Oconee County mailed out 571 absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election on Monday (Oct. 5), the first day ballots could be issued, Jennifer Stone, Assistant Director of Elections and Registration, told the Board of Elections and Registration at its meeting on Monday.
The county also issued 49 electronic ballots to voters outside the U.S., including in the military, Stone said, bringing to the total number of issued absentee ballots to 620.
Although three candidates on the November ballot were invited to the September meeting of the Oconee County Republican Party to speak, the meeting quickly turned into a pep rally, strategy session, and warning about the consequences of Republican candidates not winning in November.
Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley began the meeting by linking the Democratic candidates seeking to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly and on the state ballot with the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last week gave initial approval to an agreement with St. Mary’s Hospital and Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center that transfers responsibility for 911 emergency medical care and transportation services to the county on Dec. 31.
The agreement will replace the current contract the two hospitals have with National Emergency Medical Services and is the final step for implementation of the county’s own Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) last week released detailed plans for construction of the SR 316 and Oconee Connector interchange to show SR 316 flying over the Connector rather than the Connector flying over SR 316.
GDOT announced on Thursday (Oct. 1) that bridge foundation work on the future east bound SR 316 bridge is scheduled to begin next week.
All four of the candidates in state Senate District 46 and state House District 121 spoke out in opposition last week to the plans currently under consideration by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for a truck bypass linking SR 15 and U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
Speaking at a Candidate Forum organized by the Oconee County Farm Bureau, Democrats Ray Smith and Eric Gisler and Republicans Marc McMain and Mack “Dutch” Guest IV took nearly identical positions, saying that the routes under consideration would damage farmland important to the county.
The seven candidates seeking to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly in Atlanta and in Congress in Washington interacted cordially in a Candidate Forum on Thursday, sometimes agreeing in response to questions from an audience of more than 90.
At many times in each of the four sessions in the Forum, however, the candidates took very different positions on issues raised by an audience member.
Discussion of Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) and of the Peach Education Tax Credit program dominated the Oconee County Board of Education meeting last week.
Superintendent Melissa Butler, in her report to the Board, said she had recently toured both of the system’s high schools to explore options for growth in CTAE instruction.
