Local businessman Garnett Johnson has announced his candidacy for Augusta mayor in the upcoming 2022 election.
Johnson filed with the Richmond County Elections Board to run for the seat on Tuesday and said his team is ready to launch a campaign to fully introduce him to the public.
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A self-proclaimed political outsider, Johnson said that Augusta needs a business professional who has proven to be dedicated to the city instead of to politics and personal gain.
“It seems we keep electing the same recycled folks, and I want to take a different approach. I don’t know how far that will get me with the political factions, but I don’t care,” Johnson said.
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According to Johnson, Augusta lacks fiscal accountability at the highest levels of government and said that he intends to be a mayor focused on cutting through the political fiefdoms to bring true economic growth to all areas of the city.
Johnson, who is CEO of Augusta Office Solutions and Modern Business Workplace Solutions, said he knows a thing or two about economic growth.
In 2010, Johnson quit his corporate management job and, with his family’s support, built his small business. Over the past decade, Johnson’s small business has been transformed into a mega business.
Augusta Office Solutions recently opened a new multi-million dollar building on Telfair Street.
“I was born here, raised here and I have invested here,” Johnson said. “In business, there are good days and bad days and even on the bad days, I enjoy this, because I determine my future and my fate based on my productivity.”
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Johnson, who is father to two daughters, said he plans to bring his entrepreneurial spirit to the office of mayor.
“You get a lot of people in office that like to talk and take pictures, they talk and they take pictures. That’s not me, I am all about results,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, as mayor he will bring a consensus among the differing political factions to achieve economic success across the city just as he has done with his business.
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Currently, Johnson sits on the board of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Economic Development Board of Directors.
Johnson joins a field of candidates that include Marion Williams, Charlie Hannah, Albert Newson, Brian Marcus, Robert Ingram and Marion Williams and Steven Kendrick.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com.
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