‘A fierce loyalty.’ Columbus councilor says goodbye after 3 decades of leadership. 

Valerie A. Thompson sat down in the District 4 seat during the final minutes of the Columbus Council meeting Tuesday morning, preparing to take the reins from longtime councilor and Mayor Pro Tempore Evelyn Turner Pugh.

“I’m nervous. These are big shoes to fill but I’m ready for the challenge,” Thompson said.

Tuesday was Turner Pugh’s last meeting after serving nearly 31 years on council. She was first elected in 1988 and last elected to a four-year term in 2016.

She announced Oct. 8 that she will be retiring at the end of the month due to health challenges. Turner Pugh has battled Parkinson’s disease for over a decade.

Thompson was appointed by the council to fill the rest of Turner Pugh’s term, and will take the seat effective Nov. 1. She will hold the post until an election can be held, and has said she will not seek re-election.

Thompson is the pastor of Revelation Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus. She choked up after being sworn into office Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Gil McBride.

“I’m humbled and I’m honored,” Thompson said. “I thank God for positioning me in such a time like this.”

She had nothing but praise for Turner Pugh.

“She has wealth of knowledge, she has integrity, she is empowered, and I just want a little bit of what she has,” Thompson said.

Mayor Skip Henderson said he will miss having Turner Pugh’s wisdom on council.

“She has conducted herself with a fierce loyalty for her district without losing sight of the fact that her votes impacted citizens throughout this community,” he said. “And that’s tough, you ask any district councilor, that is a very, very difficult thing to do.”

District 9 at-large councilor Judy Thomas commended Turner Pugh on her work representing Columbus as president of the Georgia Municipal Association and representative to the ACCG and the National League of Cities.

“We appreciate all that you have done not only for the citizens of Columbus but for the citizens throughout the state of Georgia,” Thomas said.

Turner Pugh is a Carver High School and Columbus State University graduate. She worked 20 years at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia and 15 years with SunTrust Bank.

In 2007, she was named one of Georgia’s top public servants by Georgia Trend magazine.

The area she represented, District 4, stretches from Macon Road southwest to St. Marys Road.

District 6 Councilor Gary Allen was appointed by council to serve as mayor pro tem in light of her retirement.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Turner Pugh thanked the staff at the city for making her job easy, told the council to keep up the good work and had a word of advice for the citizens of the city.

“As long as you give from your heart, whatever you do on this council, the Lord will praise you for it,” Turner Pugh said to her fellow councilors. “As you continue to give to the city, make it the best place that we can live.”

She also warned them that Phenix City — which has re-branded its slogan to “Positively Phenix City” and announced last week plans for an event center off Colin Powell Parkway — could take opportunities from Columbus.

“If we have an opportunity to upgrade our facilities, such as the Trade Center hotel, parking garage or whatever, we need to take advantage of it because Columbus has a lot to offer outside agencies,” Turner Pugh said.

She also advised the citizens of Columbus not to take a proposed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax vote lightly. The vote is scheduled to take place Nov. 3, 2020, and the city is currently hosting its first set of public meetings on the tax.

“Look at what we’ve done with the previous SPLOST,” she said. “If you can find an instance where we didn’t do what we told you we was going to do, I want to know about it.”

Her last piece of business done, Turner Pugh said her goodbyes.

“This is history, and I’m signing off,” she said.