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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TULY 9. 2008 - PAGE 11A
— Candidate For Chairman Tony Beatty
Cont. from Page 10A
Should there be a morato
rium on pay raises?
Pay raises wouldn't happen. My
vote would be absolutely not.
People don’t necessarily expect
a raise nowadays. What they do
appreciate is the opportunity to
come into work every day ... It
won't hurt that bad because they
just finished a salary study that
gave them what they should be
paid for their job.
Was the fire training expan
sion the right thing to do?
Should that project be put on
hold?
In October of 2003, the fire asso
ciation came to us in arms about
where the money was for this
project. Before that meeting was
over, I made a motion to give them
their money that night. They never
took that opportunity to take that
money. We would probably have
saved $100,000 to $200,000 if they
had taken that money then and
did the project. I asked about six
months later and was told they
decided they wanted to do some
thing larger. We put it on the next
SPLOST as public safety. At the
end of my term, there were some
moves to put part of the SPLOST
money for public safety into the
fire training center ... They (the
BOC) decided the other night to
fund the new figure — $5.3 million.
It's a mixed question. It depends
on who you ask.
Do you favor the fire districts
helping pay for the capital and
the overhead expense?
We brought that up three years
ago and naturally the firemen said
we weren't getting any of their mill-
age rate. They all seem to want to
keep it as a county-operated facil
ity. I think they are hoping some
revenue can be generated off of it
and that could offset some of the
cost ... I’m really happy with the
firemen. They put a lot of effort
out and a lot of time out.
What do you think about the
proposal to go to a state sales
tax?
My first impression was, let's do
it. Why haven't we already done it?
The state's main problem with that
is you’ve got counties like Bacon
and Crisp that have 3,000 people
in the county. They would not be
able to take in enough revenue to
support the county. So, it would be
taken in statewide and divided up.
A lot of people will have a serious
problem with sending their money
to Atlanta. The bigger counties
would be subsidizing the smaller
counties.
To have more affordable
housing, should the commis
sioners allow higher density?
I don’t have a problem with high
er density as long as the land use
plan is agreed upon upfront and
you don’t have to pick and choose.
The only problem with higher den
sity is that we have gone through
rapid growth and we haven’t taken
a breath to regroup. We haven’t
had time to catch up. Our infra
structure is in worse shape than it
was five years ago as far as being
able to provide everything. When
you get to that higher density, you
are talking about sewer and more
water. People are avoiding Jackson
County now because of the taxes
... The houses sizes need to come
down in certain areas. The house
costs need to come down in cer
tain areas.
What about apartments and
townhouses?
Not until you get money to build
the sewer.
Do you support more tax
breaks for senior citizens?
I have been pushing that in
every forum and asking people
to support that issue. I am 150
percent in support of that. I see
a lot of people who can’t afford
to stay larger property owners in
Jackson County. I think we need
to enhance that more and bring
it to when you are 70, you pay no
school taxes. Those people now
are already on the conservation
use which has lowered their taxes.
When you wipe that out, you won’t
be wiping out as much. I am all for
the exemptions for seniors and the
exemptions for farmers.
Does the county have too
much long-term debt?
$96 million was the debt they
took on in the last year with only
$10 million being voted on. When
you have a debt that is guaranteed
to bring in its payment, then I
have no problem with it ... Bear
Creek Reservoir was $24 million.
We have to have water. We need
another reservoir as soon as we
turned the faucet on that one. The
fire training center is funded by the
SPLOST. As long as the SPLOST
can hold up, then those have rev
enue sources to pay for them ...
I don't think we are in a serious
debt problem because the debts
we have sources for funding. The
only thing is that I am concerned
about the last bond — $45 million.
We are only 20 percent filled on
the current Concord Road area. I
would like us to have waited until
this economic situation was over
to stick our neck out for another
$45 million. That is the only one I
would have waited on.
Do you think voters should
be asked again to approve rec
reation bonds?
The recreation facilities are not
adequate anymore for the amount
of kids we have. The East Jackson
Park, I'm sorry they didn’t finish
that quicker. It was supposed to
be open in March of 2008 ... Every
one child that you keep busy ...
helps keep one out of the criminal
system. Recreation needs to be
right up their with the ounce of
prevention ... Yes, I would call for
the bond vote again.
What is the best and worst
thing the current BOC has
done?
Mr. Yates seems very involved
in his area. That is what a district
commissioner is for. He is more
or less taken the bull by the horns
over there. He has really gotten
involved with his people. He gets
an A for getting involved with
his district. That is what a district
commissioner was meant to do.
He has done a fine job with that...
Some of them have not done that.
Some of them have not related or
bonded with their area and seen
the needs in their area. You need
to be connected to the people. The
best thing they have done is sur
vive. It is a very, very tough job ...
They have added some people that
they shouldn’t have. They added
$140,000 in three motions, one
being the GIS coordinator ... The
water authority has a GIS coor
dinator; why are we duplicating
services? The water authority has
a finance person. Jackson County
has three finance people. There is
a duplication of services between
authorities and the county... Things
I wished they would have handled,
during the slack times in rezoning,
they should have looked back and
gotten more involved in the UDC
changes earlier.
Why would you want the
job?
I didn't decide until about two
weeks before qualifying. I kept
waiting for someone with some
experience, some leadership
and some knowledge of Jackson
County to run for that tough job.
My wife and I pondered if off and
on and she is actually the one
who encouraged me this last time
to really think seriously about it.
When I saw no one with any abil
ity to mold Jackson County as a
whole qualified, then I qualified
... I'm getting close to retirement.
I can retire any day. July 16 may
be the day I retire. I have the time.
I have the ability. I'm not a profes
sional speaker. When we started
those round table functions, we
got all of the cities together on
the same page. It seemed like the
mayors could relate to me ... The
chairman needs to be the leader.
You have to be able to relate to the
people.
Is this race a newcomer vs.
oldtimer framework?
Fifty percent of it is. Does it give
me the absolute advantage? The
answer is "no." But it does give me
the knowledge of the entire county.
It gives me the knowledge of where
we have been, where we have
come and what mistakes we have
made. It gives me that knowledge
which is unbelievably important. I
can relate to the people ... One (of
my opponents) has more people
charmed to have only been here
762 days ... Another (of my oppo
nents) is very much connected to
the development community. That
scares me. I’m not anti-growth but I
believe in controlled growth ... One
of my opponents is supported by
the development community. It is
going to be wide open Jackson
County. The question is, is Jackson
County for sale? If it is, it is sold.
It is up for the people to decide ...
One of the candidates has people
driving him around and having to
introduce them. I’ve been doing
meet and greets for 59 years - at
the ball field, at church ... They
are actually having to have people
introduce them. I realize you have
to do that when you haven’t been
here that long.
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Ron Johnson Addresses BOC Candidacy
Each of the three candi
dates for chairman of the
Board of Commissioners
sat down for interviews
publisher Mike Buffington
and reporter Angela Gary.
Following is the transcript
of the interview with Ron
Johnson.
Would you favor low
ering the millage rate to
offset some of high as
sessments?
Absolutely. A lot of the
politicians throughout the whole state
don’t understand how to do the mill-
age rate and it is a simple mathemati
cal thing.
Where would you look in the
county budget to make cuts?
A combination of budget cuts — 15
to 20 percent. Go to the non-public
safety departments and make them
cut their budgets 15 to 20 percent and
you can lower your millage rate.
What are your thoughts on the
$5.3 million fire training facility?
I would look at that and see where
the costs have risen, but I am in favor
of building that fire training center.
What about long-term debt the
county has, should some of that
be put on hold?
Yes. We have an empty warehouse
over there and roads. We need to fo
cus on what is already there.
Would you vote for pay raises
for county employees?
I've got a plan to do an end-of-year
pay adjustment. You give one to one
and a half percent raise at the begin
ning of the year and depending on
how they operate during the year
on the budget, if they stay under the
budget, then you give them an end-of-
the-year pay adjustment right before
Christmas.
What about insurance costs?
Would you be in favor of county
employees paying a larger share?
I would be in favor of bidding out
health insurance because there are
other companies that will come in and
bid. I'd be in favor of bidding it out.
Do you support state sales tax
instead of property tax?
I'm a “fair tax” person. I looked at
r
that plan and there are
some glitches in there that I
don’t like. If we could make
it where the county would
have no problem receiving
their funds, I would have
no problem with it. That is
my biggest worry — that the
counties wouldn’t get it.
As you campaign
across the county, what
are the top two issues
you hear about?
Number one is the taxes.
Number two is that a lot of people are
looking at the growth patterns — es
pecially the farmers. They put a sub
division out between two farms and
all of a sudden, the farmer pays more
taxes. To me, that is one of the biggest
problems.
Do you favor extending agricul
ture breaks for farmers?
Yes. That is our biggest business in
Jackson County. Our biggest business
is agriculture and we’re taxing them
out. Everybody is talking about bring
ing business in. We have a business
here and we are taxing them out.
Do you think agriculture pro
vides a lot of jobs in Jackson
County?
I believe it is the future. It could pro
vide a lot of jobs. I think that is the
future of our Hwy. 441 area in Nichol
son and Commerce.
Do you support extending
more property tax breaks for se
nior citizens?
I think Tommy Benton did a good
thing bringing that up, but I don’t
think he went far enough. I’ve been
with a lot of senior citizens in the last
six months from all parts of the coun
ty. I’ve actually had a lot of them say
that when the economy gets better,
they are selling their house and mov
ing from Jackson County. That would
be a travesty for our county. Seniors
spend more money in the county
than the younger folks. The younger
folks go out of the county to work and
before they come home, they are buy
ing their stuff. The seniors shop at the
local places. They are providing more
of the ELOST, SPLOST and LOST
that we have. I think we haven’t gone
far enough. They pay a lot of taxes.
Some people think they should pay
school taxes forever. I don’t believe
that.
What is the best and worst thing
the current BOC has done?
Best — I think they have tried to do
some good things and I think some
good things have come through. They
are finally getting the jail off. They are
finally getting the fire training facil
ity off. I don’t know if they have re
ally recruited any businesses here ...
They have held it to where it is. That
is probably their best thing. Worst — I
don’t think they actually know how to
calculate taxes and the millage rate. I
think they have done some spot zon
ing. That is bad when you are trying
to put a land use map in place... They
have to stop bending over for the de
velopers. They have to stop that. If we
have a regulation that says 100-foot
buffer, then there needs to be a 100-
foot buffer. That is there for a reason.
When you cut it down to 30 foot, that
is a huge, huge cut. Now, they want to
put the overlay in. Great idea. Wrong
time. They should have done it before
they put these subdivisions in. No
body looks at the future.
What about mixed use projects
where you have higher density
housing and mix commercial and
residential?
I think that is up to the cities to do.
I don’t believe it is a county thing to
do that.
What do you think about al
lowing higher density to provide
more affordable housing?
Jackson County has a lot of afford
able housing. We’ve done a survey on
it. Our survey shows there is an abun
dance of homes under $150,000.
As the county grows, how do
you see all nine towns working
together?
We need to have a lot more coop
eration. As chairman, I will go to the
council meetings. I will work with
the councils. We do a master plan
together. The cities know where they
want to go in the future. They know
where they want to annex ... You’ve
Please Turn to Page 12A
N
Ron Johnson
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to serve
you as your District Attorney these past ten
months. Since Governor Perdue selected me last
September as the best qualified person to bring
change to the Office of District Attorney, we have
made a great deal of progress. In just a few short
months, my team and I have:
U Rick **
DRIDGEMAN
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
• Recruited the most experienced group of professionals in the history of the
Piedmont Judicial Circuit.
• Resolved the backlog of over 2,000 uncharged criminal cases we inherited.
• Increased the rate of successful prosecutions from 54% to 85%!
• Reduced the dismissal rate from 24% to 15% and are working to lower that
further.
We instituted practices which result in more effective and efficient prosecutions at
significant savings to taxpayers, by:
• Filing most accusations and indictments within 90 days of arrest.
• Tracking and expediting jail cases to reduce the costs of pretrial detention.
• Contacting victims and arresting officers on ALL cases to discuss their case,
solicit their input on plea negotiations and provide assistance with victim
compensation and restitution.
I have a proven track record as a career prosecutor for over thirteen years. I have
personally prosecuted thousands of cases ranging from DUI to murder. I have tried
over 100 felony criminal cases before a jury, 95% of those successfully. I have built a
record of incarcerating repeat offenders, violent offenders and those who commit acts
of child abuse. I have built relationships with our law enforcement partners and others
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The Office of District Attorney belongs to you. I am committed to being a trustworthy
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working to put all of our information online so that it is easily available to any citizen.
I am a career prosecutor, not a politician. Unlike the other two candidates, I have not
hired a high-priced political consultant to run a campaign; I am speaking to you from
my heart. Because I will not neglect my duties to campaign, I hope you understand
that it is impossible for me to see each of you and ask you personally for your support.
Please visit my website at www.Diedmontda.com to find out more about me and my
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We have made great strides since September, but we still have work to do. I am
committed to bringing a culture of excellence to the Office of District Attorney and
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Please vote on July 15 to keep
Rick Bridgeman serving as your District Attorney!
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