Macon-Bibb mayoral candidates respond to top issues

Debbie Blankenship|May 8, 2020

Five men are vying to be the next mayor of Macon-Bibb County.

The election, which is now scheduled for June 9, will be the first time the seat has changed hands since Robert Reichert took office in 2008 as mayor of Macon. Reichert was elected again in 2013 and 2016 under a consolidated Macon-Bibb government.

The candidates will respond to questions May 11 from 7-9 p.m. when Georgia Women host a debate that will stream on Facebook and on 13WMAZ’s website.

As election day approaches, the Center for Collaborative Journalism and its media partners — 13WMAZ, Georgia Public Broadcasting and The Telegraph — also sat down with all of the candidates and asked them the same set of questions. The questions were drawn from nine “Listening Lab” sessions 13WMAZ sponsored across the county.

We asked each candidate the following:

How would you address violent crime?
What would you do to tackle blight?
How would you prioritize spending to improve road conditions, safety and traffic concerns?
What can the county government do to assist with improvements in the Bibb County School System acknowledging that schools are funded separately?
Is there a county department (besides the sheriff’s department) you think is under or overstaffed? What changes would you make?
What would you do to improve race relations?

We’ve compiled their responses into transcripts to read or videos to watch.