-
Habersham County District 5 Commissioner candidates George Locke Arnold, Michael Gosnell, Darrin Johnston, Tim Stamey and Barry Trotter share some of their views with community members at the political forum Tuesday, just two weeks before Election Day Nov. 5. (Photo/CHAMIAN CRUZ)
In about one hour, the five candidates running for district five county commissioner shared their views on several topics, such as economic development, growth in the county, infrastructure and small business, at the political forum Tuesday hosted by the Habersham County Farm Bureau and Habersham Chamber of Commerce.
The event took place at 6 p.m. in the community room of the Habersham Electric Membership Corp. building in Clarkesville.
George Locke Arnold, Michael D. Gosnell, Darrin Johnston, Tim Stamey and Barry Trotter are the five candidates running for commissioner who will appear on the ballot Election Day Nov. 5 after Ed Nichols resigned in September with about a year left on his term.
Preceding the forum, Jimmy Kowlasky, Habersham County Farm Bureau president, said the forum should help people make a decision on whom to vote for.
“We are so fortunate to live in a place where we can have these open exchanges of ideas and information, so thanks to all of you for being a part of this,” said Mary Beth Horton, chamber president.
After two-minute opening statements, each candidate had one minute to answer eight questions posed by the moderator, Joel Williams. Below are the eight questions, followed by some of the candidates’ responses:
1. Do you believe that waiving taxes for new businesses to locate here in Habersham is fair to current business and property owners since we’re the ones that must pay for the infrastructure improvements, etc., to support the new businesses?
2. How do you define economic development and what should that look like in Habersham County?
3. As Habersham County’s population grows, how can the county ensure that property and business owners are not restricted by bureaucratic and unnecessary regulations?
4. What can be done to protect Habersham’s viable agricultural industry?
5. Are you in support of Northeast Georgia Medical Center taking over Habersham Medical Center? What are your thoughts about the debt that taxpayers are being left with in that transaction?
6. If elected, what is your vision to support current small business in the county and to encourage future small businesses to come to Habersham County?
7. With the increased growth in commercial activity along state Route 365, light pollution continues to be a concern impacting rural communities. What are your thoughts about implementing an outdoor lighting ordinance to reduce light pollution?
8. How can Habersham County build the necessary infrastructure to support the population growth and/or business expansion that we’ll experience in the next 10 years?
Tax waivers for new businesses
Gosnell, Stamey and Arnold agreed it wouldn’t be fair to waive taxes or to provide other tax incentives to attract new businesses to Habersham County. Arnold called it a “handout.” Gosnell, however, said if any tax incentives are offered, “they need to be very small in comparison to what that business is bringing into our county.”
The other two candidates said they did support tax incentives for new businesses. Johnston said he is a firm believer in tax abatements, a program which the county does not currently have, to help diversify the tax base and help take some of the pressure off property owning taxpayers.
“What you do is you build a program like that out where you can have one-, three-, five-, 10-year abatement programs on tax phase-ins that are based on job creation and capital investment, all which drives and diversifies the tax base, which has been my consistent message since day one of this,” he said. “… What we need to be doing to help the local businesses … is making sure we’re making Habersham County as business friendly as we possibly can by cutting regulation and ordinances that make it challenging for those businesses and cost them money that’s unnecessary.”
Trotter said multiple factors should be looked at before offering tax incentives to new businesses.
“… One being, what’s unemployment in this area?” Trotter said. “If unemployment is high, it might be worthwhile to create jobs for the people that are unemployed. And also, it would depend on the type of industry or business that is wanting to come in. Do we have resources for them or would we have to spend more money to create those resources just to bring a business in?”
Define economic development
The candidates expanded on each other’s responses to define economic development. Johnston answered first, stressing economic development meant diversifying the tax base while balancing it with what exists by finding the right kind of industries and businesses to bring to Habersham County.
Stamey agreed, saying it was also important to train people in the county. He and Trotter said economic development was also dependent on the necessary infrastructure and available resources. While Gosnell agreed with parts of what everyone else said, Arnold had a different take.
“We have spent a mere fortune in the last five or 10 years on promoting this county,” Arnold said. “… What have we gotten out of it? … Economic development is you must have an infrastructure, and that’s one thing Habersham County don’t got. … We must let the cities promote themselves. Let the people and the business promote themselves. … The county has no business getting into advertising or economic development.”
Private property rights
All candidates agreed private property rights should be respected as long as they do not harm the environment or infringe on anything. Arnold said it was important to balance private property rights with code enforcement.
Protecting agricultural industry
Trotter, Arnold and Gosnell said one way to protect Habersham’s agricultural industry is to support agricultural education through the county and school programs.
Johnston said he also believes in balancing the new industries with the quality of life and existing industries in Habersham County. According to Johnston, direct and indirect farming in Habersham County drives about 28% of the local economy and Habersham County is ranked eighth in the state for farming.
Stamey said another way to protect the agricultural industry in Habersham County is to not raise property taxes.
Habersham Medical Center takeover
Arnold and Gosnell said selling Habersham Medical
Center to Northeast Georgia Medical Center is a good thing to help relieve taxpayers from paying off that debt. Johnston said it is also worth looking at ensuring patients who have access to insurance and the ability to pay their bills stay in Habersham County rather than travel to Gainesville or Braselton for medical care.
“By getting involved with Northeast Georgia, that’s going to benefit that because the marketing strategy and the nameplate that comes with Northeast Georgia,” Johnston said. “… There are ways for us to service … that debt and I think SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), as we look forward, has got to be, it is and should be a part of that as we go forward in a way to diversify across so that it takes some of the burden off the taxpayers.”
Stamey, however, said the hospital deal needs another look since it is an existing industry that brings in a lot of money and employs many in the community. Trotter agreed.
“We need to think twice before we sell it, because the agreement, from what I’ve looked at on it, we’re getting $3 million a year for five years from them,” Stamey said. “That money has to be spent right back on the hospital, and when they buy that hospital they own it lock stock and barrel and we’re still $60 million in debt. … I think we need to consider and re-look at everything on that and not sell it. …”
Vision to support small business
According to Johnston, small business generates 75% of job creation nationally every year. All of the candidates agreed it’s important to support small business in the county.
“We’ve got to develop a workforce that can ultimately support small businesses,” Johnston said, “but we’ve got to make sure we’re protecting small business, making it friendly to do business here and that’s in terms of the county and the cities working together to take away ordinances that kill [businesses].”
If anyone, Stamey said, should get tax breaks, it should be small businesses interested in expansion or starting a new business.
“Because … when they expand, they’re going to take their current workforce because they are already skilled …,” Stamey said. “Any other small businesses who want to work here, if they’re smart, they’re going to come in here and they’re going to see what education people have here and work with North Georgia Tech or even with the high school like we’re doing with the welding currently and try to develop the skills that are needed for those small businesses.”
Trotter, however, simply answered, “Shop Habersham.” And Arnold said small businesses have “to want it” and be willing to go through hard times since their staying in business is so dependent on the economy.
Gosnell, the first to answer, admitted he needed to do more research, but said downtown development grants were one way to support small businesses by helping them to improve things like their advertising and storefront.
Light pollution
None of the candidates supported the possible implementation of an outdoor lighting ordinance to reduce light pollution, saying it would be an overstep.
“I’m not for any ordinances or variations that are going to create more problems for businesses to come here and operate,” Johnston said.
Investing in infrastructure
Stamey said he was not concerned with infrastructure, but rather with paying off the millions of dollars of debt the county has or will have for the new administration building, hospital and jail. Arnold and Gosnell said it was more important to focus on improving “what we’ve got.”
Trotter said it was up to the individual cities to focus on their infrastructure. The only differing view was Johnston’s.
“Having been in the business world, companies aren’t going to come in and wait on a county to ultimately fix everything to get them to come here,” he said. “… With all due respect to every gentleman at this table, I’m hearing a lot of we can’t, we can’t, we can’t, we can’t, we’re never going to get to that, we can’t, we’re not going to do this. Guys, we have to look forward. … There are ways to figure this out. …”