Ocilla swears in city’s first black mayor; Mayor Melvin Harper shares vision for the Irwin Co. community

OCILLA, Ga. – Over the weekend, the city of Ocilla swore in their new mayor. I got the chance to sit down with him Tuesday morning and talk about his vision for the Irwin county community.

Melvin Harper made history in September, becoming Ocilla’s first black mayor…

But, he says the victory means more to him than just making some history in the city.

“I never really thought about being a history maker during the campaign, it was more important that our citizens make the right choice at the poll. Being made aware that I was the first black mayor didn’t come until after I had won,” said Mayor Melvin Harper, City of Ocilla.

In the mayoral election, voters turned out in record numbers to choose Harper to help lead the community.

And, he couldn’t be more proud of the city’s voter turnout.

“It’s easy to say ‘I’m for this candidate’ ‘I support this person or that person,’ but truth be told, they’re the real winners in this election as far as I’m concerned,” said Mayor Harper.

With the election now in the rearview, Harper is looking forward to addressing how he and the city government can improve Ocilla and helping turn the city around.

“One of the very first issues that we’re already tackling now is finances. We have had a very negative last past few years financially and fiscally. And, my first approach in this administration is to ensure to all citizens that we’re going to do the right thing,” said Mayor Harper.

But, as well, he wants to make Ocilla a place that sticks in people’s minds as more than just another community to drive through.

“Ocilla isn’t doing a bad job, we’re just concerned. There’s just an overall concern as it relates to ‘where do we go from here?’ So if anything that is needed most from the city of Ocilla, particularly from their mayor, they’re looking for leadership, they’re looking for structure…” said Mayor Harper.

With Mayor Harper in his first Ocilla commission meeting Tuesday night, he’s ready to hear the community out to start bringing change to Irwin county.

Mayor Harper also tells us that one of the things he’s hoping to do now that he’s been sworn in as mayor is to bring businesses back to the Irwin county community.

Brian Roche reporting.

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