HUNTINGDON (July 6) - Local candidates stated their political platform and answered questions during a forum conducted by the Carroll County Adult Learning Center in Huntingdon. Each candidate presented up to five minutes of opening remarks before answering audience questions.

Participating were: State Senator Don McLeary; State Representative Mark Maddox and challenger David Hawks; State Representative Chris Crider; County Mayor Kenny McBride and challenger Amos Williams; Assessor of Property Johnny Radford; County Trustee Pat Rich; Sheriff Bendell Bartholomew and challengers Homer Hicks and John "Diddle" Smith; Circuit Court candidates Jeff Barnett and Bertha Taylor; County Clerk Carolyn Lutz; and Register of Deeds candidates Joey Darnall and Natalie McCullough.

Senator Don McCleary said his service in the Senate is "not for personal gain." He has worked to provide affordable health care including some home health care funding and long-term care funding, better education of the youth, and better jobs. He is also pushing for the adoption of Jessica's Law, a bill to regulate and punish sexual offenders.

David Hawks, a candidate for the House of Representatives, District 76, said he is a native of Sharon and recently retired from Goodyear. He is a parent and grandparent. If elected, the position of representative will be his only job. He said he supports a freeze of property tax rates for senior citizens. He supports strong law to punish child abusers.

State Representative Mark Maddox, District 76, said he supports tax relief for senior citizens and supported legislation that recently increased the allowable income eligibility for senior citizens who participate in the program. He said the General Assembly has been serious about senior citizens and sex predators. There have been at least three bills dealing with sexual predators during the last session, said Maddox. Economic Development depends on a good educational system. Priorities of the Administration are education, healthcare, and economic development. The General Assembly has fully funded the Better Education Plan, said Maddox. In closing, he said he has held over 250 meetings with citizens since being elected in 1996.

State Representative Chris Crider, District 79, age 32, said he has resided about one-half of his life in Carroll County. He values the sanctity of marriage and human life. He is a strong supporter of the U.S. Constitution. He supported a sales tax holiday and pay raises for teachers. He supports education, which has helped in the advancement of jobs. He supported strong ethics for politicians and their campaigns.

Hansel McCadams, a candidate for district attorney, said he was born in McKenzie, where he spent the first 10 years, and then moved to Henry County. He served as an assistant to District Attorney Gus Radford before being elected General Sessions Judge in Henry County in 1990. He resigned that position to seek the office of district attorney. He said he has worked to keep victims from being "revictimized" by the court system. He said as much as he would like to lockup all offenders, jail capacity just wouldn't allow such. He said he would establish a "weighting" procedure for offenders and their punishment.

County Mayor Kenny McBride said he has served eight years in the position. He was proud of the new 7,000 square-foot Health Department offices, which has a staff physician to care for low income and uninsured, no tax increases since 1992, the new DHS Call Center in McKenzie with 80-plus employees, and the prospects of a new Career Center training facility in Huntingdon to be announced soon. Unemployment has dropped from 14 to 6 percent during his tenure. Only one HIS building in Bruceton remains empty, said McBride. Carroll County was rated as 21st of 95 counties in new jobs and job growth in Tennessee Magazine, said the mayor. To questions about zoning and liquor-by-the-drink sales, McBride said the county is currently zoning around the proposed recreational lake area but countywide zoning is not in the near future. On liquor-by-the-drink, McBride said he does not support it and the county does not have the necessary population to attract restaurants such as O'Charlies that would serve liquor. McBride said liquor by the drink would add more problems than the added revenue.

Amos Williams, candidate for county mayor, said he would bring 17 years of business management to the office. He would seek better equipment for the county fire department, promote education, work with the industrial boards, promote teamwork among the county departments, and cut wasteful spending. He said the county passed a $10 wheel addition in January 2005, which has generated $336,000 in revenues, but the county has only budgeted $78,000 for bridges. He said Mayor McBride used the county vehicle for his campaign and that the county purchased a travel trailer for the EMA from the McBride family, a situation Williams called a conflict of interest. He said $900,000 was allotted for the repair of the jail, but $468,000 was spent on other projects. Williams said he would restore confidence and respect to the office. To the question of countywide zoning, Williams said he did not have the answer. Concerning liquor-by-the-drink, Williams said the population is not there to see it work. Williams is a license holder for a liquor-by-the-drink restaurant in Paris.

Assessor of Property Johnny Radford, running unopposed, said he maps and assesses some 18,000 parcels in the county. He said his staff is efficient and friendly. He expressed some concern of possible fraud on a proposal to freeze the property taxes for senior citizens. He said the property could fraudulently be transferred from children to their senior citizen parents to avoid a portion of the taxes. He cautioned the attending lawmakers to exercise caution in drafting such legislation.

Trustee Pat Rich is running unopposed. She said her office serves as the bank for the county and it's her job to invest the funds and to collect taxes. She noted the recent increase in income eligibility from $12,900 to a new income level of $20,000 for tax relief for the elderly.

Sheriff Bendell Bartholomew has served 12 years as sheriff. The county ranks 16th of 95 counties in the percentage of crimes solved. Carroll is one of the largest geographic counties, but he has the smallest number of deputies per population in the state, said the sheriff. To a question from Russell Carlock concerning the lack of restroom facilities and seating areas, Bartholomew said there are restrooms and he is working to solve other issues concerning parking and a visitors' area. The basement area of the jail is closed due to health concerns, said the sheriff.

Homer Hicks, a candidate for sheriff, said he has traveled the roads. He believes a new sheriff could bring in new ideas and new goals.

John Smith said he worked with the Tennessee Department of Revenue for five years. He said he would see that the deputies are patrolling the roads; the inmates are working; and he would address the growing drug problem.

Jeff Barnett, a candidate for Circuit Court clerk, said he has worked in circuit courts in West Tennessee and some in Middle Tennessee in his employment with the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole. He said he has a good relationship with the judges, law enforcement officers, and lawyers. He said he would "take the Circuit Court in somewhat a different direction."

Bertha Taylor, candidate for Circuit Court clerk, and chief deputy under Clerk Paul Newmon, says she has 28 years of experience in the office. She said she is helpful and courteous. She has been involved with the technology upgrades in the office and hopes to add electronic filing and passport filing to the office. She said she has worked closely with law enforcement, court officials, and defendants.

County Clerk Carolyn Lutz asked for a complimentary vote in her unopposed candidacy. She said she has worked in the office since the 1960s and was first elected in 1986. New computers have recently been added to the office, said Lutz. To a question if she has considered adding driver's license processing to the office, she said that a new driver's testing center has recently been added in Paris and persons can renew on the Internet. Adding the driver license processing in her office would require more personnel without the necessary revenue to cover the added expenses.

Joey Darnall, candidate for register of deeds, said he has visited three county registers to learn more about the office. He said he feels he could incorporate more efficiency in the local office. Darnall said he would work to make the job of attorneys, surveyors and realtors easier. Customer service is the #1 priority, said Darnall.

Natalie McCullough, candidate for register of deeds, said she has 17 years experience in the office, 12 years of which as the first deputy. She said the office added computers in 1989 and electronic scanning of documents in 1999. All deeds back to the year 1822 are available for research, said McCullough. She said the office is very efficiently operated.

Brenda Parish served as moderator of the event.

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