Mayor's Office

Municiple Building Photo Augusta
Mayor's Office

Mayor Deke Copenhaver's BIO

Deke Copenhaver currently serves as Mayor of Augusta, Georgia. Mr. Copenhaver was born in Montreal, Canada and raised in Columbia County, Georgia. After attending the University of Georgia and earning a B.A. in Political Science from Augusta College, Deke worked for Nations Bank Securities in Atlanta for several years. After relocating to Beaufort, South Carolina in the mid-nineties, he went on to a career in real estate, serving as a principal in the firm of Huffines, Dukes, and Copenhaver LLC. After moving home to Augusta in 1998, Deke worked as a sales representative for Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate. He accepted the position of Executive Director of the Central Savannah River Land Trust in July of 2001. The CSRLT is a non-profit land conservation organization charged with directing the Augusta-Richmond County Community Greenspace Program and with a mission "to protect and enhance one of our region’s most valuable natural resources: our open land”. During his tenure, Mr. Copenhaver directed the expenditure of over $1.1 million in greenspace purchases throughout Augusta-Richmond County while at the same time developing a program that is widely considered the finest of its kind in the State.

In 2007, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Deke to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Board. Deke also currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Municipal Association, Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area, the Augusta State University Foundation, the Georgia Conservancy, the Augusta Museum of History, the CSRA Regional Development Center and the Richmond-Burke County Job Training Authority. He is a past board member of the Augusta Symphony, Historic Augusta, Young at Art, Mainstreet Augusta, the Family Y of Metro Augusta, the Georgia Alliance of Land Trusts and the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. Mr. Copenhaver served as chair of the Environmental Issues Committee, along with serving on the Editorial Committee, for Leadership Augusta’s Destination 2020 Initiative and is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Georgia. He is also serving on Georgia Municipal Association's Legislative Policy Council. Mr. Copenhaver is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Augusta and Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church, where he serves as a deacon.

In 2003, Deke was recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of Georgia’s “Top Forty Under Forty”. He is the 2003 recipient of the Family Y of Metro Augusta’s “Linda H. Walter Leadership Award”. In 2004, Mr. Copenhaver was appointed to the Georgia Land Conservation Partnership Advisory Council by Governor Sonny Perdue, serving on the Partnering and Leveraging Committee. In 2005, the Council's work resulted in the setting aside of $100 million in state funding for statewide land conservation through the passage of the Georgia Land Conservation Act. In 2005, Deke served as Augusta’s co-chair for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s “Red Carpet Tour”, which promotes statewide economic development. In 2006 and 2006, he was named a Notable Georgian by Georgia Trend Magazine and in 2007 was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians. His hobbies include golf, hunting, running, writing and reading. He and his wife Malisa live in Augusta with their two dogs, Hamp and Gracie Lynn.