COVINGTON, Ga. — Covington city mayor Steve Horton announced earlier this year that he would not seek a second term in office. Therefore, he is entering the last few months in his current capacity. 

Horton shared his favorite aspects of serving the city as mayor.

“The best part [about being mayor] is I get to see and visit with diverse groups of people in our city. Our citizens come from many backgrounds and we have a large diverse business and industrial workforce,” Horton said. “Whether it is hotels or commercial retail business, our industrial sites allowed me to meet with those people on a regular basis and talk to them about things that are important to them.”

Horton was no stranger to city government prior to being elected mayor in 2019, though. 

Horton began his 35 years of service to the city of Covington by being a patrolman in the police department. 

After becoming a Lieutenant, he became a lineman before being promoted to safety risk manager for all of Covington.

During his time in Covington, Horton has also held positions such as the police chief, public works director, deputy city manager and city manager.

“I had a lot of operational knowledge about local government and a lot of institutional knowledge about the city of Covington,” Horton said. “I would like to say it was my initial thought to run for mayor but I had a lot of people come up to me and encourage me to run because they felt it would be good for the community.”

Before starting his career, Horton graduated from Newton County High School — he was in the last graduating class that the school had.

Looking back on his first three years as mayor for Covington, Horton remembered many moments when deciding what his favorite moment during his time as mayor has been. 

For Horton, no other moment shines over the city coming together after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The first Fourth of July downtown fireworks celebration that we had after [COVID] was more emotional for me than any of the others,” Horton said. “Being mayor and seeing what everyone had to go through and seeing all those people turnout. People of diverse backgrounds, people of diverse races, adults and children, they were out there in unison conversing and laughing.”

After spending his first two years as mayor helping the city through a pandemic, Horton found himself at a loss of words recanting what that night meant for him and the city.

“There were kids playing in the street, people dancing in the street. That right there is a sharp topper for emotions as a mayor looking at the community after what we just been so deeply in the throes of,” Horton said. “To be able to see everyone, just in the moment. They were just in the moment so happy to be around one another and that is the picture of a true community.”

Despite the responsibilities and tasks that come with being mayor, Horton prioritizes making sure he can spend time with his family.

“My wife and I have two grandchildren and our one son, so we are a small family,” Horton said. “Any time that we can go places, we usually spend our vacation time together. Some of my fondest memories are being with my family and doing things that we all enjoy together.”

In his spare time, Horton enjoys turkey hunting as well as spending time on the water fly fishing.

“Outside of work I like to fish, years ago I used to do fly fishing. Fishing and fly fishing are the main ones but I also like to turkey hunt,” Horton said. “In the words of my father, you can fish year-round but you can only hunt turkey once a year.”

As Horton continues his fourth year as the mayor of Covington, the mission is always the same. He wants to continue to help the city grow through building strong relationships and bringing the city together. 

And, based on his experience living and working in the city, he believes the future is bright.

“I think Covington has a history of being a community that recognizes what is going on and to work on it as a community to not let those things that cause division cause us to be divided,” Horton said. “We come together under the worst conditions and that is our true colors. We are a caring community and a hospitable community.”