As November gets closer, the Athens mayoral candidates pushed for votes Saturday night at a mayoral forum.

STEGALL

The five candidates — former Tax Commissioner Nancy Denson, Executive Director of Athens Habitat for Humanity Spencer Frye, Chair of Athens Housing Authority Charlie Maddox, former mayor Gwen O’Looney and University student Glenn Stegall — were tested on their viewpoints at the mayoral forum hosted by the Clarke County Republican Committee.

Candidates fielded questions about local issues in seven different categories, including the budget, education, the pending special-purpose local-option sales tax and economic growth.

Candidates spoke repeatedly about cutting unnecessary projects from the budget and SPLOST proposal. SPLOST projects, such as proposed money for an animal control cat shelter in

Athens, were ill-received by some candidates.

Stegall said he felt money allocated toward the cat shelter, as well as funds for additional street lighting, could be looked at more thoroughly.

O'Looney

O’Looney also said that money spent toward taking care of abandoned cats could be better spent.

“I think that animal control is in the SPLOST to expand and grow that facility, and I’m glad to see that,” she said. “But the cat situation is also kind of an embarrassment. A small special interest group has made us very concerned about cats, and I don’t know that $150,000 at the time is the best use for that money.”

Denson said she had reservations about the SPLOST, and would veto it if the economic situation in Athens remained the same.

“If SPLOST fails this time, I think we would need to go through an independent process to revise it,” she said.

Other issues addressed by candidates ranged widely from local issues such as increasing use of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport to national issues such as the potential effect of illegal immigration on small town business.

Candidates also addressed issues facing Athens and the University as a connected community.

Frye, when asked if he would describe the relationship between Athens and the University as symbiotic or parasitic, said he felt that collaboration was necessary regardless of standpoint.

FRYE

“We are joined together, and we have got to work together to utilize our resources, and work with them on things we don’t manage well,” he said.

Candidates also expressed the goal of growing jobs in Athens and creating a more business-friendly environment.

Stegall said he planned to create a friendly atmosphere in Athens for small businesses.

“What I think is [the concern is] the perception or the reality that we’re not a business-friendly community,” he said. “We need to work with businesses to address that.”

Maddox said he also plans to make business development and job growth in Athens a top priority.

“Everybody understands that if we don’t have the money that we can’t do any good,” he said. “The key to our economic survival is getting well-paying jobs from the business community.”

Candidates encouraged voters to gather more information about their individual campaigns, and expressed admiration for their opponents.

“We have five candidates, and I think we all want to see Athens progress and grow,” Stegall said.