Liquor ban, tight Board of Education race headlined Election Day in Bryan, Effingham counties
Election Day saw plenty of voters between Bryan and Effingham County.
A liquor ban was lifted in Springfield and a close race for the Board of Education District 1 seat headlined the big day.
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Here is what you need to know.
Bryan County
Shawn Page grew up on a farm in Bryan County where hard work was expected.
Whether it was cultivating the land or stacking hay, he learned how to till the soil until the job was done.
He wants to bring that same work ethic to the Bryan County School System. Page, who is a Republican, won the primary vote for the County Board of Education District 1 seat by the slimmest of margins against Pamela Gunter, finishing with 617 votes, about 52% out of nearly 1,200 voters.
“I feel pretty good,” said Page. “I’m humbled. It was difficult. I didn’t want to cause [Pamela] any grief. I just felt there were some changes that needed to be made. I felt this was the time to run. We both have been here our whole life. It was a good clean honest race. We both know a lot of people on our end of the county. I knew it would be close. People will tell you anything and do something else when you vote. I tried to keep it in my mind that it could go either way. I finally got to the point where I would be fine if it went either way.”
Page has three young children and said there are some things in the school district that need to change, in particular disciplinary issues. He spoke candidly about bullying and how students need protection and support, especially with school shootings on the rise.
“Bullying - it may start off as a joke,” said Page. “Then this kid is scared to go to school for fear and then it becomes an issue. It should be nipped in the bud right when it starts. Students need someone they can talk too. Everyone needs to be able to go to school from whatever economic background and be able to thrive academically without having to be in fear.”
The 38-year-old went to Bryan County High School and said he has heard about various issues through word of mouth. He wants to investigate those issues and resolve them quickly so the school system can continue to be seen in a positive light.
“I have three kids that are coming up,” said Page. “When you are out on the streets you hear about the bad stuff, I want to change that. Not everything is bad. There are a lot of good things going on. We need to try to work on the problems we have.”
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Mental Health Therapist Amy Murphy won primaries for chairman for the Board of Education and has served in that role since 2019. Murphy, who is a Republican, secured 68% of the votes.
“I am proud of the Bryan County School System and hope to continue to serve as chairman for the next four years,” said Murphy. “I believe experienced leadership is important as Bryan County continues to grow.”
Having lived in Richmond Hill for 19 years, Murphy has witnessed first-hand rapid growth. She declined to say whether the county will need another school in the near future but pointed to her goals of maintaining Bryan County’s reputation for academic achievement by employing staff members who can think outside the box, handle growth and provide innovative ways to ensure student thrive in the classroom.
“I believe in a growth mindset at every level,” said Murphy. “There's always room to improve. I hope to continue to support strong teacher recruitment and retention, strong academic success for all our students as well as continuing to manage our growth in a fiscally responsible way.”
Although she was voted to the same position in 2019, Murphy said her campaign trail was “hard work." She knew maintaining connections within the county was the best way to get re-elected.
“I really enjoyed meeting new people in our community,” said Murphy. “I appreciated the opportunity to have conversations about the Bryan County School System with so many parents, grandparents, students and stakeholders.”
Effingham County
Liquor sales were passed in Springfield Tuesday night. Residents can enjoy Sunday alcohol sales (by the package), Sunday alcohol sales (by the drink) and packaged sale of distilled spirits.
Springfield City Manager Matt Moore described it as a “touchy subject” and the council felt it was important for citizens to vote. Unfortunately, less than 100 people showed up to the polls.
“From the city’s perspective, Effingham County is traditionally a dry county, so this would make us a city that can sell this type alcohol in a dry county,” said Morris.
It is a huge feat for a town who has lost revenue from alcohol sales for years as residents have gone elsewhere to buy their favorite alcoholic beverage.
“That puts us on an equal footing with Guyton and Chatham County,” said Morris. “There is a lot of alcohol money that goes to Chatham County because people want to buy it. If you wanted a beer, you had to go to a gas station to get it. If you wanted something else, you had to go elsewhere. Times have changed and people want to shop local. It does give us an opportunity to keep some of that revenue in town that has been going to Chatham County. Ultimately City Council said we don’t know what to do so we are going to let the people decide.”
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Results from election night
County Commissioner District 2: Republican Wade Price
County Commissioner District 4: Republican Patrick Kisgen
County Commissioner District 5: Republican Gene Wallace
County Board of Education (Chairman): Democrat Teresa Timmons
County Board of Education District 1: Democrat Melissa Alewine
County Board of Education District 4: Republican Marianne Smith
County Board of Education District 4: Democrat Walteria Maine
County Board of Education District 5: Republican David Schwartz
County Board of Education District 5: Democrat Patricia Hewitt
Pembroke package sales and TSPLOST in Bryan County were also passed Election night.
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia election results: Bryan, Effingham counties vote school board
