Voters elected entrepreneur Garnett Johnson Augusta’s 85th mayor in June, but he had to wait six months to take over from Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. In an interview with The Augusta Press, Johnson spoke about key issues facing the city and how he will approach them as mayor.
Among them, Johnson said he has a different take on one Confederate monument in Augusta than the rest. He wants to be active within Richmond County schools and thinks saving the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam is key a critical issue. And as it stands, he won’t turn in the mayor’s office vehicle or credit card.
How does it feel to finally get to be mayor and what have you learned since the election?
“I guess it’s finally come to my realization that last Tuesday, I was sworn into an office that as a kid, I never imagined I would obtain. I am surprised at the level of respect that people have for elected officials. Now when I go to Sam’s Club, people recognize me. I go to Lowe’s in a t-shirt and jeans, and everybody acts like it’s surreal that a mayor is out shopping at Lowe’s.
“There’s growing consensus that One, our city needs improvement. I’ve not met anyone yet that said the city is fine the way it is. Accountability and cleaning the city up seem to be the central themes.”
How can you stop littering?
“If you ride around any part of Augusta, you see our litter-filled roadways. You see entire bags of garbage that somebody just discarded off the truck… We need to add some enforcement to the littering ordinances. Once people see there’s enforcement and you’re going to get a $500 fine for littering, I think you’ll start getting people more serious about not throwing trash out the window.”
As mayor, what is your commitment to accountability and openness?
“It starts with one of the simplest things. That building belongs to the voters of Richmond County, and if they want to come to the mayor’s office, once they’ve cleared security, come up. You’ll be greeted by somebody at the front… I believe in being open and honest about what I’m doing and where I am. “
What is your understanding of Georgia open meetings law?
“My first training was to understand the sunshine laws. Whenever you get a group of six or seven commissioners, it is considered a quorum, and you shouldn’t be discussing any county business whatsoever… I’ve always been a transparent person in that anything I do under my administration, we don’t want to hide from anything. Anything that prohibits the public from going, I’m against that.”
In 2019 Mayor Hardie Davis obtained a Chevrolet Tahoe for the mayor’s office, while you have promised to drive your own car. What’s going on with that?
“I think the mayor is still driving it. I was hoping that he would have asked to purchase it from the county… I’ve been told that you can’t just turn it in; it’s part of your budget. My ambitions for it are I’m going to put a placard on it that says ‘Augusta, Georgia.’ We’re going to use it as part of a vehicle pool so if my chief of staff needs to go somewhere, we’ll just use it. I’m not going to drive it. I have a truck right across the street that I enjoy driving.”
Do you plan to use the mayor’s office credit card?
“I’ve learned that the mayor does get a credit card, and it’s used to pay for things like subscriptions… I’m going to have to pay for that and maybe pay for a conference, but my travel is still going to be covered by me. I like to use my points when I fly.”
Your office furniture and supplies businesses have previously had contracts with the city. Do you plan to step back from your businesses while serving as mayor?
“Those were always competitively bid. They didn’t just give me the business because of who I am. But we are making sure there are no hints of anything inappropriate. We’re going to make sure that we’re not doing business with the city as mayor.
“The core of who I am is a businessman. My day-to-day focus is going to be on the city of Augusta. I’m going to use some of my business acumen to maneuver some of this political stuff. But yeah, I still have a business to operate. I still have to feed my family. But my focus is going to being mayor for the city of Augusta. It’s going to be my day-to-day, full-time job, which is not to say I’m not going to peek in to make sure I’ve still got a business to go back to.”
You serve on the board of directors for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. How does Augusta stand in terms of economic development?
“Serving on that board gives me a voice for creating opportunities for Augusta… Gov. Brian Kemp has done a phenomenal job, and I applaud him on that. However, we’ve suffered in the sense that we haven’t been able to partake in those successes.
“I think, and this is no secret, we need more inventory in Augusta. We need the ability to where if someone saw Augusta, we can say we have something that’s site-ready. We don’t have that right now. We don’t have 2,000-3,000 acres where, if (electric vehicle manufacturer) Rivian said they wanted to come, we would have that. As mayor we need to start having a conversation about how we position this region for those types of opportunities.”
Do you support areas of the city incorporating to form new cities, such as the “Village of Summerville?”
‘”It is their right as voters and as citizens of this country to decide if they want to congregate to create an opportunity for them to vote on it. I encourage them to do their feasibility studies and believe firmly they will get the opportunity to vote once they decide those boundaries. But I will be working to keep Augusta unified, every day helping them realize that we’re doing the right thing for everybody.”
What should Augusta do to combat homelessness?
“We should continue to ask for funding at the federal level and use every single penny that’s given to us to fight homelessness. Most importantly, and this is what I learned about a couple Fridays ago at the White House, the mental health crisis is leading a lot of the homelessness. You can start by addressing some of the simplest needs like mental health and underlying issues like substance abuse. Some of it is linked to poverty.”
The White House?
“Two Fridays ago, I’m pinching myself; I’m sitting in the Oval Office with the president, and he’s giving us a personal tour. Anybody who says the Mayor’s Office doesn’t have any power or authority, they’re fooling themselves. The Biden administration invited 13 newly elected mayors to talk about some of the programs he has in place. He thinks highly of mayors. He said, ‘I think mayors are the heartbeat of our democracy.’ That’s when I realized this mayor thing is a big deal.”
What is the biggest issue facing Augusta?
“The Savannah River is an important waterway through our community… It’s all caught up in litigation but it’s important that we come to a conclusion and resolution on how we save our pool for downtown Augusta and get the Lock and Dam repaired.
“Two, creating a new awareness of our image and who we are. We have so much to offer and yet we let politics get in the way — Democrat vs. Republican, inner-city versus the suburbs. We need to create better synergies with our partners, and I’m going to consider our partners Columbia County, North Augusta and Burke County. We’re inextricably tied; we shouldn’t be arguing or fighting about who has a better community; who has better schools. Columbia County doesn’t have better schools than Richmond County; you can quote me on that. Columbia County has better, more engaged parents.
“It’s going to be a collaborative effort between me and the school system… We’re going to take a different approach that previous administrations have not.”
Sons of Confederate Veterans groups are suing Augusta over plans to remove Confederate statues, markers and names from all public spaces. Do you support removing them?
“First of all, I think state law covers most of those. We have no jurisdiction to change them. I grew up downtown, and I remember going to the Miller Theater and downtown, and no marble or metal Confederate on top of any statute has ever stopped me from being who I am. It means something to somebody, but it means nothing to me. I am more worried about these Confederates still walking amongst us trying to create all kind of discord in our community. The best way is to take it before the voters in the form of a referendum. Let the voters decide if they want to remove them, but if they remove them put them somewhere appropriate.
“However, here is where my opinion differs. The (Fifth Street) bridge is totally different. Here we are, having spent $11 million on a decommissioned bridge that’s no longer in state purview. Augusta is within their rights, if Augusta owns the bridge, our commission does have the right to say, ‘We put tax dollars into this bridge. It’s no longer a functioning highway under state control. We reserve the right to remove the monuments.’ I would prefer for them to be with the museum of history. Don’t hide them back in some closet. You put them up and let them be viewed. They’re still a part of history, and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of it.”
Augusta’s so-called “weak” mayor system limits the mayor’s formal authority to presiding over meetings, signing documents and breaking ties. Does the position need more authority, which would require amending the city charter?
“I’ve said in the past, I think power lies in the person that’s holding the seat. I’ve always been a person that’s been able to get things done. In business, I’ve never been successful by always getting my way. it’s been by having the spirit of compromise and being willing to listen, and I intend to take those traits into the mayor’s office. I don’t expect to be in charge of everything; I expect to be a listener and a team player. Our government is structured in that it takes six votes to get anything done and the mayor does not have a vote except in a tie and one of the commissioners has already told me he’s not going to give me a chance to vote on anything.
“I’m supportive of having a charter change, under one condition. It has to involve the people through a binding referendum, and I’m not leading the effort to have that. I’m going to double down on that and say if the mayor is given more power, there needs to be a strong recall claw to it. Sometimes, someone who gets in control may want to take over. There needs to be either veto power through the commission or the mayor, so there’s a balance of power within our city.”
