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Person Or Policy? — By John Reed

Person Or Policy?
The concept of civil discourse has sadly been missing this campaign season. The incessant barrage of negative advertising has seen both sides attack their opponent’s character and person. It seems everyone running is either a wife beater or a baby killer. Unfortunately, the voters have become the big losers.
Lost in all the mudslinging is any discussion of policy. That’s unfortunate because the vast differences in policy matter more than the individuals who are proponents of those differences. Here are some issues the voters are entitled to know more about:
Education: what do the candidates propose to do to help our schools recover from the disastrous Covid shutdowns of the last couple of years? Extra funding for more teachers and tutors? Tweaks in the curriculum? Parents deserve to know. Locally, our school system has proven its mettle in various sports arenas… I’d like to hear from our school board candidates how they plan to bring our academics to the same level.
Business: while Georgia has had a healthy business climate for the last several years, that has had mixed benefits across the state. How will the candidates help farmers and small business owners, especially in rural areas? As our ports see record traffic, how can we improve the transportation sector to match that?
Looking to the future: Record early voting turnout has made it clear that tweaks to our state voting system has improved, not reduced access. Unfortunately, losers in the last three elections are still convinced otherwise, and continue to deny the legitimate results. I would like to hear each candidate explain their thoughts on how to make future elections all the more transparent and trustworthy.
Lost in the morass of insults and negative advertising are some really good ideas from both sides. I’m afraid cooler heads will not prevail anytime soon.

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