Former Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. went on a spending spree with city money just as he left office. One of the purchases was a four-month storage unit rental, and no one in the current administration knows what it contains.
Davis also hosted a private “farewell” party for himself that cost the city thousands of dollars.
Credit card receipts from December show that Davis rented a storage unit from Augusta’s Best Storage in the amount of $325.74, and the credit card statements from November and December also show several U-Haul charges to the former mayor’s account.
Current Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson said he was unaware of the city-paid storage unit and does not have a key to the building, nor any knowledge of what is being stored there.
“If the city paid for the storage unit, then the Mayor’s Office should have a key or access to it,” Johnson said.
However, after conferring with City Attorney Wayne Brown, Johnson says that since the storage unit is in Davis’ name, he, as current mayor, does not have any legal authority to access the building regardless of what funds were used to purchase the rental.
“According to the city attorney, the current mayor has no jurisdiction or responsibility over the actions of the previous mayor,” Johnson said.
Credit card statements also show that Davis threw himself a farewell party that was apparently a by-invitation-only event as neither the city nor the former mayor sent out any public notice of the affair.
According to the credit card statement, $5,492 was the cost of catering for the former mayor’s farewell party. Expenditures included $772 to Creative Moments Catering for “cheese and cake” from an unknown business, and $155 for sweets from Nothing Bundt Cakes bakery.
District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight says she recalls getting an invitation but was unable to attend.
“From the invitation, it looked like a classy event, but I didn’t know it would be that classy. It’s a shame though. The taxpayers paid the bill for people wearing formal wear to carry home enough food to eat for a week,” McKnight said.
Davis could not be reached for comment.
