As controversy has swirled around Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis and his office’s use of city credit cards and discretionary funding, there is no question that he will be replaced in May of 2022. That’s because Davis is term-limited, having first won his mayorship in 2014 and defending it in 2018.
Already five candidates have declared in the race, most of them familiar faces in local politics; Augusta District 2 Commissioner Dennis Williams, Tax Commissioner Steven Kendrick, School Board President Charlie Hannah, and former Commissioner Marion Williams have already filed paperwork to run, as has businessman Brian Marcus, who jumped into the race last month.
That crowded field will have some big shoes to fill, excessive lunches on the city credit card be damned. Downtown Augusta has boomed under Davis’ watch, with the Broad Street Corridor welcoming more than 40 new businesses over the past year alone. The city’s unemployment rate has dropped to under 4 percent, and connections from his years spent as a state legislator have earned Davis executive positions in the Georgia Municipal Association and United State Conference of Mayors. Perhaps his greatest achievement has been the establishment of the $126 million Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, putting Augusta at the national forefront of the burgeoning cybersecurity industry.
Each candidate brings something specific to the table – Hannah with his education background says he hopes to unite the Augusta Commission and Richmond County School System. Longtime city Tax Commissioner Kendrick points his experience in running what he calls, “the best run government office” in Augusta. Four-time Commissioner Williams brings a wealth of experience, Marcus his experience in the private sector, and Williams sees himself the heir apparent as a current commissioner.
Augusta has a relatively weak executive branch, with most of the power resting in the hands of the city’s 10-member commission. The mayor serves as a tiebreaker and can make certain appointments, and of course has that sneaky credit card with few strings attached. Davis has pushed to increase the power of his office during his tenure, though of course getting a legislative body to reduce its own power is always a tricky proposition.
In any case, residents of Georgia’s second largest city will have plenty to choose from come next May.
