Bibb County names first neighborhood program coordinator, launches 'Making Good Neighbors' initiative

Jerry Battle, Bibb County’s newly hired neighborhood program coordinator, said his job is to act as a consistent liaison between residents and county departments and to concentrate limited resources on one neighborhood at a time. “My ultimate goal is to make each community in [Bibb County] self‑sustainable,” Battle said on the county’s podcast.

Battle described the initiative, called Making Good Neighbors, as a targeted program that brings county departments together to address specific local requests — from trash pickup and lighting to playground repairs — and then helps neighborhoods maintain improvements. He described Kings Park as his first focus area, where county staff worked with a neighborhood association and local officials to clear blight, add street lighting and organize regular cleanups.

The program emphasizes listening, Battle said: he attends association meetings, documents residents’ priorities and coordinates with department heads such as Alex Morrison and County Manager Dr. Keith Moffet to expedite work. Battle said the role does not replace existing departmental responsibilities but aims to make it easier for residents to know who to contact; he pointed to ClickFix and other established channels as tools many residents do not yet know how to use.

Battle also detailed partnerships and youth outreach tied to the initiative, including a reading program with Central Georgia Technical College and participation in school ‘walking bus’ efforts. He said the county will try to bolster neighborhood associations so they can pursue independent 501(c)(3) status and sustain local programs.

Hosts said Making Good Neighbors will roll out in phases: starting with Kings Park, then Unionville, and later other neighborhoods that were named on-air (one neighborhood was pronounced as "Pain City" in the recording). The podcast described scheduled cleanups and regular curbside pickups coordinated with the Solid Waste Department.

For residents who want the coordinator to visit a meeting, the podcast read an email address aloud and the hosts said contact information and episode notes would be posted in the show’s newsletter and episode page. The hosts urged listeners to attend neighborhood association meetings and to report issues so county staff can respond.

The episode closed with the hosts promising ongoing updates as Making Good Neighbors is implemented. No formal vote or ordinance was announced on the podcast; the program was presented as an administrative rollout and community-engagement effort.