The Importance of Cities for Human Connection
Having served as a mayor of Augusta for nine years I’ve become fascinated by cities in their ability to simply be a connection point for…
City Government
For 9 years, Deke was the Mayor of Augusta, Georgia. In his tenure, he ushered in a new era of cooperation, progress and optimism. It wasn’t easy. The lessons learned in dealing with the nuances of city government have given Deke a unique insight on how to get along with, and get by, local government.
Confessions of a former mayor: A successful model of how governing to the majority can work.
In 2005, the first year I ran for mayor of the city of Augusta, Georgia, I attended a church leadership retreat. During the retreat the…
True Confessions of a former mayor: Why local government engagement with millenials matters to…
During my time in office I was very blessed to have a strong connection to the younger generation of citizens here in Augusta and I…
True Confessions of a former mayor: How the Godfather of Soul lent his coolness, love and funk to…
In my first year in office I met Mr. James Brown the Godfather of Soul on April 18, 2006 when he served as the honorary starter for the…
True Confessions of a former mayor: How to win elections by doing things differently and never…
I’ll never forget when I told my campaign consultant back in 2005 that I never intended to go negative and that I didn’t want my campaign…
True confessions of a former mayor: How Rock & Roll, Harnessing the Punk Rock Ethos and my…
I grew up a huge fan of music with rock, punk and funk three of my favorite genres. I also grew up a huge fan of Johnny Cash, as a country…
True Confessions of a former mayor: Why we could use more artists, athletes and architects as…
Growing up I was very fortunate to have taken art lessons for years. I’ll never forget how much I looked forward to heading to Mrs…
True Confessions of a former mayor: What I learned about the power of collaboration from the “Pearl…
Having grown up a huge music fan I’ve always been fascinated by what contributes to a music scene happening in any given city.
“Collaborative Leadership: Why knowing what you don’t know is way more important than knowing what…” in Navigating Organizational Change
In serving in office for nine years as mayor of Augusta, GA, I witnessed firsthand a tendency of people getting elected then somehow being…
Leadership: What we can all learn from Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead in Navigating Organizational Change
“Jimmy Page, around whom the Zeppelin revolves, is, admittedly, an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his…