Candidates face challenge of sounding informed

There's an old Spanish adage that says, "If you can't fight, wear a big hat."  In political debates here in Gwinnett County, it might say, "If you don't know the answer to the question, give any answer, whether or not the question was asked."

At least three of the candidates for Gwinnett County Commission Chairman participating at the candidate forum at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center on Monday night, seemed to have subscribed to that very approach. When asked their position on the county's International Gateway plan, it became painfully clear that they did not have one, because they didn't know what the International Gateway plan is.

But that lack of knowledge didn't stop each one from verbally treading water for the full time allocated for an answer, regardless of how incomprehensible their statements were. Fortunately for the candidates, most of the people in the room didn't know what the International Gateway plan was either.

One of the few people in the room who did, was candidate Charlotte Nash who demonstrated her knowledge of this and all the other issues with clear, concise statements and explanations that came from her years of involvement in county government, including most recently her participation in Engage Gwinnett.

So when the topic of transportation and the 2012 penny transportation sales tax referendum came up, Messrs. Costa, Gause and Kissel sat there essentially spinning their wheels. Kissel even stated that transportation, which ranks among the highest concerns of citizens in Gwinnett, was not a high priority for him. Gause thought curb cuts and some lane improvements would solve the county's transportation problem, while Costa focused on vague references to the usual suspects...SR 316 and I-85.

They left it to Ms Nash to explain what the proposed transportation sales tax was all about; that the process was already underway with the Regional Transportation Roundtable, where the County Chairman had a seat, currently meeting, and that Gwinnett's existing transportation plan included numerous critical projects that could become realities only with funding generated by the tax. And finally, she explained that whether any proposed projects were worthy of an additional penny sales tax would be up to the citizens.

It was obvious from the turnout of more than 200 people that voters cared more about what the next county commission chairman has to say about the challenges facing the county than what the current commission members have to say about anything. Recent BOC Citizen Forums have set attendance records of about a dozen people.

I had hoped to see a heated debate among the four candidates for this important post, but the format of preselected questions from a moderator prevented anything but formulaic responses to emanate from most of the contestants. With a little imagination on their part, things might have gotten interesting.  In part the problem was that everyone was too polite, too civil: a dangerous trend in any democracy. But the real cause of the slumberous discourse was that most of the candidates were too uninformed to express anything beyond vague references to smaller government and pointing out that, surprise, the county was in the midst of a serious crisis. It could have turned into a battle of wits, but with the exception of Charlotte Nash, the participants came unarmed.