Mara S. Register
Office of the Assistant to the City Manager
Our Services
The primary function of this Office is to provide direct support to the City Manager in city-wide public policy development, project development and management. To contact the Assistant to the City Manager, call (229) 259-3571, or click here.
Our Divisions
The Office of the Assistant to the City Manager consists of four specific divisions: The Public Information Division, which includes Channel 17; the Economic Development Division, which includes the Main Street Program; the Neighborhood Development Division; and the Project Development/Management Division for the City Manager.
Biography
Mara S. Register is the Assistant to the City Manager for the City of Valdosta, a position she has held since August 2007. Previous to this appointment she served as the City's Community Development Director beginning in September 2000. She began her career with the City in September 1996 as the Main Street Director during the period of the Streetscape renovations to downtown Valdosta. She has held other positions at the federal, regional and local government level in law enforcement and planning since 1983. She has more than twenty years of experience in the field of community development and neighborhood planning at the local government level. Her areas of responsibility for the City are comprised of four divisions to include the Public Information and Media Division, the Economic Development Division, which includes the Main Street Program, the Neighborhood Development Division and the Project Development/Management Division for the City Manager. Mara is a graduate of Valdosta State University where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. She also received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Georgia Southern University and she is a Certified Main Street Manager through the National Main Street Center in Washington, DC.
Mara has served on numerous boards at the state and national level, including service on the Georgia Department of Transportation TE Panel since its inception. She is the founding President of the Georgia Downtown Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Community Development Association (NCDA) and serves as the NCDA Region IV President, which includes eight states in southeastern United States and the Caribbean. At the local level Mara is active in her community through her participation and support of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Association, Habitat for Humanity and the Valdosta-Lowndes County United Way. She was previously recognized by the 100 Black Men of Valdosta with their Community Service Award in 1999 and was selected as the 2003 Woman of Achievement by the Valdosta Business and Professional Women's Association. Mara was also the recipient of the 2005 Loyce Turner Award for Outstanding Public Official presented by Valdosta State University. She was a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 1991 and the Leadership Lowndes Class of 1997. She resides in Valdosta with her husband, David, and their daughter, Peggy. They are members of First Christian Church of Valdosta.