Former Bibb County Commission Chair Charlie Bishop has a plan for saving money if he's elected the first mayor the consolidated Macon and Bibb County: start by laying off staff in the mayor's office.

As a retired Macon police officer and a member of the police pension board, Bishop has been an aggressive advocate for retiree benefits.

But when asked in an interview with GPB how he would achieve the 20 percent savings consolidation must--by statute--yield in the next five years, Bishop said: "Go to the mayor's staff, he's got four people that do absolutely nothing, that walk around with cell phones and in suits, and then go to lunch with him."

Asked if he doesn't want a staff, Bishop replied: "I don't need a staff like that."

Savings cannot be achieved just by cutting staff through attrition, he said. "If you've got an underfunded pension plan and all those people retire, it's going to double the liabilities to that pension plan (...) and you're going to have a Detroit right here in Macon, Georgia."

GPB spoke with Macon-Bibb mayoral candidate C. Jack Ellis on Monday and will speak with all other candidates on the ballot in the coming days.

Tags: Adam Ragusea, Charlie Bishop, 2013 Macon mayoral race