Sonja Gibson, Fayette County Commission District 1, Republican Primary

SONJA GIBSON

QUESTION: You are asking to be hired (or re-hired) by the voters of this county. Give five reasons why they should vote for you and not your opponent.

There are so many reasons to vote for change this election in district one. I will give my most important reasons and please visit my website to see them all.

1. The most important one is, I will listen to the citizens.

2. I believe we do need new ordinances for our animals and the animal shelter does need change in a positive way.

3. I will listen to the employees and have their backs when issues are brought forward, such as the 911 issue and the public safety incentives.

4. I will work with each department to make sure the budget is balanced correctly. To see if areas can be changed to insure safety of this county, employee incentives and also, to make sure the taxpayers are receiving what they would like to see in their county from their tax dollars.

5. Lastly, I am for first responders, military and small businesses. We have to protect our citizens and support our local economy so we don’t see tax increases. I will work closely with the FCDA and other cities of this county, to help attract business that will enhance the quality of life we want in Fayette County.

QUESTION: How are you different from your opponent(s) in your philosophy and your approach to this elected office?

I am very different from my opponent. I listen. I fight for what is right and I show up. If you look at the budget approvals for each year, he only voted on the 2017 meeting for the budget (2018) in favor of it.

The next 2 years for the budget approvals, he did not show up for the vote which made it a 4-0 vote, him being absent. He did not stick to the commitment he made or even tell the truth in his interview with the Republican Party.

He stated, “I made a commitment 4 years ago when I got elected that I would not vote for a tax increase. I’ve continued that, I’m saying it today” (Maxwell).

True, he did not vote for a tax increase; he didn’t vote at all.

He also claimed in his interview that the vote was 4-1 for those budget votes. They were not, they were 4-0, again he did not show up for his citizens.

Upon looking at all the meetings for attendance, Maxwell didn’t show for the first 6 months of meetings (except 1 1/2 meetings) of 2018 for any voting or discussion for this district. I will show up and I stick to my commitments. Your word is your integrity, your character and I take that seriously.

In this same interview, my opponent talked about not shopping locally. He stated that he does not shop at the Pavilion, he does all his shopping on Amazon and Ebay (this can be found on my Facebook of his interview).

That’s fine once in a while, but not all the time. When we do that, we start seeing businesses close with job loss and empty stores in this county. We do not want that, we need the buildings to be full to create jobs and tax revenue for this county. That will have a lot to do with keeping our taxes down.

Maxwell is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Together, I believe, we can make Fayette County the place to live, play and work. Working together, we need to make decisions that are good for all ages as, at some point, these decisions will affect everyone in this county.

Vote Gibson District One June 9, 2020

You can see his interview and statements on my Facebook page, Sonja Gibson for Fayette County Board of Commissioners District One, along with my interview. Please visit my website at Sgibsonforcommissioner.com.