Bartow County's New One-Armed Commissioner

Bartow County's next commissioner will have to govern with one arm tied behind his back. How's that for a lead-in to my column? Or perhaps I could use this one? Bartow County's next commissioner will be forced to wear current Commissioner Clarence Brown's shoes for the first two terms. Quite a lot going on locally on the political front in recent days, so stay with me and I'll try to explain this one and some related issues.

While the rumor mill continues to circulate about who is and who isn't running for commissioner next year to replace the retiring Clarence Brown, whoever gets the nod from Bartow voters will be weakened for his or her first four-year term and probably most of the second term if reelected. Think about what the new commissioner will inherit when sworn in at the beginning of 2013.

First, even though the current county SPLOST doesn't expire until sometime in 2014, Commissioner Brown is placing the next SPLOST on the ballot this fall. This new 1-cent sales tax package will start in 2014 at the end of the current one and will continue for 6 years, lasting until 2020. That means the new commissioner will spend his first two terms in office (8 years), managing SPLOST packages that he had no input in creating. All of the major projects funded through these initiatives will have been picked out by Brown and set in stone before our new commissioner is even elected.

If that is not enough, in November 2012, voters in Bartow County and our neighboring northwest Georgia counties will decide the fate of a new regional 1-cent transportation sales tax package. Commissioner Brown sits on the executive committee of the round table that put together the to be funded by this new tax. There are still some hearings in a few weeks and a few tweaks could possibly be made before the list is finalized this fall, but nevertheless Brown's fingerprints will be all over this thing.

The T-SPLOST, as it is commonly referred to, if passed by voters will start in 2013 and last for 10 years. Once again, our new commissioner will spend all of his or her first two terms (and most of a possible third term) managing local transportation projects that were established before being sworn in. Our new leader will really just be a caretaker for Commissioner Brown's agenda.

So what issues will Brown leave for the new guy to put his own stamp on? As of right now, it looks like Sunday package sales of alcohol might be passed off to the new administration. Commissioner Brown has publicly indicated he has no desire to put this issue before county voters. However, the Cartersville City Council has reversed course and city residents will this November.

If Sunday package sales pass in the city, any business operating grocery or convenience stores in unincorporated Bartow County will probably try to find a way to have their property annexed into the Cartersville city limits. This will once again touch off the age-old battle between the city and county over school system property taxes. If city residents say yes, perhaps this might force Brown to place the measure on the 2012 ballot. If not, then the new guy gets handed a no-win issue as business owners and many residents pile on the pressure for a vote, while many of our local Bible Belt gang say no. Not a good situation to start a new term in office.

Before we leave the topic of who might run to replace Brown, another new name has been floating around in recent days. While State Rep. Paul Battles, R-Cartersville, has stated he will not seek the office, the name of another local legislator, State Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, has been put forward by some folks. My understanding is that Loudermilk is perfectly happy in the Senate and did not start this discussion, but it seems a few are trying to talk him into it. I'm sure a few more names will come and go before campaign time rolls around next year.

One other thought...several county department heads and key employees are nearing retirement age, and some supposedly have indicated they would like to retire when Commissioner Brown leaves office. This will be a major brain drain, but will also give our new commissioner an opportunity to build a new young team that can carry Bartow through some challenging times as the county's growth begins to skyrocket. Perhaps it would be a blessing for the new team to have time to gel without having pressing issues to face like designing new SPLOST or T-SPLOST proposals.

There will be plenty of time in coming weeks to discuss the specific projects being proposed for both the new county SPLOST and the new regional T-SPLOST packages. However, in studying both lists, it seems that unlike previous SPLOST proposals, the SPLOST package this time just doesn't have much sizzle. There are a lot of everyday smaller projects like new sidewalks, maintenance issues in county buildings, and buying a few ambulances, but no major projects like . There is, however, one controversial component. The plan includes using a large chunk of the SPLOST proceeds to pay off the bonds issued by the Cartersville-Bartow Joint Development Authority for construction of the Highlands 75 Industrial Park on Cass-White Road.

There's no need to point fingers, as the JDA was only trying to give the area an edge in recruiting new industry, but there's no denying the timing was bad, and now the property sits vacant as we all wait for the economy to turn around. Thus, without being able to sell any of the 700-hundred plus acres, the JDA is in need of funds to either pay off the debt in full or at least make loan payments while they wait things out.

On the other hand, the T-SPLOST package is filled with major local road projects including the reconstruction of state Highway 140 to include four lanes from Floyd County to Interstate 75; the adding of an extra lane each way on U.S. 41 from Main Street in Cartersville up to ; funding for the local share of construction costs of the U.S. 411 Connector; and the rebuilding of the Cass-White interchange over I-75. Several other major projects round out the list, so voters will see they'll get a lot of bang for the penny.

In closing, there is no grand scheme on the part of Commissioner Brown to hamstring his successor. No, there are two reasons for placing the SPLOST measure on the ballot this fall, more than 2 years before the current one expires. One is to get it out of the way before the T-SPLOST vote next fall. Otherwise, the SPLOST election would happen just a few months after residents see their sales tax go from 7 to 8 percent if T-SPLOST passes and that might spell trouble. The second reason is the urgency is securing the funds to take care of the Highlands 75 debt.

Maybe, just maybe, in light of all of the above, Commissioner Brown will do his successor a favor and place the Sunday package sales on the ballot this November. If we're already having a countywide SPLOST vote it would not cost anything extra. And it would let our next commissioner get off to a clean start.

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