"Let'S Continue Making History....Together.": Mayor Miller Gives 5th State Of The Community Address
Monday, April 28th, 2025
On Tuesday, April 22, Mayor Lester Miller gave his annual State of the Community address at a lunch hosted by the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce.
This year, he challenged people to continue the progress at the speed set the previous four years because, as he said, “at our Tricentennial, [people] will look back to this moment in time to see what was happening. They’ll study our challenges, our work, the facilities we built, the media coverage…our community.”
“They’ll look at us in the early 2000s at our divides, our dying downtown, a lack of new jobs and industry coming here, many fewer events, festivals, and celebrations…and then they’ll see us now…today…joined together as one to improve the entire community,” he told them.
With that weighty thought – that people would study the work being done today – gave people a glimpse into his vision for the next four plus years of working together. He announced to them that in May, he would be asking the Commission to approve a bond for up to $25 million dollars just for the repaving of roads. He also told them he has begun the process to build new permanent affordable housing at the Brookdale Resource Center, and 64 new housing units were preparing to be built in Historic Pleasant Hill.
Looking forward, he talked about the economic development coming along Riverside Drive by the Ocmulgee River and in East Macon at the old Bibb Mill site. All that would be supported by a new arena and new convention center that would replace the outdated ones and help bring more tourism to Macon-Bibb.
He took time to thank the departments in attendance, as well as the many partners in the room who have made the past four years a success.
My friends…no, my family…we are at a crossroad in a time. It’s not just one moment but many moments. And every decision we make is setting the direction of our community for the next 2….4…8…25…50…100 years,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, our community needs you right now to seize this moment fully. So let’s continue making history…together.
To read the full speech, click here.
