Login | Site Map | Archives | Electronic Edition | Mobile Edition | Alerts | RSS | Contact Us | Submit News & Photos | Subscriber Services

Home2008 ElectionsGa. Local Government Elections

Primaries don't attract large number of candidates in Hart County

— Primaries for elected office in Hart County have drawn a limited number of candidates.

So on July 15, only those voting in the Democratic primary will be able to chose from local candidates.

The three local seats with competition on Tuesday will be the clerk of court, the tax commissioner and the County Board of Education District 1 seat. In November, six local races will be decided at the polls.

The clerk of court and tax comissioner’s races attracted three candidates — two Democrats and one Republican — each.

Michael D. Adams and Frankie Gray are the two Democratic candidates for the Clerk of Court race. Clerk of Court William E. Holland III is retiring at the end of the year. The winner of Tuesday’s primary then will face the Republican candidate for the seat, Debbie Whitmire, in the fall.

One of the Democratic candidates is a banker and the other a law enforcement officer.

Adams, a 30-year-old Hart County native, graduated from Georgia Tech in 2001 and has worked at the Bank of America since. He said he would like to take that experience to the clerk’s office and push to put more county records online to make the information more accessible to residents.

“That would make it easier for residents to access information without having to actually go into the courthouse,” Adams said, adding that he would also like to keep everything in the office on a first-name basis.

Gray, a realtor and investigator at the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, said he loves to work with the public. He said he would continue Holland’s good service in the office and emphasize customer service, professionalism and courtesy.

“I enjoy the courtroom setting,” Gray said. “And I have been in law enforcement for 17 years in Hart County and thoroughly enjoy public service work.”

Democrats Donnie Cobb and Gail Harper Johnson, who are seeking the tax commissioner’s position, also mentioned their love of working with the public. Both are political newcomers, and the winner on Tuesday will go on to face Republican incumbent Burl Pierce III in November.

Cobb, a 61-year-old captain at the Hartwell Police Department, said he could use his supervisory experience in the commissioner’s spot.

“I just felt like I could do a good job at it,” Cobb said. “I feel like with my age and my experience in supervision that I could go in and do a good job for the people of Hart County.”

Johnson, a 57-year-old Hart County native, has worked in the car industry for her whole career in her family’s business, Star Fleet and Leasing. And she works in the tax commissioner’s office a lot doing title work, she said.

That sparked her interest in the office, and she wants to see if she could make the office more customer-friendly and accessible, she said.

One thing she said she would like to consider is changing the tax office’s hours, perhaps for a couple of days a week, if it is feasible.

“People get off work at 5 p.m., and that is when the tax office closes,” Johnson said. “There should be at least one or two days a week when it is open later, so that not everyone has to take off from work to go to the tax office.”

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Comments are meant to offer our readers a forum for thoughtful, robust debate about local issues.

Comments are moderated, but you may find the content of the conversations offensive, objectionable or factually disputable.

Click here for our user-contributions policy.

Comments

IndependentMail.com does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post or respond to every suggestion for a comment to be removed.

Before you post, consider this:

  1. Keep it clean. Comments containing obscene, profane, vulgar, lewd or sexually-oriented language -- including creative spelling and typographical representations of foul language -- will be removed.
  2. Be truthful. Don't lie or spread rumors about anyone or anything. Stick to discussing what is factually known.
  3. Be nice. Don't threaten anyone, and do not post any comments that involve racism, sexism or any other sort of -ism that degrades another person. Hateful or offensive comments will not be tolerated.
  4. Police yourselves. Hit the "Suggest Removal" button to alert us to objectionable comments. Do not respond to trolls or those who seek to harass another poster.
  5. Stay focused. Keep on the story's topic.
  6. Help us get it right. If you have information to add to the story or you find a factual error or misspelling send us an email or call the newsroom at 864-260-1274.

Please read our official user-contributions policy.



Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)

Username:

Password:
(Forgotten your password?)

Comment:

  Want the editors to know how you feel? Click here to say it privately.

Please download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, or enable JavaScript for your browser to view the video player.