Chris Dockery, Commission Chairman Incumbent

DAHLONEGA, Ga. — Lumpkin County Commission Chairman Chris Dockery has provided sound leadership the past four years. Now, he would like an opportunity to finish the job he started which is why he is running for re-election.

“The first time I ran, I didn’t feel like the county was putting enough emphasis on economic development and infrastructure,” Dockery said. “It had been neglected in our county for a long time. Since I was elected, we’ve done both. We’ve extended waterlines and expanded economic development. There are other things we’re working on I want to see come to fruition. We’ve got a lot of things going and we need to keep that momentum.”

When Dockery chaired the Development Authority, the county started a $56,000 expansion of infrastructure and the project was completed during his first year on the Board of Commissioners. “The goal was to create 50 new jobs,” Dockery said. To date it has created 64.”

Dockery says the county has made great progress during his first term in office.

“We completed the Arcadia project, paved 15 miles of roads, extended the water line, made well improvements, provided funding for a new water tank, purchased new vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office and completed a mutual aid agreement with White County among other things,” he said.

But the one thing he is most proud of is the launch of a community visioning process that has brought officials from the county, city, the university, the Downtown Development Authority and the Development Authority together.

“We’re now going through a consultant to come up with a common community vision that we can go back and look at on an annual basis,” Dockery said.
If he is re-elected, Dockery said the thing he would most like to accomplish in his second term is to build a better relationship between the city and county.

“That is important,” he said. “What we do as a county impacts the city and what the city does impacts us. So, we have to work together.”

A small business owner, Dockery has held many leadership roles in civilian and military life.

“I’ve commanded troops in peace time and in war time overseas,” he said. “That experience prepared me. There is nothing like leading men when their lives are on the line. I’ve also held leadership positions here in the county. I chaired the Development Authority for several years and served as Vice Chair of the Water Authority.”