Blackshear hosted the District 11 members of the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) for the first time October 1.
Coming from cities in 18 different Georgia counties, including Pierce, representatives of District 11 meet in a different community twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
Mayor Brooks gave the opening remarks and official welcome message in his new capacity as district president. Perhaps it is no coincidence Blackshear played host to this fall’s GMA meeting soon after he was elected president of District 11. The last time the district president hailed from Blackshear was 2011-2012 when former mayor Tom Davis held that post.
The arrival of some attendees, including GMA President, College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, was slightly delayed by an accident on 16 in Macon that blocked all three lanes of traffic.
One recurrent theme among the many speakers, including Motley Broom, was the nonpartisan nature of city government. As one speaker said, “I have never seen a Republican pothole or a Democrat street light.”
While elections for governor, congress and the presidency typically fall along party lines, Georgia is noteworthy for being a state that does not require local candidates to declare a political party.
Motley Broom stressed that safe streets, clean water and job creation are non partisan issues. “Unity and cooperation is not just possible, but practical and necessary,” said Motley Broom. “Progress doesn’t come from division.”
GMA CEO and Executive Director Larry Hanson noted the 537 member cities making up the GMA covers only 9 percent of the land in Georgia, but contains nearly 50 percent of the population and 75 percent of the jobs. He also cited recent civic health index studies that showed a disturbing trend of Georgians engaging with their neighbors less, attending less city council meetings and volunteering less than ever before.
Following the GMA meeting, Emily Davenport, GMA Member Services Consultant and representative for Districts 10 and 11, spoke with the Times to help give a clearer picture of the GMA overall.
Asked to boil down to its essence what the GMA does, Davenport said, “It comes back to advocacy, service and training.”
“The GMA was created in 1933 to make sure every community could have a voice at the capital,” Davenport explains. “That’s the advocacy.”
Davenport went on to say that smaller communities such as the 44 cities in Districts 10 and 11, including Blackshear, have a harder time finding health and retirement options for their employees, which is where the service component of GMA comes in.
The training offered by the GMA, Davenport says, “is meant to go beyond the state requirements for newly elected and even appointed officials.” She notes that Georgia only requires city clerks to complete 15 total hours of training, but it takes up to 101 hours to become a certified clerk, which the GMA can help provide. “You can learn and grow as much as you want,” she says.
Asked how the three way contest for mayor brewing in Blackshear might affect the presidency of District 11 should there be a change in mayor, Davenport said the first of district two vice presidents would step forward to fill the role should Brooks not retain his seat.
As for Mayor Brooks himself and his work as the new president of District 11, Davenport said he had been a good host at the meeting and “He’s been so great to work with.”
The location of the next meeting of GMA District 11 will not be decided until spring 2026, but the mayoral race in Blackshear will be decided next month.
