Candidates mingle at picnic

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Willard Quinn, right, shakes hands with Whitfield County Magistrate Court Judge and candidate Chris Griffin Thursday at the Dalton Whitfield Senior Center as Don Allen Garrett, black shirt, Haynes Townsend and Kaye Cope look on. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Whitfield County Magistrate Court judge candidates Jerry Leonard, left, and Phillip Croy talk Thursday at the Dalton Whitfield Senior Center before the political picnic. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

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July 13, 2012

Candidates mingle at picnic

Jamie Jones jamiejones@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Fri Jul 13, 2012, 10:23 PM EDT

The two candidates for Whitfield County Board of Commissioners chairman touted their experience with local government Thursday night at a political picnic and auction sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Incumbent Mike Babb pointed to his almost 12 years as board of commissioners chairman, while challenger Ronald Ownby highlighted his 34 years working for the Whitfield County Fire Department.

Babb and Ownby are facing off in the July 31 Republican primary. There is no Democratic candidate, so the winner on July 31 will likely take office.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job keeping civility on the Board of Commissioners,” said Babb, who hinted that if re-elected he would not seek another term. “The budget is looking good, we’ve cut the budget down from $50 million to $39 million.”

Ownby said he is also familiar with budgets, helping Fire Chief Carl Collins put together the department’s budget each year. The fire department’s budget is about $4.5 million.

“I think we need to put some common sense back into the government,” Ownby said. “We need to make local government as local as we can.”

Helen Crawford, with the local League of Women Voters chapter, said the group is a nonpartisan political organization that does not support or oppose candidates. She said the annual auction and picnic is one of the group’s largest fundraisers and also gives citizens a chance to hear from the candidates.

The League of Women Voters raised several hundred dollars by auctioning a slew of items, from gift certificates to homegrown produce to a digital picture frame. All items were donated.

Candidates from a number of races, both contested and uncontested, gave one- to five-minute speeches to the crowd of about 60.

Other candidates in attendance were:

• Bruce Broadrick, Dennis Mock and David Renz, all of whom are seeking the Republican nomination for state House District 4.

• Sheriff Scott Chitwood, a Democrat, and former sheriff Jim Stafford, who is challenging Chitwood as a Republican.

• Whitfield County Clerk of Superior Court challengers Susan Miller, Jodi Stuckey and Jessica Swinford. Current Clerk of Court Melica Kendrick was in court and was unable to attend. All are Republicans.

• Whitfield County Magistrate Judge Sidney Baxter and his challenger in that nonpartisan race, Randy Evans.

• Whitfield County Magistrate Judge Kaye Cope and her challengers in that nonpartisan race, Phillip Croy, Don Allen Garrett and Jerry Leonard.

• Whitfield County Board of Commissioners District 4 member Greg Jones and his challenger in the Republican primary, Lynn Laughter.

• Probate Court Judge Sheri Blevins, Magistrate Judge Chris Griffin, Chief Magistrate Haynes Townsend and Tax Commissioner Danny Sane (who doubled as auctioneer) also attended. All are unopposed.

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