For the first time in more than three decades, Monroe County’s District 1, which includes most of the City of Forsyth, will have someone other than Larry Evans representing it on the county’s Board of Commissioners.
That’s because longtime District 1 Commissioner Evans, a Democrat who had served 33 years in office, was defeated in the general election in November by his challenger Lamarcus Davis, a political newcomer who ran as an Independent.
The new era in District 1 is set to begin tonight (Tuesday, Jan. 5) when Davis is sworn in as District 1 Commissioner prior to the Board’s first meeting of the new year at 6 p.m. at the Monroe County Conference Center.
Davis said he’s thrilled that his Inauguration Day has finally arrived.
“I’m most excited that this is my first time (in office),” said Davis. “I’m unseating a guy that’s been there for 33 years. Those are some big shoes to fill. And I’m very anxious to get to work with the rest of the commission. I want to continue to strive to make Forsyth-Monroe County a great place to work and live.”
Davis said his initial focus is going to be continuing prior Commission plans to bring safe drinking water to citizens in Juliette as well as to expand internet throughout Monroe County. However, he said he has other topics, not recently addressed by the Board, that he wants brought to the forefront as well, which include moving forward with expanding the Monroe County Recreation Department and creating more affordable housing opportunities.
“Affordable housing, I’ve haven’t heard that brought up one time,” Davis said. “We need to work with the Development Authority and see if we can work with developers at looking at what we can do to bring affordable homes to Monroe County.”
Davis said he and his wife Angel were in a store just last weekend when a citizen told them that he was relieved because his family had finally gotten a place at Holiday Cove Apartments after eight months of living in a motel while they were on a waiting list.”
“That tells me we’ve got an issue in Monroe County,” Davis said. “Let’s get with some developers. . . I would like to see something like the Brentwood Apartments property with the gated community. It’s affordable housing. It’s income-based also. There’s more control. Everybody can’t come in and out. My mother-in-law stayed there, and it’s very nice. I’m very passionate about it because I came from Forsyth Gardens (Apartments). If it wasn’t for that (complex), we probably would have been somewhere homeless.”
Davis, who was raised in Forsyth by his mother Barbara Davis, is the second-oldest of four children. Born into an athletic family with a brother and sister who played Division 1 sports, Davis was a football star in his own right as an offensive lineman at Mary Persons High School. After graduating from MP in 1997, Davis briefly attended Cochran’s Middle Georgia College on a football scholarship. Davis then went on to work at Griffin’s Caterpillar Inc. for 18 years before joining the Georgia Power team at Plant Scherer in April 2018. Along the way, Davis continued furthering his education and is only a few credits shy of an Associate degree in Business Administration at Gordon College.
In addition, Davis has aided his community in myriad other ways, including by serving as a multi-sport coach at the Monroe County Recreation Department since 1998, serving on the county’s volunteer recreation board for a decade beginning in 2009, and acting as chairman of the deacon board at his church, Mount Gilead Baptist.
Davis and Angel, his wife of 17 years, have three sons, Jamai, 15, Jaise, 14, and Jaxton, 5. Davis said the only time since college that he’s ever lived away from Forsyth was in 2002 when he resided in Jonesboro for six months shortly before he married. He said he regularly packed his bags to go back to Forsyth for the weekend and decided then that there’s no other place he’d rather raise a family.
“I love the small-town feel,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone. You never run into a stranger.”
Davis began preparing the way for his future as a county commissioner all the way back in 2018 when he graduated from the Leadership Monroe class. He then graduated from the Middle Georgia Regional Commission’s Academy for Economic Development program in 2019 before deciding late that same year to announce his candidacy to represent District 1.
“I’m the type of person that if you’re not doing anything to try to fix it, don’t complain about it,” Davis said. “It’s (running for elected office) something that I’ve been wrestling back and forth with for a long time. And I feel like this was the right time to do it. If I’m going to complain about something, then I’m going to be part of the solution to try to fix it.”
Davis said he thinks his youth and fresh ideas resonated among District 1 voters, many of whom he met by campaigning door-to-door. He also said he ran a positive campaign that stayed focused on the needs of voters.
“I’m a positive person,” Davis said. “I’m looking for good in everyone. In everything, just because someone brings something negative to you, you can always find something positive.”
Davis, who considers former Forsyth councilman Charles Wilder Sr. a primary political role model, also said he’s a great listener who won’t make split-second decisions on critical issues.
He said, “I evaluate things real carefully before I make a decision on it and then go from there. . . I like to do my research. I’m a very analytical person.”
Davis’ commission campaign was interrupted last fall by a lengthy bout with COVID-19 that left him hospitalized for 13 days. However, he said he came out the scare more resolved than ever to win elected office.
“I had a lot of time to think and reflect on and reassure myself that this is what I wanted to do,” Davis said. “I had a lot of down time to look over a lot of things and see what all consists of being a county commissioner. It was rough, but I continued to put God first. I continued to fight the battle. But He pulled me through it.”
In addition to affordable housing, Davis said his constituents have told them they need more job opportunities in Monroe County. Davis said one way to increase job skills is to have more educational opportunities, and he wants to see Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) increase its visibility in Monroe County.
“We’ve got to realize that we have a lot of kids fresh out of high school that may not have a ride to Macon (CGTC’s main campus),” Davis said. “I go to these smaller communities like Jasper County or Crawford County, and those (satellite) campuses seem to be thriving in those communities. I feel like there’s no reason Monroe County can’t. So what are we missing here in Monroe County for that to happen here?”
Davis said he wants more citizen involvement at Board of Commissioners’ meetings, and he urges citizens to reach out to their district’s commissioner and ask questions.
“I want to encourage the citizens to support the commission and what we’re doing,” Davis said. “And if you have a question about something, feel free to contact any one of us. I feel like all of us are approachable, and if we don’t have the answer I feel like we can get with someone and get the answer. I would like to see more support from the community for the commission. I would like to see more people come to the meetings and realize that one person can’t make a decision on the commission. There’s five people that have got to help make that decision. Just be patient with us. And I promise you, I’m going to do the right thing.”
