WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Election day is right around the corner on November 5th, and there are three city council seats up for grabs in Warner Robins.
13WMAZ sat down with the three candidates running for the Post 6 seat to find out what their priorities are for the city.
We asked all the candidates the same questions, starting with Miranda Britt, asking why she is running for city council.
She said after a shooting happened five houses down from her last year, it put everything into perspective.
“I had been in constant contact with the police department in regards to drugs in my area and no action was taken until there was a shooting. That angered me deeply,” she said.
Britt said she was looking for a way to make a change, including becoming a police officer, but after just giving birth, she wasn’t physically able.
When Mike Davis’ seat opened after his death earlier this year, she realized she was qualified to run and jumped at the chance.
Jon Nichols, who previously served on the Centerville City Council, said it was always in the cards for him to come back home to Warner Robins and serve here.
“I knew that I was going to serve the city of Warner Robins, and God has opened the door for me to be able to come, and here we are now. I’m running for my city and I’m running to serve and I’m running to be the voice of my constituents, my friends, and my family,” said Nichols.
He said this race is not about him, it’s about the citizens and what is best for Warner Robins.
Incumbent Larry Curtis, who took over Davis’ seat back in February of this year, said he’s running to make a change in his community.
“I want to bring the resources back to my district to make it beautiful again. It’s so devastated by blight. We need to clean up our area,” he said.
As for prioritizing city money, Britt said she thinks it needs to go to the police department.
“I do believe we need to focus on building our police department first and foremost. If we have high crime, businesses aren’t going to want to come here and open up. People aren’t going to want to move here and lay their roots down,” she said.
Nichols echoed both Post 4 candidate Kevin Lashley and Post 2 candidate Charlie Bibb in saying there needs to be a forensic audit.
“A forensic audit, to me, is from the mayor down. I’m talking every single dollar -- where it went, who spent it, why it was spent, how it was spent, and, you know, who gave the approval for it to be spent and why was it moved from here to over there. Every bit of that has got to be looked at,” he said.
He said once that happens, then they can look at what the needs are inside the city.
“Whether that be in the police department, which we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, we’re down policemen, guys,” he said. “We’ve also got to look at the departments and make sure we aren’t overstaffed in those departments. Now, I’m not asking for anyone to lose their job, but what I am saying is if we are spending money in another department and that money can be used in the police department, we gotta look at that."
Curtis said the job of the council has more to do with ordinances and resolutions.
“One thing that I would like to do is slow spending down. I think we need to bring it to almost to a halt until we get everything figured out on how we’re gonna go forward and get regulations in place to control the spending,” he said.
Britt said looking at Warner Robins as a whole, crime stands out to her as a major problem, along with a lack of activities for people in their 20s.
“Bringing more events here, not only family events but also events for the older crowd, like concerts, beer fest, music festivals, to kind of give the younger generation something to occupy their time instead of turning towards drugs and crime,” said Britt.
Nichols said the major problem Warner Robins faces is division.
“Now, if we flip the three seats, we’ll take care of one of those issues and that is division. The city council that’s sitting right now divided this city in a great way the past four years.”
He goes on to say he wants to make sure the city charter and the government is being run the way it’s supposed to be run, with the mayor having the power.
Curtis thinks blight is the biggest issue in the city.
“One of the biggest issues facing the city is the way it looks,” he said. “We know that Robins Air Force Base gave birth to the city of Warner Robins, but you come down Watson Boulevard -- I mean, look at it -- it looks like trash. Green Street, Robins Air Force Base’s other gate, you come down Green Street, it looks like trash, so one of the things I think we need to do in order to help support Robins Air Force Base is to clean up our city.”
Britt said one of the first things she wants to do if she is elected is set up a Facebook live stream of every city council meeting.
“Not everyone can make a 4:30 or 5:30 city council meeting. People have lives they need to live, but they don’t need to miss out on what’s going on in city hall and what’s going on within politics,” said Britt. “I don’t want people to rely on other sources for information. If we Facebook live city council meetings, people can watch it. People can make their own assumptions and go from there.”
As for Nichols, he has three things he wants to look at right off the bat.
“The city charter has got to be corrected and fixed. The forensic audit has got to be done. On top of that, we’ve got to make sure that according to our charter, according to the mayor, how we’re going to move forward as far as spending money,” he said. “Right now, I can’t give you that until I see the numbers and I’ve seen what’s going on right now and how we need to move forward.”
Curtis said he wants to clean up the city and continue supporting to police department.
“Once we address a lot of the blight issues that’s going to address some of the crime,” said Curtis.
He said he also wants to improve the recreation department.
“That’s gonna help with the crime, too, once we have resources or things for kids to do. You know, they’re not in the streets every day in the evening doing mischievous stuff,” Curtis said.
Election day is November 5th, and Britt has a message for the voters.
“I’m not entwined with any other boards. I can’t be bought and I’m here to make a change. Not only can I attract and explain what the younger generations want, but I also have a business side, so I can look at it from a business aspect as well. I believe I bring a lot to the table.”
As for Nichols?
“I’m a lifelong resident who absolutely loves Warner Robins, loves Houston County, loves Middle Georgia,” he said. “What makes me stand apart? I am a friend to everyone, I’m a voice for everyone, and I’ll be that guy in city hall.”
Curtis said he is here to represent the citizens of Warner Robins.
“I actually care for the city. I don’t have no hidden agenda. I wasn’t handpicked by anybody," said Curtis. “I didn’t just wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I think I want to be on city council.’ I’m here for the citizens. I’m gonna always support the citizens, I’m gonna be a voice for the citizens. I’m gonna bring their concerns forward and they’re gonna get addressed one way or another.”
If you missed our interviews with the Post 2 and 4 candidates, you can find them:
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