Candidates face off for Commissioner seat

The race to fill Lumpkin County’s District 1 seat in the Board of Commissioners is underway with early voting to start next month.
The special election is set for November 2, and voters will be able to cast an early ballot beginning on October 12, to determine who will take over the seat, which was left vacant after the passing of Dr. David Miller in May.
The seat’s two candidates, Tucker Greene and Mitchell Ridley, recently took the time to answer a series of questions from The Nugget ranging from the current state of the county to the future of recycling to how to best regulate Land Use for the future of Lumpkin County.
This is part of The Nugget’s series of Q&As designed to help readers get to know the candidates running for local offices of the three contested races this year in Lumpkin County. In addition to the special election for Seat 1 of the Board of Commissioners, other races include the election for the Post 3 City Council seat (William Ryan Reagin and Tammi J. Scales) and the mayor of Dahlonega (Casey Alexander, Doug Sherrill and JoAnne Taylor). Read on to meet Lumpkin County’s District 1 Commissioner Candidates.

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Tucker Greene is a lifelong Georgia resident and chose to plant his roots in Dahlonega in 2007 along with his wife Kim and their three children. He has served as the Parks and Recreation Board Chair, VP of the Dahlonega Jaycees, VP of the UNG Wesley Foundation and President of the Lumpkin County Baseball Booster Club.

Mitchell Ridley is a Lumpkin County local and has spent the last 41 years as a small business owner. He and his wife Shay have been married for 25 years and have three children and four grandchildren. He has served on the Dahlonega City council for the last eight years and stepped down from his seat this year in order to run for county commissioner.

Q: What's the biggest challenge facing Lumpkin County right now? How should it be addressed?

Greene: This question could be answered in various ways, but I feel that the one issue facing us that encompasses many variables is the management of growth. All of us want to maintain the quality of life that we love and to do so we must find ways to plan, spend and invest in the future in the most efficient way possible. We must find ways to provide for what is the future of our community. To pave a way for us all, we must: create better opportunities for our Sheriffs/Fire/EMT/Paramedics, develop infrastructure, provide strong leisure activities through Parks and Recreation and generate new career opportunities for our current and future work base.

Ridley: The biggest challenges are quality of life issues now, as we’ve had a tremendous amount of growth in Dahlonega/Lumpkin County. We need regulations for Noise Pollution/ Unregulated Air BnB’s. For instance, in just one case, I’ve been contacted by a resident that’s owned their home for 26 years as homeowners in a subdivision, with the house on the left and right side of them and now the home behind theirs are all short term rentals owned by the same company. Now it’s party central most weekends. We cannot let business owners ruin a residential area. This shouldn’t have happened.

Q: What is your opinion on how the county currently handles Land Use Regulations? Do you feel switching to zoning could be right for Lumpkin County?

Greene: Nearly a decade ago, the county voted on Special Land Use Applications over zoning. With so many changes over the last decade, the demand for rural areas has greatly increased. With this increase, reform is inevitable. The only responsible call to action is to allow a study to take place through a moratorium and analyze results for the best path forward. As the only candidate to regularly attend BOC meetings, I will be able to hit the ground running and begin work on reform with the Board of Commissioners.

Ridley: I’m for zoning. The Land Use isn’t protecting the Homeowners’ rights by the concerns that I’ve heard about. If your property rights are not protected and you can’t enjoy your home, where's the quality of life? Everyone has a right to eight hours of refreshment at home. We have to protect our farmers' way of life for the future generation. We can grow and prosper with zoning as we provide for all citizens. Unrestricted land use means anything and everything can be built. You shouldn’t be allowing business in residential sections: shooting ranges/tasting rooms/wedding venues/airBnB. Home based business owners can operate within Zoning Regulations: lawn care/exterminator/accountant.

Q: What is your view on recycling in Lumpkin County? Are there changes you would like to see to the program?

Greene: Lumpkin County has tried over recent years to implement a successful recycling program. Unfortunately, there have been issues in which prevented the success of the program. One of the largest issues was the cost in which it took to run the program. In recent weeks, I have spoken with a few individuals that gave me some good insight as to what they would like to see in a program and also provided me with other municipalities that were currently running successful programs. These discussions have led me to researching what these programs looked like and how they were ran. I will be bringing all of my findings to the attention of the BOC for future potential implementation.

Ridley: At the last joint meeting of the city and county, recycling was one of the list of topics that Lumpkin County was working on with adjoining counties. Now that new county manager Alan Ours has joined Lumpkin County, I’ve looked at Glynn County’s progress in recycling and littering programs and look forward to new programs. In closing I didn’t decide to run for this position as District 1 Commissioner lightly. I’ve worked first-hand learning how to represent by serving on City Council for two terms and over 50 hours of continuing education. The council and the commissioners have worked for the good of all citizens. Join our team of “by the people for the people.” Thank you for your consideration as Lumpkin County District 1 Commissioner.