Mayoral profile: Hart seeks to govern Macon-Bibb by consensus | Elections | Macon.com

Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart has a mantra: “Think community.”

As Macon and Bibb County merge into a new government by January, it will take a conciliator to meld city and county, urban and rural, he said.

“And that’s what I do well,” said Hart, 71. He’s running for mayor of the new government, and that office will work with the nine new commissioners much as the county government functions now, he said.

The community must unite to deal with crime, education and the need for jobs, Hart said.

“All those things are sort of tied together,” he said.

Originally from Monroe County, Hart has lived in Macon for more than 45 years, he said. He worked as a science teacher, first in Pulaski County and then in Bibb, before arriving at Mercer University as the Upward Bound coordinator. After 32 years he retired from Mercer as associate dean of students and director of special programs, he said.

He ran for the county commission in 1996 when District 1 Commissioner Albert Billingslea decided not to seek another term, Hart said. After a three-way primary race he won a runoff, then beat a Republican challenger, he said. Hart served for a decade, then moved to be closer to his grandchildren, he said.

“I resigned because I moved out of my district,” Hart said. Two years later, however, he ran for commission chairman and was re-elected in 2012.

via Mayoral profile: Hart seeks to govern Macon-Bibb by consensus | Elections | Macon.com.