Candidates For Oconee County Commission In July 22 Runoff Offer Different Views On Role Of Chairman

Oconee County Post 3 Board of Commissioners candidates Margaret Hale and W. E. "Bubber” Wilkes take similar stands on some of the issues facing the county, but they differ markedly on one important one.

Hale wants to keep in place the current organizational chart for the county in which the administrative officer and the finance director report to all five Commission members equally and in which all other department heads report to the county administrative officer.

Wilkes wants to revert to the old system in which all county administrators report to the BOC chairman alone, who then reports to the other four commissioners.

Given the current make-up of the Board of Commissioners and the differing views of the two candidates, voters in the July 22 runoff election will be deciding not only who holds Post 3 but also the type of Commission they want.

The Democratic Party has not put forward any candidates for the spot, so whoever wins in the runoff will run without opposition on Nov. 4.

Early voting in the runoff starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow at the Board of Elections Office, 10 Court Street, next door to the courthouse in downtown Watkinsville.

For more on this story, including full video recordings of interviews with the two candidates, go to Oconee County Observations.