MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller is looking back on his first term in office, and looking forward to a possible second term.
In an interview Thursday, Miller highlighted developments at the Macon Mall, property tax cuts and success in his Macon Violence Prevention program. Now, he wants to continue trends of growth and opportunity.
"We have a team that's gotten larger because more people got on board. So, we're going to do bigger and better things at the mall. We're also going to be looking at, hopefully, a new national park. We've been working a lot behind the scenes," Miller said.
Miller is also looking toward new construction at the county's East Bank Development on Coliseum Drive and expansions at Middle Georgia Regional Airport.
"Perhaps a new terminal there, a runway extension, some new commercial airlines coming in and some really great jobs for our students, our people in Bibb County," he said.
Miller is pushing for continued updates to county facilities in the next SPLOST. He's proposing a new jail and millions of dollars in road repairs.
"Probably going to set aside $40-to-50 million in the next SPLOST to pave roads and to have sidewalks. I think people have been asking that for a while, and I think we finally have the opportunity to do that," Miller said.
Public safety is always a heavy presence in Miller's budgets. He hopes the county's Macon Violence Prevention program sees continued success in another term.
"We are excited that violent crime has been down almost 43%. More importantly, the areas that we target for our youth, the number of kids committing new crimes, or violence against teens have decreased about 70%," Miller said.
He's also pledging continued reductions in county property taxes thanks to the OLOST penny sales tax.
"One thing's for certain: taxes are not going up. They're going down. We just don't know the percentage yet. We've done a great job with the OLOST and being very efficient with our money, and we feel confident that the rate will continue to go down for a while," Miller said.
We also asked Miller whether he'd try to reinstate the Macon Police Department. He floated the idea on Central Georgia Focus a few months ago. Miller says that's not a decision he'd make on his own, but would consider it if the sheriff and county commissioners think it's appropriate.
Editor's note: 13WMAZ also invited mayoral candidate Shekita Maxwell to interview in this same format. Our interview with her is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 10, but it's unclear if she'll accept that invitation. Even if Maxwell does not accept the invitation, she is welcome to interview with 13WMAZ and share her platform.