Here are Liberty County's winners of an essay contest held in conjunction with Georgia Cities Week.

First place, Dajah Bacon, Midway Middle School

If I were mayor, a lot would change. I would try to fix all the mess that is going on in our community and in the street. In the community I live in, I would try to bring gas stations because we have to drive so far to get gas. I would also like to have more places for the children to go and enjoy themselves. This will help them to stay out of trouble.
Another idea I am concerned with is the amount of trash on the side of the road. When I see all the trash on the side of the road, I wonder why people do that to our environment. The pieces of trash you throw on the ground can hurt our environment tremendously.
If I were mayor, I would get all the young people together to help keep our community clean and safe to play. Then I would make a recycling program for our community. The recycling will encourage the town to get environmental.
If we as a community come together, we can make a big difference. If I were mayor, our ideas can come a long way if we just believe.

Second place, Julia Hedrick, Midway Middle

If I were mayor, I would create new opportunities for the city and citizens. Firstly, the mayor should work with council to decide how the city’s moneys should be allocated. Then, ordinances would be enacted to make the city safe and to attract new businesses to the area. Also, hiring the most qualified and well-trained people to staff the city government positions would be a priority. It would be my objective to create a city park with a playground to enhance family and business growth.
By working with the council, I would help to determine how money should be spent. In a city budget, the funds must pay bills, pay employees’ salaries, and must be used to buy items to make the city a better place to live. For instance, playground equipment must be researched and purchased with tax monies. Land for city parks should be investigated and purchased.
Ordinances would be created to attract businesses. Enacting speeding ordinances around parks and installing sidewalks and crosswalks would enhance safety for citizens. Litter and smoking ordinances would encourage a healthier community for current and future generations. To ensure the city stays safe and a place where people want to work and live, the mayor should work with the council in determining a budget that provides for a well-trained police force, fire fighting program, and benefits for employees.
Applying for grants would also be a priority. State and federal grants could supplement taxpayers’ commitment to the community by providing additional monies for any numbers of needs; such as playground equipment, or other needed park equipment, maintenance of transportation systems (roads, sidewalks, or other building needs), and technology, food, and teaching alternatives for the improvement of schools.
If I were mayor, these are areas that I believe are responsible concern on which I would take action. Safer, happier neighborhoods could be achieved by using tax dollars more wisely. Encouraging business opportunities would promote the benefits of living in our city, and it is the job of the mayor to encourage financial, healthy, and safe growth in our area.

Third place, Jakobi Smith, Snelson-Golden Middle

If I were mayor, I would bring more good jobs to Hinesville. Studies say by bringing more jobs to the area, there could be a change in the economy. Bringing in more jobs could also help the population increase. Also with the job increase in Hinesville, it would help build more places to go. While we’re at it, let’s make Hinesville happier and better. Some of our places are considered to be fun, and others are not, so people in the area are not very happy. By making Hinesville beautiful we could attract jobs here. Let’s make Hinesville a place where everyone talks about going.
All in all, our economy is not looking very good right now. There are no jobs and people are not buying anything. The key to making the economy better is to get more jobs so people can buy stuff so that money goes back in the economic system. We, the citizens, help the economy. But there is no one helping us. I know our economy cannot be perfect, but we can at least try to make it better.
Without a doubt, more jobs would make people start rushing in. They would also bring their children along, which all ties back to jobs. There would need to be more schools built and the people that would be building the schools are considered to have a job, right? Our population would increase greatly. There would need to be more jobs created for housing, security, and etc. There’s just a whole list of things we need jobs for! Our population is already decreasing because there are no jobs. Let’s bring in more jobs to change that.
Obviously Hinesville is kind of boring. We don’t have anything. We need more skating rinks, adult places, and things like that. There’s nowhere to go. I know you’re saying how do jobs relate to things. However we need people to build those places and we also need people to work in those places. Everybody likes to have fun. There are two ways people are going to be happy with the new places that people built with JOBS. They are either going to be enjoying themselves or they’re going to be working and getting a paycheck. You want your citizens to be happy, right?
With everything I said in mind, let’s think about it. We could help the economy. We could help the population increase. We could make Hinesville a happy and fun place. I know you’re saying this little girl does not understand how much money that would take. However you have to lose something to get something. Just keep that in mind. With more jobs we’re going to make Hinesville a place where everyone talks about going to.