Forum draws candidates’ platforms, lots of questions

Published 5:51 pm Tuesday, April 16, 2024

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on the Baldwin County Republican Party forum Monday night related to the District 4 county commission race. The District 5 portion from the forum will be featured in the second article.

Candidates seeking a pair of seats on the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners participated in a GOP political forum Monday night. 

The forum was held at Last Call Auction in Milledgeville.

All six candidates are seeking office on the Republican ticket. 

The forum was sponsored by the Baldwin County Republican Party. Vikki Consiglio, who serves as the Georgia Republican Party finance chairwoman, was the moderator of the event. 

She introduced Janice Westmoreland, chairwoman of the Baldwin County Republican Party, who talked about the dates of early voting and voter registration.

Early voting starts April 29.

The Baldwin County Primary Election is set for Tuesday, May 21.

Consiglio then recognized elected officials in attendance before the commission candidates were introduced.

The first forum was for the three candidates seeking the District 4 commission seat, currently held by Commissioner Henry R. Craig, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

Each candidate was given up to seven minutes to talk a little about themselves and some about their platform. After each one of the candidates talked, a question and answer period was held before the forum moved on to the District 5 commission race.

The first candidate to speak was Carol Ballew.

She and her husband David have owned property in the county since 2011.

“We are proud to call Milledgeville our chosen home,” Ballew said. “We are Methodists and we are lifelong Republicans.”

Ballew said she was raised in an Air Force family and went on to marry an Air Force veteran. The couple has three sons and a grandson.

“I have a good rapport with the county commissioners and I feel we can work well together,” Ballew said. “I’m not going to promise you anything because I am one of five, and it takes the majority vote of three or more to either approve or disapprove something from the agenda. But what I will promise you is that I will do the research and I have plenty of time on my hands to do it.”

Ballew said she believes accountability, tax dollars and grant funds are all important.

“And it seems to be of great concern to the citizens that I have spoken with,” Ballew said. “I’m not a gullible person. I’m going to ask the right questions and get the correct answers.”

She mentioned that she has seen instances of what she called do-overs, which waste time and taxpayer dollars, she said.

“So, I want to avoid that and get it done right the first time,” Ballew said.

She also said that common sense planned growth is important. 

“But infrastructure needs to come first,” Ballew said. “I feel like if we get our infrastructure right and our schools right, then growth is going to follow.”

Candidate Andrew Strickland is a past chairman of the Baldwin County Republican Party. He also served on the district level and various committees. In 2012, he was an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention.

Strickland moved to Baldwin County 13 years ago. He and his wife, Gracie, married and the couple decided to raise a family here.

“Since I got here, I’ve felt the need to serve,” Strickland said.

He noted that he has been involved in civic organizations including the relaunch of the Jaycees chapter and served on the state board of the Jaycees.

“I am a Christian,” Strickland said. “Gracie and I have gone back and forth between Northridge and First United Methodist Church over the years. We enjoy both of them.”

He is a past member of the city of Milledgeville Planning and Zoning Commission for two terms. 

“I’m the only candidate in this race with a voting record,” Strickland said. “You can find it, and it’s pretty strong in economic development.”

At one time, he served as vice chairman and said he learned much from the late David Grant, who served as chairman of the city P&Z board for several years.

Strickland’s profession is in medical emergency services. He has been a paramedic since 2005 and has worked with ambulance services in several different counties.

For the past six years, he has worked as a flight paramedic with Air Evac, a medical helicopter company.

Strickland said when it comes to roads, everybody knows that T-SPLOST passed and that because it did, the county will be able to pave between 30 and 40 miles of roadway a year, whereas in the past the county could only pave between four and six miles in a year.

“And that’s very important to me,” Strickland said. “It’s not just paving roads, it’s making roads safer.”

He said he supported what fellow candidate Jay Wright had mentioned recently about the dangers of a left-hand turn being allowed at the new Publix shopping center slated to open soon.

“I look forward to being your champion in the fourth district to make sure that our roads in the fourth get some attention,” Strickland said.

He also is a big supporter of the county recreation department, he said.

“There’s a lot of good things going on over there, and that work needs to continue,” Strickland said.

He also said agreed with Ballew about the need for more ambulances throughout the county.

“I think we need firehouses that are capable of housing an ambulance,” Strickland said.

He pointed out that anyone in law enforcement, fire services or the medical profession is “near and dear” to his heart.

Wright, the other candidate in the District 4 race, is a longtime business owner in Milledgeville.

“And I believe because of that makes me the candidate most suited to serve on the county commission,” Wright said.

Wright was born and raised in Baldwin County, as were four generations of his family before him and two after him.

He is a 1996 graduate of Georgia Military College and later enlisted in the Army. He served in the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division. After his honorable discharge from the military, Wright returned to Milledgeville to start a family.

He and his wife, Joy, have two adult sons, Billy and Jason.

In 2007, Wright took over the family business.

“Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to grow our business over 400 percent,” Wright said.

He explained that his decision to step into the political arena was not something he took lightly.

“I’ve spent the past two years praying for God to use me in the best place he could,” Wright said. “During that time I’ve been preparing for this job by attending every commission meeting, work session and community event that I thought might prepare me for the work ahead.”

Wright said he has read the county employee handbook so that if elected, he can hit the ground running from day one.

“Time and preparation are especially critical in this particular election and because of the shortened term,” Wright said, referring to the new staggered term of two years in office instead of four years. “I’ve already done the necessary prep work to give Baldwin County a commissioner it deserves. I also believe that to be a successful commissioner, you have to be connected with the people that run Baldwin County.”

Wright said he had taken the time to build relationships with other county commissioners and with the county manager as well as other county leaders in the sheriff’s office and Milledgeville Police Department and city officials and leaders within the school systems.

Wright also touched a little on transparency and accountability.

“This is an area where I believe I stand above,” Wright said. “For those of you who have been following me on social media, you know that I regularly discuss the issues and the progress updates. I’m very active in that area.”

Wright said he also believes that excellent communication is paramount to doing an effective job as a county commissioner.

“I think that effective communication probably could have solved, if not at least made it a lot better, a lot of the divisive issues we’ve faced recently,” Wright said.