MACON, Ga. — The Macon-Bibb mayoral election is less than a month away. Several local civic groups took a different approach on introducing this year's candidates, by hosting a virtual mayoral forum.
Lester Miller, Clifford Whitby, Larry Schlesinger, Blake Sullivan, and Marc Whitfield joined in on a zoom meeting to discuss a wide variety of topics.
Each candidate had 90 seconds to share their thoughts on subjects like crime.
"I want to hire and retain more certifiable enforcement officers and do that by going back and looking at our spending and cutting costs," said Sullivan.
Miller said, "Some of the former officers that we've had, there are many officers that could come back, work part-time, without the benefits, and save the county money."
"We're going to have to increase salaries up to a point where it's going to be attractive to the best recruits that are out there," said Schlesinger.
Whitby said, "Education is the key, proper education. Of course, parent engagement, providing resources to our families."
"The key is getting jobs and getting training, the education system is the key," said Whitfield.
The candidates also weighed in on civil liberties at the local level. Some even mentioned the Ahmaud Arbery case as an example.
Schlesinger said, "I do think that we need to get behind every effort to take this to Atlanta to the state capital and have a hate crimes law."
"Most of the time, it's not because it's a hate crime, it's because someone has a mental health issue, and that's what needs to be addressed," said Whitfield.
Sullivan said, "We need to do everything in our capability to make sure that we are colorblind, regardless of who is committing a crime, who is trying to find a job."
"Make sure we have the right judges, prosecutors, people in place, and that's exactly what the top elected official of any community set the tone for," said Whitby.
Miller said, "Leadership's about pulling everybody together and coming together for common ground, and common ground is exactly what we're looking at in Glynn County -- we can find common ground, we can rally the troops, and we can beat this together."
To end the night, candidates gave remarks on the coronavirus pandemic and the reopening of Macon-Bibb County, after discussing topics like business blight and balancing county funds.
FACTS NOT FEAR | At 13WMAZ, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the coronavirus. To see our full coverage, visit our site section here: www.13wmaz.com/Coronavirus.
STAY UPDATED | Click here to subscribe to our Midday Minute newsletter and receive the latest headlines and information in your inbox every day.
Have a news tip? Email news@13wmaz.com, or visit our Facebook page.