Mayor Jonathan McCollar started his third term, and Statesboro City Council's newest member and longest-serving current member both began new four-year terms with a swearing-in ceremony, 9 a.m. Tuesday at the beginning of the first council meeting of 2026.

Mayor Pro Tempore Shari Barr, now in the middle of her second four-year term as the council member from District 5, presided during that phase of the meeting. After she returned control to McCollar, he called for the selection of the mayor pro-tem, and the other council members re-elected Barr to a third two-year appointment in that role.

Judge Lorna Deloach of the Bulloch County Probate Court conducted the brief ceremonies for the swearing-in of McCollar, District 1 Councilmember Tangie Johnson and District 4 Councilmember John Riggs to continue in office.

Later in the meeting, which was a short one, the mayor made some remarks for the occasion.

"Starting off this year, I want us to continue to work together to move our community forward," McCollar said. "I think it's extremely important for us to kind of always keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing in our community is making sure that as we make progress we work not to leave too many folks behind."

When he went on to talk about poverty as a continuing challenge in Statesboro, he acknowledged that he was saying something he had said more than once during his previous eight years as mayor.

"Out of all the things we face within our community, that's the one thing we're going to have to continue to tackle, and I tell everyone this is not an overnight thing, this is something that we are definitely working to address within our community," McCollar said.

When he first took office at the beginning of 2018, Statesboro's poverty rate was 53%, he said, meaning that portion of residents were living in households with incomes below the federally defined poverty level.

"Today it's 37.2, but that number seems a little bit static," McCollar said Tuesday.  "That's still a high number; that's still a lot of folks that's still struggling within our community, and so we want to continue to keep those folks in mind, and as we build, let us  work to build infrastructure that that's going to help us be able to lift folks out of that condition."

Then he praised the current council members.

"Over the years we have faced a lot of difficult issues in our community, and these are folks I am proud to serve with," he said.

Progress in a continuing fight against poverty was also one of McCollar's campaign themes last year. He won 69% of the votes for re-election, over a challenger candidate in the election that concluded Nov. 4.

Tangie Johnson

District 1 Councilmember Tangie Reese Johnson also won a race against a challenger in last fall's election. But Johnson had previously, in 2024, won a special election to complete only the unexpired term of former District 1 member Phil Boyum through 2025.

So, what Johnson was sworn in for Tuesday is her first full, four-year term representing District 1. Although she didn't offer remarks from the dais during the meeting, Johnson talked to reporters afterward. One of her priorities, she said, is to promote greater availability of affordable housing.

"So, one of my major projects — as the mayor had talked about — was our poverty level,  but one thing that I also want to look forward to is tackling our housing affordability. … We have a  great project in District 2, but I would like to see some development also in District 1."

In its early stages, the city's Housing Rehabilitation Program focused especially in areas of Statesboro's westside, where District 2 is represented by Councilmember Paulette Chavers. But District 1, which Johnson represents, includes the northeastern and north-central parts of town.

Riggs' fifth term

While Johnson is the newest council member, District 4's John Riggs is the longest serving. Re-elected without opposition in 2025, he has served 16 years so far and is now starting a fifth four-year term.

Riggs' priority for the next few years is "seeing the projects that we have coming together, seeing them  come  to fruition, because … we've  got so many projects, from the Blue Mile to the Creek, a lot of new stuff that's being built," he told reporters.

"Public safety" also remains a top concern, he said, adding, "then again you could also umbrella that with poverty." Riggs has been outspoken in his support for the police and fire departments, on decisions such as budgeting for pay raises and equipment, throughout his tenure.

Mayor Pro Tem

Riggs made the motion to nominate Barr as mayor pro tem again, seconded by District 3 Councilmember Ginny Hendley and affirmed on a unanimous voice vote.

The mayor pro tempore exercises the duties of the mayor, including conducting meetings, when the mayor is absent, recused from an issue or unavailable. But unlike the mayor, who serves as policy leader and spokesperson for the city but has only a tiebreaker vote, the pro tem can cast regular votes as a council member while presiding.

"I'm looking forward to continuing the good work that's already been done and doing more for trees and our healthy local environment," Barr said Tuesday, also highlighting key concerns for which she is known.