Warner Robins mayor says city is calmer

Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms officially began his re-election campaign Wednesday by saying he had kept his lone campaign promise, which was to bring more calm to city government.

Although he admitted before his announcement that the last City Council meeting wasn’t a good example, Toms said overall he has kept that promise.

“I believe the environment has calmed down and I believe this calmness has facilitated a resurgence in growth in the area,” he said.

He made the announcement to about 75 people gathered at Clean Control. He said addressing the city’s rising crime rate will be among his priorities in the next term. He noted that the city’s budget recently approved includes five new police officer positions.

The last council meeting on Aug. 7 became heated when the council discussed creating a city administrator position. The council is set to vote on that Monday.

Monday is also the day that qualifying for the Nov. 7 election begins. Joe Musselwhite, the city’s former public works director who lost to Toms in the 2013 election, has said he is making another try as mayor. Councilman Chuck Shaheen said during the debate on the city administrator that he plans to run for mayor, but he declined to confirm that afterward and has not officially announced.

Toms was a city firefighter for 27 years and won the mayor’s seat in a 6-way race.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Warner Robins mayor says city is calmer."