Gray’s mayor pro tem is seeking another term in the office, which would be his second full term, although he has been in office since 2018.
In an Aug. 1 interview, James Collins talked about how he came to live in Gray, his accomplishments to date and his hope for the future of the city. He is from Columbia, South Carolina, and moved to Georgia in 2012 for his job at GEICO.
Collins said he lived in Macon for the first two years but discovered Gray after being invited to a barbecue at the home of a co-worker who lived here.
“This felt like a good place to live and raise a family,” he said.
The mayor pro tem is married to wife Kayla, and they have two sons, Mason and Braden. The family moved to Gray in 2014. Kayla currently works as a parapro with the Jones County School System.
His first experience in local politics was in 2017. Collins ran for mayor against Ed Barbee. When Kema Clark unexpectedly resigned from the office of mayor pro tem in May of 2018, Collins ran unopposed and took office in November of 2018.
Collins successfully ran for re-election in 2021 with opposition from Rick Tipton.
The mayor pro tem lists Gray becoming a Second Amendment Sanctuary City as an accomplishment for his first term. He said he was proud of being part of the previous Special Local Option Sales Tax negotiations in 2019.
“I feel like we have built on the continued cooperation and willingness to work with the county during this year’s negotiations,” he said. “We are doing what’s best for all of us.”
While serving on council, he has developed good relationships with members of the Jones County Board of Commissioners, and he is proud of that.
Collins said during his first term he has been active in his support of building downtown Gray, including being the chairman of the downtown design review committee. He spearheaded the brewery legislation for the city and worked to expand employee benefits.
“For my next term, I would still like to see an update of the city charter and discuss council term limits,” he said.
The mayor pro tem said he also wants to bring back the idea of tying the salaries of council members to their attendance at meetings.
“As always, I continue to support proper growth to maintain a vibrant city. Success brings growth,” he said. “If we are not growing, we are dying.”
In addition to being a council member, he served four years as the president of the Jones County Republican Party.
Collins said he feels it is important to be involved in order to make sure the community is safe and successful. He said that is even more important as a father and is his motivation for running for office.
“I still love being part of this community, and I truly enjoy being mayor pro tem,” he said.
