Statesboro resident voters who think they catch a break after 2024 may have another think coming. 2025 is a city election year with the mayor’s office and two council seats due for votes.
In fact, formally setting the qualifying fees for candidates is on the agenda for City Council’s first meeting of the year, 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the usual room upstairs at City Hall, the historic Jaeckel Hotel at 50 East Main St.
Council’s vote is a legally required formality. The qualifying fees are prescribed by state law as 3% of the annual salary of an office. So the fees will be $560 for candidates for mayor and $330 for candidates for City Council in District 1 and District 4, as stated in the proposed resolution.
Mayor Jonathan McCollar is Statesboro’s first African American mayor and, when first elected in 2017, he displaced its first female mayor, Jan Moore. McCollar was re-elected by a large margin over a challenger in 2021.
In the last six years, the council has evolved from having only men representing the five districts ever before to now comprise four women and one man, besides the mayor.
Councilman John Riggs, the longest serving member, represents District 4 and so is up for election this year. So is the most recently arrived member, District 1 Councilwoman Tangie Reese Johnson.
Even though Johnson won a November 2024 special election, it was only for the remainder of former Councilman Phil Boyum’s term, after he resigned last summer. So if anyone else qualifies as a candidate, Johnson will have to run again to keep the seat for four years beyond Dec. 31, 2025.
Although the fees are set this early, candidate qualifying will probably be held during a few days in August, yet to be announced. This year’s elections for Statesboro and other Georgia cities will conclude Nov. 4, after an early voting period.