Candidates in contested races in the upcoming county election were able to put some campaign talking points across while answering questions during a public forum hosted by the Gilmer Chamber last week.
The forum at the Piedmont Community Center was open to candidates running for Post 1 commissioner, superior court clerk and school board Post 4. All other county races are uncontested with only incumbents or one candidate running.
Each candidate answered three questions drawn at random by Jennifer Grimmer, Gilmer Chamber CEO, while also being given time to speak about their goals if elected.
Post 1 commissioner candidates Karleen Ferguson, Doug Rink and Jim Parmer all three expressed some common goals and areas of focus. What differed was how they might go about tackling issues like improving the county’s infrastructure (namely roads) and equipping the county to handle growth.
As for what they see as the most pressing needs for infrastructure or capital projects in the county:
Ferguson, a former Post 2 county commissioner, said, “For me, it’s roads, water and sewer and making sure we have our emergency management first responders in place to take care of (the county). We are very behind on paving roads and continuously working to fill potholes and repair roads. We are at a crisis of lacking in affordable housing, and there are very few locations we can present to builders that might be interested in helping us with this housing.”
Rink, a former WSB-TV news journalist, said, “In the hundreds of people I’ve talked to in recent weeks, roads is what they tell me. We’ve paved some roads, but we still have narrow roads. We have hairpin roads. We have people pulling over to the side (and) cars bumping each other mirror to mirror. I’ve become very aware of how desperately we need to improve our fire service. It’s a gradual and expensive process. We have four full-time fire stations. We have four ambulances, and sometimes they’re all in use.”
Parmer, a former principal at Oakland Elementary School and a former school board member, said, “(Roads) are always an issue. If nothing else, in April, you’re going to patch a few holes because they all have them from the winter and go from there. As we grow, you’ve got to have things like ambulances, police and all these things. I want to come in and treat everybody equally and fair. I don’t care how much money you have or how much you don’t have. I want to be fair to everybody.”
The Post 1 candidates’ responses were more varied when asked what they believe to be the biggest challenges faced by the county.
Ferguson said Gilmer is a community that’s unbalanced age-wise, with more seniors than young people, and it needs the type of infrastructure to take care of the growing senior population.
Rink said the biggest challenge is balancing the community with protecting our neighborhoods and balancing growth.
Parmer said the county government needs to be selective on what types of businesses it allows to come in and, if a business isn’t going to produce anything for the county, why consider allowing it.
Challenger Carol Daves was the only clerk of court candidate able to attend the forum. Incumbent clerk Amy Johnson, who had a continuing education class commitment, was allowed to give prerecorded answers to the same questions.
As for what qualifications make either of them the best choice for clerk of court:
Daves said she has extensive prior experience in law enforcement (she was the first female deputy in the county) and administering over the county jail for over 14 years.
“I believe my (collective) training and experience has led me to this place,” she added. “I have seen the judicial system from many different angles, (and I) understand how efficiency and quality leadership can affect an office and the citizens it serves.”
Johnson said she’s done every job in the court clerk’s office over her 17 years there. She said it’s “not a job, but a passion,” and she intends to keep running the office with transparency, efficiency and honesty.
“I’m here every day from 7:30 to usually 5:30 or 6. I have an amazing staff (that) helps me, and they are all qualified and crosstrained in almost all the jobs. That was one of my priorities, so we didn’t have just one person for one job,” she added.
School board Post 4 incumbent Michele Penland and challenger David Settel were asked what they see as the biggest challenges facing the Gilmer school system.
Settel said, “For me, (it’s) technology. In the world we live in, our kids live their lives on their devices. I think providing our kids education (with) technology and expanding our abilities to show our kids how to use technology and use it properly are important things. Our kids (also) face a lot of challenges socially because (of) devices. They’re not talking to each other. That presents a big challenge in communication.”
Penland said, “Over the years with COVID in the school system, we have a lot of students who have issues with anxiety. We have found that a lot of them are not able to do things (as) socially as they once were.” A goal, she said, would be “possibly bringing back some of those character traits in the earlier grades and, in the high school, working on more work ethic.”
Early voting for the general primary election started Monday, April 29, and will run through May 17 at the Gilmer County Voter Registrar’s Office. Election Day is May 21.