Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About The Oglethorpe echo. (Crawford, Ga.) 1874-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2025)
Thursday, October 9, 2025 THE OGLETHORPE Echo Page 5 Lexington mayoral candidates speak about city’s issues JACK D. HOWARD MSI ESTATE SALE Collier- Howard House By Mia Fishman The Oglethorpe Echo Cory Crayton and Evelyn Reece, the candidates in Lexington’s non- partisan mayoral race, spoke to The Oglethorpe Echo about their views on key issues, such as city utilities, economic development and historic preservation. Comments have been edited for length and clarity. Cory Crayton Originally from Louisiana, Cory Crayton is the Chief Information Officer at MedLink Georgia and has worked in the in formation tech nology industry for more than 20 years. He holds a bachelor’s de gree in informa tion technolo gy from Georgia Gwinnett College and a master’s in cyber secu Cory Crayton rity from Penn State. Crayton’s ca reer has centered on healthcare and IT support. In addition to his role at MedLink Georgia, he serves on the Lexington City Council and Histor ic Preservation Board. He has lived in Georgia for 25 years, including the last five in Lexington. Q: What are your top three pri orities if elected mayor? A: I definitely want to contin ue the progress we’ve made in de veloping and redeveloping down- town. We’ve made a lot of prog ress with that, and I want to keep that momentum going, which leads into No. 2: to help attract more busi nesses and give people a reason to stop in Lexington and not just drive through, which in turn, can help the tax base, can help us provide ser vices to the citizens of Lexington. Q: City utilities have been a re curring concern in Lexington, from water quality to infrastruc ture maintenance. How would you address current challeng es and ensure the long-term sus tainability of the city’s utility sys tems? A: The water issue is an ongoing thing. That’s the thing that we have some initiatives coming out for here pretty soon. The water quali ty. There’s some infrastructure im provements that we need to make. Well, for those infrastructure im provements, you need capital. So, whether that’s grants, whether that’s tax-based, whether that’s increas ing rates — obviously, increasing rates — you don’t want to do that if you can avoid it. So, we try to find other avenues to get that revenue to improve the water quality. We do want to be one of the best, so there’s some things we need to do to put ourselves there. Q: What’s your vision for eco nomic development in Lexington? A: Attracting businesses to that downtown to some of these older buildings that aren’t being utilized to get some activity in them. It’s a charming little town, so people (are) intrigued by it, and people stop, but there’s really nothing to purchase, or there’s no commerce going on downtown, or not a lot, at least. Q: How do you balance the need for historic preservation with the push for modernization? A: You can modernize, while pre serving history and charm. (You) just don’t go through it with a sledgehammer and a chainsaw and just rip everything out. You just pay attention to the history of the build ings and to the surroundings. You want to keep it a charming little city, so it has that atmosphere, but (also) have the modern convenienc es and modern opportunities. Q: How can Lexington ensure new development benefits ev eryone, not just newcomers, but longtime residents? A: Everything requires resources. Any of the services we provide as a city, it requires resources to main tain and to do it to the level it needs to be done. Therefore, sales taxes are a good source for that. Well, to get sales tax, you need businesses that sell things in the city limits. So, that’ll benefit the current residents and long-term residents indirectly, and that we could provide the qual ity services that we want to provide and have been providing at no cost to them, so to speak. Lexington voting Early voting for the Lexington mayoral race is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 14-17 at 225 W. Main St. Saturday voting is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. Election Day voting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 4. Evelyn Reece % 5 Evelyn Reece A native of New Orleans, Eve lyn Reece comes from a long line of engineers, but found her call ing in cultural and resource man agement, with a focus on histor ic preservation, public service and ethics. She earned her asso ciate and bach elor’s degrees from Southeast ern Louisiana University and later completed a master’s in his toric preservation 400 Salem Church Road, Lexington, Oglethorpe Co. Friday, Oct. 17th & Saturday, Oct. 18th from 9:00 am- 4:00 pm Please visit EstateSales.net for more photos Historic location in our community - dating back to 1786 with addition/update in 1836 American Classical Furniture- 1820-1860 Oil Paintings & Art pieces - 18c & 19c Early Lighting Fixtures Fine Porcelain- Limoges, Haviland, T&V and at the University of Georgia. Since moving with her family from Ath ens to Lexington in 1998, Reece has worked as a consultant in the field. Q: What are your top three pri orities if elected mayor? A: There is a focus on downtown and the blight issues, and there’s been a lot of progress there. We’re seeing it come into beautiful fru ition. I really believe in govern ment transparency. I would really like to see the agendas and the min utes of the mayor and (city) coun cil, the Downtown Development Authority and the (Historic) Preser vation Commission available online so citizens know what’s going on. I want it to be a lot more welcoming and friendly when people come to the meetings. It’s not always really felt that way. Our zoning ordinance hasn’t been updated in nearly 40 years. I would really like to make sure that we have things in place that will allow businesses to thrive. Q: City utilities have been a re curring concern in Lexington, from water quality to infrastruc ture maintenance. How would you address current challeng es and ensure the long-term sus tainability of the city’s utility sys tems? A: First, we’ve had an ongoing issue with traffic calming. We’re on Highway 78 and people are running into our buildings. In order for busi nesses downtown to make it, it has to feel safe, it has to be pedestrian friendly. As far as the water goes, we’re blessed with our location, but at the same time, we have built- in challenges with our granite sub strate and radon. I believe there will be funding sources to make serious improvements there. Q: What’s your vision for eco nomic development in Lexington? A: Economic development is business, and we need businesses downtown. These blighted build ings are starting to come on into sound repair where businesses can go in. I believe it’s really import ant for the city to sort of back, not just the punitive aspects, but to re ward those aspects and help busi nesses come to town. We’ve kind of laid the important groundwork, and the city needs to step up to the plate with the various organizations — the Downtown Development Au thority, the city council — to reward those efforts with things that will at tract businesses here. Q: How do you balance the need for historic preservation with the push for modernization? A: I’m really big on getting through as efficiently as possible. Whatever public requirements are to get in place, and then just getting to the point where you can break ground. It’s really important, but I don’t think people should feel in timidated. Lexington is just one big historic site. To me, this is our big gest asset, and that asset needs to be leveraged into heritage tourism. Q: How can Lexington ensure new development benefits ev eryone, not just newcomers, but longtime residents? A: I think the most important thing is to know what people want, to know what their biggest concerns are as far as development goes. I would really like to see housing stock and commercial buildings be improved first before we feel the need to sort of do new construction. L> more - Vases, Platters, Bowls, & serving pieces Waterford Crystal collection Fine China- Mrs. William Lycett collection English Ceramics - Wedgewood collection Pottery collection - 19c pieces, Michael Simon, plus more Cloisonne collection Rugs Gone w the Wind collectibles Southern Railway collectibles Lawn equipment Tools - Yard & Hand This description is just a small sample of this estate's collections. Many items are not listed. Please come for the experience of this landmark! Field Of Worship October 10th - 12th 4PM - 10PM 1085 Crawford Smithonia Road Crawford, GA Bottle water provided. Bring your own snacks, blankets, lawn chairs, and worship Jesus, the Lamb of God. ** Baptism will be available ** Sponsored by the Upper Room Athens Email: nowalls@mail.com 706-590-3146
