Normandy Journals
Nora Wilson
Sep 23, 2025
I wrote this story to give audiences a well-rounded perspective of the ways in which Mayor Girtz serves the city of Athens, and areas where his policies and approaches could improve. This story's newsworthiness comes from the fact that the seat for mayor is up for election this coming May and the four candidates who are running have varied methods of political action which differ from Mayor Girtz's.
From fully staffed police departments to targeted crime prevention strategies, Athens-Clarke County is transforming public safety, with a record zero murders reported by the police department so far this year, as well as significant reductions in aggravated assault and burglary, Mayor Kelly Girtz explained in a detailed news conference on Tuesday.
Mayor Kelly Girtz of Athens-Clarke County discussed public safety improvements during a press conference at Athens City Hall on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, highlighting the first time in 20 years that all certified police officer positions were filled. The mayor also emphasized preventative measures to avoid crime, including neighborhood leaders and youth development programs as well as improvements to Athens’ housing market for low income citizens.
Part of the reason for the recent success of the Athens Clarke County police department is due to their collaboration with other local police departments. Mayor Girtz spoke about how closely Athens-Clarke County police works with the University of Georgia’s police department during high population density events such as college football games through operation centers. He also discussed a career program within the Athens-Clarke County police department that allows police officers from other jurisdictions like Atlanta or Jackson County to move to the Athens department without losing credit for their previous years of service.
While discussing the city’s policing, Mayor Girtz said that coordinated efforts with the UGA police department quickens response time after criminal activity has occurred and provides access to a wide range of resources, such as public and private cameras, that aid in swiftly resolving crimes similar to the shooting that took place in Five Points two years ago.
Beyond quality policing, the mayor also stressed that Athens’ primary tactic to keeping crime out of its city are preventative efforts. Among the most prominent of these preventative efforts are Athens’ Neighborhood Leaders and Quality Housing programs. Through partnering with Family Connection Communities, Neighborhood Leaders assist in community planning and supply expertise around topics like education, public health, and career building to low income communities within Athens and “are the most important on-the-ground education providers,” to families in Athens-Clarke County according to Tim Johnson, FC-CIS Executive Director.
“When you increase your nonprofit community in any city of our scale, you’re going to see a commensurate reduction in crime,” Mayor Girtz said. “It’s because children, families, and working folks have their needs taken care of, and they’re not traumatized and they’re not desperate, and they don't get into criminally active situations.”
A question that still remains unanswered: What happens to these programs upholding the low income Athens community when their federal funding is pulled?
By October of 2026, social programs such as SNAP benefits and Quality Housing projects will no longer be funded on the federal level. This leaves programs that aid in generational crime prevention within Athens vulnerable–and the people who rely on them even more so–towards criminal activity.
“I don’t think that there’s good enough analysis yet of exactly what the county impact is,” Mayor Girtz responded when asked about potential solutions Athens-Clarke County has for the coming years. “I just find that it’s our responsibility to make sure that if we're in a new environment, that we’re bringing the tools for that new environment necessary.”