Fallon Harris running for Valdosta mayor's post

Oct. 28—Editor's note: This article has been changed from its original version. Early voting will take place 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. this week.

VALDOSTA — Fallon Harris is one of three candidates striving for the City of Valdosta mayor seat.

Election Day will be Nov. 7 at voters' assigned polling places, but early voting will continue 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, at the Lowndes County Board of Elections, 2808 N. Oak St.

Harris is a multi-faceted business owner, day-care provider and mentor leader in Valdosta. She is a graduate of Valdosta High School and has operated her day-care Baby Love Daycare and Learning Center here for 21 years.

She sat with The Valdosta Daily Times Monday morning to share her vision for the City of Valdosta.

She said that, if elected, she wants to structure communication and improve unity within the community. She said she's always felt the call to lead, but an incident with her son, Travis Graham Jr., in 2020 pushed her into the mayoral race.

When asked what inspired her to run for the position Harris said, "My son. A horrific terrifying event, words can't express what happened to my child. He was 20 years old."

The incident Harris refers to is a 2020 Fourth of July weekend shooting that claimed the life of a Cook County teen in Valdosta. Graham was identified as the sole suspect and convicted to life without parole.

"Valdosta is stating that if you are a citizen, a resident or homeowner that you have no rights. People can come in and do whatever they want to you and you either die or get hurt. That has to stop," she said.

This occurrence also drives her passion to participate in local government and implement initiatives like a gun or weapons buy-back program where individuals throughout the city can go to a neutral location like a pawn shop to turn in weapons without incident or stipulations.

"I'm running not just for my son because the incident is what pushed me there but because the community needs help. As a community we have no voice. It is time that if you are mayor, the community should be a part of that. You should be a part of the decision making. You should know the budgets. You should know outlines and the plans for the city and when functional things are going on within the city," she said.

Harris's major focus for the seat is to bring more jobs and opportunities for children.

"We should be doing more things for these kids. In the midst of this, we're losing a lot of kids. These guns, we need to do something about that. We need to buy them back. That's something I would even make a standard in the city. I would call it 'Buy Them Back for Guns,'" she explained. "The city spends so much money on everything else. Why not spend it on saving someone's life? Buy the guns back off the street."

She said this program would also give individuals the chance to recover property that was stolen and take guns from children who are in possession of weapons.

"That's what I'm trying to do: Save the community. Make [the] Azalea City what it's meant to be, a great hometown of Valdosta. The community is my most important thing," Harris said.

As a method to improve communication to local residents, Harris expressed a need to host public forums. She acknowledged that everyone does not or would not be able to attend scheduled city council meetings.

She also wants to create a public community center that will have mentoring or apprentice groups that are not primarily focused on sports. Some topics would be financial literacy, business and technical trades.

"We have community centers, yes. Anything that we have is formed around sports. All children are not into sports. I think that we should have a community center that has classes that they could learn about entrepreneurship," Harris said. "Let them see what they can do. Let's see the talent of Valdosta."

She referred to launching more programs like SIS — Sisters in School — where young mothers who are still in school can take their children to her for day care as long as they maintain their GPA. Mothers continue to learn etiquette and nurturing skills under her guidance. Her second mentoring program for young men is called BROS — Brothers Refining Others.

Lastly, she wants to provide assistance to the elderly like a Meals on Wheels program or more transit help or community check-ups.

"It's time for a change," Harris concluded. "Just vote."