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Dougherty County candidates discuss platform

• Local primary elections will be held on July 15.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Candidates vying for positions in several key county government posts explained their platforms Saturday during a town hall meeting in East Albany.

Candidates running for Dougherty County Sheriff, Dougherty County District Attorney and Dougherty County Coroner each took about five minutes to explain to the public why they should be elected and gave background information about themselves.

While the meeting wasn’t a debate, some candidates did take jabs at their competitors, all while keeping the morning gathering civil.

Sheriff’s candidates Benita Childs, Kevin Sproul and James Williams each explained their biographical information before delving into their qualifications and plans for office.

Childs touted what she called her political backbone — a reference to recent criticisms by Art Searles, the publisher of a local weekly newspaper, who has accused of her of being put up to run for the office to split the black vote and make it easier for Sproul, who is white, to win. She also explained her desire to avoid standing on the sidelines and her passion to serve as her reasons for running.

Sproul, who began working in the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office nearly 25 years ago, outlined to attendees his experience working in every facet of operations at the sheriff’s office — a claim that his competition, who both work as Albany police officers, can’t make.

Williams, who lost to current Sheriff Jamil Saba by just one percent of the vote in 2004, heralded his record as a homicide detective, his experience fighting gangs and working with the community as his most marketable assets.

Emma Quimbley, the incumbent coroner of Dougherty County, explained her desire to continue moving the office forward through renewed efforts to curb what she called “unnecessary deaths” through education and advocacy.

Her lone challenger, Andrew Harris, countered with his plan to cut the office’s fiscal footprint, while offering what he said was a more people friendly office and a more timely response when called out.

Finally, longtime Assistant District Attorney Greg Edwards and Ingrid Driskell, the noted defense attorney challenging him for the circuit’s top prosecutor’s spot, offered their ideas for the future.

Driskell, a graduate of Emory Law School, advocated her position of moving the office away from what she called its political involvement in Dougherty County and said being a good district attorney isn’t all about winning cases, but also about ensuring justice.

Edwards, who currently sits as a member of several state and national prosecutorial organizations and has been on retiring District Attorney Ken Hodge’s staff since the early- 1990’s, touted his three-step plan to help cutting crime in Dougherty County.

Known for his work dismantling the CME rattlers street gang, Edwards said his plan to trim crime involves pre-crime prevention in area youth, intervention by the system for those bent on being criminals and restoration through counseling and job placement for those exiting the prison system to avoid becoming recidivists.

City Commissioner Jon Howard, who hosts the monthly town hall meetings, said afterward that he plans to have candidates running for school board, judgeships and senate seats available to speak at the June 28 meeting.

The local primary elections will be held July 15.

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