When Alveno Ross took a job outside the city and left his Ward 3, Post 2 seat on Macon City Council last year, two men vied to take over that spot -- former Councilman Henry Ficklin and political newcomer Ron Lemon.

A year later, the two are meeting again.

Ficklin, who left the council in 2007 to unsuccessfully run for mayor, won last year’s special election and said then he would seek a full term this summer. He touts his experience on the City Council as a reason he should keep his seat.

Lemon, meanwhile, says it’s time for fresh ideas on the council and says he’s even more inspired this time around.

Both men say they have innovative and proactive ideas to represent the residents of their district.

Ficklin

Upon returning to the council last fall, Ficklin said he noticed that some things had changed since he left his seat three years earlier.

“I got on the City Council and I saw that some of the things that had been in place were not in place and some of the things that we were doing to give access to the community were not being done,” he said.

Trash was piling up on the sides of roads and residents were not being served like they had been in the past, he said.

Winning the special election showed him “that people appreciated my representation in the past and that they thought I would be a good representative in the future,” he said, adding that the council needs an innovative thinker with leadership skills.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do (in six months), but set a direction that you will be traveling in,” he said of his time on the council since last year. He points to his leadership within the past several months, as well as his previous three decades on the council.

Ficklin has served as chairman of the council’s Appropriations Committee, during which he set up the city’s “Filomena Fund,” an account named after late Councilwoman Filomena Mullis that helped the city not have to rely on loans.

Over the years, Ficklin also has called for a reduction in council size several times, pressing to reduce the 15 members to 11, nine and seven members. In recent years, a council-shrinking measure again surfaced, which Ficklin said shows his innovative thinking years in advance.

More recently, he said, while he is against secondhand smoke being billowed into the air in public places, he wishes the council would have handled its recent smoking ordinance differently.

“I’m for everyone getting their fair say,” he said. “I don’t think they were fair with the businesses that it would have affected.”

Ficklin said he also took issue with the recent operation of city government, with the mayoral administration “spinning the council.”

“In the clash between the branches (of government), the citizens are best served,” he said.

Ficklin said he has always played a leadership role on City Council, is able to get other council members to work with him and has produced more legislation than the average council member.

If re-elected, he said, he would look at ways to bring more revenue into the city.

“I have a vast amount of political experience, both in the elected arena and the volunteer arena,” he said. “I am not a novice, and I think we are in a crucial time in Macon where we need someone with experience and not someone who is learning.”

Lemon

Running for Ross’ vacated council seat last year was “kind of a last-minute decision,” and Lemon had a short time to campaign, he said.

“But in that time and as time has gone by, I realized more there is really a need for some change in City Council,” he said, “and I think I’m more inspired now than I was last time.”

He said he would bring new blood to the council.

“Some of the issues that we have, we have to lay at the feet of the people who have been there for 20 and 30 years,” he said. “I don’t think we have enough time for all the fussing, and there seems to be a lot of old issues coming up and we don’t get anything done. I’m a positive person. I can work with anybody. ... If it’s for the good of Macon, everyone should be on the same page.”

He said when talking to residents, the issue he hears most is crime. As a member and former president of the Vineville Neighborhood Association, Lemon said the area has made some strides in dealing with the issue.

“Our neighborhood is very proactive toward crime problems, and we’ve realized that’s how you solve problems,” he said, pointing to Neighborhood Watch programs and efforts to aid police when crime occurs.

Through his work in the Vineville area, he said, the community has learned to target a problem and take care of it. He wants to spread the idea of proactive residents.

“We can’t wait for the city to solve all of our problems,” he said. “We need to find out how to have the city government work for us.”

Another major issue for him is substandard housing and blighted homes.

“Pleasant Hill is probably one of the most problematic areas for (substandard housing) in my district,” he said. “We’ve allowed this to go on for 20 and 30 years. I just can’t believe it.”

Although there has been some progress, Lemon said efforts are not moving fast enough.

“I think we have more of a plan for that,” he said. “Make that a top priority because we’re not going to bring those neighborhoods back until we get rid of that.”

He proposes a Pleasant Hill corridor, similar to what was formed in the city’s College Hill area but on a smaller scale.

He also would like the council to rethink the city’s “big box recreation” and senior citizens facilities, noting that different neighborhoods need different services.

Ward 3, he said, is very close to his heart, and he would like to do what’s in the best interests of Macon.

“My office is in Vineville,” Lemon said. “My kids go to school, and I do my grocery shopping here. My whole world revolves around the Third Ward, and I’m a big proponent for why people should move back into town.”

To contact writer Caryn Grant, call 744-4347.