Roane candidates field questions at local forum

Several Roane County candidates appeared at a forum held at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College days before early voting in the county General Election began. They answered questions from the audience.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge hosted the event, and William "Bear" Stephenson introduced the candidates and read the questions. As a thunderstorm raged outside, candidates for county executive, register of deeds, chancellor, County Commission and Board of Education spoke to the crowd and answered the submitted questions.

County Executive

Ellison Beard, Wayne Best, Victoria Bowers-Gaskins and Wade Creswell are running for Roane County executive. The winner in that race will replace County Executive Ron Woody. Bowers-Gaskins didn't attend the July 12 forum.

The first question asked what actions each candidate would take in connection to job expansions in Roane County.

Best focused on training, saying he'd work with Roane State, as well as the Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

"We have to make sure we have the workforce to take those jobs," he said, while adding that the county also needs to look at infrastructure and how county officials use tax increment financing and payment in lieu of taxes incentives to bring businesses in or assist current businesses in expanding.

Creswell praised Oak Ridge and stressed its potential as a place to expand jobs within the nuclear energy industry, pointing to proposed or planned developments like TRISO-X, the Kairos test reactor and Coquí Pharma, a proposed radio-pharmaceuticals plant.

"Oak Ridge is potentially on the epicenter of the world when it comes to a nuclear renaissance," he said.

Beard said the area is "primed for infrastructure," but needs a county executive who could be "a PR manager" in promoting the area to companies.

Next, the candidates answered questions about expanding the county's jail or pursuing alternatives to that expansion.

Beard said the county executive needs to listen to the sheriff. She said using ankle bracelets to allow inmates to remain free but monitored could be a temporary measure to prevent having to expand the jail.

"The jail is relatively new, but it's at capacity currently," Creswell said. "We need to avoid building a new jail at all costs."

He talked about working with churches and non-profits to deal with addiction and broken families, as well as preventing crime through education.

Best said the jail's inmate population had decreased since the overcrowding situation. He said infrastructure and education are more important issues.

Infrastructure was a focus, with the candidates answering a question regarding their priorities in that regard.

"There's a drastic need for independent study," Creswell said regarding infrastructure projects and their impact on the county government's budget. He said he prioritized such a study so that the county knows "exactly what we are dealing with." He specifically said schools need improvement.

"It will require the entire community working together," he said.

"We are not utilizing all our municipalities," Beard said in response to the infrastructure question, adding that local libraries could serve as learning centers for career-related classes.

Best said there is "no question" that fixing schools is the priority. He said the schools' ceilings are falling.

"They're not our future, folks. They're today," he said of the county's children.

"If we don't fix it (schools), there is no future," he said.

Register of deeds

Incumbent Sharon Brackett and challenger Mike Elmore are running for register of deeds, but only Brackett was present at the forum. She received no questions, but gave some short statements about the nature of her job, saying she had been in office for 30 years and is "swamped" now due to the housing market "going crazy."

Chancellor

Tom McFarland and incumbent Frank Williams are running for chancellor of the 9th Judicial District.

William stressed his years of experience as chancellor and having dealt with many different kinds of lawsuits in Chancery Court.

He asked, "How do you match that?"

McFarland by contrast, in his closing remarks, said he would not serve any more than two terms. He stressed in his opening comments the endorsements he had received from Sheriff Jack Stockton, Attorney General Russell Johnson and Judge Jeffrey H. Wicks.

Williams, however, said he is not looking for endorsements and is not beholden to anyone.

"You can't suggest that I need to do a favor because I don't do any favors," he said.

In response to a question about technology, McFarland said he would bring technology used in other courts into Chancery Court. In his opening statement, he said it saved taxpayers money and made the court more efficient and accessible.

"It would give you accessibility to the judge," he said. "The judge should always be accessible if you have that technology." He said the officials who endorsed him understood the benefits of the technology.

However, Williams said the court and others are already "wired to the hilt with technology.

"What they have planned is artificial intelligence and virtual reality," he said, calling judging a "human activity."

As discussion continued, he explained that Chancery Court has used technology that McFarland had said the court didn't use, but that they used it to hear motions rather than decide contested litigation. He said judges need the ability to look at people in person in order to make decisions.

County Commission

Charlotte Bowers Cunningham, James W. Brummett, Lance Duff and Jerry W. White are running for county commissioner in District 4. Cunningham and White are incumbents. Voters can choose two candidates. White is not the same as the Jerry White who serves on the Anderson County Commission, something he pointed out at the meeting. The district extends into Oak Ridge, including The Preserve, but also outside into Oliver Springs.

Amy Brummett Gaskins came to represent her father, James W. Brummett, who was not present. She made a short speech, but did not answer questions. She emphasized her father's experience as a Roane County commissioner, Commission chairman and in various positions with the town of Oliver Springs.

Duff spoke about housing and schools in response to a question about infrastructure priorities.

"Schools aren't supposed to last that long," he said, regarding how long school buildings in the county had gone without updates.

White spoke about broadband access, which he said should be "spread across the county."

Cunningham cautioned that infrastructure projects depend on what grants the county gets and what restrictions are placed on them .

Another question from the audience involved Riley Creek Campground. Duff and White spoke in favor of expanding it, while Cunningham said her decision is forthcoming.

A question about school consolidation prompted different responses. As reported in local media and discussed by both the County Commission and School Board members, Roane County High School and Roane County Middle School are joining together into one school. However, a plan to consolidate five of the county's high schools into two schools has failed.

White, in response, spoke positively of improvements made to Midway High School and the combination of the two Oliver Springs schools. He said he would "stand with" the other schools if they decide to consolidate.

Cunningham said funding under the new state funding formula is the main issue school officials are concerned about, not consolidation. She said the county is currently making repairs with current money and will consider different options until the Roane County School Board comes up with a plan.

Duff said he, too, would defer to the school board.

"Whatever they have decided is what should be voted on," he said.

Roane County School Board

For School Board District 3/4, Larry Sam Cox, Jessica Lancaster Hunsaker, Ashlee Johnson Korte and Mike Taylor are running, and voters can vote for two candidates. Taylor was not present.

School consolidation was again the focus of an audience question.

Korte said there are "lots of facts and things you have to look at" and "knowing what our community wants" is important.

Hunsaker said there are issues with consolidating schools. She said while there are "a lot of pros for it," she does not want students to be "lost in a crowd."

Cox said he supported consolidating the Oliver Springs High School and Middle School, which he said saved taxpayer money, but he did not support the failed plan to consolidate the five high schools into two, due to concerns about students living too far away from their schools.

"It's up to each community to decide how they want to do it," he said.

In response to questions about what upgrades to schools they wished to prioritize, Hunsaker spoke about the need to look at what parents and students want while Korte spoke about research and "justifying ways that you can meet the needs with what you have." Cox spoke about fundraising, which he said led to a zSpace computer lab at one school.

In response to a question about selection of curriculum materials, Cox said the school system has to follow state curriculum guidelines and review the curriculum with a committee which includes teachers and other staff. He said one dispute over library books, distinct from assigned textbooks, led to the School Board adopting a policy. The policy, he sad, involves the principal and a committee of librarians, professional staff and other committee members reviewing the library books to see if they are age appropriate.

"You do it through a policy. You don't do it through just a broad statement," he said.

Hunsaker said the school system looks at cost effectiveness. Middle school and high school students, she said, have Chromebooks. She said she wans to assign more e-books for students.

Korte said teachers, board members and, "most importantly," parents had to review curriculum materials.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, email him at bpounds@oakridger.com and follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Candidates answer questions at Oak Ridge event