An in-depth look at WR’s Post 3 Candidates – Keith Lauritsen

Just as the position of mayor is open for re-election in Warner Robins, so are several of the council positions. Early voting has already begun for the city, and candidates are preparing for their new roles as Election Day draws closer. For Post 3 this year, there are three potential candidates: Incumbent Councilman Keith Lauritsen and challengers, Angie Eugene and Scott Howard. All three live within the district and are, therefore, familiar with the area and what concerns its citizens may have. In an effort to provide our readers with the views of each candidate to best inform their vote, The Journal has done an in-depth interview with each of them, and is publishing the results in three separate articles.

Lauritsen has lived and worked in Warner Robins for all of his 57 years. He graduated from Warner Robins High School, and from there went on to get a a bachelors degree from Georgia Southwestern, and then a masters from Georgia State College and University. Additionally, Lauritsen received a six-year specialist degree at the same time. Following his education, Lauritsen began a teaching career in Houston County that has led him to not only teaching children in the classroom, but also leading entire schools as a principle and an administrator. To this day, Lauritsen remains as an educator, although he admits he plans to retire soon.

Lauritsen believes that among other things, he brings leadership and people skills to council. Through his decades of teaching and his two terms as a councilman, Lauritsen has learned he has no trouble working with others, and reported that he always found a way to do so. “I think life requires a commitment of service to those we interact with on a daily basis, whether they are people we’re responsible for or they’re people we’re supervising, it really doesn’t matter. I believe that life’s work requires to a commitment of service on our part, regardless of who we are.”

His platform this term, Lauritsen said, will be the same at it has been the two terms before. At the heart of his platform is public safety. Above all things, Lauritsen believes, “If we don’t have a safe community, we’re at a loss for everything else.” In addition to public safety, Lauritsen plans to give recreation in Warner Robins a special eye, and is excited about the results of Warner Robins’ restructured government with the addition of City Administrator David Corbin and a revised city charter.

Outside of Lauritsen’s platform are several key citizen concerns that he addressed.

Blight will always hinder growing cities; however Lauritsen believes it can be managed. “We’re only as strong as our weakest area,” Lauritsen explains. “We have to ensure that our entire community has something to offer.” He said that the solution comes in not only working with code enforcement to tear dilapidated buildings down and forcing landlords to care for their properties, but also with reinvestment in those same areas.

Lauritsen also addressed concerns of the entrepreneurs: how is the city going to nurture relationships with existing businesses, and how do they plan to bring in new ones? Lauritsen reported that it can all be done through incentives. By offering existing businesses grants or opportunities to revitalize their store fronts, even doing streetscapes to put life into older areas the city can contend with older businesses, and by offering some of those same incentives, and new-business-specific incentives like tax credits, the city can draw in a plethora of new business. “We need to offer anything at our disposal, anything we possible have to, to incentivize them to remain and continue doing business, but also to increase the city’s quantity of new and exciting businesses.”

A downtown has been discussed for years in Warner Robins, and with the revival of the Downtown Development Authority and the hiring of Community and Economic Development Director, it looks like more of a reality than ever. Lauritsen concurs, but first believes that the city needs to find a starting point. “There has to be a center of activity to build that around.” For Lauritsen, that “center of activity” is Commercial Circle. He hopes to see hotel-motel-conference center complexes and amphitheatres, places to eat and play, to bring people to the area around city hall.

The transparency of leadership in Warner Robins is a growing concern. Lauritsen says that a great deal of transparency can be brought in through the Citizens Advisory Board. The board creates an open line of dialogue between city officials and Warner Robins citizens, and community members can act as an additional way of spreading information. This line of communication has the potential to assist citizens find informational resources, and keep citizens up to date on the city’s activity. Additionally, He believes that outside of the Citizens Advisory Board, the city should better utilize its website and social medias to provide information that the citizens should know.

Utilities in Warner Robins have been a debated concern. Some argue that they are some of the cheapest in the state, and they are constantly developed for a growing city. Others are concerned about the consistently growing rates, and the number of water and gas leaks that cropped up in recent years. Lauritsen says that much of the funding the city collects from utility gets fed back into the infrastructure of the these utilities, that the raised rates are being used for infrastructure expansions and the like. Additionally, Lauritsen notes that water and gas leaks citizens saw earlier this year have majorly been repaired.

The city of Warner Robins currently has 15 lawsuits claimed against it, some of which directly effect council. Lauritsen said, “I’d like to make this clear: I’ve been on council for eight years, and I can’t count the number of lawsuits we’ve had.” Lauritsen explains that it is not uncommon for cities to be sued; however, he also said, in reference to the city’s larger lawsuits such a A2D and Woda Cooper, “A couple of those are some that could have been avoided with a little more special attention to them.” Lauritsen said that the city has a team of people who “deal with this kind of stuff every day,” and he believes that city will come through these lawsuits favorably.

Finally, Lauritsen commented on the brain drain, a phenomenon occurring in Warner Robins where young high school graduates leave for college, and don’t return until retirement. This leaves a vacuum where ideas from the freshly educated would usually be. Lauritsen said that he feels that this happens often in communities. Students move away, they find jobs, they return later. He also believes Warner Robins is a community that many people do come back to for work and to raise a family. However, Lauritsen does note that Warner Robins could do with expanding some of its industries, like technology and entertainment.

“Over the last eight years, I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned the various ways our city operates, about the financial and operation aspects, I have the experience I believe is needed to move us forward more quickly. There’s a learning curve involved when you come on council and you’re a part of something that you haven’t been a part of, and that learning curve takes some time. I have a lot more to learn, but as far as what I’ve already learned, it gives me the skill to help us move quicker. I still have the passion to serve, to make life better for our families and children. It takes a lot of cooperation and teamwork to be successful. For eight years I’ve been able to work with every single person, be it someone working in the departments of the city, or whether it’s people on council, the mayor, or the city administrator.” Lauritsen continued, “For right now, the time that we’re in, this is a very critical time for our community because of the inflation we’re experiencing and all the issues around us, be it social or financial, I think we need someone that is ready to go. Someone who understand the problems, someone who understands the things that are needed. I think we can get to a more positive resolution in all the areas by having experience.”

Early voting began on October 12, and will continue every weekday and Saturday until Friday, October 29. Voting areas will be open every weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The final and official Election Day will be November 2.

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