Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1302805
JG: You do have a distinctive voice. But, will you miss running things? MAYOR: No, I don't think so. You don't have to run things to be effective. I'm going to find other ways to contribute. JG: In preparing to leave office, especially after 13 years, some people might take a glide path to their term's end, but you seem as energetic as ever. MAYOR: It's still full-steam ahead in trying to make good things happen in Macon-Bibb County in the next several months. JG: How would you characterize your tenure as mayor? MAYOR: I've been blessed with wonderful partners – Mercer University, Navicent, NewTown Macon, Central Georgia Technical College, the Industrial Authority and the Urban Development Authority, among others. Macon-Bibb County has always had a four-horse wagon able to carry heavy loads. But our problem is, we hitched a horse to each wheel and pulled in four different directions wondering why the wagon wasn't moving. Now, everyone is pulling the wagon and it is moving. JG: Assess the new county commission that takes office in December. MAYOR: I don't know any of the new commissioners well enough to opine on what they'll do or not do or what their goals and aspirations are. But there will be four new commissioners and five returning commissioners representing a healthy turnover, but maintaining continuity between one administration and the next. Second Street Corridor JG: How about your legacy? MAYOR: To the extent there is one, and I'm not sure there is, it's the Second Street Corridor, the brainchild of Scott Page from Interface Studios. I wasn't even mayor a year when the county purchased property across from the LEC (Law Enforcement Center) to build a new county courthouse. There was a roar from the community that the courthouse was being moved "out of downtown." I said, "They're moving it six blocks down the street." But to many people, that ain't downtown. It became obvious that in the minds of many people, downtown was three streets: Mulberry, Cherry and Poplar, between the Terminal Station and Mercer Law School. (Holding a sheet of paper vertically): For $35,000, Scott Page did an initial study and evaluation and said, "You need to change the linear access of downtown – change the orientation, east/west, from the Terminal Station to the law school." (Turning the sheet of paper horizontally): The common thread was Second Street, starting on the east side of the river, merging into Gray Highway past Emery Highway and Coliseum Hospital; past the conference center, over the Second Street bridge, past the Government Center, Bibb County Courthouse and federal courthouse; past the business center, Mulberry, Cherry and Poplar; past Navicent and the LEC, over to Little Richard Penniman Boulevard and the student center at Mercer connecting I-75 with I-16 – not with a high-speed thoroughfare, but with a walkable, bikeable, retail-friendly, pedestrian-friendly "Complete Street." I took that $35,000 idea to the county during their 2012 SPLOST and they gave me $8.5 million in the SPLOST, which passed. We spent a year and $500,000 in public charettes and details, and came up with the Second Street Corridor plan. We're marrying centers throughout the city – the government center with the business center, the health center (Navicent) with the law enforcement center (LEC) and student center (Mercer). When the vista of downtown is laid out before you, and you work your way through downtown past all the centers of economic activity pulling you into a synergistic pattern – boom! That's the Second Street Corridor. JG: Is the completion of the Second Street Corridor while you're still in office one of your proudest accomplishments? MAYOR: Yes, ma'am, that and consolidation. 54 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020