Breault endorses Cogle in mayor’s race runoff

Trial attorney and third place finisher in the Columbus Mayors race, Chris Breault, has endorsed Joanne Cogle for mayor.

In a very direct social media post, Breault revealed the “why” behind his decision.

According to Breault, “Mr. Hugley is a nice older man, and I met him and shook his hand after all of the Debates. He is a nice fellow, but I don’t believe he will do much to change the trajectory of the City of Columbus.  Our parks suck, our roads suck, the city looks like s**t.  The City Government doesn’t maintain anything. They kept the pools closed for eight years and then blame the kids for getting in trouble when they have nothing to do.  We don’t have one working water fountain at any of the parks in the entire City of Columbus.

All of that is Mr. Hugley’s fault.  He collected a $200,000+ a year salary as the City Manager, the MOST POWERFUL person in the City Government, and did a mediocre job running things.  The City Manager has the power to hire and fire the heads of ALL city departments and ALL employees of the City Government.  We have a “weak mayor system” where only the City Manager, NOT THE MAYOR (like in most cities) can hire or fire the people in charge of keeping up our roads, parks, infrastructure, trash collection, etc.  Hugley had all that POWER for TWENTY-ONE (21) years and didn’t get the job done.

Other cities across Georgia run better, look better and provide a much-higher Quality of Life than Columbus under Hugley—I’ve seen it with my own eyes all across the state.  The Columbus of today is a worse place than the Columbus of 20 years ago. The city is in decline:  The employers are leaving, the progress is lacking, and things aren’t getting better.  The outcomes for children are worse, and it’s been that way for a long time.

We need “New Blood.”  New Ideas, New Energy.  You are not going to get that with Hugley.

That’s why I’m voting for Cogle. With Hugley, you know you are going to get the same-old slow, backwards, good ole boy Columbus, GA.  With Cogle, at least you have a chance of getting something different.  She’s not from Columbus and that’s a GREAT thing.  If she sucks, then we vote her out in 4 years.  We already know Hugley sucks.  That’s why I’m voting for Cogle.”

Another candidate in the mayor’s race, Steve Kelly, also endorsed Cogle. Jaketra Bryant and Mark LaJoye are not supporting either candidate.

Early voting starts today June 8 and runs until this Friday, June 12. The last day to vote is next Tuesday, Election Day, June 16.