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Editor’s Note: This feature was originally a part of the July edition of our LaGrange Living magazine. If you would like to pick up a copy of the LaGrange Living magazine, please visit our office at 115 Broad Suite 101 or if you would like to subscribe to the LaGrange Living magazine, please call us at 706-884-7311

When people say they were born and raised in LaGrange, they do so to show how much the city is a part of them. Jim Arrington may not have been born in LaGrange but few are more representative of the American dream the city has to offer.

Arrington was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. His father had nearly finished his four years in Vietnam and the family was headed back to LaGrange. Jim was born in May and they moved back to LaGrange a couple of months later in July of 1971.

“My parents lived here. They both graduated from LaGrange High School. My grandparents lived here before moving to Franklin,” Arrington said. “I’ve essentially lived here my whole life.”

Like his parents, Arrington graduated from LaGrange High as well, that’s where he met his wife, Cathy. They have a daughter, Abbey, and a son, Drew.

“We were high school sweethearts, and this year we’ll have been married 30 years,” he said.

The summer, straight out of high school, Arrington started working for a construction company. Having thoroughly enjoyed it, he quickly realized that’s what he wanted to do as a career.

“I had some great mentors who taught me and led me to what I am doing today. I remember one of the guys he would always tell me, ‘Granddaddy won’t always be here, you better learn as you better learn it,’” he said.

Jim did learn and ended up starting his own construction company in 1997, the year Abbey was born.

Arrington said the thing he likes about construction is starting a project, working on the project and seeing the finished project.

“Like when you start with nothing and then you end up with a house,” he said.  “Also just getting to talk and meet with all the customers and subcontractors. You build a lot of good relationships. It’s very rewarding.”

When asked why he chose to get into public service, Arrington said he was inspired after his mother passed away.

“In 2014, I lost my mom. We were at the church during the visitation before her funeral and we stayed there till the last person left. I stood in line for five hours waiting for people to come through to pay their respects realizing that she had touched so many people’s lives. It was at this point that I realized that there was more to life than just going to bed, waking up, going to work and coming home. There was more to life than just that. If she could touch that many people’s lives, I needed to figure out a way that I could make an impact. At that time, though, I didn’t really know what I was going to do,” Arrington said, noting that his mother’s passing and seeing all the people whose lives she touched is what eventually led him to run for city council and later mayor.

In 2018, Arrington won a seat on the LaGrange City Council. Knowing then-Mayor Jim Thornton was getting ready to resign, the two discussed him potentially running for mayor at some point.

When Thornton resigned to take a job with the Georgia Municipal Association, Arrington realized it was time for the next step but he also knew that his longtime friend and fellow council member Willie Edmondson would probably run as well.

“I called Edmondson because I figured he would probably run also. I called him and I said I’m just calling you to let you know that I’m thinking that I will run for mayor and he says, ‘Well, me too.’”

 The two then agreed to stay friends through the process, a rare thing in politics, but they managed to do so.

“He beat me, but it was only fitting that I ran again after his untimely passing. I just felt that I needed to run again. I hated the circumstances, but there was nothing we could do about that. We just had to continue on with city business and that’s just part of it,” Arrington said.

Arrington said his vision for LaGrange is to be a thriving city where people can enjoy quality of life.

“All people at this point, don’t enjoy a quality of life. You’ve got areas where people have a lot of violence and there’s a lot of crime. I want to work on those areas, most especially to try to get those areas to the point where people can enjoy life, where they can sit back on their front porches and just feel safe,” Arrington said. “We’re going to continue to support the police department, the fire department, give them the resources that they need to protect us and also protect themselves.”

Arrington said that to be successful, he’s got to make some headway and see some positive results with the violence in the city.

“I want to get our churches throughout the city involved in their community surrounding them,” Arrington said. “The city and the government can’t fix all these problems. The churches aren’t going to fix all of them either. But I think they’re going to have a better grasp on where the solutions are versus the government.”