The more than 100 people who turned out at the Community Center in Oconee Veterans Park on Saturday for newly elected State Rep. Eric Gisler’s Town Hall meeting engaged in a dialogue on topics ranging from affordable housing, school safety, the costs of medical care, and cell phones in classrooms.
Gisler began the two-hour session by talking about what he has done since his election on Dec. 9 to prepare himself for the legislative session that begins tomorrow (Monday), saying he has talked extensively with government and civic leaders in both Oconee and Clarke counties.
Gisler told the group he still has a lot to learn about his responsibilities and opportunities when the session gets underway, but he did identify and discuss issues likely to come before him and his colleagues in the coming weeks.
Gisler said he wants to work both with fellow Democrats and with Republicans “to get good things done for the district and for the state.”
Gisler told the group as the session got underway that he wanted the session to be nonpolitical, and that he wanted to hear from those present, including those who were not his supporters.
Rather than ask questions, many used the opportunity to talk about the issues of concern to them.
Gisler had declared his intent to challenge incumbent Republican Marcus Wiedower for the 121st seat even before Wiedower stepped down unexpectedly in October, necessitating the Dec. 9 special election. Gisler said on Saturday he plans to seek re-election.
Gisler said his strategy in that election is going to be to “drive a wedge” between MAGA Republicans and traditional conservatives who are not happy with the current “chaos” in the country.
Update On Last Month
Following an introduction by Harold Thompson, Chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party, Gisler said he has been busy since the election moving his small business, The Olive Basket, from Epps Bridge Centre to downtown Athens. He said he “took a little bit of downtime” for the holidays.
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| Gisler Responds To Question 1/10/2026 |
“The last couple of weeks,” he said, “I've spent every afternoon pretty much meeting with elected officials in the district, community leaders, everyone from county commissioners here in Oconee, both sheriffs, judges, the CEO of St. Mary's.”
“I didn't get to Piedmont (Hospital) yet,” he said, “but that's on the list. We'll get there. So it's really been a listening tour, and I think it's appropriate that I kind of wrap up the listening tour with you constituents to the district.”
He subsequently added the Chamber of Commerce “in both counties” to that list of contacts, as well as Athens-Clarke County commissioners.
“I’ve been an outside observer for years,” Gisler said of the legislature. “I've stayed plugged into state politics and seen what's going on, but now I'm on the inside. I'm going to see how the sausage is actually made.”
“I'm keeping an open mind to learn how things operate and try to work with the people there as well as I can--across the aisle, both sides--to try to get good things done for the district and for the state.”
“So any ideas that we have, wherever they come from, my ears are open, and I'm open to it,” he said.
“I recognize a lot of faces,” Gisler said as it looked at the audience as he was ending his introductory comments. “A lot of people were supporting me during the campaign.”
“Maybe some of you are new,” he said. “Maybe some of you really hate my guts. That's okay. You can say what you want. I'm going to listen. As long as we can be civil about it, please. I'm here to listen.”
Not all of those who asked questions seemed to agree with Gisler, but all the exchanges were civil, and no one gave any indication of “hating” Gisler.
Range Of Issues
Gisler did make his position clear on a number of broad and specific issues in those introductory comments and in the discussion with members of the audience that followed.
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| Gisler 1/10/2025 |
He said that he had run his campaign “on affordability--housing specifically and healthcare, certainly.”
“We are at a crisis in the state now as far as healthcare and really the country,” he said, “but especially in the state.” He said he is in favor of Medicaid expansion.
Gisler said he wants to increase the minimum wage, “particularly for service industry folks.”
Gisler said he thinks state funding for education is inadequate, particularly in rural areas, and he wants to support small businesses.
Culture war issues “make a lot of headlines,” Gisler said. “My position is, really, the state should not be making a lot of these decisions. People should be free to live their lives however they want to, and how they feel they should.”
He said he wants to change the state’s restrictive abortion laws, which he said are contributing to the lack of OBGYN care in the state and resulting in the state being “one of the worst states for maternal mortality.”
(The World Population Review groups Georgia with four other southern states with the highest mortality rate from 2018 to 2022.)
Gisler said he wants to “make it a crime to leave an unsecured weapon in your house with a minor there,” offer “a tax break for gun safety devices and gun safety courses,” and close the “loopholes” on “ensuring universal background checks” for weapons purchases.
Questions On Accessibility
“I didn't vote for you,” Margaret Holt, a retired University of Georgia Professor who is an expert on organizing citizen deliberative session, told Gisler when he ended his comments and began taking questions.
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| Thorton 1/10/2026 |
“But I sure would have,” she said after a brief pause. “But I live in District 120. Gisler’s House District 121 includes Oconee Central, Oconee South, and Dark Corner precincts, and parts of eastern Clarke County. Holt lives in Oconee Northeast precinct.
“I just want ask you what your plans are to continue having conversations like this with the public?” Holt said.
That same question and related questions came up several times during the Town Hall, and Gisler told Holt “I definitely want to” hold additional Town Hall meetings.
He said he was exploring having a live-stream once a week and also having a newsletter.
“We’ve had no real relationship or conversations in the past with Athens-Clarke County and our state representatives on a very long and productive way,” Athens-Clarke County District 9 Council Member Ovita Thorton said. “It's like two different ships in the night. Can you put that on your agenda then?”
Gisler said he has been talking with Athens-Clarke County commissioners and “those lines of communication are definitely open.”
“I could go on a whole tangent about politics and gerrymandering and all that kind of stuff and why you may not have had that in the past,” Gisler said. “But we won't go there.”
In response to a subsequent question, Gisler did say he would like to turn redistricting over to an independent body, a position he had taken during the campaign when Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley told her followers that “A slice of the People’s Republic of Clarke County is also part of HD 121.”
Gisler, in response to a question on voting rules, also said he was in favor of rank choice voting.
Gisler defeated Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest IV in the Dec. 9 special election. Guest has said he plans to qualify to run again in the May Republican Party primary with the intent of challenging Gisler in November.
Future Campaign
About half way through the two-hour session, one member of the audience asked Gisler “what's your plan with reaching out to the people who did not vote for you or don’t plan to vote for you because you're a Democrat, period.”
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| Question: How To Reach Out To Non Democrats 1/10/2026 |
“That's a great question,” Gisler said.
“In a Town Hall like this, I really didn't want to get too political and partisan,” he said. “But we live in a very politicized time. A very polarized time.”
“My view is that, yeah, this district was drawn for a Republican,” he continued. “It is gerrymandered.
“But I think we're at a point right now with what we're seeing at the top, at the presidential level, federal level–I’d include Congress--is the people in power are doing things that the people who voted for them didn't ask for,” Gisler continued.
“Especially in a community like Oconee County,” Gisler said "you've got some die hard MAGA Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat–ever. But you’ve got a lot of more traditional conservatives--I call them--who, they voted last year Republican because they wanted smaller government, they wanted lower prices, they wanted to do something about the border.”
“Those are the things they voted for,” he said. “But what they're getting is chaotic tariff policy that's driving prices through the roof. They're getting a private army that is terrorizing cities. This week they murdered a woman in Minneapolis.”
“Some of them actually did vote for that, I think,” he said. “But here in Oconee County, a lot of them did not. And I think they maybe traditional Republican voters, but I think this year they're going to be open to a little bit more of a message from the other side.”
“I'll be honest,” Gisler said. “I'm trying to drive a wedge between MAGA Republicans and traditional conservatives. I think that is the only chance I've got in this district.”
Affordable Housing
Many of those who spoke raised the issue of affordable housing, with one person saying she was concerned about “how many acres of our farmland are being converted into housing that's maybe not necessarily affordable.”
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| Question: How To Address Affordable Housting 1/10/2026 |
“You're right,” Gisler said. “Housing is a crisis in the state.”
“That is because of supply and demand,” he said. “The long term solution is we have to have a larger stock,” Gisler said.
He said that zoning decisions are made locally, and while the state might be able to do some things that can help incentivize local construction of affordable housing, he also wants to respect local control.
“A lot of it really comes down to the local level,” he said. “This local zoning, what the local commission and the planning commission--local county commission, the city--what they're going to approve.”
When legislation dealing with housing comes up, he said, “I’ll call back home and talk to these county commissioners about legislation that comes up to figure out how I should vote on these.”
Income Tax, Property Tax, Unfunded Mandates
Jimmy Nolan, who was a property appraiser in Morgan County and now works in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, told Gisler the discussion in the legislature of eliminating the state income tax is a concern to him.
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| Nolan 1/10/2026 |
“Any time anybody says the word tax cuts, the next thing out of their mouth is a lie,” Nolan said, “because there is no such thing as a tax cut.”
“There's a tax shift, which means you do away with the state income tax,” he continued, “there are going to be more unfunded mandates forced onto the local governments.”
“And the only way they can pay those bills is to increase your property taxes,” he said. “So you're shifting it from income to property tax.”
Gisler said he does not support the plan for eliminating the state income tax, championed by Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones, “saying the math doesn’t work.”
Jones is seeking Senate support for his initiative, and Gisler said he understands that the House is more likely to focus on property tax relief.
In response to a later question, Gisler objected to unfunded mandates from the legislature regarding schools.
In the last session, the legislature mandated that school systems implement safety programs, Gisler said, but provided inadequate funding for the mandates.
Cell Phones In Schools
The legislature, in last year’s session, also mandated that local school systems implement a ban on cell phones in classrooms through the eight grade. Oconee County Schools changed its policy to incorporate that ban and also placed restrictions on cells phones in its two high schools. The legislature this session is expected to consider requiring school systems to extend the ban to high schools.
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| North Oconee County Students 1/10/2026 |
Students from both of Oconee County’s high schools were in the audience on Saturday, as were teachers from Oconee County schools and from other school systems, and the past and anticipated legislative action on cell phones came up several times during the Town Hall.
“This might sound weird out a student's mouth,” one of the North Oconee High School students said, “but I'm also concerned with the cell phones in schools.”
“I'm seeing a lot of friends who are not paying attention or struggling,” he continued. “And I think cell phones are a big part of that.”
“That being said, I also want to balance that with safety,” he said. “A lot of the concerns I'm hearing on the other side are, what if there a disaster or an event that I need to contact my parents."
“School shootings are on a lot of minds at school,” he said, “and a lot of students are concerned with being able to contact parents."
“So I think that if you would consider voting on that bill,” he said, “keep in mind our right to contact our parents in emergency situations.”
“I appreciate that,” Gisler responded.
Video
The first video below is of the entire Town Hall meeting.
Athens-Clarke County Democratic Party Chair Shellby Branch turned off the lights in the front of the room as the session began so she could display some slides on the projector, making the initial video images very dark.
Someone turned the lights on when Margaret Holt asked the first question, at 8:59 in the video.
Gisler had begun his introductory comments at 1:38 in the video.
More than 40 exchanges took placed during the two hours of the meeting, and my summary above includes only a small part of those.
I recommend watching the full video.
The second video below is of the swearing in ceremony for Gisler on Jan. 8 in the courtroom of Oconee County Superior Court Judge Lisa Lott.
About 25 people attended that event, with Judge Lott swearing Gisler in to the General Assembly and then obtaining his acceptance of state’s Loyalty Oath.
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