Before Travis Moore was elected to his current post on the city of Covington’s council, he was already involved with a lot. 

From his early involement with public safety and construction to his current dealings in the real estate business, Moore has worn many hats. But, no hat was more important than being a lifelong Covington resident. 

A frequent attendee of community events – the simplest of things matter to one of the newest council members, such as heading to the farmer’s market.

“I’m at all of these events, all of them and it feels really good to go to a farmer’s market and everybody’s local,” Moore said. “I see a lot of familiar faces and folks that I know… and I like that.”

A seventh-generation Covington resident, Moore has been immersed in all things Covington his entire life. He grew up just a half-mile away from the downtown Square on the east ward. To this day, he still lives on the east ward with his wife Lindsey, with his two children Malia and Jack both in college.

Moore also is a dog lover and lives with three dogs of his own.

“I tend to joke around that I like dogs more than people,” Moore said. “I love animals. I’m a dog lover. We’ve got a few rescues – it was unintentional – but it was one of those things where it was like, ‘How can I not?’”

Moore holds a lengthy educational background, with a bachelor’s degree in occupational safety and health from Columbia Southern University. He possesses an associate degree in fire science from Georgia Piedmont Technical College as well as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt from the Covington Chamber of Commerce.

His initial background came in the construction industry, where he worked for many years before transitioning to a career in public safety.

In 2006, Moore signed on with Newton County Fire & Rescue where he worked as a firefighter. Additionally, he served as an EMT for Piedmont Newton EMS services, totaling for a 15-year career in public safety.

However, Moore opted to do more than just sit on the sidelines while he was off work. So, he opted to get into real estate. 

He officially joined as an associate broker with Hometown Realty Consultants Inc. in 2014 where he originally made his mark in the real estate business.

Moore opted to take it one step further. When he left public safety, he opened Moore Rentals LLC. The initial vision for the company was to buy properties that were fixer-upper projects, renovate them and then place them back for sale. 

But, according to Moore, the company plan has pivoted due to the amount of short-term travel that occurs throughout Covington – particularly with those in the film industry. Those properties are now being taken and rented out to those that may be traveling and living in Covington in the short-term.

Additionally, he and his wife own Moxie Yoga Barre Pilates, a yoga barre pilates studio complete with an infrared sauna.

Moore said that building his customer base and trust with the community was a big part in making the move from public safety to real estate full time.

“For my first three years, I was still full-time public safety and a real estate broker as well,” Moore said. “It took me the first few years to get my business built up so that I could phase out public safety and move over into real-estate.”

Continuing that go-getter spirit, Moore then set out in the world of politics. Wanting to get more involved with the city’s planning, he was appointed to the Covington planning commission last year. 

It would not be long before Moore decided to announce his campaign for office for the East Ward, Post 2 seat that would be vacated by now-mayor Fleeta Baggett. Moore successfully won his campaign, receiving 740 total votes.

When asked about his first meeting as a city council member, Moore said, “it wasn’t bad.”

“We have the same format with the planning and zoning commission… so that wasn’t really any different,” Moore said. “It’s just now I actually have a vote and not just a recommendation.”

While the first two meetings of the year were “lighter” in terms of workload, things will begin to ramp up once again soon for council members. Pressing issues such as density matters and impact fees will be coming up.

Density matters, in particular, were a concern for Moore as one of his main points of concern in his campaign was to stop what he calls “irresponsible growth.”

“I feel like we need to be in line with everyone else, because the scale and the pace of these developments is a concern. It’s a legitimate concern,” Moore said. “You got school systems that are burdened, fire and police are a mess and the roads are congested. I feel like it’s just irresponsible to keep adding on to an issue we’ve already got until we can get all of that fixed.”

Moore plans to navigate this issue by having what he feels is the “right” kind of growth. He believes that growing responsibly will be the best course of action for citizens in Covington.

“I love the small town feel, but I also realize that we have to grow. We can’t keep Covington like it was 50, 60, 100 years ago,” Moore said. “I just want to kind of balance that small town feel while some of that responsible growth. I just say it needs to be the right kind of growth.

“I don’t want us to get out of control to where we lose that small Covington feel, and I think that’s what people want.”