By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Carl Davis and A.G. VanLandingham are back on the campaign trail this week after emerging from a field of four in the General Primary last week.

Runoff balloting will take place Tuesday, Aug. 8 for the Republican nomination for Post 1 on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners.

Democrat Elizabeth Barnes waits in the wings to take on the winner in the General Election in November.

Turnout was low in the General Primary — less than 20 percent of the registered voters in Fayette cast ballots — and even fewer voters usually show up for runoffs. The challenge for VanLandingham and Davis will be to get their supporters to the polls.

“We're going to have a little more intense campaign than we had before,” said VanLandingham following the primary last week. “We're going to see if we can encourage more turnout than is normal for this type of election.”

“I'm just calling on people I know supported me before and reaching out and trying to talk to some additional people so they can see where I stand and see if they can support me too,” said Davis.

Davis said he is working to convince people that he has he skills to get the job done. “I'm good at strategic planning, I'm able to reach out to people and have good communication skills,” he said.

He doesn't come equipped with the solutions to all the county's problems, Davis added, but said he can work with other commissioners, the public and other government agencies to find those solutions.

“I'm very independent and can listen to all sides and make a decision,” he said.

VanLandingham said he will emphasize his commitment. “We're going to try to show that we really are concerned and really want to work with the people of Fayette County,” he said.

Among issues VanLandingham said he will discuss are planning for future water needs, federal air quality mandates, transportation planning and tough enforcement of tree protection laws.

“If we don't have water and clean air, we're going to die,” said VanLandingham. “If we don't preserve them, we're going to be in trouble.”

He said he would work for regulations that encourage gray water retention systems to allow the reuse of bath and laundry water.

Clean air mandates, he said, “are going to have to be dealt with. The county's going to have to have a position. The future of Fayette County is going to be decided by outsiders if we don't do our homework.”

He called for emissions inspections on trucks as one solution.

Trees are vital to quality of life and quality of air, VanLandingham said, adding he is “not a tree hugger,” but would work to prevent clear-cutting.

On transportation, VanLandingham questions the County Commission's current emphasis on a bypass around Fayetteville. “We're opening up a whole new commercial corridor in our county,” he said. “We've got to sit down and figure out if that's what we want.”

Davis agrees with VanLandingham that the bypass needs more thought. “We need to be linking up with the public and working with other agencies,” he said. “I've talked to people who said they just found out that the bypass would be going through their front yard, and they say, `No one talks to us about it.'”

Managed growth tops the list of issues important to Davis, he said. “We have to make sure that [development] happens where it's supposed to happen. We must not deviate from the plan,” he said.

The county's current land use plan is a good one, he said, but more people need to be involved in revising and updating it from time to time. “Any solution needs to have more than one person involved,” he said.

The county also is moving in the right direction on strategic planning, and he would help keep that process going, said Davis. “We also need a strategic capital plan,” he said, “so we know what expenditures are coming and what year to expect them in.”

For more information on Davis, see his web site at www.carldavis.org. VanLandingham can be reached at 770-461-5681.