Dougherty County Commission District 1 race one of three local races

ALBANY – Early voting for the 2024 election has entered its second week, and while the focus is on the big presidential race, there are several local races on the ballot for some voters, among them the District 1 Dougherty County Commission race.

The race between Democrat Larry Harris and incumbent Republican Ed Newsome is one of three local races on the ballot that also includes the District 1 Dougherty County School Board seat and the District 153 House race.

Harris has previously been a candidate for the Ward IV Albany City Commission seat and is a retired radiation dosimetrist. Since his retirement Harris has taken an interest in politics and frequently attends government meetings.

“I want to make a change, and that’s what everybody in the district is telling me, ‘We need a change,’” he said. “I say look in the mirror. We ought to look at ourselves. There are a lot of problems we have with poverty, homelessness going on. The biggest thing is the property taxes.”

For Harris, the big concern is the loss of population in the county and developing strategies to reverse that trend. To do that, he said, there needs to be an emphasis on economic development.

“We need some good, high-paying jobs,” the candidate said. “There are low-paying jobs. We need high-paying jobs.”

Among the changes he would like to see is relieving the burden of property taxes.

“I have some ideas I want to implement because I feel the reason why we have to pay higher property taxes is we have a declining population,” he said. “When you have a declining population, the people left hate to pick up the slack.”

One proposal he sees as a possibility is reducing the sales taxes for Dougherty County residents, which would mean that they pay a smaller amount for purchases.

“By your zip code, you should be able to pay a different (percentage) than the people who don’t live here,” Harris said. “You should get a 1 or 2% discount on things that you buy. I think that’ll bring the morale up. It’ll also make people want to move back in the county. People are wanting to move out because of the higher taxes. I think that’s one of the major reasons people are fleeing.”

While Harris says he thinks that law enforcement agencies in the county are doing the best that they can, he said that a prescription for helping reduce criminal activity is providing jobs and boosting the number of small businesses to give people opportunities.

“The crimes that we do have (are) because people don’t have the jobs,” he said. “If they have their own business, (if) people are working for themselves, you will see a big change.”

The candidate said he is not driven by a desire to become a career politician.

“I’m going to make a pledge to them: If I’m not an effective county commissioner in my first term, I won’t run again,” he said. “I just want to see a positive change in the county.

“When we vote we fight, when we fight we win, when we win we move forward.”

Newsome is seeking his second four-year term on the commission and said there is unfinished work to do. Earlier this year he was selected to chair a task force that will make recommendations on renovations for the Dougherty County Justice Center facility, which houses courts and other functions.

That task force is working with an architect to make recommendations to bring back to the full commission.

One development that has pushed the issue forward was the appointment of a fourth Superior Court judge to the Dougherty Judicial Circuit, Newsome said.

“The courthouse needs renovation badly,” he said. “All shareholders … the sheriff, judges, everybody in there, has participated in tangible (discussions),” he said. “We’re going to figure out exactly what we need and how we’re going to do it. We’re going to take the advice of our planners and our architects so we can renovate it up to standards and it is up to date.

“It will be a total look at the building, from start to finish, with all the players giving their input.”

The jail is another facility with needs that must be addressed, said Newsome, who serves on the county’s Finance Committee, including the large air-conditioning units that are nearing the end of their useful life and will be expensive to replace. Finding the money for those projects will be a challenge, he said.

“If it breaks down, it could be a real problem,” he said of the air-conditioning units. “We’ve got some other places we have issues. We have to address those and then figure out how we’re going to pay for it. We’re just got to make some really good decisions on how we’re going to do it.”

With the jail being the de facto largest mental health facility in the county, that is another issue that is coming to the forefront, according to the candidate.

Chatham County has made some moves in the direction of better assisting inmates, he said. Those include a program that offers therapeutic, educational and literacy programs, as well as a behavioral health unit that helps connect resources to inmates who are suicidal, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or have mental health disorders, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

“I think you’re going to see an effort in the next few years about that,” Newsome said. “We’ve got to train more mental health professionals to be able to achieve these goals.”

Among the accomplishments the candidate pointed to during his first four years is the implementation of a pay study that increased county workers’ pay, and he identified taking care of employees as an important part of the job.

“After I got on, I found out they hadn’t had a raise in 10 years,” Newsome said. “The EMS (Emergency Medical Services) was losing people left and right. I said ‘Let’s do a pay study’ and they agreed. Then we implemented the pay study.”

The cost of the salary increases was $2.6 million, and Newsome said that the county should keep an eye on employee pay to prevent the situation that he found after he was elected.

Over the past two years the commission has made more of an emphasis of being active in economic development efforts, and Newsome said he is on board with those efforts.

The county has some positives, including health care, he said.

“Good health care is so important to economic development,” he said. “We do have excellent health care right here in Dougherty County with a world-class system in Phoebe.”

Taking care of those priorities is why the incumbent is asking voters for their support for another four years.

“I’ve been proud to have served District 1 and look forward to serving them for four more years,” he said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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