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Well-known Bibb County commissioner says he won’t seek re-election

Commissioner Joe Allen being sworn in at the Macon-Bibb County Commission inauguration in 2016.
Commissioner Joe Allen being sworn in at the Macon-Bibb County Commission inauguration in 2016.

Well-known Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen announced this week that he will not run for re-election when his term expires at the end of 2020.

Allen, a former firefighter who turns 70 in February, informed other county officials of his intentions at a Tuesday meeting.

“There’s a time and place that everybody needs to step aside and let somebody with new ideas” serve, Allen later told The Telegraph.

He said he hoped to give candidates for his post time to prepare to launch their own campaigns.

Allen was first elected in 1989, and served for more than 20 years in various stints as a commissioner.

He is perhaps best known for his decades of work spearheading the children’s Christmas charity Kids Yule Love.

Allen did not rule out another run for office in perhaps another area of local government.

Allen said he will “wait and see if something else comes about.”

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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