Gilmer County Election Results for Post 2 Commissioner Run-Off – FINAL
Election June 21, 2022
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer County’s election polls have closed and results are being tallied in the Probate Court Office of the Gilmer Courthouse. Polls closed at 7:00 p.m. and results are currently being tallied with Gilmer focused on the runoff for its Post 2 Commissioner position.
With only one local race remaining on the ballot. Citizens spent last week on early voting and today at the precinct locations. FYN will be updating this article as the night progresses and new results are collected. When concluded, the article will be updated with “FINAL” in the title.
Until then, county officials are continuing to work to complete the election night proceedings. Judge Scott Chastain has announced the results of early voting in-person and no precincts. Current results are as follows:
Post 2 Commissioner – 4,559 total votes
John Marshall – 3,028 votes / 66 %
Tom Whatley – 1,531 votes / 33 %
Whatley has offered his congratulations to Marshall in the Gilmer County Post 2 Commissioner election. He offered a statement saying, “It was hard fought and I think this county is now awake with regard to what they want for housing. I think the county is awake and going to pay more attention to Planning and Zoning meetings as well as Board of Commissioner meetings. I hope my supporters stay active and engaged. I hope every thing goes well.”
Post 2 Commissioner Elect John Marshall also offered a statement at the end of the night saying, “I am humbled at the outcome and highly grateful to everyone who supported us. Everyone has worked hard and been kind. I look forward to being able to serve the citizens of Gilmer County in the next four years.”
Post 2 candidates speak on runoff election in Gilmer
Election May 27, 2022
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – Two candidates remain in Gilmer’s Post 2 Commissioner Election that will be once again asking for votes in the June. Candidates John Marshall and Tom Whatley remain on the campaign trail and took a moment to speak with FYN about Tuesday’s results and the coming month.
All three candidates have been thanking their supporters since Tuesday. Continuing to field calls and meet with citizens, it has been a busy week in the Gilmer’s local election cycle. Both remaining candidates have said they are looking ahead and were prepared for the possibility.
Candidate Tom Whatley said that it is a tall order not only to encourage people to vote for him, but even to get citizens to return to the polls on June 21, 2022. This sentiment was echoed by Candidate John Marshall who said that it is very important to get new supporters and to get those who did vote for him back out for the runoff election.
Many of those new supporters could be coming from the 1,346 votes for third candidate Gary Engel who will not be in the runoff election.
Whatley said he is working hard to show his values and to reach out to citizens who voted for Engel saying, “Gary and I were not that far apart in our ideals as far the administration of this county.”
Historically, runoff elections do no get as many voters in the runoff election, especially when only a single office remains on the ballot.
Marshall, too, is pushing to reach voters as he said he wanted any and all voters to come to the polls. Marshall said, “We’re going to convince as many people as we can that we’re the right choice for this seat.”
Even Gary Engel is urging citizens to return to the polls in June as he said the citizens need to informed about the candidates and to definitely vote again in June. Engel declined to endorse either of the remaining candidates but stressed the importance of citizens to exercise their vote as they select the next Post 2 Commissioner.
Engel stated, “The folks that voted for me are quite capable of making the determination of which one they want to vote for based on the positions of those two candidates. I don’t think I have that much influence.”
Engel offered his thanks to all his voters as he asked them to continue being informed and be engaged in the process.
The next step for the two remaining candidates doesn’t have a set debate or major event before June as of now. However, both candidates are strongly pushing in their own campaigns and said they weren’t going to be shifting their efforts or methods into the last leg of the primary election.
When asked about the runoff, Marshall stated, “We’re very excited about it. We’re not coming from behind. We’re focusing on getting our voters to return to the polls on June 21. Hopefully, we’ll be able to garner some of the votes of our opponents.”
When asked about the runoff, Whatley stated, “I’m going to stand by Keeping Gilmer Rural. I don’t want to shut down all of the growth but we need to get control of the growth.”
With no democrat having qualified, June 21 is likely to be the deciding election for Gilmer County in the Post 2 Commissioner race. The difference between the two candidates was 581 votes with John Marshall at 3,419 votes and Tom Whatley at 2,838 votes.
Meet Gilmer Post 2 Candidate Tom Whatley at Poole’s BBQ Saturday May 14th 1-3pm & enjoy a free buffet
Election, Featured, News May 11, 2022
An introductory interview with Post 2 Candidate Tom Whatley
Election April 3, 2022
A 22-year veteran of law enforcement and retired Police Detective in 2006, Tom Whatley was an experienced investigator in real estate and mortgage fraud. He said that during this time, “my weapon was a calculator.”
With his experience and community involvement, Whatley served on as Vice Chair on the Budget Advisory Board for seven years for his county in Florida. During those years, Whatley became well-versed in both the budgetary process, departmental line item requests, and financial investigation for the purpose of lowering budget costs. In seven years, this culminated in a $900 million reduction to excessive spending. With a four-year degree in legal studies, specific training in government financing, and the time to dedicate, Whatley said the commissioner position would be a full-time job that he hopes to wholly dedicate himself to.
After finally relocating to Gilmer County, a place he visited constantly as a child with his family, Whatley said that even when younger, he had thoughts that someday, he would come back to live here. Yet, old habits of community involvement followed him and he soon found himself back in government meetings like the cities of Ellijay and East Ellijay, county meetings, and Planning and Zoning. This time, he wasn’t on the boards, but a citizen listening, even to city councils that he couldn’t vote for.
Whatley said this was the early stages, when he spoke in meetings it would lead to others recognizing him in town. From there, it turned into full conversations and meetings with citizens, and that lead to the formation of Keep Gilmer Rural. Pushing for protections to agriculture and the rurality of the county, this became a place that he said he wanted to offer for the discourse and planning to pursue that.
As the organization has grown, Whatley said that some have gotten the idea that he is opposed to affordable housing. Whatley said he isn’t, adding that if a builder can build an affordable house, then go for it. He offered up a quick number estimation with a price per square footage anywhere from $130 to $150 per square foot, saying that would make it affordable. But the developers and builders “are not in the charity business.” Building that profit from one project funds the capital for the next project. In addition, the government can’t step in to deny certain people from purchasing homes just because they don’t live in county. He also voiced opinions against mandated Section 8 housing.
Whatley said, “Anytime the government gets involved in housing, it never turns out well. It is never utopic.”
With zoning however, he said he wants to avoid the policies of big cities and small lots or “zero lot lines” that encourage massive density. A lot of these issues come down to location and impact to your neighbors, with an idea that there are spaces for a lot of what people want. But there major exceptions to the rule like 300 houses on 200 acres, the density causes effects on neighbors, the land, the resources, and the infrastructure.
Whatley stated about the county, “I want to keep its old town charm, keep it the way it is. Slow the growth, you can’t stop the growth.” He added that as a commissioner, he wouldn’t want to alter the current residential zonings from where they are now between R1 and R5.
It’s a nationwide issue that Whatley said is highlighted right now in Gilmer. The growth, housing, zoning, and rural nature of Gilmer is the biggest issues facing that county according to Whatley. But it isn’t the only things he is looking at as he said he believes the county is likely to see another bubble pop like in 2010. Looking ahead at decreasing property values and decreasing property taxes, the quick sales and recessionary type economy, an excessive abundance in the inventory could be a possible outcome. Every county gets affected by property values. Whatley said now is the time to beef up.
That beefing up comes with squaring away certain departments. The county has been building the road department, public safety, and other areas with great needs. That is necessary, and saving reserves is necessary. Whatley noted that if the county has extra money, it doesn’t have to spend it all. The county has built reserves in recent years, something Whatley is encouraging and pushing to have in preparations for leaner years. Whatley points to his years in budgetary finances and investigations as experience in the area saying that he wants to be a stickler about financing and providing for the needs and building the county where necessary and beneficial, but also looking to be a part of the county’s efforts to prepare and budget wisely to provide for the future.
Boards are not just about one man’s experience and expertise, though, as Whatley said he sees teamwork at work in the board already. He noted the recent moratorium on housing developments. He recalled how the limit on number of houses was not originally agreed upon but the board discussed and negotiated. Whatley said that this is a simple example but shows how a board works together for better results and how important communications, negotiations, and discourse are to their operations as well as supporting the board’s final decision.
Whatley also used this example as a basis for another idea to a change in land use. He said that the massive citizen opposition to the mega developers has met a response that not every development has to even come before a board. Whatley said he would support an ordinance to have any planned development over a certain number of homes having to come before Planning and Zoning for approval.
Whatley spoke about increasing civilian committees in the county to support the board’s decisions. Whatley said, “Sometimes the county commissioners have great ideas in their head. If you look out and there is 50, 60, 100 people out there in that audience, a lot of them have some great ideas and they don’t get to express them. I would love to hear great ideas from the community on how to run this county. And that could be through different assignments, different committees, on different projects.”
Another major change he would like to see down the road is the incorporation and separation of a county manager from the Board of Commissioners. Whatley said that with the current chairman’s announcement that this would be a final term, he has done great work in what has been accomplished. Whatley said he could see the board working towards a county manager as the term concludes so that the transition could occur simultaneously with the next election. Establishing the board as the guiding force while having the manager report back to them the same as department heads currently do. Whatley said that he would want to pursue this later in the term as he has his vision set forward and hopes to see the county’s future continue improving similar to what it has seen.
If elected, Whatley said he still has a lot of people he wants to talk to about the ideas of the county both that he has thought about and that they have in mind. Continuing to attend county meetings, he said he has learned a lot in all the meetings he has attended, but has a lot more to learn about so that, if elected, he could transition into office easily and ready to hit the ground running without delay. He is excited for an opportunity to affect the county in a positive way.
Whatley said that major issues in the county are key points in his campaign for office, such as keeping Gilmer as rural as possible, protecting the 2nd Amendment Sanctuary status, and guiding “smart growth” in the coming years.