Politics in Lumpkin County

As they say, "You win a few. You lose a few." That's what happened yesterday in the primary elections in Lumpkin County.

Big Loss
D&B actively supported two candidates - Guy LaBoa and Carlton Smith. Unfortunately, Guy wasn't able to pull out a victory in his race for Lumpkin County Commission Chairman. He definitely fought the good fight, but as a Lumpkin newcomer (he's only lived here 9 years), he was an underdog the minute he decided to run. Guy, a retired Lt. General, would have made a great leader for Lumpkin.

Big Maybe
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Carlton is still in the race - just 12 votes away from making the run off for the District 2 Commissioner seat. With military ballots and some absentee ballots still to be counted, Carlton gain enough votes to come in second and face incumbent Tim Bowden in a run off. Hang in there, Carlton. You still have a chance!

Big Win
In another big vote, Lumpkinites voted over 72% (one of the highest ratios in the state election) against the 1% transportation sales tax. In this economy, the people in this mountain area just weren't ready to pay more taxes, especially when such a small amount of the money raised in the Mountain District were for Lumpkin highway projects.

Political Debates - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

In this famous debate, Nixon sweats and loses.

The uncertainty and anticipation of what can happen make debates entertaining, and that was why the Lumpkin County Republican Candidate Debate this week was worth attending.
While we've been to political debates before, the Lumpkin debate was the first time we had ever seen anyone debating over the office of Coroner. One candidate even told us that he had covered two murders. Guess if you are a coroner, you need to know how to deal with dead people.

The big hot button for Lumpkin was discussed - Whether voters should have the right to vote on the referendum for Sunday Beer and Wine sales. Guy LaBoa, Carlton Smith, Chris Dockery, Bill Scott, and Doug Sheridan all agreed that the issue needed to be voted on by the people. The only negative - and this comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with this issue - came from Tim Bowden, the current Commissioner from District 3. (By the way, Carlton Smith is running against Bowden. Not going to think too long about which one will get our votes.)

The only cheap shot of the night came from County Commission Chairman candidate Dockery. After LaBoa passionately explained why he went to Iraq to help our soldiers, Dockery made an off the cuff remark that sounded to many in the audience as a direct insult to LaBoa.

Retired Lt. General LaBoa was too much of a gentleman and soldier to respond. Let's hope that at the next scheduled debate on June 14, that everyone is on their best behavior. As Laurence Sterne once said, “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.”

LaBoa for Lumpkin Commission Chairman

Let's be honest. D&B are new to Lumpkin County and new to Lumpkin County politics. Yet, even a relative newcomer can see that Lumpkin County is suffering from economic pains, financial restrictions and lots of leadership in-fighting. The county government needs a leader with strong leadership skills, a long term vision and definitely the ability  to 'work well with others.'

Guy LaBoa, who is running for Lumpkin County Commission Chairman, definitely fits that description.  First, he's a retired three star U.S. Army General with an impressive military record that includes four Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts. Anyone with that kind of background is what we call a real leader.

After 35 years of military service and a stint as a corporate executive, Guy and his wife Pat could have retired anywhere. They chose Dahlonega where Pat had graduated from North Georgia State College. Since they moved to Dahlonega, Guy has quickly became part of the community and local politics. He served on the Northeast Regional Boy Scouts Executive Committee, the Chestatee Regional Hospital Board, and Board of Directors of the Dahlonega Rotary Club. He was even elected to the Dahlonega City Council.

Now he is running for Lumpkin County Commission Chairman. He has our vote. Not just because of his leadership experience (and the fact that we graduated from the same college in Louisiana), but because he has the vision that Lumpkin needs. We encourage you to support Guy LaBoa.