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Head to the polls!
Houston Board of Elections opens new voting precincts
The Houston County Board of
Elections has created eight (8) new
voting precincts for the purpose of
downsizing the number of voters in
overcrowded precincts. All eligible
voters who registered on or before
June 20th will be receiving Voter
Identification cards which will direct
the voter to their correct voting
location.
All 24 voting locations in
Houston County will be open on
July 19, 1994 from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m.
One last look at commission hopefuls
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Alter several weeks of intensive
campaigning, the six Houston
County Commission Post Two
candidates are readying themselves
for the first round of cuts this Tues
day.
■ Democrats
Billy Hunter
Billy Hunter of Bonaire has lived in Houston County for the past 35
years, having moved here from his native home of Fitzgerald while still
just a teenager.
He is a former Warner Robins area fireman and also spent a nearly
two decades in various law enforcement positions in the county, from
chief deputy for the Houston County Sheriffs Department to Chief of
Police for the Warner Robins Police Department. He resigned his
position as chief of police in 1983 in order to become the owner of the
Houston Mattress Factory, a business he retains today.
In addition to his small business interests, Hunter also serves as the
bus route supervisor for the Houston County Board of Education. In
this position, he is responsible for designing and overseeing the routes
of all 101 county school buses and the 11,000 school children they
transport to and from school daily.
He and his wife, Sara Williams Hunter, have been married for 32
years and have two children. Donna Hunter Churchwell, 29, of Bonaire
and Bryan Hunter, 25, of Peach County.
The upcoming election for the County Commission Post Two seat marks the third political race in which
Hunter has been a contender. (As a Democrat, he made it to the run-off elections of both the 1984 and 1986
Houston County Commission races.)
When asked why he wants to represent Houston County on the local board of commissioners, Hunter had this
to say:
“I love this county. I’ve been here for 35 years. I married here, reared my children here and it is home,” he said.
“1 feel like I now this county well and really think that my presence on the commission would make a difference.”
Wayne Ragin
Although his pursuit of higher education and career has moved him
from state to state during much of his adult life, Ronald “Wayne”
Ragin, a native of Perry, says he chose to return to his hometown in
1990.
“Of all the places I have lived over the years, none have been like
home to me; none have made me feel the same sense of attachment that
I feel in Houston County,” the 39-year-old Ragin said recently. ‘That’s
the main reason I moved back here and have gotten involved in so may
civic and community organizations. I can remember being a kid and my
family having neighbors who were always concerned over what
happened to us. I just want my children to live in the same safe and
open environment that I lived in-an environment where people are truly
concerned about one another.”
A 1972 graduate of Perry High School and a 1976 graduate of
Howard University in Washington, D.C., Ragin currently serves as an
employee relations manager for a local defense contractor. He is a
former legislative assistant, having served three and a half years
working for Sen. Sam Nunn in Washington and has also served as a
personnel representative for various county governments and has run
political campaigns for several successful politicians in neighboring
Tennessee. For more than a decade, he served as a representative for a
national pharmaceutical company.
Outside of work, Ragin is very service and community oriented and is a member of the Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce, the Perry Evening Optimist Club and the Perry Economic Development Committee. He is a certified
volunteer mediator for the Houston County Juvenile Court System, serves as a coach for the Perry Recreation
Department, is president of the American Cancer Society in Perry, was a member of the 1992 Leadership Perry
Class, was appointed by the state to serve on the local Efficiency in Government Commission and was a loan
executive for the United Way of Houston County from 1990 until 1992.
He and his wife, Patrice, have been married for 13 years and have three children, Ronald, 10, Tara, 7, and
Portia, 3.
Randv Wynn
Randy Wynn, a native of Macon, has lived in Houston County for
the past 25 years and is currently an attorney with offices in Warner
Robins.
He attended Macon College and then managed full time careers in
retail and finance while putting himself through law school. He
graduated in the top 25 percent of his class with a Bachelor of Arts
Degree from Mercer University in Macon and later received a Juris
Doctor Degree from that same university’s Walter F. George School of
Law. He was even included in Who’s Who Among American Law
Students and has had his law practice here for the past five years.
Outside of the business world, Wynn says he enjoys spending time
with his family--his wife of 23 years, Linda Ward Wynn, and their five
children, Randy Jr., 21, Scott, 19, twins Sheri and Carrie, 18, and
Susie, 16. Additionally, he says he devotes much of his time to
developing and guiding youth activities and has coached both youth
softball and basketball.
He is also the current Parliamentarian of the Houston County
Chapter of the Democratic Party of Georgia and is a member of the
Warner Robins Chamber of Commerce and a two-year contributor to
the Robins Air Force Base 21st Century Partnership.
When asked what he could promise Houston County residents if elected, Wynn said this:
“I moved my family here in 1969. Average working folks, 1 worked at night and went to law school during the
day, all the while supporting a family of seven,” Wynn said. “I have worked hard all my life, and, if elected to
this commission, I will work just as hard for you-the residents of Houston County.”
Listed below are the names and
addresses of voting precincts
throughout Houston County:
In Centerville at:
001 CENT--Centerville
Elementary/Gym 450 Houston
Lake Blvd.
In Warner Robins at:
002 NSES--Northside
Elementary/Gym 305 Sullivan Rd.
003 NSMS--Northside
Middle/Gym 500 Johnson Rd.
004 NSSH--Northside
High/Gym 926 Green St.
Making the cuts will be the
Houston County voters who head
to the polls this coming Tuesday
for the General Primary Elections.
Voters will choose either a Demo
cratic or Republican ballot and
make their selections between can
didates for that particular party. The
005: LIND--Lindsey
Elementary/Gym 81 Tabor Dr.
006 ELBC--Elberta
Center/Cafeteria 400 Elberta Rd.
007 PKWD--Parkwood
Elementarv/Gvm 503 ParVwood Dr.
008 RECR-W.R. Recreation
Dept/Mclntyre Rm. 800 Watson
Blvd.
009 ANNX--County Annex
Building/Lobby 200 Carl Vinson
Pkwy.
010 MILL--Miller
Elementary/Gym 101 Pinevalley
Don’t forget to mark your
ballots in the
General Primary Elections
Tuesday, July 19, 1994
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Oil WATS--Watson
Elementary/Cafeteria 401 Dover Dr.
012 PERL-Pearl Stephens/Gym
215 Scott Blvd.
013 RUSS--Russell
Elementary/Gym 101 Patriot Way.
014 WRMS-Warner Robins
Middle/Gym 425 Mary Lane.
015 CVFS--Crestview Fire
Station 129 Water Dr.
016 HCHS-Houston County
High/Gym 920 Hwy 96
£B Republicans
James B. Carter
James B. ‘Jim’ Carter of Kathleen has lived in Houston County for
the past seven years. He was bom in California, grew up in Coos Bay,
Oregon, is a former military man whose lengthy and distinguished
career has taken him all over the world and currently serves as a site
security manager for the Northrop plant in Perry.
He is an honor graduate of Saint Martin’s College in Olympia,
Washington with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. He enjoyed a
20-year, highly-decorated military career from 1965-1985 and has since
embarked on an equally impressive civilian career, starting with the
Boeing Corporation in Seattle, Washington and the Northrop
Corporation in California.
After scouting the area and liking what he saw, he says he and his
family chose to transfer to Northrop’s Perry site in the summer of
1988.
When not working, Carter, who says he has always been a firm
believer in community involvement, has served as both a member of
the the architectural standards committee and a director for a local home
owners’ association, is a past vice-president and the current president
elect for the Perry Lions Club and is a member of the Perry Area
Chamber of Commerce.
He and his wife, Irene, have been married for 23 years and have one daughter, Kathryn, 21.
When asked about his interest in being a county commissioner, Carter had this to say:
“I have never run for office and am not a politician,” he said recently. “But, I am very interested in the
operation and future of our county. Do I think I can change everything? No, certainly not. Will I work with and
for all the citizens of Houston County? Most definitely. I think I can offer some leadership for the county in this
position and feel very strongly about becoming more involved in my community.”
Nora Reese-Laughlin
Nora Reese-Laughlin, a native of Warren County who moved to
Warner Robins in 1984, says she has been interested and actively
involved in politics since her 1978-1981 college days at Fort Valley.
In fact, she has worked on campaigns for several well-known local,
state and national-level politicians, from a number of mayoral, city
council and county commission candidates to former State Rep. Robert
Ray and U.S. Congressman Richard Ray.
She says she became a Republican in 1984, after more than eight
years as a Democrat, and has since become one of the most active
Republicans in Houston County.
She was even one of the founders of the Houston/Peach Young
Republican Party and is an active member of the Republican State
Committee.
In addition to her interest and involvement in politics, Reese-
Laughlin says she will bring many other types of experience to the
commissioner’s table as she has also worked as a teacher at the Robins
Air Force Base Youth Center, has served two years as a school board
administrator in Hancock County and has worked as a public relations
director for Cordova Square in Warner Robins.
Additionally, she also has experience as the executive director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce
and is currently an active lobbyist and the owner of her own marketing and consultant business in Warner Robins.
She and her husband, Robert Laughlin, have four children, Krystle,l2, Rosalyn, 7, Robert Marshall, Jr., 6,
and Melinda, 4.
When asked about her hopes of being elected to the county commission, Reese-Laughlin said:
“First and foremost I am a good listener with a solid background and the desire to serve all people in every
segment of our county,” she said recently. ‘To me, Highway 96 is nothing but a line on the map. I realize that
the people of communities like Hayneville and Elko have the same problems as those in Centerville and Warner
Robins and I truly feel I can represent them all with a fresh outlook.”
John F. Wylam
John F. “Jack” Wylam, a reured Air Force colonel, has resided in
Warner Robins for the past 22 years and is presently a building
inspector for neighboring Peach County and the owner of of his own
building and general contracting company, Wylam Enterprises, Inc.
A native of Ohio, Wylam first came to Houston county in 1972 as a
member of the 19th Bomb Wing at Robins Air Force Base. Before retir
ing at the rank of colonel four years later, he decided to make his home
in Warner Robins and lauds the area as “the best kept secret around”.
He holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in mechanical engineering
from Ohio University and has also done some post-graduate work in
business at Western New England College in Springfield,
Massachusetts. His fust non-military job in the area was as an engineer
for Brown and Williamson, Inc.
He remained with Brown and Williamson for nine years and while
employed there also started Wylam Enterprises, Inc.
Outside of work, Wylam is a member of the Air Force Association,
the American Legion, the American Association of Retired Persons, the
Retired Officer’s Association, the Shrine and the Masonic Order.
He and his wife, Ann, have been married for 42 years and have two children, John Wylam and Beth McCrary.
They have three grandchildren.
When asked why he wants to sit on Houston County’s Board of Commissioners, Wylam said this:
“I’ve spent way too much time waiting for others to take the initiative and have instead decided to do it
myself,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of ideas that could go a long way in improving quality of life for us all. I want to
spread those ideas and am confident this county commission seat is a good forum from which to do that.”
Among his many ideas is the possibility of starting a state “farmers’ market” at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter.
Saturday, July 16, 1994 Houston Times Journal -
South of Hwy 96:
017 BON--Bonaire
Elemtary/Gym 100 Elm St
Bonaire.
018 KATH-1052 Hwy 247/Old
Post Office Hwy 247 Kathleen.
019 ARMY—Perry National
Guard Armory Macon Rd. Perry.
020 TUCK--T ucker
Elementary/Gym 1300 Tucker Rd.
Perry.
021 MORN—Morningside
Elementary/Cafeteria 1206
winners of the General Primary will
then participate in a run-off election
this August if necessary and the fi
nal General Election scheduled for
November 8.
In the race for Houston County
Commissioners, three will appear
on the Republican ticket and three
Morningside Dr. Perry.
022 HAFS--Hayneville Fire
Station Hwy 341 S Hayneville.
023 LJFS- Lake Joy Fire
Station 410 Lake Joy Rd.
024 HEFS —Henderson Fire
Station Hwy 41 S Henderson.
Any voter who has any
questions or who has not received
an ID card should contact the Board
of Elections Office at 987-1973
prior to the General Primary July
19, 1994.
on the Democratic ticket.
To assist local voters in making
their party decision, the Houston
Timcs-Journal has over the past
three months featured each individ
ual candidate in separate front page
articles and is today supplying
readers with a second short profile
on each.
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