-Athens, GA
Residents from three Georgia cities in our viewing area will have the opportunity to vote for their respected mayors in next week’s general election.
Whether you live in Homer, Gainesville, or Danielsville the key issue in those cities is jobs. In fact this very issue has heated up the race in Gainesville with four candidates running for the position of mayor.
The candidates in the Gainesville race are all running to bring jobs to the community. However mayorial candidate Charles Alvarez believes its crucial for the city to build its infrastructure for the future.
He says, “If we don’t have the proper infrastructure in place or planning for then it’s going to be very difficult to be attractive to all these big corporations to come and open up here in Gainesville.”
Incumbent Danny Dunagan argues that transportation and city development are the key issues he is running for. “Traffic in Gainesville and the other issue is some development in the midtown area”, he says, “economic development is always a big issue…it’s a forefront issue that I’m looking at”.
Alvarez says he wants to be seen as a concerned citizen trying to help his community instead of a politician.
Challenger Rose Johnson believes her roots in the community will help solve some of the problems in her county.
“I have years with professional experience running non-profit organizations in the world of philanthropy and working in county government. So I bring experience, sensitivity, compassion and work that is rooted in the community.”
The race in Gainesville marks the first time that residents get the opportunity to vote for their mayor.
Gainesville isn’t the only town electing a mayor this year. In Danielsville, incumbent Todd Higdon faces challenger Phillip Croya. Meanwhile, the race in Homer is between incumbent Doug Cheek and challenger Martha Cotton.
All of the candidates in Gainesville will be in attendance at a forum at Gainesville Civic center tomorrow night at 6:30 PM. And, of course, you can count on Grady Newsource for continuing coverage of all these races.
By: Ian Saunders
