Three seats on the Polk County Board of Commissioners expire this year. All three are currently held by Republicans, and all three of them are running for re-election. Only two Democrats are in the race, so, there’s no chance that Democrats will achieve take control of the Board. It wasn’t so long ago that they did have control, however, so it’s entirely conceivable that the next Board could be a quite a bit different from the outgoing one. Or it could be exactly the same. In the previous episode of Polk Lore, I talked with Ray Gasperson, one of the two Democratuic challengers. In this episode I talk with the other, Andy Millard. Before I introduce Andy, a quick explanation of why they are the only candidates I expect will appear on this podcast.
I asked all five to sit for an interview. Andy and Ray both agreed without hesitation. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. We all know each other well as Ray is a former commissioner, Andy used to run the Polk County Democratic Party, and I used to serve as the Saluda chair for the same organization. That might also explain why Tommy Melton, Paul Beiler, and David Moore all declined to accept my invitation. To be fair, each offered entirely different reasons. Tommy Melton said he wasn’t confident a podcast conservation would offer the "clarity and accuracy" required to explain his positions. Paul Beiler said he was not in the right frame of mind due to some nightmarish bureaucratic problems he’s having with the State Department, and David Moore said he didn’t think enough people listen to this podcast to make it worthwhile. For the record, Polk Lore has attracted more than 270 listeners to date.
All three offered to supply written responses to my questions. But I don’t think that reading those responses, without a chance to explore the ideas they raise, would work well on a podcast. And it wouldn’t be fair to those who did agree to sit down for a chat. I hope the holdouts change their minds after listening to this episode. But I understand why that’s probably not going to happen.
Andy Millard is a financial planner, a former high school principal — Polk County High’s first — and has long history of political activism. He ran for congress in 2016, cycling around the entire district. We talked at his home in Columbus, earlier this month.
Further reading:
https://www.andyforpolk.com
