My Voting Guide for May 2016 - Part 3
I know I'm running late, early voting is almost over and the actual voting day is this coming Tuesday, so I'm hurrying up! County Commission and Board of Education!
For County Commissioner District 1
- David Barlow (Incumbent)
- Referred to Democrats as “Demoncrats” in commission meeting
- While being sued (and representing himself), he made a statement that a court of law is not a court of justice. Lost, of course.
- Eric Maxwell
- Formerly a County Commissioner
- Criticized Barlow and other commissioners
In this race, I’m willing to vote for Maxwell for the sake of unseating Barlow. The “Demoncrats” remark does not reeflect well on Christians or conservatives.
For County Commissioner District 5
- Greg Clifton
- Don Haddix
- Allen McCarty
- Emory L. McHugh, III
- Charles W. Oddo (Incumbent)
- http://www.oddonow.com/ (Website has an auto-play sound file, ugh, but won’t hold that against him)
One of the big things hanging over the county commission is the recent lawsuit and settlement with the NAACP, which resulted in the introduction of gerrymandering to the process of voting for our commissioners. The NAACP had no factual or legal ground for their case, but still some judge kept giving them “emergency” injunctions to force the rules in their favor just in time for elections. Oy. Oddo led the county to settle, giving the NAACP their district voting plus a check. “We didn't deserve this lawsuit, but here's a partial surrender plus some money to go away.” I can understand the why of the settlement, I just don't agree with it. I see it as giving bullies what they want, and I just think that's poor leadership.
I knew Don Haddix as an adult leader in my scouting troop, and he was also mayor of Peachtree City for a while. The guy is smart, and I find myself agreeing with him fairly often in issues discussions online. But when he was mayor he was sued by his predecessor over a fight they had, and then the settlement of that lawsuit led to an ugly fight with the city council over who would pay the bill, and then his wife ran for a city council seat at the same time as he was running for reelection… I can't say that he was in the wrong in any of those battles, but the drama is a bit much for me.
Mr. McHugh is a CPA and a former finance director for the County. Unfortunately, McHugh fell into name-calling in a county meeting, and between that and his termination with the county, there seems to be quite a story. Unfortunately, while it looks like I may agree strongly with Mr. McHugh’s positions, his temperament may be a problem. If I’m going to disqualify other candidates for name-calling in county meetings, I have to do the same here.
That leaves Greg Clifton and Allen McCarty, Mr. Clifton was mayor of Fayetteville, and I don’t know much more about him beyond that, except that he has criticized Oddo’s leadership style. Mr. McCarty was formerly a county commissioner until the mess with the NAACP, and his seat was lost to make room for the gerrymandering. I’m inclined to lean towards McCarty, I see just a bit more about his goals and accomplishments for the county.
For County Board of Education District 5
- Brian Anderson
- Susan Stopford
- No website or other information.
Not a whole lot of information available here, except for the article on the forum with both candidates, and Brian Anderson’s own website. Neither is an incumbent, although Susan Stopford has run before. I am inclined to lead towards Anderson here mainly because I’m having better luck finding out how he feels about important issues like money and curriculum.
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