Former Muscogee school board member Beth Harris declares intent to run for mayor

Former Muscogee County School Board member Beth Harris has submitted paperwork with the Elections and Registration Office declaring her intent to run for mayor.

Harris filed the Declaration of Intent on Monday, which allows her to start raising money. But she will have to qualify in March to officially run for the position, according to officials at the Elections and Registration Office.

So far, Harris is the only person to file the paperwork for the seat currently occupied by Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, who is completing her last term.

Early voting will be held April 30-May 18 at the City Services Center. The election will be held on May 22.

Harris, a retired educator, served as District 8 school board representative for one term. In 2014, she lost her seat to Frank Myers, a local attorney who beat her 64 to 36 percent in the nonpartisan elections.

In a news release, Harris pledged to “bring common sense, integrity and equitable solutions to City Government.”

“Every job I have had in the past has prepared me for the present, and the future,” she wrote. “As a city employee I learned a great deal about each department, its function and how it serves the citizens. I was a school teacher and, as such, my proudest accomplishment was to stand up for my fellow teachers and the students we served.”

If elected mayor, Harris said she would:

• Increase the number of Patrol Officers on the streets

• Assure equitable treatment for all city employees

• Secure and maintain infrastructure

“As a Muscogee County School Board member I learned about large budgets, consensus-building, compromise, and how to hold my own when being publicly criticized or fiercely opposed,” she wrote in the news release. “I will strive to enhance that which is good in our city, and eliminate that which is not.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Former Muscogee school board member Beth Harris declares intent to run for mayor."