Watkinsville Post 1 Candidates Agree More Than Disagree At Forum

For 40 minutes on Monday evening, the two candidates for Watkinsville Council Post 1 in the June 15 special election responded to questions ranging from their views on managing city growth to the need for a city manager.

WGAU New Director Tim Bryant asked Chuck Garrett and Carolyn Maultsby 23 different questions in the candidate forum organized by the Oconee County Republican Party and Bethel Baptist Church.

Agreement between them was more common than disagreement.

Both said that the city needs a city manager, that the mayor should not be full-time, that a top priority is a truck bypass of the city, and that more personnel should be hired for the city’s parks.

Maultsby said the city should try to slow growth and “catch our breadth,” while Garrett said growth “is just something that you’ve got to deal with.”

The clearest difference was in their views about the nonpartisan election itself.

Maultsby said she has labeled herself as a Republican in the election as a way of “letting people know who I am and what I stand for,” while Garrett said the city “has to operate nonpartisan.”

Brian Brodrick, the sole active candidate for the position of mayor in the special election, also responded to questions from Bryant following the session with Garrett and Maultsby.

For more on this story, with a video of the candidate forum, please go to Oconee County Observations.