2 familiar faces remain in MWA leadership, one race will go to runoff, unofficial results show
Two familiar faces will remain in Macon Water Authority leadership positions and one race will be decided in a runoff, unofficial election results Tuesday night showed.
The runoff is scheduled for June 16.
Here are the results:
At-large
Incumbent Gary Bechtel will remain as MWA chairman after receiving a majority of the votes, according to unofficial results. He received about 55% of the vote, accounting for 15,183 Bibb County residents.
Contender Desmond Brown closely followed the incumbent with nearly 45% of the vote, or 12,351 residents.
This marks the second time Bechtel and Brown have battled head-to-head for the chairman position in the MWA. The first time, the race went to a runoff, with Bechtel the eventual winner.
Bechtel focused his campaign on letting voters know they could trust him “to do the things necessary to maintain our system to have reasonable rates, and you know, participate in economic development activities that are important to the overall economic growth of Macon-Bibb County, which the authority is a very essential part of,” he told The Telegraph.
Bechtel wants to “keep costs down and ensure that our water is safe and clean,” in his next term, according to his campaign materials.
District 2
Marshall Talley and Ron Lemon are heading to a runoff for the District 2 commissioner seat in the MWA. Brown previously occupied the seat before running for chairman.
Based on the unofficial tallies:
- Talley received 32% of votes, or 1,844 residents
- Lemon received 28% of votes, or 1,593 residents
- Renoalda Scott received 22% of votes, or 1,300 residents
- Sharif Robbins-Brinson received 17% of votes, or 990 residents
Talley, program director and entrepreneur, wants to address issues around data centers and the potential impact on places in the county that face high temperatures and droughts.
“If a project cannot show that it will protect drinking water reliability and avoid transferring risk to existing customers, it should not move forward,” according to his campaign website.
If elected, Talley seeks to maintain a “hard-no stance” to ensure that data center developers are transparent with the public, according to his campaign website.
Lemon, a chiropractor, told The Telegraph his experience running a business gave him the “skills necessary to help the board run smoothly and efficiently.”
“The water authority is a critical part of the Macon-Bibb County region, and we need to make sure that we keep the authority moving in a positive direction,” Lemon said. “I pledge to make sure the MWA is responsive to consumers’ needs and that we do everything we can to keep our award-winning water affordable and safe for all.”
District 4
Frank Patterson, a member of the water authority since 2004, was re-elected District 4 commissioner, according to the unofficial election results.
During his time on the board, he formed a stormwater utility division to oversee stormwater management, rehabilitated two wastewater treatment facilities and expanded high-quality water and sewer infrastructure, according to the MWA. He also upgraded the MWA’s financial and customer service software and identified “hot spots for repair or replacement” in pipes across Macon, according to the MWA.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 11:31 PM.
