AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Dr. Lori Myles says Augusta has been running without real accountability, and she wants to change that.

The former educator is one of four candidates running for Augusta-Richmond County mayor. Myles said the city’s most pressing issues are not new — they have just gone unaddressed.

“One of the things that I truly believe that the city of Augusta has gone through is that there was no accountability,” Myles said.

Myles has run for mayor before. She said her first days in office would be spent visiting each commissioner’s district to see what needs attention.

“I wanna go to their best places. I wanna see their dirt. I wanna see those things that need to be fixed in their parts. I wanna see the infrastructure of the city of Augusta, but yet, I wanna see the pride of Augusta in their districts,” Myles said.

Homelessness focus

Myles pointed to homelessness as one of Augusta’s overlooked issues.

“You’re dealing with different entities of homelessness. You’re dealing with them as far as mental health. You’re dealing with them as far as their children, as far as their children going to school. Imagine, and I’m about to quit, darling, but children having to sleep in tents at night behind these trees and then still go to school,” Myles said.

City department management

Myles also takes aim at how the city manages its departments.

“There should be a performance-based structure of leadership, a transformation that has a shared vision, a shared vision for not only the millennials, the, not only the, uh, what is it? Generation Z, but for everyone. It’s not a color, it’s not an option, it is all shall be able to have the best of Augusta in the best of Augusta,” Myles said.

Myles said if elected, she wants to bring Augusta’s city departments under one unified standard of accountability.

• A new Residence Inn by Marriott is set to be built in downtown Augusta.
• The hotel will be located on a 2-acre site at the corner of 13th and Walker streets.
• This project is part of a broader trend of hotel construction and renovation in the area.

Another downtown Augusta hotel is preparing to go vertical four years after the city approved the project.

Augusta has seen a spate of hotel construction and renovation recently. The former Sky City building on the 1100 block of Broad Street has been demolished to make way for an Embassy Suites. In November 2025, interior demolition began at the Ramada by Wyndham Augusta Downtown Hotel and Conference Center at 640 Broad St. to transform it into a distinctive Marriott property called The Conroy.

Now, subcontracting bids are being tendered to construct an extended-stay Residence Inn by Marriott at the corner of 13th and Walker streets. Plan holder Optum Construction of Gainesville, Ga., is accepting bids until 1 p.m. on May 13.

American Concrete successfully petitioned the city in 2022 for a zoning variance on the property to allow the hotel’s construction.

The land was sold in November 2022 to a limited-liability company associated with PeachState Hospitality. The Warner Robins-based company’s property portfolio includes the Residence Inn and the SpringHill Suites at 1110 and 1116 Marks Church Road, respectively, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites at 3023 1/2 Washington Road.

The 2-acre parcel of property shaped like a piece of pie was the former site of local business American Concrete, now on Wheeler Road.

Presenting The Conroy: Here are the newest plans for transforming Augusta’s downtown Ramada

The land had been an industrial site for much of the past century, as the longtime site of Perkins Lumber, then of paving contractor Southern Roadbuilders.

Now the property finds itself amid a downtown revitalization, including improved roads and riverside activities, such as a pedestrian bridge and a planned outdoor activity center featuring a zipline over the Savannah River. The future hotel would sit near downtown, the city’s bustling medical district, and a new entertainment complex taking the place of the former James Brown Arena.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It will be something new for canal visitors to dig.

“This is a huge shot in the arm, it’s a most visited park by far and you couldn’t be more excited by the opportunity,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.

The opportunity is this new canal trail that will connect the Village at Riverwatch to the canal trail by crossing over a new pedestrian bridge spanning the canal, leading visitors to even more amenities.

“It’s going to be great. We’re going to have fishing pods off the bridge, we’re going to have a kayak launch a nature walk through the wetlands at the clearing, we’re anticipating having musical groups there,” said Russ Gambill, Interim Canal Authority Director.

The improvements are funded in large part by a $3 million-dollar state DNR grant.

“We worked hard on it with Russ Gambill, with several, to make sure the Department of Natural Resources recognized the unique and regional draw of this and the connectivity it provides. We were excited to get the maximum amount,” said State Rep. Mark Newton.

Augusta must provide a 30 percent match. Those funds are part of the next special purpose sales tax on the May 19th ballot.

Work will take about a year and a half before canal visitors will be able to cross this bridge when they come to it.

“We already have two existing bridges that people use every day, but this one being so connected to one of our most visited shopping centers in the region, certainly will assist,” said Mayor Johnson.

It’s a major step for enhancing the canal.