Time to Move Forward: An Interview with Ellijay City Council Candidate Brian Linkous

“I’m not the answer,but, I want to be part of the solution.”

In preparation for next week’s November 8th mayoral and city council election, FYN recently sat down with Ellijay City Council Candidate Brian Linkous.
Every four years, council members have the opportunity to run for reelection. This year all incumbent council members are running for reelection. One of these seats, however, is challenged by new comer Linkous.

A county resident since 2006 and a city resident since December 2009, Brian Linkous told us he feels he has something to offer the City of Ellijay as a council member.

“I’m not the answer,” he admits, “but, I want to be part of the solution.”

He says that his perspective is not only one of someone who lives in the city, but one who works on two committees. Linkous is a member of Ellijay’s Better Home Town Economic Restructuring Committee, in addition to the Historic Preservation Committee.

One of his ideas for Ellijay’s revitalization is to create a Downtown Development Authority. According to Linkous, this would allow city government, through this committee, to work with merchants by giving them incentive to move into the downtown area; currently along Main Street vacant eyes of store fronts make Ellijay look like a ghost town. Linkous believes the work of this committee could once again bring life into the city.

Another one of the candidate’s ideas is to hold a three-day event in Ellijay, when the city government would meet and work with urban planners, shareholders, and property owners in the area to discuss how to better utilize the river system. Here, Linkous quipped that not many people know Ellijay has three rivers, let alone how to access them. The candidate feels that the city should exploit these rivers from a tourism perspective.

But, on tough questions, like Ellijay’s share of Local Option Sales Tax (L.O.S.T) revenue, we see more of the candidate’s political philosophy.

“Instead of being reactive, as government usually is, we should be pro-active.”

He suggests that haggling over the city’s percentage of L.O.S.T revenue may be superfluous, because, he said, it could go away anytime. Rather, he feels the city should confer will successful businesses, arguing that if a business owner is successful in a recessionary climate, then, perhaps, he could offer advise to the city that could help feed the downtown economy. This approach supports his philosophy of not raising property taxes.

“Under no circumstance at all, “he says, “Am I going to stand for a millage increase without citizens’ input.”

It’s too easy, he says, to lay the financial burden on property owners.

“I’m going to do whatever is best for the citizens,”

he vows, while seeming to have a sure vision of Ellijay.

“We’ve got to make this area a destination,” he asserts, “we’ve got to make this a place where people think, ‘this is where I want to vacation; this is where I want to raise a family; this is where I want to retire.”

For Linkous, it’s time for Ellijay to move forward.

Mayoral and City Council Elections will be held November 8th. All candidates were invited to interview; FYN does not endorse any, one candidate.

See the full Linkous Video Below.