A few weeks ago I touched on the new year’s resolutions made by the editorial staff of The Covington News, including my resolution to better cover Newton County’s cities. In that piece I talked about a tour of Social Circle that I went on with Mayor Hal Dally. 

Since then, I’ve been brainstorming ideas to better learn the other cities within Newton County. That’s when I got a call inviting me to a sit down interview with Covington Mayor Ronnie Johnston. 

Mayor Johnston and I met for about two hours Monday afternoon talking about everything from his background to the future of the city. We discussed ongoing conflict, upcoming projects and even touched on his family. This conversation will appear in The News as a regular series, and you can find the first installment of that series on Page 1A this week. 

Let me say one thing. Ronnie Johnston bleeds passion. He lives and breathes Covington and I truly believe he is doing everything he can to make this place better for its residents and I don’t say that lightly. 

I’ve known Mayor Johnston since I started with The Covington News more than a year ago. We met at a Covington City Council work session for the first time and have had several conversations since then. Whether it is across the desk at City Hall or across the table at Bread and Butter, he is always willing to have a conversation.  

I thought I knew him. I’m telling you, you need to read through this week’s installment of the Q&A with him to truly get to know the man at the head of the Covington horseshoe. His journey to mayor is truly one of community concern. 

Jackie Gutknecht is the managing editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at jgutknecht@covnews.com or 770-728-14009. Twitter: @jackieg1991