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have transformed Turner’s perspective of the city and his hopes for the city’s future. “I view Vidalia as a hub for business because other counties around us have people to come to Vidalia for business,” he remarked. “I think the more that we can improve, the more it will help people to come here more. It will help the city and the citizens because tax money coming in to help will keep them from having to go up on property taxes.”
Turner continued, ”I’d like to see the golf course coming back; we are finally going to have a place locally that people can go to play golf and high school students can practice. One day, I would like to see the airport continue to grow. We have a really busy airport, and at one time, had a shuttle that ran from Vidalia to Savannah for the airports. Hopefully, one day, we can get that going again, and people will be able to fly from here to Atlanta or here to Savannah – that would be very good.”
Ultimately, it was these projects and hopes that have kept Turner coming back to serve on the council. “It gets in your blood – there’s always something that just makes you want to keep going,” he emphasized. “Right now, the reason why I actually remained for another term is we have a lot of projects that are coming up. We need somebody there that already knows the ins and outs of what’s going on, and that’s what I’m there for.”
Yet, Turner said he is prepared to hang up his hat after this term, as he hopes that the citizens know how devoted he was to his duty. “I would hope that people see me as having dedicated myself to the betterment of Vidalia, to making sure that Vidalia is equal to any other city our size, and that we’ve done what we needed to do for the citizens and to improving the city,” he emphasized.
Turner currently has three years left in his term, which will be completed in 2027. Until then, he plans to continue doing exactly what he has done for the past 40 years: serving the people of Vidalia.
FOUR MAYORS — During Turner’s 11 terms on the Vidalia City Council, he worked with 4 different mayors, all of whom he said he respected. W. Norwood Rhodes was the mayor when Turner was elected in 1982.
SERVING THE PUBLIC – Turner said that the best way to approach serving the public is to work with the good of all citizens in mind.
