Ed. Note: This is the first in a series of articles featuring candidates for two seats on the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners in the May 21 General Primary. This week: Carol Ballew, District 4.
District 4 County Commission hopeful Carol Ballew has been involved in a couple of businesses and other ventures over the years and hopes to use that experience serving Baldwin County as an elected official.
Ballew owned a company for 24 years that taught CPR and first aid, and the classes were mostly for healthcare providers, she said this past Tuesday. She donated all items used in her classes to a fire station when she decided to leave.
The candidate also owned a horse farm, buying and selling horses “for the purpose of teaching riding”, she said. She boarded a few horses and transported some for various uses. After eight years, “I sold the farm and donated my privately- owned horses to the Girl Scouts.”
Ballew was a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines for 10 years and retired after 34 years as a dental hygienist. She pointed out most of her positions were part-time until she worked only as the hygienist beginning several years before her retirement.
Ballew, who has lived in Baldwin County nine years along with her husband, David, responded to a series of questions on various topics. Some of the answers to some of the questions follow.
Moving to Baldwin County
“We knew that we wanted to retire on a lake. We visited lake communities in three states before coming to Lake Sinclair. We knew on our first day visiting here, that this would be home. The strangers that we encountered that day were so inviting and helpful. Our experience here left us no reason to keep searching.”
Opposition to East Apron Hangers and Multi-Use Path
“I could not see any reason to build hangars so close to existing homes, especially since this was in violation of an ordinance already in place to protect these homeowners and their property values. There were already sites available and ready that were not within such close range of homes. The commissioners made the decision to block it, and that was the best outcome for their constituents.
I was against (the path) as well, feeling that it was a waste of taxpayer money for a project that was neither wanted nor needed by the citizens.
Top concerns
“I feel that repairing, maintaining, and constructing infrastructure is my top concern. I am highly in favor of economic growth, but our infrastructure must come first. After water, sewer, and road improvements, we need common sense, planned growth.
“I also feel that our public safety needs to be addressed. It is not acceptable that some citizens have to wait an hour or more for an ambulance. Ideally it would be great to find a way to have an ambulance stationed at every fire station. At the least, we need to have more firefighters trained as EMT’s, not just as first responders. I know that there is a shortage of police officers, but this is an issue nationwide. We need to offer resources and incentives for the training of new police officers and EMT’s.
“We need a much bigger facility to house the number of animals that are brought in as strays, surrenders, and from abuse situations. That will take dedicated staffing, especially someone to answer the phone.”
Ideas for Funding
“The TSPLOST and LMIG (Local Maintenance Improvement Grant) should kick off our road improvements. I am not convinced that all of the roads on our list can be fixed or repaved with this money. The TSPLOST is expected to bring in $45 to $55 million dollars over 5 years, and the LMIG is expected to be $3.6 million. Some of the funding from the TSPLOST will go to the city. At the end of 5 years, we will have to reevaluate.”
What She Has to Offer
“I am retired, and have more time to devote to this important office. I have built two successful businesses and I have life experiences in several different fields. I am no longer encumbered with time constraints.”
Transparency
“Not everyone is internet savvy. Not everyone subscribes to a newspaper. I was informed during the hangar discussions, that if I had wanted to know what was going to be happening with the airport, I should have been present at every board of commissioners meeting.
“Even though I was formerly on the Airport Advisory Committee, nothing was ever mentioned about the future growth of the airport. Signs are the proper way of informing the public of future projects, and public forums. They should be placed in obvious locations and for a proper amount of time.”
Accountability
“I believe that sometimes we need to research what is being said. Numbers change without notice, projects change without notice, and money that was supposed to go to one project might wind up somewhere else. We need to ask the right questions and then research the answers. If someone is giving us wrong information, we need to ask why.”