Continuity Vs. Change Theme Of Second Oconee County Board Of Commissioners Candidate Forum

Mark Thomas and Mark Saxon are happy with the way things are going in Oconee County and are running for election to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners as proponents of continuity.

Penny Mills and Sarah Bell are concerned about rapid growth in the county and about transparency and openness in government. They want to do things differently in the future.

That contrast came across clearly in the opening and closing comments the four candidates running made at the Candidate Forum on Monday night that was sponsored by the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce.

The four also took different stands on the sewer pipeline proposed to run down Calls Creek, with Mills and Bell saying again that they are opposed to the plan, and Thomas and Saxon saying they want to study alternatives before making a decision.

The Forum included the candidates for Sheriff, Coroner, Chair of the Board of Education, and state Senator from the 46th District, which includes Oconee County.

The candidates for these offices generally sharpened their comments and statements of differences from the earlier candidate forum on April 14.

For details of this story with video of the entire meeting and broken down by section, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Mills, Bell, Saxon and Thomas.