Griffin joins race for District 1 on the Augusta Commission

Downtown businesswoman Shawnda Griffin is the latest contender to seek the District 1 seat on Augusta Commission.

Griffin, who was born in Augusta but raised in Columbia, S.C., will face announced candidate Michael Thurman in elections next May. The winner will replace Commissioner Bill Fennoy, who can't run after winning two consecutive terms.

Since returning to Augusta in 2008, Griffin said she's embraced the downtown cultural scene while watching downtown grow as a manager of Curvitude boutique on Broad Street for four years. She's also a licensed massage therapist.

"Our small businesses are the heart of downtown, and managing a business that's downtown, we've seen the growth," she said.

With the arrival of the Georgia Cyber Center downtown, growth will be "tremendous, and Augusta needs to be forward-thinking and welcoming of all the changes that are going to come," Griffin said.

Whether its the restaurant-studio Humanitree House, design studio Artsy Me or the theater Le Chat Noir, Augusta's art scene continues to thrive, she said. "One of the best things that's happened lately to downtown is the Miller Theater," she added.

Griffin worked in voter engagement for ProGeorgia, the voter engagement arm of Georgia Equality, and served with Augusta Young Democrats, she said.

Since returning, she's lived in the Harrisburg and Olde Town areas of District 1 but now lives near Eastview Park in East Augusta.

Griffin, who is seeking public office for the first time, said she was taught to improve the community in which she lives.

"I don't see a lot of women doing this," she said. "I honestly believe that I could make a difference in the city because I am like the people I am going to represent."