In my past two columns, we’ve compared Bartow and Floyd counties from historical population numbers to numerous areas in which Floyd has led the northwest Georgia region such as education, media, medical facilities and retail. (Read A Tale Of Two Counties, Part 1) (Read A Tale Of Two Counties, Part 2)

Now that Bartow has caught up with Floyd County in population and will likely begin building a measurable lead in coming years, Bartow residents and her leadership will be faced with two questions: (1) How do we see ourselves 10, 20 and 30 years from now? (2) Will we rise to the occasion and forge our own future, or will we be carried away by the spillover from metro Atlanta? 

If you were to survey Bartow countians, I anticipate we’d find that while most of us want to see additional retailers and restaurants locate here, we also don’t want to lose our community identity. Other than national economic conditions, most residents I speak with seem fairly satisfied with the way things are here currently.

While most see some growth as a good thing, I think very few people would like to see Bartow County look like Cobb County with endless strip centers and subdivisions. To show how quickly things can change, in 1980 Cobb had a population of 297,718. Today, just thirty years later, Cobb holds 714,692 residents. Bartow has been growing just as quickly percentage wise.

If projects on the planning board come to fruition, such as the proposed Dream Parks at LakePoint in southern Bartow County, in 20 years we could easily not recognize our county. If we truly want to maintain Bartow’s quality of life, then a number of things must be looked at.

One area of concern is whether Bartow County’s current zoning and future land use regulations are adequate, and do they reflect how residents want to see their county develop? As we saw just a few years ago with Toyo Tire, even though the property where the plant was eventually built was shown to be agricultural and residential for the future, dollars and the promise of jobs can mean changes.

If current Bartow County Commissioner Clarence Brown retires at the end of next year as expected, then land use and zoning should be a key issue put before the candidates who run to replace him. While Bartow County has traditionally been a blue-collar place, that doesn’t mean future growth can’t lean toward clean industries, white-collar employers, higher-end housing developments and quality retail complexes. We can choose whether to chase after growth for growth’s sake or we can be selective.

In a comparison of two nearby counties, over the last 25 years Forsyth County has taken the quality approach and it shows with upper-scale retail centers and lots of high-end housing. Meanwhile, Paulding County has become one large bedroom community for Cobb County with an overgrowth of starter homes and cheap shopping centers. I opt for the Forsyth approach.

In our comparison of Floyd and Bartow counties these past two weeks, we discovered there are some areas where Floyd County holds a huge lead. The FCC doesn’t hand out many new radio station licenses, so Floyd’s nine radio stations will continue to dwarf Cartersville’s three smaller stations. Also, while the Bartow County campus of Georgia Highlands College continues to grow, we’ll never match Floyd here, which is home to the main GHC campus plus Shorter University and Berry College.

Another area Floyd County dominates in is the medical field. While it is highly unlikely Bartow will catch Floyd in that arena in my lifetime, much growth and improvement has occurred here in recent years in both facilities and personnel. This is an area where we need strong political clout legislatively at the state level to battle state CON (certificate of need) laws that have prevented some medical services from being offered in Bartow.

This brings us to probably the most important lesson Bartow residents should learn from Floyd County. They have always played the political game, laying aside political and personal differences, and putting Floyd County first. I learned that lesson the hard way.

In 2000, I was the Republican nominee for State Senate in District 52, which covered all of Floyd County and part of Bartow County. My opponent was a 10-year vulnerable Democrat incumbent. The way the district was configured, about 65 percent of the votes would be cast in Floyd County so we worked Rome hard. Many prominent Rome area business people donated to my campaign and were publicly supporting me.

We outspent and out-campaigned the opposition, and with just a week to go to Election Day a new poll showed us with a 3-point lead. Then “Old Rome” stood up. A group of Floyd business folks ponied up the money to run a full-page game changing ad in the Rome News Tribune that Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s what the ad said, “Thirty years ago Bartow County stole I-75 from Floyd County, don’t let them steal 'our' senate seat”. As soon as that ad hit, the Floyd County part of our campaign ground to a halt. Numerous supporters called to say that privately they hoped I would win, but publicly they couldn’t help any more. The Rome clique had spoken. I ended up carrying almost 60 percent of the Bartow vote, but only about 45 percent of the Floyd County vote, leaving my opponent with a narrow victory.

The same game is being played right now with the upcoming selection of a Department of Transportation board member to represent our 11th District. Current board member David Doss of Rome is being challenged by Bartow County’s Jeff Lewis. All of the state senators and state house members whose districts cover territory within the 11th Congressional District will vote this week to chose the winner. Doss has created a few enemies and is considered vulnerable. Jeff is well liked among the legislators who will be doing the voting, many of whom he served with when was a house member, and Jeff should be the clear leader.

For the past several weeks, Floyd countians of all political persuasions have been united in working to get Doss re-elected. They know having a DOT board member from your county can pay off in road projects for the home folks, so they are playing hardball by calling in every favor and working every possible angle to help Doss. Here in Bartow, while many would like to see Jeff Lewis be victorious, very few are actually working to make it happen. If we are to achieve all we can for Bartow County, then we must learn to play political hardball.

Despite Floyd County’s historical advantages over Bartow, each county has its own unique strengths. While we may never pass Floyd in some areas, we have a unique opportunity to establish our own region leading identity. With Lake Allatoona, the Etowah River, I-75 and many other natural advantages, along with bold leadership, Bartow County can write a happy ending to this tale of two counties. If I’m still around a hundred years from now, I’ll write an update.

Follow me on Twitter @chuckshiflett and also check out my statewide columns at The Backroom Report.