Brooks Snider is running for the Milledgeville City Council District 2 seat.
Snider has lived in Baldwin County for 60 years and in District 2 for 25 years. He recognizes a need to achieve more for his district, improve city and county relations, work on the city council’s transparency and the sharing of knowledge between council and county members, and offer a voice to his community.
“I regularly attend council meetings in-person and over the last two-and-a-half to three years, I have been mentored by current District 2 council member Jeanette Walden to better understand how our city body works and what our district needs,” said Snider.
Snider has worked at Central State Hospital for 29 years as a Recovery Planning Team facilitator in Developmental Disabilities and Forensic Mental Health, has served on the Georgia Military College Board of Trustees for four years, and conducts business on the south side of Milledgeville to support local businesses and give back to the community.
“I recognize several areas of growth for our district including the growth of industry, increasing youth access jobs, improving community safety, water and sewer line developments, and more,” said Snider.
Snider is also concerned that there is not enough city involvement with the development of the Central State Hospital campus.
“There has not seemed to be much progress and the progress that has occurred has had conflict attached to it,” said Snider. “That is land that can be used to create business and jobs and I want to understand the problem of why goals for the campus are not being met.”
Snider said to begin to solve these problems he wants to bridge a connection between the county and city to tackle issues that impact the greater community. He has already spoken with current commissioners to begin that process.
“I want to start by learning directly from our council on what their goals have been and what has been done. Then, I want to meet with county commissioners and our city to partner to solve issues that affect both our county and city and to work together and propose solutions that may help us individually as well,” said Snider.
Snider stated that he agreed with the concerns and transparency brought up during the discussion of the “The Milledgeville Transparency and Accountability Act” proposed by Council Member Walter Reynolds. If elected, he would like to bring the discussion of enacting that act or something similar to council again.
“I also believe in improving transparency,” said Snider. “There are projects in process that are mentioned in council meetings but not addressed enough for citizens to be informed. I believe there could be more transparency in the budgeting process and on the voting, attendance, and other matters related to the individual council member. I don’t believe it's redundant to what the city ethics already say and there are ways to make information more accessible to the public.”
Snider also shared he has concerns about the loss of grants and potential projects due to the city not having the proper staff.
“I would also like to work to achieve a city grant writer because I believe we missed out on federal funds by not having one. I also believe having a supervisor over business proposals and such items would be beneficial to the city, rather than putting it on the city manager’s plate,” said Snider.
“It would help to divide these jobs and have an expert, rather than one or more people trying to manage on top of their usual duties.”
Snider believes District 2 has potential for growth, development, and change, alongside greater improvements that can be made to impact not only Milledgeville but Baldwin County by creating two bodies that work together. To learn more about Snider or inquire about his vision for District 2, call 478-234-3965 or email brookssniderdistrict2@gmail.com.