Perry Mayor Randall Walker

The city of Perry has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. Between 2012 and 2020, there was a 37.29% increase in population, climbing from 14,516 residents to 19,929. A city its size needs capable leadership, and for the past two years, Perry’s has been Mayor Randall Walker.

“I came in the middle of Mayor Faircloth’s term,” Walker shared with The Journal as we sat together in his office at Perry City Hall. “I served on Perry City Council for 10 years. Mayor Faircloth resigned in May [2019] and I took over as mayor pro tem during that period of time. And then, I had to resign that July in order to run for office. I took office in September [2019] as a result of a special election.”

If you listen to the mayor speak from his heart for more than a few seconds, it’s easy to discern that, number one, Perry’s quality of life is at the forefront of his mind and the top of his list of priorities for the city and its community, and number two, he is very proud to head the city that has been dubbed the place “where Georgia comes together.”

When asked what he believes it is that draws individuals and businesses to this area of middle Georgia, Walker stated, “I think there is a number of things. We have a very safe community and a very inclusive community. We also have an outstanding school system. So, people can live here and have the quality of life that they want even if they work in Macon. We’re basically a bedroom community for a number of other cities,” he went on to say. “There are people who work in Henry County but live in Perry because of the quality of life they can enjoy here. If we bring the people, the businesses are going to come. It’s been our goal through the last 10 years to create Perry as a destination to shop and a destination to work.”

In a recent interview that The Journal had with Perry Police Major Bill Phelps, the now retired Phelps pointed out that statistically, most major crimes committed inside the limits of Perry are done so by outsiders from neighboring cities and not by Perry residents. Walker gave the credit for that to both the city’s law enforcement and its citizens.

“We have a very dedicated police and fire department, and it’s extremely important to me to keep them funded at a level so that they can hire the people that they need and train them. They are an elite police department. When people come to Perry and commit a crime, they get arrested.”

Regarding Perry citizens, he added, “Everybody seems to get along in the city of Perry. I think a part of that reason is that everybody knows that we’re focused on everybody’s quality of life, regardless of what district you live in or what your address is. We care about you. We want your garbage to be picked up on a timely basis just like we want everybody else’s garbage to be picked up on a timely basis. Everybody, throughout the city, gets the same treatment. There are not places in this city where we say we’re not going to worry about them. Our focus is making sure everybody enjoys living here and they have the same quality of life—whatever that might be. It’s different for everybody, there’s no question. People will ask me why I’m so focused on housing,” Walker continued. “I think housing is extremely important. You can’t have a quality of life if you’re living in very poor accommodations. We have been able to bring over $4 million for home improvements in Perry. That’s made somebody’s quality of life very exceptional. They don’t have to worry about whether their bathroom is going to work, is their water going to be rusty, or if they’re going to be cold because they can’t insulate. That’s been really important to us.”

Heading any city the size of Perry comes with its pain points. Mayor Walker was honest in admitting that one of the biggest challenges for Perry is staying ahead of the game, so to speak, as the city continues to grow and expand.

“We want to make sure that we keep up with that growth in a way that our services are not diminished,” he said. “People have come to expect a superior level of service here in the city of Perry. When they call, we respond. If they have a problem with their water, their gas or their garbage, somebody answers the phone and we’re going to take care of it. As fast as we’re growing, we have to make sure that we continue that level of service each and every time. That’s probably the hardest thing.”

He also mentioned keeping up with the infrastructure to provide the services. According to Walker, his administration and the ones before it have been working on this for the last 10 years. “When we came out of the last recession in that 2007, 2008, 2009 timeframe, we realized around 2011 that Perry was going to grow. The indications were there, so we started planning at that time. We put together our first in depth business plan for the city in 2014. We rewrote it in 2016, two years later as we revised it,” Walker recalled. “We planned and that’s why we have a new $10 million water treatment plant that’s supplying all of this growth. It’s part of the reason that we’re in the process of finalizing the plans for a new wastewater treatment plant in cooperation with the county. That’s going to be out on the other side of [Highway] 247 in the Harris track. We’re continuing looking at the next road or the next sewer line we have to build. We’re desperately trying to stay ahead of the growth, and that’s the biggest challenge.”

The mayor’s passion for the quality of life for the people of Perry is one of the primary reasons that Governor Brian Kemp recently selected him to serve on Georgia’s Board of Community Affairs.

“They look at people throughout the state that they feel are qualified, and they approach those people to see if they are interested. I was very interested when I was approached,” said Walker. “I was interested in getting involved at the state level because I believe that impacts the city of Perry. It gives us the opportunity to understand things that are available to us that we might not understand otherwise. The way Perry got involved in receiving grant money to improve housing was because I became a member of the Georgia Initiatives for Community Housing, which is a part of the Department of Community Affairs.”

Walker shared that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has four standards by which they judge a city—planning, water-first (providing quality water), Main Street, and the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing.

“All of those are under DCA, and the governor and Commissioner [Christopher] Nunn both knew that I had an interest in that and that I was deeply involved in all four of those aspects. So, the governor recommended that I serve on the board. To me, DCA ties right back into my focus on quality of life. It’s about affordable housing, economic growth in your communities and assisting cities with what they need to plan to get there. Those elements of the DCA fit very nicely with what I’m interested in. I think that I can learn a great deal. As old as I am, if there’s any day that I live that I don’t learn something, it’s a failure. So I feel that the more I can be involved at that level, the more I’m going to learn about how I can be a better mayor here in the city of Perry.”

The swearing in for Mayor Walker’s new board position is scheduled to happen in Atlanta on Tuesday, August 17.

Perry’s mayor is a native of Warner Robins and a proud 1964 graduate of Warner Robins High School. To some degree, he said he has been interested in the political arena since his school days, and being mayor of Perry has been a very fruitful part of the realization of his dreams.

“It’s been very rewarding to have the opportunity to help Perry grow and grow effectively and help manage our city so that we are a well-respected city throughout the southeast. I didn’t do it by myself,” Walker quickly added. “It’s because of the great staff that we have here. We’ve got a great city council. We’ve got a great city manager. This has been accomplished by all of us working closely together in a team atmosphere. I’m very satisfied and very happy with the accomplishments that our team has been able to do.”

Mayor Walker confirmed that his name will indeed be on the ballot in November when it is time for his re-election. His new appointment by Governor Kemp, he said, will not hamper, but enhance his effectiveness as the mayor of Perry, Georgia.

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