AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It’s a big decision for the future of Riverwalk; it’s a decision Augusta city leaders are not ready to make now.  

“I think the delay is just a delay, but I still think it’s going to pass. I think the body of the commission two weeks from now will go ahead and pass this for my father,” said Marlow McIntyre, Jr.  

With three commissioners absent, city leaders put off the final decision on renaming Riverwalk for former mayor Ed McIntyre. 

McIntyre is credited as the visionary behind the park, but he wasn’t involved in the building.  

He was arrested while in office and later convicted of extortion, which is a point that was made by a speaker at the meeting. 

“The wrongdoing that was referred to here was not a personal private affair. It was specifically an abuse of the power and authority entrusted to the mayor,” Dan Funsch told commissioners  

 But some commissioners are ready to move forward with the renaming: delay or no delay. 

“None of us are perfect, and I feel as though former Mayor McIntyre paid his debt to society, and was given another chance: a second chance, and what he did was great work,” said Commissioner Stacy Pulliam.  

“It was something that was mistakenly done by others to him, but I also think this will pass the commission,” said Marlow McIntyre. 

“Does it leave the community divided?”  

“I don’t think so. I don’t think so,” Marlow McIntyre said.  

Commissioners have also put off for two weeks the renaming of the Utilities Department building for former director Tom Wiedmeier and a Diamond Lakes ball field for former commissioner Andy Cheek.