Current Augusta Tax Commissioner Steven Kendrick announced to a crowded room of supporters on Jan. 11 that he will seek the office of Augusta mayor.
Kendrick first addressed the “rumblings” regarding why he would take a significant pay cut to move from the Tax Commissioner’s Office, a position he has held since 2009, to the Mayor’s Office.
According to Kendrick, he could finish out his career as tax commissioner, but he says his parents raised him to be an achiever, and he wants to take what he has learned running the Tax Commissioner’s Office and his volunteer efforts with Youth Leadership Augusta, the Boys and Girls Club and Project Impact into the Mayor’s Office.
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“You can’t put a price on the opportunity to lead a city to greatness. It’s priceless,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick conceded that the mayoral position has far less authority than some, but said that he plans to use the office’s influence to help spur economic growth as well as to get the various pockets of the community from south, east and west Augusta to work together to make the whole of Augusta prosper.
“I want to set the example. We are already in preliminary talks with two prominent steakhouses for one to move to Peach Orchard Road and the other to Deans Bridge Road, and we are in talks with a major grocer to locate near Fort Gordon,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick says he wants to be a partner with the Augusta Commission to move the city forward.
As vice president and executive committee member of the Georgia Tax Officials Association, Kendrick has been lauded by his peers for streamlining the Augusta Tax Commission’s Office and putting an emphasis on customer service through the motto, “Faster, Friendlier, Better.”
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Kendrick says he was poised to become president of the association prior to his decision to run for mayor.
According to Kendrick’s most recent campaign filing on Dec. 28, 2021, his campaign has raised $75,581 in donations, which is by far the most money raised among the field of candidates.
Kendrick will face Lucas Johnson, Dan Scott, Garnett Johnson, Albert Newsome, Brian Marcus, Robert Ingham, Donald Bradshaw, Lori Myles, Richmond County School Board President Charlie Hannah, Commissioner Dennis Williams and former Commissioner Marion Williams in the May 24 election.
Kendrick says that he will resign his seat of tax commissioner when he officially qualifies in March.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
