Centerville Mayor’s race: Wright eager to lead the city down the right direction

CENTERVILLE – Mayoral Candidate Justin Wright has served his community as a city councilmember and pastor of his local church. Now, he is running for Mayor of Centerville and vying to become the leader of his city.

He has been on the city council for eight years, watching the city grow and combat challenges. After former Mayor John Harley announced his retirement at the end of last year, Wright announced his campaign on Jan. 6. He views the mayor’s seat as an extension of his role as a community leader.

“I’ve made it my mission the last eight years to serve this city and its people in every way I can. This is just a continuation of that goal to continue to serve in every way possible,” he said.

Wright shared that his campaign has been going well so far. He said it’s been nice to have community support, and he met people along the way excited about an update in city government.

He said the city has had the same leadership for a long time, but he believes people are always eager to see growth. 

“The city is growing, and I think we’re excited to continue to foster that growth,” he said.

Wright’s top priorities include making adjustments to the city’s budget process. He said it is not tremendously transparent and, according to Wright, high budgets drive high taxes. He believes the city can do better.

Wright thinks the city needs to use its budget funds to support its police department, another one of his priorities. Like every other police department throughout the area, the Centerville Police Department is facing staffing issues, Wright said. 

“I think we gotta do what it takes to make sure that the police department stays well staffed so we can take the best possible care of our people,” he said.

Another priority in Wright’s campaign is to grow the city’s approach to attracting business. He suggested using local and state programs to pursue tax incentive programs to attract small businesses and create a market for businesses to thrive. 

Wright believes in a different direction regarding economic development in the city. He hopes people can stay in Centerville instead of traveling to nearby cities like Warner Robins, Perry and Macon; While he appreciates partners in those cities, he would love to see citizens go to the doctor, insurance office or a restaurant in Centerville without driving elsewhere. 

Another benefit is generated business revenue from sales tax, allowing the city to grow without pressure to raise property taxes. 

There has been growth in nearby cities, but Wright’s concern is that Centerville will miss its growth window if the city doesn’t incentivize business development.

“The rapid growth we’re experiencing in the county now is unbelievable, but nothing like that lasts forever. I want to make sure that Centerville gets its portion of that investment before that window closes,” he said.

On the residential side, the city has awarded several Georgia Initiative for Community Housing points for affordable housing developments. Wright has served as the chairman of the GICH team since its inception and believes affordable housing is needed and something the city should focus on deliberately. 

“We want to make sure we are providing appropriate housing for folks, but also housing that fits with our community and our needs,” he said.

The most known affordable housing in the city is the income-adjusted Abbington at Galleria Mall, which Wright said has been a safe and stable blessing for residents. An upcoming proposal was brought to council meeting for a senior citizen development in the same program.

Wright said many label these homes as Section Eight, which involves the government paying the landlord directly. With affordable housing, the tenant pays and must have a job and generate income, which is used to determine their rental rate.

Wright said if the senior citizen development gets approved, it will be the last parcel of land to qualify. However, he wants to make sure everyone can call the city home.

“We want to make sure that everybody has a place where they can live safely, a place that they can afford and a place where they live comfortably and have good experiences here in the city of Centerville,” he said.

Wright delved further into his goal of enhancing public safety. The majority of his plan is to fully staff the police department and focus on proactive policing, which helps reduce crime, like entering automobiles, he mentioned.

Wright said staffing shortages are everywhere, but he wants to ensure Police Chief Cedric Duncan has the tools needed to recruit, including higher-paying positions to match surrounding agencies. Wright complimented Duncan on doing a great job so far, and said working for a small city allows officers to better connect with the community.

“What keeps that down is a rigorous police patrol. People see cop cars and it makes them think twice. We just got to get that staffing up and then we got to do whatever it takes to get us there,” he said. 

Centerville is the smallest city in Houston County, but Wright hopes to change the small-town mentality by scaling up city government and leadership. He believes the city will miss opportunities if they don’t start doing that.

“It’s time for Centerville to grow up a little bit. I think we’ve had a similar leadership for years and years,” he said. “At the time, that was the type of leadership we needed, but I think as we grow into a more modern city, as we grow into a city that focuses more on quality of life and as we focus more on community development, that we need a new style, a new generation of leadership and I’m looking forward to serving in that role.”

Serving his community has always been in Wright’s heart, and he wants to ensure the city is the best place for his daughter and everyone’s children to grow up. He thanked the community for his chance to serve so far, and even if things don’t go his way, he will continue to serve.

Wright’s opponent is former Post 3 City Councilman J. Micheal Evans. 

Polling locations are at the Houston County Board of Elections Office, 2030 Kings Chapel Road, Perry, and the Houston Health Pavilion Conference Center, 233 N. Houston Road, Warner Robins. Early voting runs May 27 to June 13. Polls are open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Election Day is June 17.