Former City Manager Isaiah Hugley officially kicked off his campaign for mayor in front of a rowdy crowd of local dignitaries. Past and present elected officials were there including Congressman Sanford Bishop and former mayor Teresa Tomlinson among many others.
“This is more than a campaign,” Hugley said. “It’s a commitment to finish the work, restore trust, and lead this city forward, not with slogans, but with experience and results. Columbus doesn’t need on-the-job training. It needs leadership that knows how to get things done.”
Hugley reminded the crowd that he was born dirt poor without indoor plumbing and grew up in public housing on welfare. “That’s where I learned that leadership doesn’t start at the top, it starts by listening…and never forgetting where I came from,” he said. Later in his speech he took a direct swipe at City Council and their recent homeless ordinance saying he would be a leader that would know how to deal with homelessness and not by putting them in jail…