On Nov. 7, Pooler voters casted their ballots and elected Karen Williams as the city’s next mayor. Her victory came by a significant margin, receiving 1,932 votes over her opponents, Stevie Wall who received 999 votes and Tony Davis who received 414.

“I’ve always had a passion for the community, especially as a military spouse and having traveled across the nation, I have always had the ambition to make sure that I give back whenever I can. So it’s a no-brainer that running for mayor is a part of my journey to being able to provide for my friends and family here in Pooler,” Williams said of her victory.

“We have had four generations of family living here in Pooler, and it’s truly, my neighbors, friends, and partnerships I’ve learned along the way that has inspired my decision to be mayor.” 

“We need to truly hear the concerns of our people, and not just what we as a council want to fix. Nothing should be cookie-cutter for our community. It needs to come from the homes of those who were voting for us.”

When asked about what’s first on her list, she said, “The first thing that I’m going to tackle as Pooler’s mayor is making sure that there is transparency and accessibility to our meetings. It is imperative that people know about our online livestream, whenever we have council meetings. And it is imperative that we start sharing more.”

“I’m most excited about finally giving accessibility and integrity to the people of Pooler, to be able to express their concerns. It is time that we start opening up our doors to have open availability for people in our community to come in and bring new items that are priority that we may not know about.”

To her supporters, she was thankful. “I want to thank everybody who has been there for me before the journey of becoming Pooler’s mayor. I want to thank everybody for believing in me, and for God for positioning me in this place to be able to serve everyone. I also want to make sure that I thank my family for always being the cornerstones of my strength, and I want to thank my friends who have sacrificed their personal lives to be able to ensure that there is a better future for Pooler. Everyone’s efforts matter so much to me, and truly before we even knew about the result, I cared deeply about everybody’s contribution. Their efforts will be something that I will never forget.”  

This article appears in Connect Savannah | November, 2023.