DAHLONEGA, GA.- The Chamber of Commerce held an open forum for the candidates running for City Council and the Mayor Position.

The forum was moderated by Chuck Jones Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee for the Dahlonega Chamber of Commerce. The candidates in attendance were Tammy Scales, Ryan Reagin, Roman Gaddis, Ross Shirley, Dough Sherrill, JoAnne Taylor, and Casey Alexander.

Roman Gaddis preparing for his comments.

The forum was broken into different sections Post 3 for City Council going first. The candidates for that position are Scales and Reagin. Following that the candidate for Post 1 Gaddis delivered a few remarks and then the candidate for Post 2 Shirley also delivered remarks. Gaddis and Shirley are both running unopposed. The candidates running for Mayor Sherrill, Taylor, and Alexander closed out the evening.

Each candidate was given a two-minute opening statement, followed by two minutes to answer each question and then a two-minute closing statement. The only ones that this setup did not apply to were Gaddis and Shirley due to them only making brief statements.

Tammy Scales and Ryan Reagin answering questions during the forum.

Scales and Reagin were given eight questions that they took turns answering. The questions involved their qualifications for the post and how many meetings they’ve attended, their ideas for changes and their goals for the position, their opinions on the current issues the council is dealing with, their positions on collaboration with the County Commissioners, and where they see the community in the future.

One of the questions centered around short-term rentals. This has been an issue that popped up in recent city council meetings dealing with the PUD for The Summitt property.

“I’m pro-business but also I believe your home is your sanitary, its a fine line and not an easy job but I do believe in owner’s property rights, and as long as you’re being a good neighbor and not a nuance I’m okay with short term rentals but there is a time and place,” commented Reagin.

Another of the questions centered around the possibility of decreasing the number of council seats or creating districts for the seats. This is a current question the council is discussing and will be discussing further including their work session on October 18 at 4:00 p.m.

“I actually don’t want to decrease it, I think the more opinions, the more ideas, the better, and so I don’t want to see it decreased,” commented Scales

Ross Shirley during his comments.

Gaddis spoke about his experience with the council, why he choose to run eight years ago, the problems that he views the council has to deal with, and the need for more partnerships with the Commissioners and the University of North Georgia. Shirley also spoke about his experience, he mentioned that he is fiscally conservative, and his view of what the council should be doing for the citizen. He finished by noting he was looking forward to working with the council.

“One of the things I want to do is be more involved with the strategy, we’ve talked a little bit and all the candidates have talked about the growth that is coming and it needs to be in a controlled manner, and I fully agree with that. I want to be part of that,” stated Shirley

JoAnne Taylor, Doug Sherrill, and Casey Alexander during their comments.

The candidates for Mayor were given nine questions. They were similar to the ones that were given to Scales and Reagin, including an extra one dealing with the current parking situation on the square.

One of the questions for the Mayor candidates as well as the city council candidates had to do with The Head House project. The city is about to start taking bids from contractors on the house but it is projected to be over $1 million.

“I think this is throwing bad money, tax money into an arena we do not need to get involved in. I do not believe the government should compete with the private sector it’s as simple as that,” explained Sherrill.

Another question that the candidates were given had to deal with parking on the square. As many people are aware there are only a limited number of spaces right by the doors to the business on the square and they fill up quickly.

“I think this is really silly, how long have we been talking about parking? I come to the square every weekend, I come to Gold Rush and all the other festivals, and I’ve never had an issue with parking. It’s just not an issue and the fact that the government wants to restrict businesses from developing because they need so many parking spaces is ridiculous. I think it does need to be changed especially when there is parking available,” stated Alexander.

The candidates also were given a question about the cooperation between the City Council and the County Commissioners. There are currently a few joint projects between the two but for the most part, they are separate systems working in the area.

“I think there are many areas where the city and county are already cooperating on infrastructure including some roundabouts that are being constructed and some other road work that we are doing injunction with the county. The idea for shared other infrastructure water, sewage, etc. I think is right for exploration,” commented Taylor.

All candidates thanked the public for coming out to the forum or viewing it at home. To view the video of the forum you can download the FYNTV app and go to recent videos. It is called Dahlonega City Council and Mayor Candidate Forum. Or go to this link http://vcloud.blueframetech.com/broadcast/embed/309582?autoplay=0