MACON, Ga. — Lester Miller is looking at another four years as mayor of Macon-Bibb County. Miller won more than 85% of the votes against Shekita Maxwell Tuesday evening.
With the loss, Maxwell says she plans to continue working in the area.
"I continue to work and love the place that I live, to make it better, to ensure that what we eat, work, play, grow and worship is a place that everybody wants to be," Maxwell said.
Miller talked about his upcoming plans and what he has learned after being mayor for four years. He says the biggest challenge he's facing is the county's growth.
"Our community hasn't grown like I thought it should've over the last decade, so I think the last three years, we have grown a lot more than that. I think that's something that people are going to have to get used to; some growing pains. You may have a little bit more traffic than you're used to, and a little bit longer wait in line for your food than you're used to, and those are some good challenges we like to have," Miller said.
Since taking office, Miller highlighted his focus on public safety and county infrastructure. He knows Macon-Bibb residents want their rides around town to not be bumpy and the current plans for road improvements are still in the works.
"We're going to pave more roads in the next four years than we've paved in the previous 20-30 years. That's because one of our proposals in our SPLOST is going be to put some substantial money into roads," Miller said.
Other areas he wants to work on include expanding the Macon Mall, the Atrium Amphitheater and making the city of Macon a place where more people can live. He explained how they are adding new homes, new restaurants and new retail.
In the South Bibb County area, Miller says Cliff View Lake will be a new location for people to move to.
"It's going to see an outdoor lake, pavilions, hiking trails and nature trails. But more importantly, new housing developments," Miller said.
Looking ahead to next year, the Middle Georgia Regional Airport's old Fixed Base Operations building is getting a new look for private and charter flights. It will be in the shape of a guitar that you can see from the sky and a five-star restaurant that overlooks the tarmac. He says he has chosen a master planner for the project.
Another plan he has is the East Bank project. Miller says it will be an estimated 22 acres of retail and other mixed-used places.
Nearby, Miller also emphasized their effort to create Georgia's first national park right there in Bibb County. He says since taking office, his mission is to keep people in Bibb County, but that means having a competitive salaries for workers.
"We like to promote within. I think that's something I've always wanted to do. We did that in the school system, we wanted to groom our own talent. Let people know that they have a place here where they can work and strive to gain the corporate ladder, so to speak," Miller said.
Miller says he's not afraid of people coming from the outside and adopting Macon as their home.
"We can grow our community from within and also from people coming to our community and stay here like we do," Miller said.