Voters to decide leadership of Macon Water Authority board

Voters will decide in May who will serve in three of the six seats on the Macon Water Authority board.

Chair Gary Bechtel, a commercial real estate salesman for Bob Lewis & Associates, is running for reelection against Desmond Brown and former Bibb County Emergency Management Director Donald Druitt Sr.

Brown represented District 2 but resigned on March 6 upon qualifying as a candidate in the race for chair. 

Four people qualified to run for the now-vacant District 2 seat: Ron Lemon, a chiropractor; Sharif Robbins-Brinson, a student; Marshall Talley, an entrepreneur, and Renoalda Scott, a property manager. 

District 4 representative Frank Patterson Jr., who has served on the board for nearly two decades, also is running for reelection and faces two challengers: Michael McKeever, a program manager at Robins Air Force Base, and De’Ron Rogers, owner of Pinky’s Shaved Ice in Macon.

District 1 board member Elaine Lucas is up for reelection but faces no opposition for her seat.

Election Day for all MWA races is set for May 19. Early voting is set to start April 27.

The MWA elections come during a time of uncertainty surrounding the authority’s leadership. In February, MWA CEO Ron Shipman died unexpectedly and the board appointed Michel Wanna, assistant executive director and president of field and plant operations, as interim CEO.

At a regular meeting on March 5, a board member asked Bechtel about plans to find a permanent replacement for Shipman. Bechtel replied that he was unable to answer but would let everyone know when that process begins.

Bechtel did not respond to emailed questions from The Melody about what that process could look like or when the board might begin its search for a new CEO.