Potts prepared for new role on county commission
R. Bruce Potts Jr., elected Tuesday in an unopposed race to the Gordon County Board of Commissioners, said Tuesday that he has been preparing for his new gig since winning the primary in the spring.
Potts defeated longtime Commissioner Norris Sexton for the District 3 position during the Republican primary election. Potts, who retired after 31 years as an educator, earned 4,217 votes, compared to 3,031 for Sexton, in that race.
On Tuesday, the candidateelect said he has been attending commission meetings and taking required classes on subjects such as ethics, appraisals, millage rates and other government procedural things. He’s also been getting to know the county administrative staff to get up to speed about the goings-on in Gordon County.
“I just don’t want to walk in blind, you know?” Potts said Tuesday.
Potts said after winning the primary that he intends to focus on four specific areas where he thinks Gordon County can see improvement: Safety and security, workforce development, infrastructure, and addressing area’s comprehensive plan.
On safety and security, he said he’s been meeting with local law enforcement and fire officials to talk about their needs and his ideas.
“Again, there’s nothing wrong, but I think I have some ideas to bring to the table,” Potts said.
He talked about his experience working with high school students to prepare them for the workforce and said that experience will be useful when looking to develop more local workers to potentially lure more business and industry to the area.
Similarly, when addressing infrastructure, he noted that he believes officials should be planning long term, to prepare for what is coming.
“I think we have to be forward thinking. I don’t think we should miss opportunities because we’re being shortsighted,” Potts said, noting that development have
been turned away from the area for reasons that can be addressed. “We need to think 20 years out, not two years out.”
Potts also said that officials need to revisit the Gordon County Joint Comprehensive Plan, explaining that he’s studied it in detail and there are a lot of points in the plan, such as senior housing, that haven’t been addressed.
He said there are good things in the plan, but that it’s not being followed very closely.
Potts is a member of Rock Bridge Community Church, the president of the Sarah Williams Youth Foundation, and the vice chair of the Gordon County DFCS Board of Directors. He is married to Karen Potts and has three children, Berkley, Joseph and John David.
He worked 22 of his 31 years in public education, including 17 for Gordon County Schools and five for Calhoun City Schools.