Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 9A
Jackson County BOE, District 5
Bower continued from page 8A
Steve Bryant
Family: Wife, Donna Bryant;
daughters, Jessica Bryant, 23, and
Brianna Bryant, 20.
Career/occupation: Technical
application manager. Employed with
Nazdar (Shawnee, KS), a manufac
turer of screen printing ink and sup
plies.
Describe your background: Bom
in Lynchburg, VA (1960); gradu
ated from E.C. Glass High School (Lynchburg,
VA (1979); Graduated from Ferrum College
(Ferrum, VA) with a major in chemistry.
Employed at Allen Morrison (Lynchburg,
VA) as finishing material coordinator (7 years);
Moved to Overland Park, KS with Nazdar as
senior color matcher/technical service repre
sentative; Transferred to Norcross, GA facility
with Nazdar as laboratory manager/technical
manager; reassigned to corporate technical
service department as technical application
manager (current position).
Resident of Jackson County for 10 years;
member of the Hamilton Mill Christian Church;
former Jackson County school board member;
and current president of the Jackson County
FFA Alumni Association.
What makes you the most qualified candi
date for this position?
As a former Jackson County school board
member, I am very familiar with the respon
sibilities that are required for this position. I
believe my past work experiences will help in
these responsibilities as well. The following
are a few of the job requirements that I am
directly responsible for:
•Setting new short term and long goals for
employees
•Evaluate the daily, monthly and annual
progress of set goals
•Assign pay scale and annual increases for
employees
•Work closely with our human resource
department to maintain company procedures
and policies
•Maintain and balance annual departmental
budgets
•Maintain a balanced travel expense account
•Able to communicate well with all levels of
workers and management
I believe it is necessary for the person in this
board position to be able to communicate well
with everyone, deal with HR issues, evalu
ate and monitor the progress of set
goals, and to maintain a balanced
budget for the school system. Again,
I believe with the above job duties
and my past Board of Education
experience, I meet the qualifications
for this position.
Specifically, how do you propose
to continue making the school sys
tem better?
The past two years have been a
very difficult time for all school systems across
the state. Jackson County has had its share of
problems to deal with from re-zoning to finan
cial shortfalls to reduction in force. These are
certainly times that no one would have ever
foreseen in our life time. It is my hope that
these situations are behind us now and we can
move forward. There are a few things that I
believe we can focus on that will continue to
make our system better:
1. Better communication at all levels within
the school system.
We have teachers and other employees wor
rying about additional layoffs and furlough
days. We need to boost the morale of our
employees.
2. With the reduction in force, we need to
make sure our teachers are not overloaded with
additional responsibilities and their primary
responsibility is not neglected, teaching the
children.
3. We need to reduce all budget shortfalls.
The board needs to evaluate all vendors for
the county to make sure we are getting the best
deal for the taxpayer’s money.
4. Introduce a new program, “Shop
Jackson!”
The voters have already approved a one
cent SPLOST tax on all purchases in Jackson
County for local board of education use on
capital improvement to new or existing facili
ties. With the downturn in the economy, voter
spending has been reduced. I would like to
encourage all voters to make as many pur
chases (gas, grocery, food, and clothing) within
the county. This will do two things:
1. Additional SPLOST funds will be avail
able to the BOE, as needed for capital improve
ment projects.
2. It will bring the community closer togeth
er. We will be supporting our local merchants
and providing income to our neighbors.
continued on page 10A
BRYANT
Randall Skelton
Family: Wife, Rebecca, 48; son,
Allen, 32; daughters, Amanda, 29,
Alice, 23, and Ashley, 17.
Career/occupation: I have been in
the industrial maintenance field for
29 years. I am currently employed
by a Fortune 100 company in the
Gainesville area and my position
there is a controls technician. My
current job duties there require me
to program machine language into
processors that control high speed automated
equipment. I am also part of a team that sup
ports the robotic equipment at our facility.
Describe your background: I have lived
the West Jackson area for 49 years. I graduated
from Jackson County High School in 1978
when it was still located in the Braselton area.
While attending Jackson County High School,
I was the Jackson County 4H County Council
president. I also was an officer in the FFA and
a member of the FBLA club. I played basket
ball and baseball. I also was a member of Boy
Scout Troop 146, where I served as senior
patrol leader.
After graduation, I attended Lanier Area
Vocational Technical School. I took courses
there in solid state electronics; DC theory, elec
tronics-introduction to computers, electronics
transistor Theory and applications, electronics,
basic electricity and commercial wiring.
In 1999, I graduated from the Northeast
Georgia Police Academy. After graduation, I
was employed by the Flowery Branch and the
Braselton Police Department part-time.
I have coached Dixie youth baseball and
girls basketball at the Jackson County Park and
Recreation Department for a total of 16 years.
I have donated my time to teach diving and
swimming lessons to children at a nonprofit
swimming pool club. It has also been my privi
lege to work with the Jackson County girls’
basketball team during their off-season.
I have held positions as an industrial engi
neer and a maintenance team leader. In these
positions, I have managed capital projects
that were completed on time and on budget.
Several of these projects had a cost benefit of
over $750,000.
What makes you the most qualified candi
date for this position?
As a maintenance team leader, I have trained
in Japan for an automotive company on how to
startup a new company. This business training
I received consisted of Japan culture; budget
ary and technical training. I understand the
importance of preparing our children not only
to compete but to prepare our children to lead
in the world global market.
I have managed capital projects
over the years and understand the
need to be cost effective and how to
achieve successful results.
I understand that the Jackson
County school board can not keep
cutting the jobs of our school teach
ers and expect to maintain the
improving CRCT scores while drop
ping the student-teacher ratio. I will
not support any further cuts in the
student-teacher ratio.
Specifically, how do you propose to con
tinue making the school system better?
The CRCT results provide further evidence
that our teachers are doing a great job and only
need our support to continue this upward trend. I
feel one of the biggest opportunities we have for
our school system is eliminating the 9-12 dropout
rates. The national dropout rate is 4.4 percent
and our school system is 7 percent. To reduce
this dropout rate, my goal is to bring back the
arts programs that were cut and to increase the
vocational training classes for our children.
With longtime board chairperson Kathy
Wilbanks not seeking another term, that
means another chairperson will be named
after she leaves office (the board selects its
chairperson among its five elected mem
bers). What qualities will you be looking for
in a potential chairperson?
1. ) A chairperson must have leadership char
acteristics.
2. ) A chairperson must have a complete
understanding of the budgetary needs for the
school system.
3. ) A chairperson must be able to build con
sensus with the other board members.
School systems across the state are facing
tighter budgets, which are leading to some
tough decisions by elected officials to keep
their districts fiscally afloat. What area(s) or
program(s) would you potentially trim from
the school system’s budget and what area(s)
or program(s) would you avoid cutting, if
all possible?
I would not support the cutting of any core
subjects or the reduction of the student teacher
ratio. I think that all vendors or suppliers that do
business with the school system must have their
contracts reviewed or re-negotiated to achieve
savings. The school system is in the business
of teaching our children and a teaching position
would be my very last choice to achieve a budget
reduction.
continued on page 10A
SKELTON
Should the children of illegal immigrants
be allowed to attend Georgia colleges if they
pay out-of-state tuition rates?
It is my understanding that a child born in
the United States is a citizen of the United
States. There are those who don’t like that, but
if that is indeed the case, not liking it doesn’t
change it. Change the law.
If a child is indeed a citizen under the law
then they are entitled to appropriate tuition
rates.
If a child came in with illegal immigrants,
then the child also is illegal and is thus not
entitled to even attend Georgia schools and
colleges. We do need to find constructive ways
of dealing with this issue.
Do you support the state giving up some
of its control over local education and turn
ing that over to local school boards? If so,
what areas should be turned over to local
control?
Absolutely! There is a vast wealth of infor
mation and knowledge to explore and investi
gate. State control narrows the vision, oppor
tunities and perspectives that can be explored
by teachers, students and local systems. We
need only to insure that county systems teach
the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. If
county systems are free to develop programs
that work, doors of learning explode to prog
ress and growth. Local school boards can
determine what protocols and procedures are
important and desirable.
The state should be a resource for systems
to help local programs. It also should be a
resource for consumers (students and parents)
for violations of the rights of those consumers
when local systems fail. Local systems though
have an automatic check and balance system
called citizens, voters, and taxpayers. These
should be called on first. Voter power has been
taken for granted on such matters far too long.
Their vote can change the workings of a local
school system.
Do you support the state giving taxpayer
incentives to companies looking to open busi
ness in Georgia, or should such incentives be
banned in the state?
Yes. If we can leave money in the hands of
sellers and buyers, as it circulates, tax revenues
will be automatically be available. A dollar will
keep generating taxes as long as it circulates.
Putting it into the hands of the State limits the
use of that dollar. Thus incentives to new busi
nesses is important.
Dare we all so consider that for established
businesses as well? I would think so.
Of equal importance are the complex regula
tions placed on businesses and employees. The
cost of compliance probably hasn’t been ade
quately explored. Certainly, businesses would
be more creative and resourceful if they didn’t
have to spend so much energy making sure they
understood the regulations and whether they are
in compliance with those regulations.
Do you support a multi-county sales tax to
be used for transportation in the state?
No. Don’t we essentially have that with the
obtaining of our vehicle tags? Do we need
more? Further, what about the participation of
counties that are agriculturally based rather than
retail based? Would they have to go begging
for some of that money in regards to dealing
with transportation issues in their areas? They
already have to do that. Are the stronger retail
based counties going to be willing to pay for
transportation in the areas that don’t have the
same level of retail based opportunities? I
can envision a great deal of conflict over how
and where those tax dollars are used with less
populated counties being left out or overlooked.
Sales tax favors retail areas and puts those
counties without lessor resources in a defensive
position.
Coley continued from page 8A
of its control over local education and turn
ing that over to local school boards? If so,
what areas should be turned over to local
control?
I always advocate strongly for individual
rights, so I support anything that moves deci
sion making closer to the individual, and any
thing which makes those providing services
more accountable to those who are paying for
services. All areas should be turned over to
local control. Why should the state have any
control over how individuals cooperate as a
community to educate their children?
Do you support the state giving taxpayer
incentives to companies looking to open busi
ness in Georgia, or should such incentives be
banned in the state?
Banned. The only way for government to give
something to one business is to take it from
other businesses or people. That is theft. Reduce
spending in Georgia and give the breaks to all
businesses. Just get government out of the way.
People depend on production. Government pro
duces nothing and wastes much. Government
reduces the quantity of production through
regulation, inflation, taxation and litigation. I
want the government to leave us alone. Stop
favoring one business over another.
Do you support a multi-county sales tax to
be used for transportation in the state?
No. The proposed tax will only provide a
fraction of the revenue necessary to maintain
our present infrastructure. The tax will do noth
ing to expand our transportation infrastructure.
Our leaders need to be more forthright about the
difficult days ahead and our lack of resources.
We are essentially bankrupt as a nation.
When I drive to Atlanta on government holi
days, there is always plenty of room on the
roads. If we want new capacity and the resourc
es to maintain our present infrastructure, we
have to reduce the size of government and
decentralize the remaining government agen
cies. Centralization of power is the enemy of
Liberty. A smaller, decentralized government
that defends Georgians from federal abuses
will remove the current barriers to a prosperous
Georgia.
Gary continued from page 8A
We need to listen to law enforcement officials
and adopt new measures that will enable them
to effectively enforce immigration laws.
Should the children of illegal immigrants
be allowed to attend Georgia colleges if they
pay out-of-state tuition rates?
We can no longer turn a blind eye to illegal
immigrants utilizing state or federal services and
receiving benefits that they are not entitled to
receive. Approximately 3 percent of the students
enrolled in Georgia’s Colleges and Universities
are properly documented international students.
The children of illegal immigrants who wish to
attend college in Georgia should follow the same
rules and application process that properly docu
mented international students follow when seek
ing admission. No one should be here illegally,
and illegal immigrants should not be allowed
to take a shortcut that puts them ahead of legal
immigrants who follow the rules.
Do you support the state giving up some of
its control over local education and turning
that over to local school boards? If so, what
areas should be turned over to local control?
Local schools should reclaim control from
both the State and Federal Department of edu
cation. Improving education is a complex
problem, and we won’t have success with a
centralized one size fits all approach. A better
way to achieve results is to give local schools
the flexibility to do what works for their stu
dents and not tie their hands with state mandates
and a battery of meaningless standardized tests
that get in the way of actual learning. It is also
important to allow local schools more flex
ibility with how they spend money. Revenue
generated by the local penny sales tax should
be spent according to local needs rather than
state mandates. No two schools or students are
alike, and each should have the flexibility to
do what works for them, whether that calls for
bringing low performing students up to grade
level, or allowing high performing students to
surge ahead.
Do you support the state giving taxpayer
incentives to companies looking to open
business in Georgia, or should such incen
tives be banned in the state?
Broad based tax relief for everyone will do
more to stimulate our economy and produce
jobs than will tax gimmicks and special tax
exemptions for a few. Georgia should wel
come all companies with a low tax rate, rather
than a targeted few who are offered special
incentives. A better approach would be to give
every business an incentive to locate or expand
in Georgia by reducing or eliminating the state
corporate income tax.
Special incentives should be allowed in
exceptional cases, but the exceptions should be
few, and the burden of proof high. Currently
we have no way of knowing whether special
tax incentives, or exemptions, have been effec
tive in creating jobs because Georgia has not
attempted to perform a cost/benefit analysis for
these programs. We should take a fact based
approach, and if there is not strong evidence
supporting a specific exemption, we should
provide tax relief for all rather than special
exceptions for a few.
Do you support a multi-county sales tax to
be used for transportation in the state?
No. I support improving our roads and
expanding road capacity by using the gas taxes
which are already collected here in Georgia
for that purpose. Unfortunately the state
diverts too much of the state gas tax for other
purposes, and the federal government keeps
fifteen cents of every dollar in gas tax collected
in Georgia. If we prioritize our spending, keep
our money at home in Georgia, and spend gas
tax dollars already being collected to improve
and increase road capacity, we could dra
matically increase spending on transportation
without additional taxes. While the General
Assembly passed a bill last year allowing local
voters to approve additional sales tax fund
ing for transportation, the bill also includes
provisions which punish regions which do not
approve additional taxes. I do not support this
coercive approach.