Originally published at the Georgia State University News Hub, Jan. 22, 2015. Archived at the Internet Archive from the original here.
By Jeremy Craig
John McLean’s brand new office in Hiram, Ga., is pretty empty except for a laptop, a phone, a few books, and a large map of a town whose downtown he’s looking to revitalize.
The 24-year-old Georgia State senior speaks with excitement, pointing out the center of Hiram, about 30 miles west of downtown Atlanta.
“Old town Hiram,” as it’s called, is the town’s downtown, with a restaurant, gift shop, antique shop and a Masonic lodge. It’s quiet.
But where there’s quiet today, McLean, head of Main Street Hiram, sees opportunities: Tying the town center with the nearby Silver Comet Trail. Developing the 12 acres owned by the city across from the main street. Expanding Georgia Highway 92 into a four-lane road.
“You can envision Hiram as a town in 10 years that we don’t have right now,” McLean said. “Busier, more active. There are so many possibilities.”
McLean, a public policy major, is busier and more active than many people his age. During his academic career, he’s worked at jobs outside the classroom 45 to 60 hours a week while taking 18 credit hours.
Main Street Hiram, where he holds a full-time position, is a perfect place to keep that momentum, a civic-minded energy to improve a town in a county he calls home.
“I like to stay busy,” he said. “I like to be doing things. I don’t like sitting around. A lot of it is building relationships with people. A lot of it is reaching out to others and finding out what they need, and building plans around what they need.”
McLean’s willingness to learn and to dive headfirst into his work highly impressed Hiram City Manager Robbie Rokovitz when he interviewed the Georgia State student for the position.
“We were looking for a dynamic, energetic drive in that kind of candidate,” Rokovitz said. “[McLean] had that passion and that drive in his interview.”
Rokovitz added that McLean is the kind of person who will take every opportunity to build up his position from scratch.
Throwing himself into his work comes naturally to McLean. In a way, he’s making up for a late start in school.
He was born with a hole in his heart, and also had a heart murmur and asthma. In and out of the hospital, he didn’t start school until age eight.
But his parents made sure to provide a normal life for him, building up a confidence he exudes today.
“My parents did a really good job of raising me and just making sure that I didn’t feel different just because I was sick a lot,” McLean said.
His health improved so much he ran cross-country in high school, and played baseball and basketball.
There was no question McLean would push full steam ahead to become a city official redeveloping Hiram’s downtown.
“Maybe it’s just the family I grew up in,” he said. “My parents, they didn’t allow me to make excuses. You just work really hard. I never saw myself as overcoming challenges or anything. We all have problems, and I had to overcome mine, whatever they were.”
One of McLean’s greatest assets is his humility. He admits when he needs guidance, learning as much as he can as he’s moved through Georgia State, said Joseph Hacker, a clinical assistant professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.
“I think as opposed to trying to be the smartest guy in the room, he’s tried to learn as much as he can from the smartest guy in the room,” Hacker said.