Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson is returning to Washington D.C. this week for what he said is another opportunity to raise Augusta’s national profile.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is keynote speaker for the 91st winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which Johnson is attending through Friday. Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are among President Joe Biden’s Cabinet members who will address the group.
Johnson said the conference will give newly elected mayors such as himself an opportunity to network with hundreds of other U.S. mayors and hear from the nation’s top policy makers.
“I just see it as a great opportunity to keep Augusta at the table,” he said. “It puts us in a room with department secretaries who really make fiscal policies and decisions that affect Augusta, and it gives me an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges that we have in Augusta, especially centering around (American Rescue Plan Act) and infrastructure dollars. I want to better understand how we utilize those resources here in Augusta.”
Augusta mayors have participated in U.S. Conference of Mayors activities since at least 2000, and annual dues since 2016 have been $12,242. The conference is open to mayors of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Johnson said former mayor Hardie Davis kept Augusta involved in the organization.
“I’m going to give kudos to Mayor Davis because say what you want to say about him, he at least at that level positioned Augusta to have a conversation about how we move Augusta forward,” Johnson said.
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Johnson attended a conference event with Davis last year that included a meeting with President Biden. He said he’d like to see Augusta remain part of the organization.
“The U.S. Conference of Mayors is an organization that chances are, the county-the city should continue to fund the city of Augusta being a member,” he said.
Johnson said he is paying for his own flight after making a campaign promise to pay for his own travel. He paid for the entire conference visit because the city hasn’t issued the mayor’s office a credit card yet, he said.
“I’m paying for my own flight,” he said. “Actually, I’m paying for all of it right now because I don’t have a city-issued credit card, so I have to get reimbursed. But my air travel will be covered by me, and I think that being a public elected official sometimes requires us to be a public servant, but I don’t mind contributing.”
Davis also helped found and was a member of the African-American Mayors Association, whose $10,000 annual dues the city paid through 2021. Johnson said he hasn’t determined whether to join the group.
“I haven’t really thought that one through. I just want to see what their agenda items are; what their plans of actions are,” he said.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
