Ron Lemon, a chiropractor who lost last fall’s special election for the Ward 3, Post 2 Macon City Council seat to Henry Ficklin, is going for a rematch in the July 19 Democratic primary.

Lemon, 49, owner of Middle Georgia Chiropractic, said in November 2010 that he would run again. Thursday, he reiterated to The Telegraph those intentions.

“Some of my concerns for Ward 3 are public safety, eliminating blighted properties and bringing jobs back into Macon and Bibb County,” he said via e-mail. “I think this city is at a crossroads, and we need to bring new faces and ideas to the table. We can’t continue down the same road and expect things to improve in this city.”

Ficklin spent 28 years on the council before stepping down in 2007 in an unsuccessful bid for mayor. In the 2010 special election, he beat Lemon with about 60 percent of the roughly 3,000 votes cast.

Lemon, who had not sought public office before last fall, said he has been active in the Vineville neighborhood for a decade and was urged by his neighbors to run.

In his e-mail, Lemon said the city should work in partnership with individual neighborhoods to solve local problems.

The 24-year resident of Macon is a former president of the Vineville Neighborhood Association and said he currently serves on the boards of Family Advancement Ministries, Historic Macon, Vineville Neighborhood Association and the Alexander II Magnet School Parent Teacher Association.

To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.