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November 23, 1995 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Once again it’s interim status
for civic center’s Roberts
B Assistant manager
Linda Roberts is once
again running things
at the civic center.
Some wonder if she’s
not considered for top
spot because of her
color.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS
AUGUSTA
As the civic center complex
continues to plunge into disar
ray because of controversy sur
rounding General Manager
Wendy C. Oglesby, Assistant
Manager Linda Roberts must
keep the show on the road —
again.
For the second time in a year,
Ms. Roberts has had to step up
during untimely resignations
from her superiors.
Hired in October 1991 as the
civic center office manager, Ms.
Roberts served as acting manag
er for seven months after
Marilyn Garner was forced out
of the position for what many
Coliseum Authority members
considered a poor performance.
Now, with Ms. Oglesby’s bring
ing her tenure to an abrupt and
ugly end because of what she
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labels a “hostile work environ
ment,” Ms. Roberts is again at
the head.
But staying in that position
permanently is unlikely.
Although Ms. Roberts declined
to talk about her chances of pro
motion, Authority Chairman
Ernie Bowman offered reasons
why she wouldn’t likely win the
spot.
“I think the community itself
— with the hostility in the com
munity — perhaps is not pre
pared to accept a minority man
ager in thisfacility sinceit’sbeen
so political,” he said.
According to Mr. Bowman, it’s
this troubled atmosphere that
kept Ms. Roberts, who is black,
from applying for the job when it
was last available, despite her
extensive qualifications.
“I think she is more than qual
ified. She has run this building.
She hastaken charge in the past
and brought most of the events
here. I would certainly vote for
her to be manager,” Mr. Bow
man said.
Authority member Henry
Ingram said the civic centeris in
Ms. Roberts’ “capable hands.”
Meanwhile, Authority mem
bers, excluding Bonnie Ruben
who abstained, voted to accept
Ms. Oglesby’s resignation after
failing to resolve differences.
Mr. Ingram, who headed a
four-person committee charged
with smoothing the situation,
suggested they were unsuccess
Local News
ful because Ms. Oglesby was un
cooperative.
“We did meet with Ms. Ogles
by, and, at the meeting, we talked
in a very open manner. We left
the meeting with some hope of
being able to reach the neces
sary compromise to get back on
the right track.... I think she
had long ago made up her mind
that she was not going to be a
part of our organization,” Mr.
Ingram said.
Ms. Oglesby’s letter was sub
mitted Oct. 23 and gave a 45-day
notice. She opted to take her
three-week vacation beginning
Nov. 16, which would carry her
through Dec. 6, her last sched
uled day at work.
Coliseum Authority members
said they haven’t heard from
her since she left on vacation.
Abstaining from voting, Ms.
Ruben said, “I think we should
do everything in our power to
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try to save her (Ms. Oglesby)
and try to put this behind us,”
said Ms. Ruben.
Authority member Jordan
Wright scoffed at Ms. Ruben’s
comment.
“From my point of view, Mrs.
Ruben is probably head and
shoulders above everybody else
as one who has contributed to
the problem,” he said.
Faced with the threat of hav
ing to pay $150,000 to buy Ms.
Oglesby out of her contract, Au
thority members assigned attor
ney Sam Nicholson to do further
negotiations with Ms. Oglesby’s
lawyer, Sam Cruse.
Because she resigned, Mr.
Wright questioned Ms. Ogles
by’s right to get any money from
the Authority.
But according to Mr.
Nicholson, Mr. Cruse claims his
clientis due reparations because
of the circumstances surround
ing her resignation.
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COLISEUM AUTHGRITT?
State reps dispute
grand jury conclusions
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Exactly what The Richmond
County Grand Jury means by its
recommendation that future
members on such bodies as the
Augusta-Richmond County Col
iseum Authority should meet
certain “criteria” is unclear to
some local legislators.
At a meeting called Monday
for the legislative delegation to
discuss the grand jury’s find
ings, Sen. Charles Walker, D-
Augusta, and Rep. Henry How
ard, D-Augusta, were unpleased
with the vague language used in
the report.
A paragraph from the report
reads: “Many appointments to
The Authority have been made
without applying basic qualify
ing criteria such as competen
cies, managerial experience, or
other abilities that would indi
cate a probability of making a
positive contribution.”
The grand jury was called on
toinvestigate the operations and
practices of the authority amid
the controversial resignation of
civic center General Manager
Wendy C. Oglesby and allega
tions of improper activities by
authority members.
Monty Osteen, grand jury fore
man, refused to define such cri
teria.
“The deliberations of the grand
jury are basically confidential.
The jurors agreed on that state
ment,” Mr. Osteen offered as an
explanation for his ambiguity.
Still disturbed by the notion,
Mr. Howard asked, “How do you
determine if a person is quali
fied to sit on a said board or
authority? Does he have to pass
a test of some kind? “
Mr. Osteen’s only response was
“the document speaks for itself.”
Suggesting that determining
who meets the standards — once
they are defined — would be
difficult, Mr. Walker facetiously
said, “I guess we could get the
Augusta Area Psychological As
sociation to get with them to
make that determination.”
Mr. Howard said he also dis
agrees with the grand jury’s rec
ommendation because it singles
outthe Coliseum Authority from
similar boards and makes it hard
for blue-collar workers to be ap
pointed.
“The (Consolidation) bill says
all boards and authorities should
fall under the same guidelines,
and if this is the case, then the
criteria for those persons serv
ing on such authorities would
have to meet these standards.
That’s not fair to the common
John Doe on the street, and I
don’t agree with that,” Mr. How
ard said.
Also questionable was the
grand jury’s recommendation to
abolish the Authority and estab
lish a commission when the new
government becomes effective
Jan. 1.
Legal experts aren’t certain if
it’s feasible to abolish the Au
thority whileit has $10.9 million
in outstanding bonds.