Candidates vying for the seats of two retiring Athens-Clarke County commissioners faced the public last week at a well attended Federation of Neighborhoods forum, offering at least a glimpse of their differences and intentions. David Ellison and Allison Wright both hope to replace Five Points Commissioner Alice Kinman, while Ron Winders and Jerry NeSmith are running in Ed Robinson's district straddling the Atlanta Highway. The races will be decided July 31 (along with referendums on Sunday alcohol sales and a proposed transportation sales tax).

All candidates saw economic development as a top priority, yet offered few specifics on how to bring in new jobs. NeSmith, the director of UGA's Office of Research Services and a current ACC planning commissioner, said "the light bulbs went off" when ground was broken recently for a new shopping center in Oconee County—one that might draw retailers away from Athens, he said. "The economic engine of Athens is Atlanta Highway" he said, even more than downtown—and losing retailers there would cost the county in taxes. He attacked the state's decision to build an expensive new road "into the woods, so that a shopping center can be built."

Winders, NeSmith's opponent in District 6, is an executive search consultant with a UGA social work degree who wants to bring "real-world business experience" to county government. He, too, saw "an alarming situation with Oconee County" that threatens local retailers (although no such shift has become apparent yet, according to ACC Finance Director John Culpepper). Addressing poverty and bringing new jobs are priorities, Winders said, though he added that that's mostly the job of the county's Economic Development Foundation. But county government needs to keep citizens better informed about upcoming projects, he said. Citizens "don't know what's going on. They don't know what the project is [until] decisions have already been made."

NeSmith agreed, though he noted that commissioners "did change their mind" about a Bishop Park tennis center when neighbors opposed it.

Running for Kinman's District 4 seat, Wright, a medical illustrator and eight-year Clarke County School Board veteran, is opposed by Ellison, an attorney and legal clerk who also serves on the local hearings board. The current ACC commissioners, Wright told the audience at the forum, "are going in the right direction," as evidenced by the fact that the ones up for reelection who are not retiring are running unopposed. She believes Athens' bus system, which, as are most systems, is heavily subsidized by taxes, "could grow and get to where it's self-sufficient" if routes were reworked "to get people to jobs, not just to shopping."

Wright said she supports additional bike lanes "for health and safety reasons," while Ellison feared bike lanes could have "unintended consequences" on some streets, like Prince Avenue. "I'm concerned about people getting hit by a bike," he said. And although he didn't specify how, parking problems in Five Points need to be solved, he said: "The commercial district is getting strangled by success."

Asked where cuts might be made in the county's tightening budget, the candidates were mostly noncommittal. "I don't know," NeSmith said; fewer new vehicles, perhaps.

"It's difficult to name one or two things," agreed Winders. "Zero-based budgeting" is the way to go, suggested Wright. Ellison expressed the opinion that SPLOST projects should be cut, but those budgets are fixed by referendum.

The candidates were more forthcoming on the question of legalizing backyard chickens. "I'd be interested in looking into how it would work," Wright said, but she wouldn't support allowing roosters.

"We need to have more local, healthy food," said NeSmith, who co-founded the Athens Farmers Market. Ellison said he would be "very cautious" about legalizing chickens, especially in Five Points, while Winders seemed open to the idea.

And a Walmart downtown? "I don't think it's government's place to pick and choose who builds in the downtown area," Winders said. To NeSmith, "what's important is that we maintain our plans for downtown"—including expanding the downtown street grid.

"Walkability is prime," said Wright, adding, "I don't want that to be a new empty 'box' down the road." Ellison said he wants to see a traffic study for the shopping center, and would like to "turn that corridor into something beautiful" by funding a planning study via a tax allocation district.

Ellison, whose position on the hearings board means that he helps decide zoning appeals, said ACC's government discourages new businesses. Only wealthier out-of-town companies apply to open in the county, he said, because "it's too hard to do business here… It can take six months to a year, and cost tens of thousands of dollars, just to find out if you can build something."

NeSmith agreed that Athens must "tackle" the perception that it is unfriendly to business.