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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TULY 9. 2008 - PAGE 9A
DA Candidate Smith Responds To Questions
Chas Hardy Addresses BOC Candidacy
MainStreet Newspapers
sent questionnaires to each
of the candidates for district
attorney of the Piedmont
Judicial Circuit.
Here are Brad Smith’s
responses:
Please summarize your
background.
Brad Smith has been lead
ing others since his college
years at The Citadel, where
he served as a cadet sec
ond lieutenant and compa
ny academic officer. After graduat
ing with honors from The Citadel,
Smith attended one of the nation’s
leading law schools at the University
of Virginia, where he graduated in
1996. He began his legal career with
the Piedmont Judicial Circuit as an
assistant district attorney for Jackson
County in January 1997. Within two
years, Smith was placed in charge
of supervising the Jackson County
office. For the next five years, he was
directly responsible for the prosecu
tion of every felony case in Jackson
County. In August 2004, Smith
moved to the Barrow County District
Attorney's Office as a senior assistant
district attorney. Highlights of service
include: assistant district attorney in
the Piedmont Judicial Circuit for over
10 years; serving as acting chief assis
tant for the Piedmont Circuit; serving
as lead counsel on more murder cases
than any other ADA in the circuit dur
ing his tenure; experience with multiple
death penalty cases; has argued before
the State Supreme Court; is past chair
man of the Jackson County Child
Abuse Protocol Committee and Child
Fatality Review Committee; created
and chaired the District Attorney's
Gang Task Force; assisted in the devel
opment of the criminal justice curricu
lum for Barrow County high schools;
is a State Bar of Georgia mentor for
new ADA’s; was admitted to practice
before the Supreme Court of Georgia
and the State Court of Appeals; and is
secretary/treasurer of the Piedmont
Bar Association. Currently, Smith
works at the Clarke County District
Attorney's Office.
Smith has been dedicated to serving
the Piedmont Circuit community in
his private life as well. He is a member
of the board of directors of the Tree
House Child Advocacy Center, serves
as chairman of the center's Fatherhood
Committee and is a member of its com
munity outreach, board development
and auction committees. He and his
family are also active supporters and
fund-raisers for Peace Place and Relay
for Life. In addition, he is the voice of
the Appalachee Wildcats, serving as
the announcer for the high school’s
home football games for the past
seven years, a member of the Barrow
County Chamber of Commerce,
Barrow County Republican Party, and
past president of his neighborhood
homeowner's association. Smith and
his family attend Sanctuary of the
Holy Spirit Church in Winder.
How has your background pre
pared you for the seat you are
seeking?
In my 11 years of service to the
Piedmont Circuit, I have prosecuted
every type of case from armed rob
beries and kidnappings, to domestic
violence and drug trafficking. I have
personally tried more murder cases
than any other assistant district attor
ney in the circuit. I have experience
with multiple death penalty cases,
and have received national training
in death penalty litigation. However,
being district attorney is about more
than prosecuting a case, it is about
leading a staff of over 35 in the pros
ecution of thousands of cases. My
roles within the Piedmont Circuit as
supervisor of the Jackson
County office, senior assis
tant district attorney in
Barrow County and act
ing chief assistant district
attorney have given me sig
nificant experience leading,
supervising and training
other attorneys, investiga
tors, secretaries, and victim
assistance coordinators.
Why are you the most
qualified person for this
position?
I am the only candidate with sig
nificant experience both prosecuting
cases and leading others in the pros
ecution of cases. In addition, the vast
majority of my experience comes from
serving Barrow, Banks, and Jackson
counties. As a result, I am the most
familiar with the issues and trends fac
ing our community and have built the
strong relationships with law enforce
ment, victim services agencies and
county government leaders that are
necessary to effectively manage the
caseload of a rapidly growing judicial
circuit and the large staff responsible
for prosecuting that caseload.
What do you consider to be the
key issues facing the campaign? If
elected, what would be your plans
on how to address these issues?
As Jackson, Barrow and Banks coun
ties grow, crime rates are growing and
the types of crimes are changing. The
district attorney must be prepared
to anticipate and stay ahead of these
changing trends in crime. For exam
ple, criminal street gangs are begin
ning to infiltrate our counties. The
DA’s office must establish a circuit
wide Gang Task Force, like the one I
created and chaired when I worked
in Barrow County, that gathers and
shares information and intelligence
and coordinates activities between all
law enforcement agencies. Only by
acting aggressively now can we get
ahead of the problem and stop gangs
at our door. Also, as our population
ages, elder abuse, both physical and
financial, is on the rise. The district
attorney must take the lead in both
prosecuting these cases and in educat
ing the community to help prevent
these crimes. Finally, Internet preda
tors are targeting both our children
and financial identities. The district
attorney must embrace technology
and innovation to combat these cyber
criminals.
In order to stay ahead of these
trends, however, the district attorney
must address a key challenge within
the DA's office — the high rate of
attorney turnover. Since September
2007, seven attorneys have resigned
from the Piedmont Circuit's DA's
office. Such high turnover rates hin
der the office’s ability to efficiently
and effectively prosecute cases. In
order to attract and retain the best
and brightest attorneys and support
staff into the district attorney’s office,
I will protect all employees of the
DA’s office by bringing them under
the human resource policies of the
counties that employ them. Currently,
attorneys and staff are employed at
the will of the district attorney and can
be fired without cause or due process.
Bringing them under the protection of
established human resource policies
will help eliminate an environment
of fear and distrust. In addition, I will
create formal training programs for all
attorneys and staff within the district
attorney’s office. Such training will
enhance employees’ ability to do their
jobs, promote greater job satisfaction
for existing employees, and attract
better-qualified candidates for open
positions.
What is the greatest challenge
facing the person elected to this
position and how would you
address it?
Bringing innovation and expanded
services during an economic down
turn. Taxpayers are overburdened and
cannot simply throw money at prob
lems. The district attorney must use
the resources that are already in place
to be more efficient and productive.
The district attorney must also work
outside the courtroom to promote pro
grams that prevent crime and break
the cycle of victimization.
What course would you like to
see the county take as it grows
over the next decade?
I would like to see open communi
cation and coordination between all
of the various law enforcement agen
cies in the county. Since working with
the district attorney’s office is some
thing they all share, the district attor
ney is in a unique position to foster
and promote this cooperation. With
rapid growth but limited resources,
law enforcement must work together
and pool their various resources to
stop our changing trends in crime
before they take hold. The district
attorney must take a leadership role
in this.
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Let’s Get Dirty!
MainStreet Newspapers
sent questionnaires to
both of the candidates for
the District 2 seat on the
Jackson County Board of
Commissioners.
Following are the respons
es of Chas Hardy.
Please summarize your
background.
From a very early age, I
have been strongly involved
in the community. From Boy
Scouts to civic clubs in high
school to athletics and fraternities in
college, and returning to Commerce
and becoming involved in numerous
civic organizations and clubs, I have
remained active in my community. I
have dedicated the last 15 years to pro
tecting your homes and property as a
volunteer fireman and have served
the last four years on the Jackson
County Industrial Development
Authority helping the county expand
with quality industry. I have been run
ning a successful small business since
college and understand the challeng
es of managing finances. My back
ground includes: Past president of
Commerce Kiwanis Club, Commerce
Athletic Booster Club, Commerce
Area Business Association, Jackson
County Chamber of Commerce,
Leadership Jackson graduate,
four years on the Jackson County
Industrial Development Authority,
Economic Development Board of the
Commerce Downtown Development
Authority, seven years on the board of
directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs
of Jackson County, fifteen year veter
an of the Commerce Fire Department
serving now as captain. I graduated
from Commerce High School and
West Georgia College, am a lifelong
resident of Jackson County, attend
First Baptist Church in Commerce
and am employed at my family’s busi
ness, Commerce Printing & Office
Supply. My wife, Sabrina, has taught
school for 12 years in the Commerce
City School System and we have
two children: Anna Caroline, 9, and
Lambdin, 5.
DID YOU KNOW?
By Preacher Clint
DID YOU KNOW THAT
THERE IS NO OTHER
NAME THAT WILL SAVE
YOU BUT THE NAME OF
JESUS? (Acts 4:12) If I ask you
this questions what or who are
you trusting to get you into
heaven, What would you say? The
Bible is clear that there is only
one way to heaven and that is
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(John 14:6) The choice is yours,
you can be SURE or you can be
sorry. ACCEPT JESUS.
Send comments to
Clinton Sexton
116 Ashland Drive
Commerce, GA 30529
How has your back
ground prepared you
for the seat you are seek
ing?
My background has
provided me with strong
leadership skills, a broad
knowledge of what's going
on in our county, the abil
ity to interact well with my
peers, the foundation to
build good working rela
tionships with all the lead
ers in our county and a
strong desire to serve the citizens of
Jackson County as we move ahead
with a vision for tomorrow.
Why are you the most qualified
person for this position?
I was raised to believe that every
person has a civic responsibility to
give back to his community. Our com
munity provides for us and it is our
duty to give back to it. I want to be a
part of the solution for our county, not
part of the problem. Because of the
experience I have received through
my education, civic affiliations, and
knowledge of the workings of our
county, I would enter office with my
feet on the ground running. I am
already working for Jackson County
through the boards I now serve on
and feel that my background and
experience makes me the most quali
fied person for this position.
What do you consider to be the
key issues facing the campaign?
If elected, what would be your
plans on how to address these
issues?
Growth: We can't stop the growth
coming into Jackson County, but we
can control it. With the slowdown in
the housing market, now is the time to
step back and take a deep breath. We
need to assess what we are doing and
how we have been doing it. We need
to figure out what worked and what
didn't work. By doing this, we can be
more pro-active in doing things rath
er than being re-active after they're
already done. I plan to continue to
work on strengthening building and
zoning codes to produce the quality
growth that the citizens expect and to
enforce the codes as they are stated.
Taxes: I fully understand that
nobody likes to pay taxes, but to
provide the services that all taxpayers
expect, they have to be paid. The goal
of the board of commissioners should
always be to be good stewards of
the taxpayers' money. Good quality
service provided by the county is cer
tainly to be expected. More people
trying to provide the service is not as
important as the quality of the people
providing it. More bureaucracy in
government is not a good thing and
I will strive to work with the board to
prevent it.
Water: Water is certainly a neces
sity of life that we have taken for
granted, until now. We have contin
ued to experience record drought
numbers for Jackson County and the
State of Georgia. Realizing this, the
state is providing 40 million dollars
in state funds to help build reservoirs
around the state. We need one here.
These things take time and patience
to accomplish and must take extreme
focus of the board to become a real
ity. By adding more available water,
it increases everyone's quality of life.
I plan to continue pursuing the con
struction of an additional reservoir.
What is the greatest challenge
facing the person elected to this
position and how would you
address it?
Building unity on the board. I feel
that District 2 has not been represent
ed in the way its constituents deserve
to be represented. We need someone
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