Candidates in the Nov. 3 election faced off for the final time before the election at a political forum sponsored Thursday night by the Banks County Chamber of Commerce.
Homer mayor candidates Sandra Garrison and Doug Cheek both participated in a final face off during Thursday's political forum. Also present were candidates for the District 2 and District 4 positions on the Board of Commissioners.
Candidates face off at chamber forum
More than 60 people attended the forum held at the county annex. Those speaking were: Homer mayor candidates Doug Cheek and Sandra Garrison; District 2 board of commission candidates Ray Holcomb, Neal Pulliam, Ernest Rogers and Fred Wendt; and District 4 board of commission candidates Jerry Loftice, Robin Trotter and Charles Turk. Chamber executive director Tara Fulcher read the questions to the candidates.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Banks County, the time is here to make your decision,” Fulcher said. “You will again go to the polls to make a choice. A choice that I hope you have carefully prepared for. You will be part of making history in Banks County, a five person commission board … Deciding if a candidate will be a good leader is difficult. You will have to trust that they will be honest, open and able to act under pressure if elected to office. It’s a decision you’re going to have to live with for their term.”
Fulcher asked voters to consider the following questions:
•Which candidate's view on the issues do you agree with the most?
•Which candidate demonstrated the most knowledge on the issues?
•Which candidate has the leadership qualities you are looking for?
“This election presents each of you with important choices,” she said. “This race will have an effect on your community in such a way that could change the direction of the entire county, not just your district. It is a time to consider the issues which you care about and decide which candidate you support.”
HOMER MAYOR’S RACE
Opening remarks from Cheek and Garrison included the following:
Doug Cheek: “I’ve been in Homer for most of my adult life. Some of the organizations I’ve been involved with have been the Jaycees, the chamber of commerce, the CVB, the Downtown Development Authority and the historical society. Previously, I served 10 years on the city council. I’ve served as mayor for seven years.”
Garrison: “I’m originally from Commerce. I’ve been in the City of Homer since 1982. I’ve been on the city council since 1997. I’ve been active and involved in the school system. I’ve been on the Georgia Regional Development Authority board. I substitute teach at school. I have my own business. I have Sandra’s Mini Storage. I do the business part of Mack and Buck’s. We have a wrecker service and used car parts business.”
Questions dealt with plans for future growth, economic issues and budget concerns. Answers from the candidates on growth for the city included the following:
Cheek: “During my term, we’ve started the Downtown Development Authority. They can do things outside of what the council does such as buying property and maintaining buildings. What we’d like to do is maintain the small town feel of Homer and keep that. We don’t expect a lot of growth in the next few years but we’ve got a zoning board and a planning board to make sure it is taken care of. We are prepared. We have worked on infrastructure.”
Garrison: “We would like to continue with the historical improvements in downtown. We want to have businesses to come in to the town area. The water system is up. We might could use a few more improvements. We like Homer as a small, rural area. We want to get some businesses in the downtown area. We also want to continue with extending our sidewalks.”
Comments from the candidates on budget concerns included the following:
Cheek: “Our budget is in pretty good shape. The City of Homer has a balanced budget and a reduced budget. We’re handling the financial crunch pretty well at this time. We just want to make sure our water system is adequate.
Garrison: “Right now, we are at about a 10 percent low on our sales tax income that we receive. I want to see us continue to watch our budget and cut where we can. We are OK right now but with that 10 percent low we need to be working with the county. When the time comes again on the special local option sales tax, we want to go for that again to help with our budget.
DISTRICT 2, BOC
The BOC candidates answered questions about growth of the county and economic development.
The responses from the District 2 candidates on questions involving growth and economic development include the following:
Holcomb: We need to get our infrastructure in place to attract new business. We have to market Banks County before we can attract any major industry. I feel like we need to work on that more than anything.”
Pulliam: “A lot of people want the county to grow immediately and that is not going to happen. If we’re going to get industry out on the corridors of I-85, we’re going to have to get infrastructure in place. Right now, you are not ready to talk to anybody. I think right now the main thing is for us to work and try to get some of the vacant stores in the mall on I-85 and Banks Crossing filled so we can get our tax structure back to where it needs to be.”
Rogers: “Industrial development is one of my main concerns. I really don’t feel like, as a county as a whole, we are not doing all we can to attract business to the county. We have one area that does have some infrastructure. We have other areas that we need to look at branching out. We have areas on the Southern Railway where commercial type businesses could come in. We’ve got areas in the county where we can bring business in.”
Wendt: “Bringing business and industry to Banks County gives you two shots in the arm. One is revenue for the county from taxation. Secondly, you develop an area for jobs. Jobs are an important part of my interest in attracting businesses. The infrastructure is a problem.”
The candidates were asked their thoughts on Banks County participating in a regional co-op. Their comments included the following:
Holcomb: “An advantage to a regional co-op would be keeping down expense. A negative would be that you would have less control over how the money is spent in your county. This might be something that we could look at for animal control. There would be advantages and disadvantages to that.”
Pulliam: “I’m assuming a co-op would be for something like animal control. If we could get in with another county, it could help our county financially.”
Rogers: “I take that the co-op would be a joint venture between other counties to discuss industrial development. With a co-op like that, if one county gets information on a company that is looking, all of the counties would have the same information to work off of and compete on. Also, a co-op could work on the Southern Railway to get businesses in.”
Wendt: “Regional co-ops can serve multiple purposes. The Georgia legislature talked about co-ops road development. That was one of the biggest issues in the last session. That offers some opportunities.”
DISTRICT 4, BOC
District 4 candidates were asked the same questions as those from district 2. Their responses to questions dealing with economic growth and development included the following:
Loftice: “We have to take care of what we have already here. We have to make sure that we offer everything that we can. We’ve got to really spend the time to go out and search as hard as we can to bring what we can to our county so we all can co-exist together.”
Trotter: “I feel that the existing business is where we need to start with. We need to make sure that we protect those businesses so they will stay in our county. Then, the next step, is that we need to look at attracting industry. We have 74 percent of our people who drive outside of our community on a daily basis. We need those people to work inside our county.”
Turk: “The main thing is to support the businesses that are already here to start out with. Small businesses are the driving engine in the force behind the economy. The big businesses and the Fortune 500s are great. Everybody talks about them but most people in this country are employed by small businesses. Right now, we have small businesses in this county and they are the ones we need to support. Once the small businesses are doing real good, then we can look at developing bigger businesses. A lot of that is getting high tech jobs in here. That is where we need to be.”
On the question about regional co-ops, the candidates responded as follows:
Loftice: “A regional co-op means that counties around us are working together for a cause. We all have a lot of the same situations and same problems but we can have a joint venture. One of the negatives of a co-op would be that you might not get as big a piece of the pie because you have to share. I think there is a big up side to a regional co-op.”
Trotter: I think a regional co-op is a great idea. I have worked as the director of Family Connection over the past nine years for Region 2 and we have 13 counties in our region. Together, as a collaborative effort, the better we work together, the better we are at receiving grants. As a county, I think we need to have that regional co-op in place.”
Turk: “A regional co-op can be good or bad. The good part of it is that we can get ideas from other counties on how they are attracting businesses. The downside of it is that these counties know how to attract the businesses but at least we will gain the knowledge for future ventures.”
The candidates were asked how the county could attract a major “Fortune 500” company to the county. Their responses included the following:
Loftice: “Banks County’s structure is not prepared for anything like this. We need to be looking at a Fortune 200 company. If we get the infrastructure in place, we have an opportunity to reach out to these folks and bring industry in.”
Trotter: “I think a Fortune 500 company would be great but we have a long way to go to develop our infrastructure, the sewer and the water. We have a long way to go before we can bring in a Fortune 500 company.”
Turk: “There are high tech jobs and a lot of office jobs we can get. I think we attract a Fortune 500 company. Maybe not their headquarters but maybe a subsidiary or a small branch of it. There are some high tech jobs out there.”
“Ladies and gentlemen of Banks County, the time is here to make your decision,” Fulcher said. “You will again go to the polls to make a choice. A choice that I hope you have carefully prepared for. You will be part of making history in Banks County, a five person commission board … Deciding if a candidate will be a good leader is difficult. You will have to trust that they will be honest, open and able to act under pressure if elected to office. It’s a decision you’re going to have to live with for their term.”
Fulcher asked voters to consider the following questions:
•Which candidate's view on the issues do you agree with the most?
•Which candidate demonstrated the most knowledge on the issues?
•Which candidate has the leadership qualities you are looking for?
“This election presents each of you with important choices,” she said. “This race will have an effect on your community in such a way that could change the direction of the entire county, not just your district. It is a time to consider the issues which you care about and decide which candidate you support.”
HOMER MAYOR’S RACE
Opening remarks from Cheek and Garrison included the following:
Doug Cheek: “I’ve been in Homer for most of my adult life. Some of the organizations I’ve been involved with have been the Jaycees, the chamber of commerce, the CVB, the Downtown Development Authority and the historical society. Previously, I served 10 years on the city council. I’ve served as mayor for seven years.”
Garrison: “I’m originally from Commerce. I’ve been in the City of Homer since 1982. I’ve been on the city council since 1997. I’ve been active and involved in the school system. I’ve been on the Georgia Regional Development Authority board. I substitute teach at school. I have my own business. I have Sandra’s Mini Storage. I do the business part of Mack and Buck’s. We have a wrecker service and used car parts business.”
Questions dealt with plans for future growth, economic issues and budget concerns. Answers from the candidates on growth for the city included the following:
Cheek: “During my term, we’ve started the Downtown Development Authority. They can do things outside of what the council does such as buying property and maintaining buildings. What we’d like to do is maintain the small town feel of Homer and keep that. We don’t expect a lot of growth in the next few years but we’ve got a zoning board and a planning board to make sure it is taken care of. We are prepared. We have worked on infrastructure.”
Garrison: “We would like to continue with the historical improvements in downtown. We want to have businesses to come in to the town area. The water system is up. We might could use a few more improvements. We like Homer as a small, rural area. We want to get some businesses in the downtown area. We also want to continue with extending our sidewalks.”
Comments from the candidates on budget concerns included the following:
Cheek: “Our budget is in pretty good shape. The City of Homer has a balanced budget and a reduced budget. We’re handling the financial crunch pretty well at this time. We just want to make sure our water system is adequate.
Garrison: “Right now, we are at about a 10 percent low on our sales tax income that we receive. I want to see us continue to watch our budget and cut where we can. We are OK right now but with that 10 percent low we need to be working with the county. When the time comes again on the special local option sales tax, we want to go for that again to help with our budget.
DISTRICT 2, BOC
The BOC candidates answered questions about growth of the county and economic development.
The responses from the District 2 candidates on questions involving growth and economic development include the following:
Holcomb: We need to get our infrastructure in place to attract new business. We have to market Banks County before we can attract any major industry. I feel like we need to work on that more than anything.”
Pulliam: “A lot of people want the county to grow immediately and that is not going to happen. If we’re going to get industry out on the corridors of I-85, we’re going to have to get infrastructure in place. Right now, you are not ready to talk to anybody. I think right now the main thing is for us to work and try to get some of the vacant stores in the mall on I-85 and Banks Crossing filled so we can get our tax structure back to where it needs to be.”
Rogers: “Industrial development is one of my main concerns. I really don’t feel like, as a county as a whole, we are not doing all we can to attract business to the county. We have one area that does have some infrastructure. We have other areas that we need to look at branching out. We have areas on the Southern Railway where commercial type businesses could come in. We’ve got areas in the county where we can bring business in.”
Wendt: “Bringing business and industry to Banks County gives you two shots in the arm. One is revenue for the county from taxation. Secondly, you develop an area for jobs. Jobs are an important part of my interest in attracting businesses. The infrastructure is a problem.”
The candidates were asked their thoughts on Banks County participating in a regional co-op. Their comments included the following:
Holcomb: “An advantage to a regional co-op would be keeping down expense. A negative would be that you would have less control over how the money is spent in your county. This might be something that we could look at for animal control. There would be advantages and disadvantages to that.”
Pulliam: “I’m assuming a co-op would be for something like animal control. If we could get in with another county, it could help our county financially.”
Rogers: “I take that the co-op would be a joint venture between other counties to discuss industrial development. With a co-op like that, if one county gets information on a company that is looking, all of the counties would have the same information to work off of and compete on. Also, a co-op could work on the Southern Railway to get businesses in.”
Wendt: “Regional co-ops can serve multiple purposes. The Georgia legislature talked about co-ops road development. That was one of the biggest issues in the last session. That offers some opportunities.”
DISTRICT 4, BOC
District 4 candidates were asked the same questions as those from district 2. Their responses to questions dealing with economic growth and development included the following:
Loftice: “We have to take care of what we have already here. We have to make sure that we offer everything that we can. We’ve got to really spend the time to go out and search as hard as we can to bring what we can to our county so we all can co-exist together.”
Trotter: “I feel that the existing business is where we need to start with. We need to make sure that we protect those businesses so they will stay in our county. Then, the next step, is that we need to look at attracting industry. We have 74 percent of our people who drive outside of our community on a daily basis. We need those people to work inside our county.”
Turk: “The main thing is to support the businesses that are already here to start out with. Small businesses are the driving engine in the force behind the economy. The big businesses and the Fortune 500s are great. Everybody talks about them but most people in this country are employed by small businesses. Right now, we have small businesses in this county and they are the ones we need to support. Once the small businesses are doing real good, then we can look at developing bigger businesses. A lot of that is getting high tech jobs in here. That is where we need to be.”
On the question about regional co-ops, the candidates responded as follows:
Loftice: “A regional co-op means that counties around us are working together for a cause. We all have a lot of the same situations and same problems but we can have a joint venture. One of the negatives of a co-op would be that you might not get as big a piece of the pie because you have to share. I think there is a big up side to a regional co-op.”
Trotter: I think a regional co-op is a great idea. I have worked as the director of Family Connection over the past nine years for Region 2 and we have 13 counties in our region. Together, as a collaborative effort, the better we work together, the better we are at receiving grants. As a county, I think we need to have that regional co-op in place.”
Turk: “A regional co-op can be good or bad. The good part of it is that we can get ideas from other counties on how they are attracting businesses. The downside of it is that these counties know how to attract the businesses but at least we will gain the knowledge for future ventures.”
The candidates were asked how the county could attract a major “Fortune 500” company to the county. Their responses included the following:
Loftice: “Banks County’s structure is not prepared for anything like this. We need to be looking at a Fortune 200 company. If we get the infrastructure in place, we have an opportunity to reach out to these folks and bring industry in.”
Trotter: “I think a Fortune 500 company would be great but we have a long way to go to develop our infrastructure, the sewer and the water. We have a long way to go before we can bring in a Fortune 500 company.”
Turk: “There are high tech jobs and a lot of office jobs we can get. I think we attract a Fortune 500 company. Maybe not their headquarters but maybe a subsidiary or a small branch of it. There are some high tech jobs out there.”
Now for the county elections. Candidates, you must get out of Homer and see how the real world works or be just one of the hillbilly rednecks running the county!! Development does not mean giving back grants to the government, aka lake funds at Windmill Farms!!!). Development means make a damn decision and do it! Put sewer at Martin Bridge, run a highway from U.S. 441 to Martin Bridge and develope the crapping intersection or shut up about it!!!!!
Oh, and budget the ambulance/fire office more funds, we have to pay for gasoline for them to run to Banks Crossing in 5 different vehicles to grab a burger!
2nd off If being a "Redneck" bothers you leave the city/county . Theres places for people like you in Atlanta!!!
3rd People who have jobs in Homer Office should be doing there job first and not doing there "Side Job" on City Time don't you agree why should we pay someone to do two jobs .
He sure did not care if our Water system was adequate when we were drinking dirt!