Edwards, Adkins speak out on budget issues

With Athens County facing dwindling monies from the state level, Democratic Primary candidates emphasized their economic priorities in interviews last week.

Gary Edwards, owner of the Pit Stop in Nelsonville, and Charlie Adkins, a former Ohio University brick mason and union president, are squaring off for the chance to face incumbent Republican Larry Payne in November.

Edwards and Adkins laid out their priorities in addressing a shrinking county budget.

"My priority is clear, and that is trying to have a balanced budget but make sure that our residents are protected when it comes to fire, police and emergency medical folks," Adkins said.

He said that the county owns a lot of property, and that it can be better utilized to reduce costs, especially with regard to maintenance. He said that these buildings could be used, for instance, to relocate the 911 operation from the basement of the Sheriff's Office to a better facility.

"That's not where those folks want to be," he said. "It's not a good communication center for your everyday operation."

Adkins also said that county vehicles are an area that should be studied for efficiency. The cost of maintenance and insurance on all of those vehicles could be brought down, he said, by figuring out what is truly necessary and what isn't.

"If we don't need some vehicles, we need to get rid of them," he said. "If you can save $1,000 here or there, pretty soon it's $10,000."

He said that from his own experience working in the union at Ohio University, he would want to be hands-on and out taking a close look at county operations.

"I think we can bring more money into the county through recycling," he said. "Sometimes you can't keep cutting; sometimes you have to build."

He said he supports bringing curbside recycling to Nelsonville as an opportunity to generate revenue. He also would like to sit down with Rural Action's Zero Waste Initiative people to find out ways to create economic opportunity.

"I think that's where you make money," Adkins said. "Instead of cutting, you have to look at growing areas. Once you cut so much, you're done."

Adkins said the county has to watch out when it loses certain events such as the Pelotonia cancer fundraising biking event. He said he would want to work with Hocking College and OU to make Athens an attractive destination for special events.

"I don't think that we can worry about a five-year plan or a 10-year plan; we have to worry about next year's plan," he said. "Once we get on our feet, we need to look at the future."

Edwards, meanwhile, said that not only has the county suffered from the economic downturn but citizens of the county have suffered as well.

"I think that's where the county owes it to every employee and every citizen of the county to look at everything," he said.

Edwards said he is optimistic and knows from his business experience that you either have to increase sales or cut costs.

"Sometimes it's better to increase sales," he said. "And I don't mean taxes. I mean that we need to make sure that we're getting all of the resources we have coming to us."

Each department has to live within its means, he added. Layoffs should be avoided, he said, because they mean a loss to county services.

"I can assure you that if I'm elected as commissioner, I will look at everything," he said. "I'm optimistic that maybe the economy will turn around a little bit, and that will increase our stream of funds coming in."

With regard to economic development, Edwards cited ACENet, the OU Innovation Center and Business Remixed, the joint city-county economic development center.

"We're working with a lot of small companies to try to create more jobs," he said. "I think you have to continue to do that. We want to make a business-friendly environment."

To accomplish that, he said, the county must maintain its infrastructure and probably even expand it where possible.

"A business can't exist without the infrastructure," he said, predicting that the U.S. Rt. 33 Nelsonville bypass will be a boon for attracting businesses. "Any business is going to create jobs."

Edwards said that maintaining infrastructure, roads and county services are all important.

"We just need to continue to provide what we do, improve it where we can, and expand it when available," he said.