MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The first female mayor of Milledgeville is running for reelection.
We talked to Mary Parham-Copelan about her accomplishments and her goals if voters get her another four years in office.
Mayor Parham-Copelan is wrapping up her first time in office, with hopes of getting your vote for a second term.
She is a mother, a realtor, a bus driver, and the first female mayor in the history of Milledgeville.
"When I think about, 'Wow, I am the first female to be the mayor of the City of Milledgeville, but also the first female to ever be the mayor of a once-capital city,' that is awesome," said Parham-Copelan.
She says she's always been drawn to politics with a passion to serve her hometown of Milledgeville.
"I kind of put it on the backburner when I went into the workplace, but I never let it leave my heart," said Parham-Copelan, except in 2017, she decided to run for office and she won!
When reflecting on her first term, she says she is most proud of her hands on involvement with the school system and the community.
"I know I played a great part in being able to reach across the aisle and say, 'Let's get this done, because it's about the constituents,'" said Parham-Copelan.
However, Parham-Copelan says she didn't have enough time to do everything she wanted to do.
Parham-Copelan said, "I think I was a little naïve there, thinking I could come in here and take over the world in one night, but it actually takes two terms."
She's running for reelection with goals to improve the downtown and get children off the street.
Parham-Copelan said, "Making sure that they are able to sit down and have someone mentor them and take hold of them and show them it's a whole new world out there and if you don't work for it now, you possibly will lose out, and we don't want to see that. The other thing I am really keen on is growing the City of Milledgeville. I often share with council that 75 and 20 is running our way every day, so we need to be ready to handle that infrastructure issues that we will have there."
Parham-Copelan also says, as of now, she does not know of anyone running against her.