Commission must wait 14 days before voting to hire him.
Augusta’s previous fire chief resigned in December after the city-county agreed to buy out his contract amid heavy criticism of his leadership.
Last week, commissioners interviewed Burden and three others behind closed doors. The Augusta Chronicle reports the other finalists included former Augusta Deputy Chief Sterling Jones; Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Jackson of Newport News, Virginia; and Philadelphia Deputy Fire Chief Carl Randolph Sr.
Officials have refused to release documents associated with the other finalists. State law requires the disclosure of finalists for “agency head” positions under the Georgia Open Records Act, according to Georgia Press Association attorney David Hudson. He said governments can’t end-run those rules by naming just one finalist.
“State law has been violated in that the documents regarding the top three candidates have not been provided as requested under these open records requests,” Hudson told WJBF-TV.
WJBF-TV, The Augusta Chronicle and online news outlet the Augusta Press filed a joint notice of their intent to sue the city-county for open records violations on Friday, saying Augusta violated state law by not producing records on at least three finalists and not responding to open records requests within three days. The news outlets want records produced, want the decision delayed until 14 days after records are produced and want the city-county to pay each of them a $1,000 civil fine, plus legal costs.
Commissioner John Clarke said the group “got a general consensus” in a closed Tuesday meeting in support of Burden, citing his communication skills and willingness to listen to rank-and-file firefighters.
“To me he presented the most maturity of the group … someone who will go in and listen, pull the fire department together,” Mayor Pro-Tem Bobby Williams said.
Burden came under fire in 2014 for not following up on code violations at church schools and day care centers.
The Augusta Professional Fire Fighters Association says it’s remaining neutral on Burden’s candidacy.
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