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.
Moderator Adam Belflower did not ask the candidates about the bypass specifically, but McMain and Smith, seeking to represent Oconee County in the Senate, and Guest and Gisler, candidates in the 121st House District, wove their opposition to the plans into their comments during the Forum.
Gisler and Smith had voiced their opposition to the proposed truck route at the called Town Hall Meeting of the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 15, and Guest had stated his opposition at a Town Hall Meeting he organized on Sept. 17.
McMain had not taken a position in a public setting in Oconee County prior to the Farm Bureau Forum on Sept. 23, held at Antique Acres, 2531 Snow Mill Road, in the west of the county. Fifty people, including the candidates were in attendance.
The two candidates for House District 120, Democrat Suzanna Karatassos and Republican Ward Black, also participated in the Forum, but they did not take a stand on the bypass, which is not in their district.
Gisler, the incumbent representative in House District 121, told the Oconee County Commissioners in May that, based on his conversations with GDOT personnel, the agency has funding only through right of way purchase, meaning Gisler or Guest, and McMain or Smith, will have to authorize funding to actually build the roadway.
The Farm Bureau Forum lasted a little more than an hour, with the candidates responding to questions from Belflower on challenges facing farmers, property taxes, and the threat to farming from development.
Comments On SR 15 Bypass
When Belflower asked “over the past few months, over the past year, what concerns do you hear from your constituents and farm community,” Smith said he has heard about the bypass project, and how you've got Georgia Department of Transportation coming in and potentially taking people's farmland.”
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| Smith 9/23/2026 |
“And that really is what I'm hearing over and over and over again, is that people want to be able to keep their farms in their family long-term,” he said. “They want to have the option to be able to use their land the way that they want to use it, not be forced to sell it to a developer.”
When Belflower asked “How do you balance growth in your community, whether it's from commercial development, residential development, et cetera, with the benefit of protecting productive farmland?” McMain said he would “shift back to the bypass.”
“I'm a real estate agent, and I'm a property rights advocate,” he continued. “I think that eminent domain should only be used in the most severe situations, never for vanity projects, never for commercial projects.”
“What I'm hoping is that the city of Watkinsville comes up with a solution, maybe internally, whether it be roundabouts or other solutions, that they can have, that can remedy the problem right there in Watkinsville and not cut through this farmland,” McMain said.
When Bellflower asked Gisler, “what unique concerns do you hear from the farming community in this district?” Gisler said “I'd like to kind of echo what Ray said earlier.”
“The main thing I hear from farmers in the community right now, because most of the farms in the community are in south Oconee, is the bypass,” Gisler said.
“My very simple position on that is, if you're going to build a new road through somebody's generational family farm and spend $25 million in taxpayer dollars to do it, you better be able to justify it, and so far we can't.”
“I want to echo Eric on this one,” Guest said, responding to the same question. “The bypass has been a hot topic, and I'm against the proposed bypass. We don't need to tear up people's farms.”
“We need to do more investigation into the intersections and look at Bishop, which is another problem, before we go trying to put a road through people's farms,” Guest said. “I totally agree with him on that.”
46th District: Introduction, Farmer Concerns
The forum began with the 46th District candidates. The seat is open, because incumbent Bill Cowsert from Athens stepped down.
Oconee County is whole in the district, which includes parts of Clarke, Walton, Gwinnett, and Barrow.
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| McMain 9/23/2026 |
Smith, a software engineer, is from Oconee County, while McMain, an entrepreneur and businessman, is from Walton County.
“The reason that I'm running, first and foremost, is that I have a little boy, two and a half years old, and he is everything to me,” Smith said in his opening comments. “He's the reason why I get up in the morning.”
“And I look around, I see things getting harder every single day for folks,” Smith said, “and I don't want him to grow up in a world like that.”
“I am, before anything else, I am a Christian. I am a conservative. I'm a Republican,” McMain said in his opening statement.
McMain said he is running for office “because I want to make sure that the American dream stays intact...I see the challenges that young people are going through now...We want to give back. That's why I'm getting involved.”
In response to the question on what he is hearing from “his constituents and the farm community,” McMain said “it's input costs.”
“And the input costs, diesel fuel, fertilizer, seed, everything just gone through the roof.," McMain said. "And their ability to sell things at a higher margin is not there.”
“I think Marc actually addressed the affordability issues pretty well,” Smith said. I agree with all of that. Costs are going up. It's difficult to turn a profit.”
“I think 11 out of the last 12 years, farms have not been profitable,” he said.
46th District: Development
When Belflower asked how to “balance growth in your community...with protecting productive farmland?” Smith said “once you've developed land, you can't get it back to farmland.”
“And so it's really important that we're careful about how we do our development,” he said. “People are going to continue to move to places that are nice to live. And I think we all agree that Oconee is a nice place to live.”
“And so the complexity now is how do you address this when you've made this wonderful utopia, and then people want to come in and be a part of what's going on?” McMain said. “And that's the challenge that every county has.”
“And I think from the state side, we want to make sure that we're allowing the counties to make their own decisions,” he said. “We don't want to step in and be the overruling boundary unless there's an area that we have to be involved in.”
46th District: Property Tax Relief
“What steps would you support to provide property tax relief for homeowners, farmers, and landowners alike, while still maintaining the county services residents depend on?” Belflower asked.
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| Smith And McMain 9/23/2026 |
“So I think before we come out and we say something, let's be sure we have a plan in place,” McMain said. “So when you look at property taxes, the only form of tax where you're paying taxes on unrealized gains, and I think we need to look at how we minimize that damage.”
“Also, maybe look at solutions for people who are elderly: You don't have to pay school taxes. You still have to pay county taxes,” he said.
“So there's things like that. There's ideas out there that we have to explore that put real money back in people's pockets,” McMain said.
“We cannot do this at the expense of cutting services or cutting infrastructure,” he added.
“Most of our property taxes go towards education funding,” Smith said. “And we have been systematically underfunding education out of our income taxes at the state level for decades.”
“And so that tax burden has slowly shifted onto our local governments, and that is in large part why property taxes are so high,” he said.
“I think that personally, we shouldn't be lowering income taxes at the expense of our local community budgets,” Smith continued.
“It's really important that we make sure that our municipal budgets are sound,” he said, “so that those services like fire, police, and schools remain funded.”
House District 120: Introduction
Belflower next called House District 120 candidates Karatassos and Black to the front of the room. The House District 120 is open, because Houston Gaines, from Athens, is running for U.S. Congress from the 10th District.
Only Oconee County’s Northeast Precinct is in the 120th, which includes parts of Barrow, Clarke, and Jackson County.
Both Karatassos and Black are from Jackson County. Karatassos is a content creator, while Black has a landscape supply business in Commerce and also has a farm.
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| Black 9/23/2026 |
“I love living in Jackson County, and we love to garden,” Karatassos said in her introductory comments. “I have a huge garden, and I grow all my own summer vegetables, and we have nine chickens, and I get all my own eggs.”
“We do go to the farmers market all the time,” she said. “And I think that local farms and getting farm-to-table food and shopping from locally grown food is some of the greatest food and the greatest way you can buy food on the planet.”
“I just want to give a voice to this region, this area,” Black said. “I think some of the issues that we tackle are regional issues, not kind of local. And so I want to take that approach to Atlanta.”
“Secondly, the reason I'm running is I believe in conservative government,” he said. “I believe that government works best when it works efficiently and costs effectively. I want to bring that perspective to Atlanta.”
“And thirdly, I believe that results matter,” he said. “As a business owner, if I make a sale or close a deal or build that relationship, if I don't bring in revenue, I don't make money. So those are the results I measure myself every day.”
“And so that's something that I want to take to Atlanta, is getting the job done,” he said.
District 120: Markets For Farmers
“What policies can the General Assembly look at to decrease the cost of doing business and create strong, vibrant markets for Georgia farmers?” Belflower asked.
“First, on the revenue side, I think there's so many opportunities to expand markets,” Black said. “Suzanna touched on expanding Georgia grown offerings and investing in our local infrastructure to allow farmers to sell more food locally, to expand processing.”
“We need to build on making sure that local protein is available for local markets, like local schools,” he said.
“The second, on the cost side, to enhance our profitability,” Black said. “I think the last race talked about the gas prices. I think there's several levers that the state can do that.”
“I'm very interested in maybe exploring some ideas like using off-road diesel in times of emergency. How can we leverage that, tax breaks for that, for farm vehicles?” Black said. Off-road diesel can only be used in vehicles that do not use a roadway.
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| Karatassos 9/23/2026 |
“So in the past few years, the Republican-run state government has made a lot of cuts,” Karatassos said. “Cuts to the Georgia public school food system, cuts to SNAP.” The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) also is known as food stamps.
“That's a lot of business for our farmers that has also been cut, along with obviously all federal cuts that have been made to USAID (United States Agency for International Development).”
“I don't agree with all those cuts, and that's hurting our farmers. It's hurting American farmers and Georgia farmers.” she said. “And I think that if we can get a Democratic government in Georgia and stop making all those cuts and, in fact, increase funding to education, to school lunches, to food that goes to homeless shelters, things like that.”
“What my plan would be is to set up a system where you could get a state incentive if you're buying from a farm that's within 50 miles of you,” she said. “So, we could set up a website that the state would run that would set up bid contracts for schools, restaurants, grocery stores, anyone that buys food.”
“And you'd get the biggest incentive if you were buying from a farm that's within 50 miles of you, instead of automatically going to one of the big farms that can undercut prices of the small farms,” Karatassos said. “And then that way, you're also saving on gas.”
“Also, vote Democratic for your U.S. Congress,” she said, “because then they could actually stop Donald Trump from this war in Iran, which is causing all of the gas prices to go up and causing the fertilizer to be so expensive, and all the other problems that are coming from the Republican Party.”
District 120: Workforce For Farms
“How do we look to bring the next generation of farmers, keep them on the farm, but also remove barriers for those that are interested in becoming first-generation farmers?” Belflower asked.
“Well, I think one of the problems right now is that the forecast is really bad right now,” Karatassos said. “Georgia farmers are making the lowest income they've ever made.”
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| Belflower 9/23/2026 |
“And for a lot of people, it's not if you're going to go out of business, but when you're going to go out of business,” she said. “And I think that maybe a lot of second or whatever generation farmers don't want to take over their parents' business because they don't see any profit in it.”
“So I think we need to turn that around,” she said. “We got to get better policy for the farmers. Not just farm aid to help them get by, but to find out what we can do to actually make them thrive.”
"For instance, to get deals from the Georgia Department of Agriculture to help them irrigate their pastures that are too far away," she said. "To set them up with solar panels so that they can power their own farms.”
“And yeah, obviously these blanket tariffs on all these countries are absolutely crippling the farmers' markets in Georgia and all over the country,” she said.
“I think there's several ways that the state can tackle that,” Black said. “The first is to making sure that our career tech and ag education programs at public education maintain the level of funding, or more, to invest in real-life skills and especially when it comes to agriculture education in our public schools.”
“On the education front, I think we need to make sure that those parents that choose to send their children to other types of schools, like homeschool or a cooperative, that they have access to agricultural education, whether it be through 4-H or FFA programs like that,” he said.
“The second thing is adult education,” Black said. “For first- and second-generation farmers, I think it's so important that the state recognize that, yes, farming is a way of life, but it's also running a business.”
“And I think the state could do more strategic investments in business education for farmers to make sure that the profitability is sustainability,” he said
“And the only way we're going to sustain farmers in the long run, not just the farmers that are farming now, but multi-generational, is to maintain the most profitable farm possible so that it can be handed off to the next generation,” Black said.
District 120: Property Tax Relief
In response to Belflower’s question on property tax relief, Black said “I would prefer if Atlanta not tell the local county how to conduct their business, or what services they can and cannot provide, or how to structure the ways they collect revenue.”
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| Karatassos And Black 9/23/2026 |
“What I would like to see on property taxes is strategic, targeted ways to make sure that property taxes are assessed fairly,” he said. “But also it’s not a blanket program from Atlanta.”
“I’d like to see Atlanta provide the structure so that counties can have access and citizens can have access, if they want to fund it this way, then the county and local voters can do that,” Black said.
“So property taxes have been skyrocketing,” Karatassos said, “and when I'm out talking to voters, that is a major concern.”
“And one thing that we can do to hold them, to legislate, is to start regulating out-of-state corporations buying up all of our housing in Georgia,” she added.
“And then, of course, there's plenty of exemptions we can do,” she said. “I don't think anyone who is retired and on a fixed income and has a paid-off house should ever be in danger of losing their home because they can't pay their property taxes.”
District 121: Introduction
Belflower called Gisler and Guest to the front of the room for the final session of the night, and asked Guest to begin the session with his introductory comments.
Oconee’s South, Central, and Dark Corner precincts are in the 120th, which also includes parts of Clarke County. Guest and Gisler live in Oconee County.
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| Guest 9/23/2026 |
In a special election in December, Gisler defeated Guest by 188 votes. Incumbent Republican Marcus Wiedower, who lived in Oconee County, stepped down suddenly, forcing the special election.
“I’ve grown up in this community,” Guest said in his introductory comments. “I’ve been here 20 years. I grew up on a cow, chicken, and horse farm. I grew up in Claremont, Georgia, and my dad's always lived here, so I've kind of been back and forth over the years.”
“Very familiar with agriculture,” Guest said. “So 90 percent of what we haul at LAD truck lines is chickens.” Guest is Executive Vice President, Business Development, at the Watkinsville trucking and logistics company.
“I know both sides of the district very well because I've spent a lot of time here,” Gisler said.
“I'm originally from Atlanta,” he said. “I am a city boy, and I grew up in the suburbs there.” Gisler works with a technology start-up and owns a business in Athens.
“I'm running for re-election,” Gisler said, “because I've spent one session in Atlanta in the Gold Dome, and I see that there's a lot of work that needs to be done, and I've seen that the folks that are there, they're not really focused on the things that are going to make the most impact in your daily life.”
District 121: Hearing From Farmers
In response to the question on what he hears from farmers, Gisler responded first about the proposed bypass and then turned to costs.
“In Oconee County, I think, our largest ag industry product is chicken,” Gisler said. “Behind that is beef cattle, and I know those industries are hurting a lot right now. Inputs have gone up a lot.”
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| Gisler 9/23/2026 |
“We can talk about why that is, but the real issue is that inputs have gone up, and markets have been shut off, and so we need to look for new solutions,” he said.
Gisler said the state should work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find new ways of processing meat “right here in Oconee County and get their product to market a lot faster and a lot more efficient.”
After making his comments on the bypass, Guest said “So one of the things I'd also like to bring up is labor. We don't have the people to harvest the crops in the field. We don't have the people to do the jobs of tagging the cattle and do things.”
“We have to invest in our labor,” he continued. “We got to invest in our workforce.”
Guest said the federal government should modify its visa requirements to address the labor needs, “but we have to get our kids involved in agriculture at an early age.
“So that's CTAE (Career Technical And Agricultural Education),” he said. “That's getting them involved in the farm. Let them know that agriculture is a great industry, and you can build a great life on it.”
District 121: Balancing Growth
In response to the question on balancing development versus protecting farmland, Guest said “You got to elect good commissioners to make sure that we keep Oconee County the way it was meant to be.”
“And also sewer, we have a lot of sewer capacity,” he said. “Neighborhoods, we don't need to approve a bunch of new neighborhoods.”
“We have to keep Oconee County the way it was meant to be,” he repeated, “and you got good schools, good law enforcement, you got a great community, and I think that's one of the keys is keeping good commissioners in office.”
“So we have to be smart about it, but people are coming here for a reason, and it's because Oconee County is a great place to live, and it's a great place to be,” he said. “I'm honored to be a part of that community.”
“I have to really tip my hat to Oconee County commissioners for doing a great job and working on its land use map,” Gisler said.
“The county itself has put money into conservation easements, things of that nature,” Gisler said, “because it is a very important part of Oconee County.”
The county pays part of the costs for nondevelopment easements on farmland, using Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.
“And the other side of that, they’ve done a very good job of keeping new growth on the north side of Bishop, which is important,” Gisler said.
District 121: Property Taxes
Belflower repeated his question; “What specific steps would you support to provide a property tax relief to homeowners, farmers, and landowners alike while still maintaining the county services residents depend on?”
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| Guest And Gisler 9/23/2026 |
“Oconee County right now is at 70 percent for property tax that goes to the schools,” Gisler responded.
For this coming year, 77.1 percent of the revenue projected to be generated by the adopted milage rates of the Board of Education and of the Board of Commissioners will go to Oconee County Schools, with the remaining 22.9 percent going to county government, including for the Sheriff’s Office.
“And again, our QBE formula is 40 years old,” Gisler said. “So if you're wondering now why our property taxes are so high, it's been two decades in the making, and it's been a deliberate choice.”
“So one thing we can do to responsibly reduce property taxes,” he said, “is reverse a lot of that, make the state cover that. Make the state responsible for providing public education because public education has to accept every child.”
“So it needs to be funded to reflect that responsibility,” he said. “If you do that, we can responsibly reduce property taxes.”
“Farmers can put their farms in conservation easements,” Guest said, “and the timber farmer, if you got over 200 acres, you can put your timber farm in an easement.”
“But property taxes, from a state level, there's only certain things that we can do,” he said.
“We can give the counties the choice,” he said. “We can give the counties the vehicle on which to collect it.”
“Every county is different,” he said. "The way Oconee County gets a lot of its revenue is different from Oglethorpe County, and we have to recognize that.”
“So I think we have to be creative, but also I think we've got to get everybody involved,” he said. “We got to get the whole county, we got to get both sides of the aisle involved and come together and figure out the best solution for each of those.”
“But I definitely think property tax from the state level, we can provide that vehicle,” he said. “And then also, the state did try to provide the vehicle this past session.”
The General Assembly in January provided a mechanism to shift property taxes to sales taxes. In the special session in June, it adjourned without taking action to allow voters to pass referendums putting that tax into place this year.
“Keep in mind, it was for the county budget, not the schools,” Guest said. “The schools, again, I agree, we got to look at that formula from 1985.”
Video
The video below is of the entire Forum held by the Oconee County Farm Bureau on Sept. 23.
The session with the candidates for Senate District 46 begins at 3:54 in the video.
The session with candidates for House District 120 begins at 24:55 in the video.
The session with candidates for House District 121 begins at 46:13 in the video.
During the final session, the air conditioner began, drowning out Gisler’s responses until someone turned it off.
Only one microphone was available throughout the Forum, and Belflower kept that microphone for his own use, leaving the candidates without amplification of their responses.
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