CENTERVILLE, Ga. — There are three candidates running for the Centerville City Council Post 1 seat -- Robert Bird, Susan Lemme and Debbie Taylor. 13WMAZ met with Lemme and Taylor. Bird says he was unable to do a phone or in-person interview with us, and he asked to send his answers via email.
Bird has lived in Centerville for 14 years -- he works at Robins Air Force Base as an Electronics Engineer. Lemme says Centerville is her hometown -- she's a retired librarian. Taylor has also lived in Centerville for 14 years -- she's a retired law-enforcement officer.
Q: Why did you decide to run for the council position?
Bird: Some friends told me about the vacant council position and suggested to me that I would make a great councilman. I have had a longtime interest in government and politics, and my family and I love the recent direction that Centerville has taken and want it to continue on the same successful path. I decided it was time to give something back to our city through public service.
Lemme: I've attended a lot of city council meetings, and I feel like there's a big need to get more citizen input for citizen involvement, and for city council to be very open to listening to the ideas that come from our public. There's a lot of things that are working very well. But some things need a little polish. We have issues that have been long standing that need to be looked at and when we're planning and doing things we need to plan ahead for the possibilities, and to look at impacts of our actions and I think I can provide a critical eye to those plans, and to suggest ways that we can work from the beginning so we're not correcting problems at the end.
Taylor: Being in public service has been my entire life. Being in Centerville, it’s such a lovely community that I thought it was best at this time that I come back into the fold of what I was educated in. I've traveled abroad for three years I did residencies over there in psychology and management, social policy. So having the diverse global platform and then the American platform I thought that I can bridge them both together and deliver something to Centerville, that would be kind of progressive, but in the same sense Southern-grounded in my traditional roots. I just thought it was time. I thought that I should come out here and support the constituents of Centerville.
Q: Why should the people of Centerville vote for you?
Bird: I believe that government is meant to create a climate in a community that fosters growth and allows citizens to live their lives to the fullest. I’m the best candidate because, through my service, I can help make sure that Centerville’s government maintains an atmosphere that allows citizens to prosper. I would like voters to know that while I am new to running for elected office, I am not new when it comes to being involved in the community and helping it grow and prosper.
Lemme: I'm the most qualified for the position, I’ve been actively attending city council meetings, even some of the planning sessions, paid attention to what we're doing in the city. I grew up here and I know what was and what can be. I have a great respect for our citizens who helped to build this community, and our senior citizens are the apple and the jewel of our communities. They provide maturity and stability. They're not the big draw on resources that, a younger population might be. We want to be a good place for families, and our senior citizens are a part of the families of our community.
Taylor: I want you to know that what impacts you impacts me. I'm a resident here. I've been here 14 years, I live off of Gunn Road so a lot of the things that we are facing -- all the problems, traffic, infrastructure, affordable housing, all those things directly impact me because my house backs up to that area. But the one thing that I want to tell you most is I'm a person that believes in trust, truth and transparency. I come from a law enforcement background and I'm here to support you. I'm here to serve you and to protect you, first and foremost. So if you trust me with that, my southern principles, I was raised to respect each and every person here, and your views are important to me. So, come out, cast that vote. And if you trust me. I'll be here working for you.
Q: What goals do you have for Centerville, if elected?
Bird: If the voters of Centerville elect me, I would like to continue the city’s efforts to create a climate that is friendly to small entrepreneurs, so that we continue to create jobs. I would like to make sure our streets and other infrastructure are maintained, and I would ensure that our city uses its tax money wisely and efficiently. Centerville is already a wonderful place to live, and my goal would be to make sure it stays that way.
Lemme: I would like to see us work on the problem of speeding that goes through our neighborhoods. I don't know if that's going to be an easy solution, if it's something we can do, what limitations we are under from the state based on the search conditions of the road and curves and things like that. But, I'd like for us to do some creative thinking about what we can do to slow traffic down in some of our neighborhoods. We have a lot of cross streets. I would like to see us, like I said when we're looking at a plan from the beginning try to make sure that we're not going to have problems at the end. And just add a critical eye that I'm going to take input from our citizens. The four people sitting on city council and the mayor, don't have all the answers. We have expertise in our community, and we have people with experience in our community that can help us when we're making decisions, and they are welcome to come to city council and they are welcome to come and talk to us and give those bits of advice too.
Taylor: I know that there are lots of developments going on in Centerville -- houses coming up everywhere. Some of the things that we need to maintain is we need to keep the environment maintained, there are areas that are not being maintained properly. We can look at the traffic that's coming in these areas where we're offset from Watson. I want to bring in health and associations with health. I want to increase the wellness, not just by the money value that we have, instead of by bringing in the health department and offering that leisure lifestyle that projects to our constituents, but giving them and bringing the health department, and having them set up here, instead of heart, where you can get a diabetes check or glucose check those things are important to me.
Early voting runs May 24 through June 11. Election day is Tuesday, June 15.