Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr.’s absence at the Sept. 6 Augusta Commission meeting went largely unnoticed until a press release was circulated the following day announcing that Davis was out of the country.
Davis is participating in the EXPO I 2022 conference in Bogota, Colombia.
Along with Davis, Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver, Colo., and former Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, S.C. will sit on a panel to discuss “smart cities.”
According to the EXPO I 2022 website, Davis will tout Augusta’s green initiatives and “will give us insight into the development of its biotechnology, medical, military and agricultural industries.”
The website proclaims the occasion as “a benchmark event in smart city, lighting and smart buildings.”
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The conference appears to be sponsored by the government of Colombia, but it is not clear if the city of Augusta paid for the trip. In recent court documents, Davis disclosed that the city pays for all of his travel minus a couple of excursions to the Caribbean.
District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight says the mayor’s globetrotting doesn’t surprise her anymore. What does surprise McKnight, she said, is that people somehow believe Davis is an expert on climate change.
Last year, Davis traveled twice to the country of Qatar to lecture on climate change.
“I’m not trying to throw him under the bus, but what have we done in Augusta to fight climate change? We are transitioning to electric buses, but that is about all I can think of. We don’t have these so-called smart buildings or smart streetlights. We have a hard time keeping the streetlights we have working,” McKnight said.
According to the American Lung Association, Augusta currently ranks as 101 on its list of cities with the worst air quality in the United States. That ranking has actually gotten worse during Davis’ tenure as mayor. In 2020, Augusta’s ranking with the organization was 153 on the list of cities with the worst air quality.
Furthermore, according to Savannah Riverkeeper Director Tonya Bonitatibus, the EPA ranks Augusta as 26th in the nation for particulate matter contamination in the air.
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“I don’t see Augusta as any kind of model. Most cities have green initiatives in place that offer incentives such as lowered storm water fees for companies that build environmentally friendly buildings; we don’t even have that solidly in place yet,” Bonitatibus said.
Meanwhile, McKnight says she hopes Mayor-Elect Garnett Johnson does not follow the precedent of almost monthly travel set by Davis. Johnson pledged during the campaign for mayor that he would pay his own travel expenses as former Mayor Deke Copenhaver did while he was in office.
“Well, maybe Hardie will bring us back souvenirs this time; he didn’t bring us anything back when he went to Qatar,” McKnight said.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
