Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2021
Winder City Council candidate questionnaires
Sonny Morris (incumbent), Ward 1
BNJ: Please provide a
brief background/biogra
phy of yourself.
Morris: I am a lifelong
citizen of Winder and have
been serving as a city coun
cilman since 1986. After
ending my professional
baseball career, I worked for
corporations as a purchasing
and material manager until
my retirement. For over 60
years I have been married
to Janet, who is my moti
vator and biggest supporter,
and we have been blessed
with our two children, Bart
Morris and Lisa Carter,
five grandchildren and one
great-grandchild. I have
served Winder for over 30
years, and I am proud of the
progress we have made and
will continue to make.
BNJ: Why did you de
cide to run for re-election
and what in your back
ground makes you the
most qualified candidate
for this seat?
Morris: I decided to run
for re-election because I
love Winder and I care about
each of our citizens and the
future of our city. There are
many great projects we have
been working on that will
be coming in the next few
years which I would like to
see completed. With over
30 years" experience in of
fice, I know what it takes to
find solutions and get things
done. I have served as may
or pro-tem and on the pub
lic safety, financial, utilities,
Sonny Morris
and planning and develop
ment committees.
I have proudly served this
great city for over 30 years
and hope to continue !
BNJ: What should the
city’s approach to the con
tinuing growth in popula
tion be? How can the city
best position itself to han
dle the inevitable contin
ued growth?
Morris: I think Winder's
approach to our continuing
growth needs to be proactive.
We need to continue to im
prove the streets, sidewalks,
parking and infrastructure.
We have made positive steps
to position ourselves for the
continuing growth in several
ways: the Downtown Mas
ter Plan was developed: we
updated the comprehensive
zoning and ordinance plan,
and the Winder/Auburn
quarry project are just a few
examples.
BNJ: Aside from growth,
what do you consider to be
the top three issues the city
is facing and will face in
the coming years? If elect
ed, how would you work to
address those issues?
Morris: In my opinion, the
top three issues Winder is fac
ing in the coming years are:
1. Flooding at the under
pass and Mayor’s Walk.
Flooding in both areas have
been discussed extensively
and major stormwater proj
ects are underway. The bid
ding process is near comple
tion.
2. Condition of roads and
traffic downtown. We in
creased the budget for road
repairs and created a paving
policy to improve the condi
tion of our roads. Since the
major roads going through
our downtown are state high
ways, I will continue to work
closely with GDOT for solu
tions as well as considering
alternate ways to route traffic
in the downtown area.
3. Maintaining our need for
public safety personnel: po
lice. fire and first responders.
To recruit and retain public
safety personnel, we created
a new pay structure which in
creased the pay and benefits
for all our police department
and fire department employ
ees.
If elected, I will continue
to work tirelessly with the
mayor, my fellow city coun
cil members and employees
of the City of Winder to help
make Winder a better place to
raise a family, to work and to
worship. I ask for your vote
on Nov. 2.
Matthew Redfern, Ward 1
BNJ: Please provide a
brief background/biogra-
phy of yourself.
Redfern: I was born and
raised in Georgia, just down
the road in Lawrenceville. I
am married with two kids
and have worked in retail
management for 30 years. I
work around people all day
and love talking to and get
ting to know them.
BNJ: Why did you de
cide to run for election
and what in your back
ground makes you the
most qualified candidate
for this seat?
Redfern: I am running
for my family. I want to do
what I can to ensure the city
we love continues to grow
and remain a safe and pros
perous place to continue to
raise my family. My educa
tion and work background
make me well qualified for
this seat, and my passion
for making sure all citizens
are represented make me
the best candidate for this
seat. I also want to make
sure the citizens hear from
the council and know what
their council is doing, so as
elected council members
they can be held account
able come election time.
BNJ: What should the
city’s approach to the
continuing growth in pop
ulation be? How can the
city best position itself to
handle the inevitable con
tinued growth?
Redfern: The city needs
Matthew Redfern
to have the flexibility and
room in its budget for
growth. Right now we have
that and must maintain it.
Rolling back the millage
rate would be catastrophic
to our growth and ensure
our neighbors relegate
Winder to a town people
just drive right through
while Bethlehem, Auburn.
and Statham continue to
grow and attract business.
We also need to make sure
we have hired the best lead
ership for the city that sees
the growth and knows how
to prepare and plan for it.
Right now we are lacking
a lot of leadership positions
in our city and wasting too
much money on outside
consultants and contractors
running departments. With
out positions in the city
filled, we will have a hard
time with long-term plan
ning with only short-term
employees.
BNJ : Aside from
growth, what do you con
sider to be the top three
issues the city is facing
and will face in the com
ing years? If elected, how
would you work to ad
dress those issues?
Redfern: Crime, traffic,
and those who support the
petition movement are the
biggest issues this city will
face. We do not currently
have a serious crime issue,
but with the influx of resi
dents and exodus of police
and inability to hire more
we could soon hit a mo
ment of reckoning without
proactive leadership. We
need to be able to hire first
responders at a wage com
petitive with surrounding
counties, and right now we
just don’t.
Our downtown traffic will
continue to get worse so we
need to take steps to make
our town a convenient place
for residents to walk and
bike to. Right now we have
many areas convenient to
downtown and the residents
have to risk lives or drive.
We need a better sidewalk
infrastructure to alleviate
some of this and bring more
people downtown to our lo
cal businesses.
The petition movement
is something that must be
stopped. The current peti
tions circulating will lead to
a dangerous form of direct
democracy and will deter
businesses from investing
in our city because of the
uncertainty we would have
in every decision made by
the council. Uncertainty
will kill investment in the
city and harm every resi
dent.
Melissa Baughcum, Ward 1
BNJ: Please provide a
brief background/biogra
phy of yourself.
Baughcum: I am a lifelong
resident of Barrow County.
My parents are Ellen Skin
ner and the late Myron Skin
ner. I have been married to
Ray Baughcum for 42 years.
We have five children, 13
grandchildren and are ex
pecting two great-grandchil
dren.
I attended Winder schools
from elementary through
high school. I graduated
with honors from Gaines
ville College in 1998 and
was the recipient of the
Behavioral Science award
and the Clark-Theodore
outstanding non-traditional
student award. I graduated
magna cum laude from the
University of Georgia in
2001 with a Bachelor of So
cial Work degree,
I worked for the Depart
ment of Family and Chil
dren Services for four years,
Head Start programs for six
years, and a housing author
ity for 7.5 years. I am cur
rently home-schooling three
of my grandchildren.
We moved into our cur
rent home in Ward 1 four
years ago with the intent of
living here for the rest of our
lives.
BNJ: Why did you de
cide to run for election and
what in your background
makes you the most qual
ified candidate for this
seat?
Baughcum: Even though
I have no political experi
ence, I am a taxpaying cit
izen of the City of Winder
and I watch the actions of
our elected officials. The
actions taken by them this
year caused me grave con
cerns about the future of
the city and the people who
live here. It was at this point
that I decided I had to take
a stand. It is time to put the
needs of the citizens first
above the wants of the elect-
Melissa Baughcum
ed officials. I don’t know
that I am the most qualified
candidate, but I know that I
will work harder than any
one for the people in Wind
er.
I feel my background of
working and living with a
diverse population puts me
in a unique position of un
derstanding the needs of the
people.
I am aware that, if elected,
I will be going in outnum
bered by those who have
voted to take from the citi
zens, but I want everyone to
know that I am a fighter who
is willing to stand up for the
best interests of the citizens
of Winder, and I won't quit.
BNJ: What should the
city’s approach to the con
tinuing growth in popula
tion be? How can the city
best position itself to han
dle the inevitable contin
ued growth?
Baughcum: The city’s ap
proach should be controlled
development to accommo
date that growth.
The city needs to look at
what is currently available
for our current residents,
and any future residents.
Are the available proper
ties affordable, accessible,
or appealing to current and
anticipated residents?
Before approving any
new developments, the city
should answer this ques
tion, and then consider the
impact each individual pro
posal will have on our citi
zens and ask for and listen
to their comments.
BNJ: Aside from growth,
what do you consider to be
the top three issues the city
is facing and will face in
the coming years? If elect
ed, how would you work to
address those issues?
Baughcum: I consider
these to be the top three is
sues:
1. Maintaining a balanced
budget without insanely in
creasing taxes.
Addressing this issue will
be difficult, but I will work
diligently to locate areas
where cuts can be made
without having detrimental
effects on provided services
as well as seeking alterna
tives to budgeted areas that
are not essential.
2. Maintaining the basic
infrastructures of the city,
while being proactive to
ward needed improvements.
The issue of infrastructure
is multi-faceted; however, as
our city continues to grow,
one of the areas to be con
sidered is how attractive and
welcoming the city is to not
only current residents and
businesses, but to any future
residents or businesses. A
major concern for business
es and people is our streets.
Parking, potholes and con
gestion are areas that I will
work to address on a contin
uous basis.
3. Creating a public trans
portation system that can
accommodate our citizens
needs as our city grows in
the future.
Public transportation is
something no one wants to
talk about, but to address
this issue. I will talk about
it. I will work to implement
and provide this service for
the community by looking
into what services could be
established and the costs for
implementing the service.
As our city continues to
grow, and our population
continues to age, alternate
means of transportation
need to be provided at a rea
sonable cost to our citizens.
Yvonne Greenway, Ward 1
BNJ: Please provide a
brief background/biogra
phy of yourself.
Greenway: I am Yvonne
Greenway, and I have lived
in Barrow County for most
of my life. I have lived in
Ward 1 for 19 years. I have
been married for 34 years
and have two wonderful
sons. I worked for the City
of Winder for 19.5 years,
mostly in the planning, per
mitting and licensing de
partment. I worked closely
with the historic preserva
tion commission, planning
board and city council. I
have a Bachelor of Science
degree from the University
of Georgia, and I am cer
tified by the International
Code Council as a permit
technician and as a zoning
inspector. I am also certified
by the Georgia Soil and Wa
ter Conservation Commis
sion for Plan Review.
BNJ: Why did you de
cide to run for election
and what in your back
ground makes you the
most qualified candidate
Yvonne Greenway
for this seat?
Greenway: Decisions
made by city administra
tion and the city council in
the last year have given me
grave concerns about the di
rection that the city is taking
under its current leadership.
The ultimate driving force
was the 108.7% increase in
the millage rate. Several cit
izens and opposing council
members made suggestions
of budget items that could
have been reduced or elim
inated but were ignored by
the majority of the council. I
believe that the people need
someone to represent them
that is willing to listen to
their voices and not be lead
astray by filibuster answers
to questions. As a former
employee, I have extensive
knowledge of city ordinanc
es and applicable state laws.
Additionally. I have nation
al certifications that require
knowledge about annex
ation, rezone, conditional
use and variance processes
that will help me to make
informed decisions.
BNJ: What should the
city’s approach to the con
tinuing growth in popula
tion be? How can the city
best position itself to han
dle the inevitable contin
ued growth?
Greenway: Continued
growth is inevitable but it
does not have to be ram
pant, unsustainable growth.
The highest density is not
always the most compatible
density with the surrounding
properties. All applicants
seeking to annex or rezone
properties are required to
answer questions about po
lice, fire, public works and
See Greenway, page 7A
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