Mathis reflects on service as Lee Commission chairman

LEESBURG — For Billy Mathis, politics and public service are simple matters.

“You can be reactionary or visionary,” Mathis, the current Lee County Commission chairman who will step down from that post with the start of the new year, said as he reflected on his service to the community.

Mathis was part of the commission that, at the end of the 1990s decided to “step off a financial cliff” and allocate funding that would, in a short period of time, remake Lee County and Leesburg, turning what had been a farming/bedroom community for adjacent Dougherty County into one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and the nation.

“That was a visionary group,” Mathis said of the commission made up of himself, Cynthia Cannon, John Leach, James Mays and Jackie McCorkle. “The group — and officials with our School Board like Dr. Robert Clay, Martha Dye, Opal Cannon and others — took some bold steps to move our community forward.

“Really, what happened was an incredibly bold move. That group voted to buy up all the various little water systems in the county, to build a water treatment plant, to create a Utilities Authority. Essentially, that group voted to spend $25 million on what was then a $9 million budget. But if it hadn’t been done, Lee County wouldn’t be where it is today.”

Where Lee County is today is at its best financial position in the county’s history, Mathis said. The county has a $22 million fund balance, more than doubling in the past few years.

That, in a nutshell, is why Mathis, after five years as chairman of the Lee board, is stepping down from that position, planning to serve out the final three years of his current term as one of the board’s five members. That group will select a new chairman, as it does each year, at its first meeting of the new year.

“I am very proud of what we’ve built in Lee County,” Mathis said. “We’ve built something special here. And to have been part of helping turn this sleepy little ag community into one of the fastest-growing counties in the country is pretty special.”

Mathis is on his second go-around with the Lee Board. He first ran for office in 1999 and served two four-year terms before stepping down from his position. After eight years away from politics, he ran again and is now in his fifth four-year term. He was chosen to serve as chairman five years ago.

“My initial decision to run was just out of a sense of public service,” Mathis said. “For instance, the first thing that really struck me was the fact that we had an all-volunteer fire department, which left our citizens in danger. So my first campaign promise was to update our fire service. It’s taken 25 years — one of the things I’ve learned over the years is that in politics, sometimes you have to be patient — but now we have one of the best fire departments in the state.

“Everyone on our staff is cross-trained (in fire and EMT skills), and we have a ‘2’ ISO rating throughout most of the county.”

In addition to the water treatment plant, united water system and Utilities Authority, Mathis said Lee County currently has a new 911 system (which was the first in the state to offer 911 texting capability), an all-new ambulance fleet, a new radio system for first responders, and “anything our Sheriff’s Department needs” to combat crime in the community.

“There are a lot of good things in our community the public doesn’t necessarily know about that we’ve done to improve our quality of life,” Mathis said. “But one thing they do know is that safety comes first.

“Our County Attorney, Jimmy Skipper, who works with a lot of different governments has told me, ‘Where other (governments) have problems, you guys have challenges. I haven’t seen anything like that anywhere else.’ I have this saying that ‘Lee County is not perfect, but we sure try to be.’”

And so, how does his decision to step down from the chairman’s post affect Mathis’ future political plans?

“I really haven’t thought about that,” the Albany-based attorney said. “Three years is a long time; a lot can happen between now and then. We’ll just see where we are when this term is up.”

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