Mayor Karen Williams
Bringing Heart into the Halls of Pooler Government

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 | 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 

With a single-minded devotion to the wellbeing of Pooler’s citizens and a penchant for relationship building, Karen Williams ran a successful campaign and was elected mayor of Pooler in November 2023. She began her inaugural term in January, along with a blend of incumbents and newcomers to city council.

“I wouldn’t say that politics was always on my mind, but serving always was,” says Williams about her motivation to run for office.

After Williams first moved to Pooler in 2015, she dived headfirst into serving the community. She started attending planning and zoning meetings and applied for a seat on the commission. While her application wasn’t accepted, she continued to take an interest in the inner workings of Pooler’s politics. She faithfully attended both planning and zoning meetings and city council meetings for almost four years before being elected as a councilwoman in 2019. Not one to be a mere spectator, she asked questions and ensured that proper procedures were followed.

Because she was such a consistent presence at meetings, Williams adopted a role as a resident advocate: someone who guided and advised businesses and citizens navigating the sometimes-intimidating process of coming before the planning and zoning commission for rezoning, variances and other requests.

Once she was elected to city council, Williams dived in headfirst to serve her constituents, starting with a commitment to transparency. “Live streaming meetings was something that I and several other council members pushed for as a way to reach out to our residents. So even if you can’t watch in real time, you can watch it later.”

Getting citizens involved continues to be important to Mayor Williams. Each item on the city council’s meeting agendas is now followed by the opportunity for public comment and starting in April, city council meetings will shift from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays to make it easier for people to attend.

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬

Williams’ approach to municipal government has differed from her predecessors. She consistently looks for new ways to serve and strives to understand every aspect of the community.

“I was told over and over as a councilwoman, ‘It’s not your lane, stay in your lane and just do the council stuff.’ I disagree with that,” says Williams. “If I can do something that will help my residents, even if it's not pertaining to city business, I'm going to do it.”

This drive led Williams to attend homeowners’ association meetings,school board meetings and board of elections meetings while she was on city council, building relationships with other people who were dedicated to service. These partnerships paid off as she was able to secure additional polling locations in Pooler, demonstrate the need for amnew school building and build goodwill among residents.

Becoming mayor has bolstered Williams’ passion for lifelong learning. Because she is new to the job, she has been taking meetings and making connections with many different people to get a feel for what residents want. She is also familiarizing herself with all aspects of the city’s operations and offering mentorship to the new faces that have joined the city council this year.

“I’m not a mayor that’s just going to sit back and be told what to do,” Williams says. “Even though it’s a part-time job, I’m here every day learning and asking questions.”

𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

Williams has set several goals for her tenure as mayor. The top priority? Improved emergency medical services.

“At the St. Joseph’s/Candler campus, we can get MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasounds and access to many specialty clinics right here in Pooler, but what we are missing is an emergency room. All the cities are struggling with ambulance and 911 response times because of a lack of workforce, but the ride to Savannah for emergency services can be up to 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic,” Williams says. “That’s not acceptable to me, and that’s not acceptable for my residents.”

She recently returned from a trip to Atlanta to meet with legislators to advocate for Pooler to have its own emergency room. For an emergency room or hospital to be built, the first step is to acquire a Certificate of Need proving that facility is needed. Memorial Health received this certificate in 2020 and purchased the land to build such a facility, but the project has been put on hold due to ongoing litigation brought by neighboring hospitals. Williams’ hope is that the requirement for a Certificate of Need can be repealed, expediting the process for freestanding emergency facilities in Pooler and for other communities statewide.

Another priority—one that has followed Williams from her city council days—is the development of a new high school serving the Pooler area.

“For years, the tax dollars of Pooler residents were focused on Savannah’s schools. Nothing was ever planned or budgeted for the growth in west Chatham County. Now it’s a matter of finding the land in Pooler large enough for a high school and buying it. If we don’t do it now, the land won’t be there later,” says Williams.

Maintaining Pooler’s roads and infrastructure continues to be a high priority. As a council member, Williams lobbied against increased weight limits for logging trucks and other industrial loads, citing the strain on local roads and bridges. Increased loads also hinder the ability for trucks to brake and elevate the risk of serious accidents. The growth in the area has also necessitated new road projects in west Chatham County, ones that have been delayed due to the rejection of TSPLOST in 2022.

“I want to move a little faster on road improvements,” Williams says. “For TSPLOST, each municipality has to turn in a list of what we want to do from that point to this point, listed by road name. That’s all we can use it for, and I feel like that wasn’t properly portrayed to the residents.”

With the impending arrival of the Hyundai metaplant and suppliers, Williams expects an increased demand for housing in the area. “A lot of the ancillary businesses are telling their employees to move to Pooler,” Williams says. “Pooler has everything you need: the commercial services, the shopping, the entertainment, the restaurants.”

She also recognizes the effect that this population influx will have on Pooler’s infrastructure and is prepared to fight for the support the city needs to accommodate the anticipated growth.

“When you have something like the Hyundai plant coming, that expedites everything. This is very accelerated growth,” says Williams. “I’m going to be asking for help from the state for these projects that need to happen because it should not be on our residents’ shoulders to pay for all this.”

Mayor Williams is also excited about building a new library branch in Pooler. “We’ve been working on a new library for years,” says Williams. “We have the land, and we’re fast tracking the facility to hopefully start construction later this year.”

The library blueprints have been developed with the foresight for multipurpose use in the community, an idea derived from Williams’ involvement with the board of elections. Elements like additional electrical outlets to accommodate voting machines and a separate exit from a community room will allow the new library to be utilized as a polling place as well as a community gathering space.

𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲

In many corners of Pooler, Mayor Williams is a familiar face. “The first organization I joined was the Garden Club of Pooler. That’s how I got interested in planting trees,” says Williams, referring to the annual Plant a Tree for Free initiative that she spearheaded as a city council member.

Williams is also a member of the Pooler Lions Club and sits on the board of the West Chatham YMCA. She and her husband lend support to seniors by collecting bulk waste, changing light bulbs that are out of reach and other household tasks. “There’s things that you can do to help others that are minimal to you, but it’s huge for others,” says Williams.

Williams does her best to attend community events and ribbon cuttings for new businesses while still making time for her family. Her mother, stepfather, two daughters and two grandchildren all live in Pooler.

“I hope I’m setting a good example for my grandchildren, even though I can’t attend everything anymore,” says Williams. “They understand the importance of serving others so that when they grow up they can do the same.”

While Williams is not the first woman to be mayor of Pooler, she certainly won’t be the last thanks to the example she sets for others.

“Women are great and strong. We raise our children and our families,” says Williams. “Whatever we choose to do, whether it's a political position or a business owner, that instilled sense of survival and protectiveness goes into whatever we do.”