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Incumbent Mandy Neese is being challenged by political newcomer Bridget Phillips in the Hogansville City Council Post 3 race.

Phillips said she was excited to qualify for the race.

“It feels pretty good to qualify. This will be something different for me and will get me out of my comfort zone, but I actually feel pretty good about it. I’m looking forward to what’s to come and hopefully victory in the end, but we’ll see,” Phillips said.

Upon deciding to run for city council, Phillips said she wanted to bring a positive change to her hometown.

“I’ve been here all my life and I think the city needs a change. I feel like I have a voice that can represent all of the people of Hogansville, not just a certain group of people but the entire city,” Philips said. “I feel I can be one of the voices that will help keep the city and the citizens up to speed as far as what’s going on in the city and what is to come for the city.”

Phillips is a reference clerk at Callaway High School and has a background in law enforcement,

Neese said she is excited and willing to serve the city again as the city councilwoman for post three. When she’s not in office, Neese is the vice president of Atlanta Paving and Concrete, where she helps build highways and airports.

“I think that we made good progress in the last four years even though we’ve had some serious hurdles between COVID and other stuff. I think there’s a lot of unfinished business, and I’d love for the opportunity to see it through,” Neese said.

If she is reelected, Neese said she wants to focus on fixing the city’s utilities and catching up on how they are spending GDOT funds.

“We have a lot of roads that are in a state of disrepair, and I’m working really hard with the city manager and GDOT to try to find additional funds to work on getting some of these roads in better condition and working with our engineers on some of our projects so that people can have streets that are safer and functional,” Neese said.

“I think that the city’s budget is in good order and that to me is probably the biggest accomplishment that we made over the past few years. We have so many new citizens and people investing in Hogansville that it’s only appropriate that we try to find the best way to spend the money to provide services that people want. We have a lot of things that need to be repaired but then we have a lot of things that can happen for the citizens that they want to see like more park space, more community-driven facilities, better playgrounds and such. We’re trying to work with Troup Recreation on how to replace some of those and keep things to a standard that people expect to see.”

Philips said if elected she’d want to advocate for mentorship in Hogansville.

“If elected, I’d hope to bring some mentorship to the city for our youth. We want to keep them out of the streets and have activities for them to do out of school and for the summer. The kids are our future. So, mentorship would be one thing that I would advocate for if elected,” Phillips said.

Phillips encourages voters to get out and vote if they want to see genuine change in their community.

“Change doesn’t happen from the sofa or the bed, you have to get out and be about the change. So if you want change, you have to be about it. Get registered vote and go vote if you want your voice heard,” Phillips said.

Neese said she moved to Hogansville six years ago, she had no intention of getting involved in the city but is proud to have become a public servant.

“When you realize what a public servant is supposed to be, they are supposed to be someone who has a skill set that they’re willing to volunteer to represent their community. If you have a skill set that is useful and can provide insight that helps the city, then I think that’s something that has to be looked at. I’m well educated and have knowledge from running a $100 million business and that allows me to look at many different things, on top of the fact that I come from an engineering background,” Neese said.