Newspaper Page Text
Continued from page 1A
Candidates for local offices
remain cordial in first debate
THURSDAY. MAY 13. 2004 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Improving and upgrading the
county’s road maintenance program
will also be one of Jones’ “top pri
orities,” he said.
The incumbent candidate, Com
missioner Bill Newton, also recog
nized growth as a major challenge
to county government, and he
leaned on his record as commis
sioner over the past three years.
“We have tried to do things to
help improve the county, with the
growth that’s inevitable due to
515,” said Newton. “We have to
deal with these problems.”
Newton said the county is cur
rently working on plans to bring
water to “almost all” residents. He
said currently there are 1,700 coun
ty water customers out of almost
30,000 residents.
If the county were to develop a
sewage system, it would result in
“more condensed homes,” which
his administration has tried to pre
vent, he said. “We’re not trying to
build twice as many houses on an
acre of land,” said Newton.
Also, the county has recently
acquired two loans and a grant for
development of the county’s water
system, which include funds for a
water treatment facility in Marble
Hill.
He also pointed to the SPLOST
tax that voters approved last year,
noting that some of those funds are
already being put to use “to provide
for public safety.”
Specifically, he said the county
has purchased new sheriff’s cars
and ambulances, and a new jail is
among the projects to be started in
the near future.
“I would like to be your com
missioner to see all these projects
through,” he said.
Newton also mentioned the
recent acquisition of 13 and a half
acres for the recreation department,
which will be developed for recre
ational use.
He said his administration has
increased land use ordinances to
“protect what we have,” and has
required developers to pay for
some of the services they need.
The third candidate for commis
sioner, Andy Robb, was the only
one at the forum to attack the oppo
sition.
Robb listed his background
information which he said qualified
him for the job of commissioner,
including 17 years served in U.S.
Army Special Operations and posi
tions as plant manager for private
companies. He has served on the
Pickens County board of assessors,
board of elections, and is on the
economic development committee.
He then listed his credentials as
a long-time Republican, suggesting
he is the only true Republican run
ning for commissioner.
“I would like to remind you that
the July 20 election is called the
Republican primary, where we elect
Republican candidates to represent
us in the general election,” said
Robb.
He said he has been a member
of the Pickens County Republican
party for 15 years, and has held
several offices within the party.
Both Jones and Newton have
been members of the local party for
four months, Robb said, and they
have rarely, if at all, voted in
Republican primaries since 1996.
“If the commissioner of this
county is going to be the standard
bearer for the Republican party, he
needs to set the example,” said
Robb.
Turning to his own stance on
policy issues, Robb noted that a
portion of school property taxes are
allocated to the county’s general
fund, an amount that adds up to 1.2
million dollars over the past four
years.
He said he would put a morato
rium on that practice and enter
negotiations with the school board
to “reduce this siphoning of funds”
without raising the millage rate.
Robb also said he supports a
multi-person commission in place
of a sole commissioner, and prom
ised to let the people vote on
whether the county should switch
to that format.
Criticizing the commissioner’s
management of the upcoming land
use referendum, Robb called it “the
worst I have ever seen.”
A “fully vetted” land use plan
has been ready for the commission
er’s signature for three years, Robb
said, and “finally put it up for a
vote” this year. “He gave develop
ers and land speculators a three-
year head start,” said Robb.
Brian Millsap was the first can
didate for sheriff to give his open
ing statement.
He listed his accomplishments
during his career in law enforce
ment, which includes the last seven
years as a beat officer in the Atlanta
Police Department. In 1999, he said
he was named the Atlanta police
officer of the year, and has served
on the Strike Team and the SWAT
Team there.
Working with the REDDOG unit
in Atlanta, he has worked to appre
hend street level drug dealers.
“I’m not running for sheriff to
bring Atlanta to Pickens County,”
said Millsap. “I want to keep
Atlanta out of Pickens County. And
I believe my experience and train
ing have prepared me for the office
of sheriff.”
He promised to have a “profes
sional and ethical sheriff’s depart
ment that’s open and honest” if
elected, he said. He said he will
have an aggressive approach to
crime, and his department will be
“proactive.”
Millsap said he would establish
a traffic unit and a narcotics unit,
and increase training for deputies.
He said he would enforce mandato
ry drug testing of all the depart
ment’s employees.
A reserve unit would be estab
lished “to enhance and supplement
the full time officers” by Millsap,
he said.
Next, Chris Romine stressed the
need to work more with the com
munity in law enforcement and
public safety.
“I think our sheriff’s department
has a tremendous amount of poten
tial that needs to be utilized,” said
Romine, who is currently serving
as the county’s marshal.
He said the first thing he would
do is allow law enforcement agen
cies to work together and commu
nicate more with each other.
Romine said he would ensure a
“proper use of funds,” and would
spend more on training and equip
ment. “My goal would be to train
officers in more specialized areas,”
said Romine.
“These positive changes would
bring more drug arrests, more bur
glaries solved, also preventing
many crimes before they occur,”
said Romine.
He said currently Pickens Coun
ty is divided into three zones that
are covered by at most four officers
on any one shift.
“My intention is to create small
er zones so that these officers can
become more familiar with the peo
ple in their area,” he said. “This
way people will know who they are
calling on if they need it.”
Romine also proposed holding
community meetings monthly to
get citizens “more involved.”
“Interaction between law
enforcement and the community
has been known to help prevent
crime,” he said.
He said when he worked for the
sheriff’s department in 1992, a lot
of people knew the deputies per
sonally. Now, he said that has
changed with the growth of the
county, and many people do not
know the officers.
The incumbent candidate, Sher
iff Billy P. Wofford, noted that he
has been sheriff for the last 23
years, and has worked in the sher
iff’s department since 1971.
He said during that time he has
seen lots of growth in both the
county and the department. This
year they are expected to answer
almost 20,000 calls, and will serve
over 1,000 arrest warrants.
“I am the candidate who knows
how to handle the complex prob
lems handled by the sheriff’s office
on a daily basis,” said Wofford. “I
am the candidate who has the expe
rience to manage the day to day
operations of the office of sheriff.”
He said he has seen the daily
prison population grow from two
inmates to over 60. “It is with the
knowledge of the growth that I am
working to build a new jail,” he
said.
The department is currently han
dling over $400,000 in grant funds,
which he called a “tremendous sav
ings” to taxpayers.
Wofford said he has worked to
establish local control over drug
enforcement, and his office runs a
state child abuse protocol commit
tee.
He said he takes a “hard stance”
on domestic violence, and the
department’s domestic violence
policies have been used as a model
in our judicial circuit.
He said his officers are well-
trained, and have provided training
to other agencies.
All candidates noted they have
lived in Pickens at least most of
their lives.
The only candidate for District
Attorney of the Appalachian Judi
cial Circuit was Pickens County
resident Joe Hendricks.
Hendricks was hired as an assis
tant district attorney by Roger
Queen when he first got out of law
school, he said.
“I am the only candidate who
has had experience prosecuting
cases,” said Hendricks. In his first
three years in the D. A.’s office, he
said he prosecuted 30 cases.
Since 1998, Hendricks has
worked for a private law firm.
Both candidates for Pickens
County coroner said the office of
coroner should not be in a funeral
home, as it has been many years,
according to incumbent Lonnie
Waters.
Kevin Roper, currently the
owner of Roper Funeral Home, said
the coroner’s office often goes
unnoticed even though it is an
important office as the coroner
“investigates deaths that are unat
tended by physicians.”
He said the coroner should be
truthful and open with families of
deceased. If elected, he said he
would “assist families in contacting
the right people.”
Incumbent Lonnie Waters, who
has served the past seven and a half
years, said he and Roper are “think
ing quite a bit alike.”
He said the coroner’s office
should have a good relationship
with law enforcement and EMS.
Until recently, the Pickens
County’s coroner’s office has been
affiliated with a funeral home, and
that has been the biggest complaint
from citizens, said Waters.
Waters said he worked for a
local funeral home for the past 21
years, but is no longer so
employed.
“In the last two weeks we have
been very successful in separating
the coroner’s office and the funeral
profession. I have been working on
this steadily for over five years,”
said Water.
He said the county coroner’s
office now owns its own morgue,
and the commissioner has promised
a new coroner’s office and exami
nation room.
“I would like to be re-elected
because I would like to see all these
things through,” Waters said.
Ervin Easterwood, an incum
bent, was the only candidate pres
ent at the forum for school board
post 4.
He said in the last two years he
has worked to reduce the budget
and decrease the spending of tax
payer dollars. As facilities chair
man, he has helped oversee the
building of a new bus garage and
lunchroom at Jasper Middle
School, as well as other repairs at
various schools, he said.
Easterwood also said the schools
have performed well, and the sys
tem this year is ranked 61 out of
180 in its SACS accreditation.
Shirley Whitaker, also an incum
bent, was also the only candidate
for her school board post — post 1
— to attend the candidate forum.
Whitaker, who has been on the
board for five years, said her main
concern is the children. “We need
to do what’s best for them,” she
said.
Other candidates who attended
the forum but are not facing the
opposition so far were Larry Ray,
incumbent candidate for chief mag
istrate; and Gail Brown, candidate
for clerk of superior court.
The following questions were
asked of the candidates:
To Commissioner Bill Newton:
How much will the new state patrol
post cost, and how will it benefit
the county?
Newton replied the total cost for
the state patrol project will cost 1.1
million dollars.
He said it will fit in with the
county’s public safety plan as it
will make the roads safer. He noted
during a recent 30-month period
there were over 250 accidents on
Highway 515.
To all commissioner candidates:
Will you establish impact fees
immediately on being elected?
Jones replied that the state regu
lates the way impact fees are spent.
“You have to require certain servic
es in so many areas of the county”
before you can implement impact
fees, he said.
Newton said the North Georgia
RDC has been doing an assessment
of impact fees for Pickens.
“What impact fees are for is to
maintain the level of service you
already have,” said Newton, and
the county is therefore working on
enhancing services so they will be
at a “higher standard” before they
issue impact fees.
Robb said he would establish
impact fees “as soon as possible.”
He said by waiting to improve
services, the county is missing out
on the collection of more money.
“If you use that logic you might as
well as wait ten years,” he said.
To all commissioner candidates:
What are your plans for the growth
of Pickens County?
Robb replied by further criticiz
ing the commissioner’s land use
plan and referendum, which he
called a “blank check” because the
commissioner may change it after
the vote.
But he said voters should vote
yes because “it’s something that
needs to be done.”
Jones said he would like to slow
down the growth, but he doesn’t
want to stifle it, “because that’s
money in everybody’s pocket.”
He said he would propose tem
porarily increasing the minimum
land lot size, from one acre to as
much as three acres.
“That would give us some
breathing room,” he said.
Newton said the county does
have regulations on land use and lot
sizes. He said the county has been
working on attracting “better quali
ty growth.”
Current regulations on lot sizes
that are three acres or smaller
include requiring curbs, guttering,
and setbacks for utilities.
“We’re encouraging larger lot
sizes, we do give breaks if lot sizes
are three acres or larger,” said
Newton.
At the same time, he said he
doesn’t want to see parents and
people who work in construction
and contracting lose their jobs.
“I’ve got a lot of friends who are
carpenters and construction work
ers. It’s a big asset to the county to
have these jobs,” he said.
He also said the county has been
working hard on enhancing its
water service lately, including a
connection with the city of Cal
houn, which will enable the county
to have three times the amount of
water it now uses.
Also, he said the county has
drilled eight to ten wells throughout
the county in the past two years.
To Commissioner Newton: How
will development of the airport
benefit Pickens County?
Newton said many larger com
panies who do business in the area
travel by private plane, and now
they usually fly into Atlanta. He
said it would be helpful to Pickens
if they flew into the local airport
instead, because they would likely
end up spending more money here.
He said the county should capi
talize on the resources it has.
To all commissioner candidates:
How do you plan to attract quali
fied public servants?
Jones compared running govern
ment to running a business. Quali
fied applicants can be attracted to
county jobs through better wages
and benefits, he said.
Robb said that county employ
ees “should be priority number
one,” and they should be paid
more.
Newton defended the wages and
benefits the county offers employ
ees. He said employees get sick
days and insurance, and he has
increased their pay by 5.5 percent
over the past three years.
He added that county employees
have always been underpaid and
they still are.
To all sheriff candidates: What
administrative experience have you
had that qualifies you to run the
sheriff’s department?
Millsap said there is “all kinds
of paperwork” that he has to do as a
beat officer in filing reports. He
said he has helped in keeping time
for employees in the Atlanta Police
Department, where it is a common
practice to move officers around to
different jobs and offices.
Romine said he has been a
supervisor in the sheriff’s depart
ment, and he runs his own private
investigation firm. In his current
job as marshal, which is funded by
a federal grant, he said he handles
budgets and manages grants.
To all sheriff candidates: What
would you do to ensure the safety
of officers when investigating meth
labs?
Millsap said he would provide
the proper training in order to safe
ly deal with meth labs, adding that
“we need our own people to con
centrate on drugs in Pickens,”
rather than relying solely on the
multi-jurisdictional Appalachian
task force.
Romine also said the county
should establish its own drug task
force.
Wofford said all his uniformed
officers are already trained in drug
investigations. He said the
Appalachian task force is “one of
the most advanced in the state,”
and his department recently applied
for a permit for a K-9 unit.
To sheriff candidate Millsap:
What is your plan for the sheriff’s
precincts in Marble Hill and Hin
ton?
Millsap replied that he has
“never seen anyone” at the precinct
in Marble Hill. “If those precincts
are not manned, I think there could
be a better use of that money,” he
said.
To all sheriff candidates: What
would you do to reduce severe vio
lent crime?
Millsap answered that it is
important to keep deputies out on
the streets. “Just being on the
streets where people can see the
deputies will reduce crime,” he
said.
Romine repeated that he would
divide the county into smaller
patrol zones.
Wofford said there is no money
available to implement the pro
grams proposed by the other candi
dates.
To school board candidates:
What are the most urgent problems
facing the schools?
Easterwood said population
growth is the most urgent problem,
and plans to build a new school
will alleviate that for a little while.
Whitaker said the school system
should stop hiring people from out
side the county for positions that
Pickens County residents are quali
fied to fill.
To coroner candidates: How
would you keep unauthorized peo
ple away from an investigation
site? How would you make sure the
coroner’s office’s vital records are
stored safely?
Roper said privacy should
always be protected, and records
would be stored in an office with “a
lock and key only available to the
coroner and the proper law enforce
ment officials.”
Waters said the files have
always been secure in the funeral
home, where they have always
been stored. But he said the new
coroner’s office will be under lock
and key.
He added that occasionally his
wife has accompanied him on
investigations, but everything she
saw or heard during an investiga
tion was “confidential between me
and her.”
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