Commissioners pay tribute to Jefferson

For the second time in three weeks, Augusta city leaders paid tribute to one of their own, Commissioner Andrew Jefferson, who died Nov. 4.

In a ceremony at the start of Tuesday's Augusta Commission meeting, members spoke of Jefferson’s life of service, his devotion to family and community and his love for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons.

Less than a month ago, commissioners were laying items at the seat of Commissioner Grady Smith, who died Oct. 16.

Mayor Pro Tem Mary Davis said Jefferson was a “gentle, kind, level-headed person” who never complained.

“I would hear him talking to his employees or his customers. He would be able to change gears and you would hear that same kind of respect," she said. "He just held his cool and worked through it. At the end of your life, it just all comes down to how you treat others, and in that respect he gets an A-plus.”

City Administrator Janice Allen Jackson’s office created a model of the amphitheater she said Jefferson dreamed of seeing at Lake Olmstead that showed him inside. His Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers placed it at his commission seat.

“I wanted to give you a picture of what that would look like with him in it,” she said.

At its top was the current motto of the church they both attended, Good Shepherd Baptist: “Going from good to great through community involvement.”

Commissioner Sammie Sias said he and Jefferson connected when Jefferson’s electrical business, AA & J, served as the electrician of record for a sales-tax project Sias’ Sandridge Neighborhood Association managed at Jamestown Community Center. He presented the framed permit Jefferson had pulled for the project to his family.

Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle said Jefferson kept him calm during trying commission meeting moments.

“He’d use that deep voice. ‘Wayne, leave it alone,’” said Guifloyle, who sat next to Jefferson.

Jefferson’s wife, Patricia, said it reassured her to think of what others gave to her husband.

“Andrew gave a lot to you all, he gave a lot to this city, he gave a lot to his community and to his family, but I can guarantee you what he gave to you is nothing compared to what you gave him,” she said.