Rockdale Citizen

Tom Harrison

The Citizen recently asked Republican candidates for Post 1 of the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners two questions in advance of the July 31 Republican Primary Election. The winner of the primary will face either incumbent Oz Nesbitt or challenger Jerry Shepperd in the November General Election. Following are the questions and their responses.Tom Harrison, 61, is seeking election to his first elective office. He previously served as a member and chairman of the Rockdale Planning Commission and on various other community boards.

Harrison, a native of Decatur, earned a bachelor of arts degree from West Georgia College. He and his wife, Lorraine, are co-publishers of About Conyers magazine. They have four children and four grandchildren.

Citizen: As you have been campaigning, what is the No. 1 concern you've heard from constituents and what would you do to address it?

Harrison: "Without question the concern is about leadership. I hear from citizens who say they are embarrassed, frustrated and even angry about some of the things they have read in the newspaper or watched on Channel 23 about both the chairman and the commissioner I am hoping to replace. When their constituents believe they are 'self-serving' and that they are not leading Rockdale County in the right direction, it is time for new leadership.

"The citizens of this community deserve to have people in office who are respectful of others, willing to listen and able to forge partnerships; otherwise, we will continue to get further behind in addressing issues of real importance like public safety, economic development, and the burden of government on Rockdale County taxpayers."

Citizen: When the economy turns around, where would you direct the increased revenues?

Harrison: "Protecting the citizens of Rockdale County is the most important function of local government. If we don't feel safe in our own community, then nothing else the county does will really matter.

"I would give funding priority to public safety to ensure that our families and our properties are protected. I also would use the additional revenues to make the county government more fiscally sound so that we can fund our priorities without placing an additional tax burden on our citizens.

"If the revenues are sufficient, I also would favor making the salaries of our employees, particularly those in public safety, more competitive so that we retain the best of our workforce and not continue to be a training ground for other communities. And, I would use the funds to ensure that we have the proper infrastructure in place to fuel economic development, which will create more jobs and generate more revenue for our community."Sam Smiley, 47, is also seeking his first elective office, although he has been appointed to serve on both the Fire/E911 SPLOST sub-committee and the Parks & Recreation SPLOST sub-committee.

Smiley, a native of Chalmette, La., who moved to Covington in 1980, is the founder of Rockdale NeTworks, which helps local businesses with information technology needs. He is also the owner and publisher of BOCWatch.org newsletter and forum.

Smiley is a graduate of Newton County High School and has lived in Conyers since 1994. He is single and in a long-term relationship with Nicole Mashburn Downing. He attends Smyrna Presbyterian Church.

Citizen: As you have been campaigning, what is the No. 1 concern you've heard from constituents and what would you do to address it?

Smiley: "Residents are angered that their hard-earned dollars are going to fund things that have absolutely nothing to do with government; or that these same dollars are going to companies in Fulton and DeKalb counties when we have business owners in Rockdale County that provide these same services.

"When the current administration took office in 2009 the Board of Commissioners budget alone was $350,000; in the 2012 budget this same budget is now around $1 million. While many of our elected officials have had to reduce spending, the BOC budget and select departments have been able to increase their budgets and staff.

"In order to remedy this we first must have a qualified finance director, someone that has the educational background coupled with the experience to make the most of our financial resources in a down economy.

"Additionally, we must cut unnecessary spending: portraits at the county expense, excessive travel, misuse of county vehicles, teleprompters for state of the county addresses. Each of these small expenditures adds up at the end of the day as a big expenditure; span this over the course of a year and you have a substantial waste of money.

"This administration has also been very proactive about pursuing federal grants; as Chairman Richard Oden notes 'free money.' This is not free money; it is tax money that is paid by the residents of Rockdale County. The federal grants that have been put in place need to be audited. If the grant dollars have run out for a given program that means the program itself should also expire. Far too often the programs get rolled into the next year's budget for the taxpayers to pick up the bill."

Q: When the economy turns around, where would you direct the increased revenues?

Smiley: "When the economy turns around I don't know that there is going to be a huge surplus of money as this question implies. The yearly BOC budget will not change drastically as the economy improves; therefore, what the taxpayers will see is a reduction in their annual millage rate on their property tax bills if I have a vote on the matter.

"There are certain things that need to be addressed; one of the most obvious is an increase in usable income for our employees. One way to accomplish this is by raising the employee's salary; however, there are other ways to accomplish this task. Recently Rockdale County changed its health care provider; this had a major impact on the employees' finances. Where an employee may have been paying $75 a month for their prescription drugs under the old benefits package, they now may be paying $130 a month for those same prescriptions under the existing package.

"The contribution of the employee into their benefits package can have a great impact on the amount of usable money these employees have to work with from month to month or even week to week. This is not to say our employees don't need a raise, but it is to say that there is more than one way to put more money into the employee's pocket. In this unique economy we have to look at innovative ways to make the most of our financial resources."