District I

Coram, a Republican who is running in District I against incumbent Democrat Allan “Ricky” Bryson, says the county administration is corrupt.

“Sam Greenwood has manipulated county employees to try and give some substance to invalid charges,” said Coram.

Coram was referring to fellow Republican Sam Fiske’s challenge to Roberts’ residency. Roberts and Republican Mickey Duvall are running in District II against Democrats Bob Simpson and Jay Dee Shepherd.

Fiske, who is not a candidate, owns Smoky Mountain Systems and filed a formal challenge with the county board of elections charging that Roberts was not a resident of the district he was running in because he had not obtained an occupancy permit for his new house 30 days prior to the election. After a hearing, the board ruled that Roberts was a resident of his district and could remain in the election.

Coram was outraged, and he and Roberts both say the challenge from Fiske was planned and supported by Greenwood.

“It was one of the most flagrant examples of political corruption I have seen in my life,” said Coram.

Greenwood, for his part, wrote a two-page letter to the denying the charges.

“Candidates Coram and Roberts are, I believe, conducting a campaign of smear, rumors and innuendo solely because they have no other effective plans or platform other than to condemn and destroy,” wrote Greenwood.

While the rhetoric flies, other issues have been relegated to the background. The Republican candidates have been extremely vocal in their opposition to land-use planning and in particular to the plan developed by the Vision 2025 committee.

“A small group of elitists tried to jam zoning down our throats,” said Coram.

Coram said the main need is for the county to work on economic development so it will have jobs once the current building boom dies down. He has laid out a three-point plan for doing that: improving schools, maintaining the quality of life so outsiders will continue to be interested in moving to Macon County, and providing infrastructure like high-speed Internet so entrepreneurs will be attracted to the county.

“I think we have to first take care of the corruption issue within the courthouse, then we’ve got to provide taxpayers with the infrastructure to build an economy for the next 50 years,” said Coram.

His opponent, incumbent Democrat Bryson, has been supportive of current land-use measures already on the books in Macon County.

“I believe we’ve come to a settlement on some of these issues. We have erosion controls, we have watershed protections. We need to listen to both sides,” Bryson said.

District II

Roberts says the election will turn on controlling the explosive spending at the courthouse, but he also says affordable housing will become his “polar star” once in office.

“The more we restrict the use of property, the affordable housing pool diminishes,” said Roberts. “People will be forced to move out of Macon County if we don’t get a handle on this problem.”

Republican Mickey Duvall is also trying for one of the two commissioner seats from District 2. He said the “real issue” is about taking the rights of property owners.

“I will put in a resolution requiring the citizens of Macon County vote in a county-wide referendum before we put zoning in place. Let’s let the people decide,” said Duvall

Duvall, who has previously served one term as a commissioner, also says the county should not be adding to its fund balance but reducing the tax rate.

Democrat Bob Simpson is running for one of the District 2 seats. He believes voters have been fed bad information about land-use proposals.

“The current land-use plan was shelved because of misinformation. Opponents got it beat down and shelved,” he said.

Simpson has also expressed support continuing the school building plan, proceeding with efforts to protect the Needmore tract, strengthening the county’s watershed ordinance by providing more protection to the area between the Georgia line and the Lake Emory, and changing the county board’s meeting times to the evening.

Jay Dee Shepherd said some type of land-use plan is needed in Macon County. However, at a recent forum he refused to provide details of what kind of plan he would support.

“I think we need community support before we can get into it,” said Shepherd. He suggested more meetings to gather input.