Kelly Girtz

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Kelly Girtz

| office = Mayor of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia

| order =

| image = Kelly Girtz.jpg

| constituency =

| predecessor = Nancy Denson

| successor =

| footnotes =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| majority =

| office2 = District 9 Commissioner for Athens-Clarke County

| order2 =

| party = Democratic

| birth_name = Kelly Darryl Girtz

| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|November 12, 1971}}

| birth_place = Bath, Maine, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = Andrea Griffith-Girtz

| children = 1

| residence =

| alma_mater = Old Dominion University (BS)
Piedmont College (MAT)

| occupation = Politician, educator

| profession =

| website =

| term_start = January 8, 2019

| term_end =

| term_start2 = 2007

| term_end2 = 2019

}}

Kelly Darryl Girtz (born November 12, 1971) is an American educator and politician currently serving as mayor of the unified government of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, having succeeded Nancy Denson in January 2019. Before he was sworn in as mayor, Girtz maintained a long career as a teacher and school administrator in Northeast Georgia.

Early life

Girtz was born on November 12, 1971, in Bath, Maine to Darryl Sylvester and Joanne (née Kirsch) Girtz (now Claridge), while his father was stationed aboard the USS Dale. The Dale was homeported in Newport, Rhode Island, where Girtz and his family then lived for a year before moving to Oakland, California for a year. From 1974 to 1994, he was raised and resided in Norfolk, Virginia, where he graduated from Lake Taylor High School in 1989. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Old Dominion University in 1993.{{Cite web |title=Mayor Kelly Girtz {{!}} Athens-Clarke County, GA - Official Website |url=https://www.accgov.com/8671/Mayor-Kelly-Girtz |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=www.accgov.com}}

Educator

Girtz earned his Master of Arts in Teaching from Piedmont College. From 1998 to 2014, he was a teacher and administrator in the Clarke County School District in Athens. He then served as Regional Director for Student Services and Special Education for Foothills Charter High School, a public charter high school.{{Cite web|url=https://athensforeveryone.com/acc-commissioners/kelly-girtz/|title=Kelly Girtz|date=2016-04-07|website=Athens for Everyone|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-22}}

Political career

=County commissioner=

In November 2006, Girtz was elected to serve as a member of the Athens-Clarke County commission, representing District 9. He was re-elected unopposed in both 2010 and 2014.

=Mayoral candidate=

In May 2017, Girtz announced that he would run for mayor of Athens-Clarke County. On May 22, 2018, he defeated fellow commissioner Harry Sims and local businessman Richie Knight, earning over 60 percent of the vote, to become mayor-elect.

=Mayor=

Girtz was sworn in as Mayor on January 8, 2019. Former Clarke County School District Board of Education member Ovita Thornton was sworn in as Girtz's replacement for the District 9 commissioner seat.{{Cite web|url=https://www.onlineathens.com/news/20190109/commissioners-used-bibles-other-books-in-taking-oaths|title=Commissioners used Bibles, other books in taking oaths|last=Shearer|first=Lee|website=Athens Banner-Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-01-22}} During the 2020 COV-ID 19 pandemic in the United States, Girtz urged Athens residents to continue sheltering in place, opposing Governor Brian Kemp's April 20 announcement that non-essential Georgia businesses, like gyms and hair salons, could re-open that week.{{Cite web|title=Coronavirus lockdowns pit Republican governors against Democratic mayors|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/21/coronavirus-pits-republican-governors-democratic-mayors-198858|last=Ward|first=Myah|website=POLITICO|language=en|access-date=2020-05-13}}{{Cite news|last=Mettler|first=Katie|date=April 21, 2020|title=Georgia mayors push back on governor's decision to reopen businesses|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/21/coronavirus-latest-news/|access-date=May 10, 2020}}

During the Black Lives Matter protests of late May/early June 2020, Mayor Girtz joined protesters in calling for the removal of a Confederate monument on Broad Street. The demand came after local law enforcement teargassed protesters at a March for a World Without Cops demonstration in front of the University of Georgia Arch on the night of May 31.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-05|title=Mayor Girtz Calls for Removing Confederate Monument|url=https://flagpole.com/featured/2020/06/05/mayor-girtz-calls-for-removing-confederate-monument/|access-date=2020-06-11|website=Flagpole|language=en-US}}

Girtz was re-elected in May 2022 with around 60 percent of the vote.{{Cite web |title=Kelly Girtz rolls to second term as Athens-Clarke mayor, easily besting 4 other candidates |url=https://www.onlineathens.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/05/25/athens-clarke-county-election-mayor-winner/9911732002/ |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Online Athens |language=en-US}}

In August of 2024, Girtz was involved in a hit-and-run where he backed into another car at a Texico gas station. He was caught on camera, but the police tried to minimize the incident

Electoral history

= 2006 =

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Athens-Clarke County Commission, District 9 general election results, 2006{{Cite web|url=https://www.accgov.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/113|title=2006-11-07 General Election Official Results|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-01-22}}

!Candidate

!Votes

Kelly Girtz

|3,185

|42.02%

Chuck Jones

|784

|10.34%

Alvin Sheats

|2,736

|36.10%

Ed Vaughan

|874

|11.53%

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Athens-Clarke County Commissioner, District 9 runoff election results, 2006{{Cite web|url=https://www.accgov.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/114|title=2006-12-05 General Election Runoff Unofficial Results|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-01-22}}

!Candidate

!Votes

Kelly Girtz

|2,636

|58.89%

Alvin Sheats

|1,840

|41.11%

= 2018 =

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Athens-Clarke County Mayor, election results, 2018{{Cite web|url=https://www.accgov.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4043|title=2018-05-22 General Primary Election Summary Report|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-01-22}}

!Candidate

!Votes

Kelly Girtz

|10,924

|60.20%

Richie Knight

|1,664

|9.17%

Harry L. Sims

|5,499

|30.31%

Write-In

|58

|0.32%

= 2022 =

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Athens-Clarke County Mayor, election results, 2022{{cite web | url=https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/Clarke/113697/web.285569/#/detail/65?v=292736%2F | title=Election Night Reporting }}

!Candidate

!Votes

Kelly Girtz

|12,969

|59.54%

Mara Zuniga

|5,422

|24.84%

Pearl Hall

|1,092

|5.01%

Mykeisha Ross

|1,034

|4.75%

Fred Moorman

|659

|3.03%

Bennie Coleman III

|607

|2.79%

References

External links

[https://www.accgov.com/mayor Official website] of the Mayor of Athens-Clarke County
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOlYfDUAoBs Video of hit and run in August 2023]

{{s-off

}}

{{s-bef

| before = Nancy Denson

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Mayor of Athens-Clarke County

| years = 2019–present

}}

{{s-inc

}}

Category:Mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:1971 births