WARNER ROBINS, Ga.-- After a tight run-off election, Warner Robins has a historic new mayor.
LaRhonda Patrick is the first woman and the first person of color to be elected as Mayor of Warner Robins. At 38 years old, she’s also the youngest, and she says she wants to continue breaking the norm.
“I’m interested in getting back to the basics. Getting back to the basics of public service because elected offices are offices of public service. So, getting back to community and transparency and public service," said Patrick.
Not only is LaRhonda Patrick the first woman and the first Black person to be elected as Mayor of Warner Robins, but she did it by unseating the incumbent.
Mayor Randy Toms lost by less than 400 votes.
Toms has been in hot water since his office was hit with half a million dollars in fines from the IRS. He says the public response to what happened was nothing but an attack by Patrick.
"I've heard Mayor Toms say that I've misinformed and led people astray. So, my question is: please tell me how I did that."
Now that she’s in office, she says there are plenty of things to fix, including the city's tax lien and levies from the IRS, and the city's gas distribution.
"We also lost the management of our gas, so we have to pay a third party to do it for us," said Patrick. "That costs us 2 million dollars a year in money that we don't make back in service fees."
Patrick is a Warner Robins native and an Air Force brat. Her father has been stationed at Robins Air force base since 1994.
"Robins Air Force Base, that is the heart of our city. Like it or not. I’m a huge supporter of our military. I respect our veterans, and I’m looking forward to working with Robins Air Force base instead of acting like we’re two pieces of a puzzle that don’t match.”
She’s never held an office before, but she says she’s perfectly qualified.
Patrick has a political science degree from Georgia State University and a Law degree from North Carolina Central University. She’s also the attorney and solicitor for the city of Fort Valley.
She says she was motivated to run against Toms after seeing too many things go wrong in his administration.
“With the challenges we’re facing, we really want someone who is competent to lead us through.”
At the top of her priority list: reducing the crime rate.
"We’ve got to make sure our police department is no longer underfunded. We’ve got to make sure they have all the tools they need to make sure our community stays safe at all times."
She also says she wants to expand the city center and create more community engagement.
She takes her seat in office on January 1.
Once she’s there, she says she wants to inspire more women and people of color to do the same.
“I did it and you can too.”
Mayor-elect Patrick says the very first thing she wants to do as Mayor is meet with everyone who works for the city, in an effort to move forward as a team.