Commission District 2 candidates describe their goals, experience MORE INFORMATION ON THE COMMISSION RACES
Askew, Veazey will square off in May 19 Republican primary
Mark Askew and Marcus D. Veazey have qualified as Republicans to run for the Walker County Board of Commissioners District 2 seat. The election will be Tuesday,
May 19. To help voters learn more about themselves, the candidates have answered a series of questions submitted by the newspaper.
Mark Askew
Your age. 56
How long have you lived in Walker County? Since 1967
Are you a member/officer of any clubs, organizations, charities, church, etc.? Member Elizabeth Lee United Methodist Church
What are your past/current educational/career/work/ political experiences, particularly any that make you a better choice for the post you’re seeking? I have twenty plus years working in municipal government, the majority of that time as the building and code official. I coordinated special projects ranging from construction projects, strategic planning to disaster response coordination. I served eight years as an elected official for the City of Chickamauga and served on the Walker County Planning Commission and other appointed committees.
Any other things about you that make you a better candidate for the post you’re seeking? Social Skills to Build Professional and Community Relationships: Built respectful and valuable relationships with residents in our community, local and state officials, industry professionals, multijurisdictional utility providers, and other town and county officials. These diverse and respected relationships that have developed over the last 20 years allow me to have access to a broad professional network and endless resource opportunities to support Walker County and District 2.
What are the issues that most concern you? The immediate priority is ensuring the health and safety of our family, friends and neighbors during this COVID-19 pandemic. We must remain vigilant in reviewing and adapting our emergency preparedness plans to brace against future pandemics, natural disasters, and other emergency threats. However, on the front end of this recovery effort, we don’t know the financial effects at the individual, local, state, or federal levels yet, so trying to predict too far ahead on what or how we are going to rebuild for the future is yet to be determined. But, what I do know is that experience is going to be key in this recovery effort. I feel my personal connections with my neighbors, friends and citizens of Walker County and understanding their daily needs will help more now than ever. Therefore, the priority must be immediate and ongoing communication with our federal, state and local leaders to do whatever is necessary to get our cities back up and running as soon as they safely can and being proactive in monitoring the daily announcements and securing available federal, local, and private economic stimulus/ recovery programs.
The successful restoration of our county government and services for our citizens will be the most important issue facing the new board of commissioners.
If elected, what changes, if any, would you make and what goals would you have? If elected as a commissioner to this new board, I feel that it’s imperative for this first board to have complete transparency and cooperation with the existing leadership to build the trust needed for us all to work together as a team. The more information we have at the beginning, the more positive affect we can have as a board. I will bring unique experiences, knowledge and ideas to this board and a commitment to work honorably with the other elected commissioners. Remember, this board of commissioners do not just represent the districts they were elected in, this board will represent Walker County as a whole community. I am committed to support our constitutional rights and will serve with open eyes, open ears and with an open door.
Any final words to voters? In November of 2018 the residents of Walker County voted to move from a sole commissioner to a five- member board of commissioners. This gives the new commissioners an exceptional opportunity to bring this new form of government into action by leveraging the diverse experiences and skill sets of each member.
I believe my network of professional relationships, friendships, and municipal positions serving the community where we live, work, shop, dine, worship and recreate, especially in District 2, will allow me to bring unique insight, new ideas, and a level head to responsibly represent the needs of the people in District 2 and Walker County.
Questions/comments contact you or get more information about you? Phone at 423.421.6333. Email askewdistrict2@gmail.com. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at Mark Askew for District 2 and http://www.markaskewdistrict2.com
Marcus D. Veazey
Your age. 57
How long have you lived in Walker County? Almost 14 years
Are you a member/officer of any clubs, organizations, charities, church, etc.? I am a member of First Baptist Church of Chickamauga, where I am the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Sunday school; the Friends of the Gordon-Lee Mansion; the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; and the Society of Former Special Agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation What are your past/current educational/career/ work/political experiences, particularly any that make you a better choice for the post you’re seeking? I was born in Chattanooga to Doug and Mary Veazey, who grew up in northwest Georgia. My family moved to the Atlanta area when I was young, and I grew up in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I graduated from Central Gwinnett High School. I attended West Georgia College where I played football before transferring to Georgia State University to complete my degree.
During my career as an investigator, both in government service and the private sector, I have had multiple opportunities to both receive and provide advanced training in various areas including Leadership Principles, Changing Business Environments, and Active Shooter Safety and Awareness, among others. In addition, I completed the criteria to become a Certified Fraud Examiner.
I have had a job since I was 12 years old. My first job was with our local recreation department where I worked in concessions, as a score keeper, and as an umpire. During and after high school, I worked at various construction jobs and installing cable television. In college, I worked as a janitor and in the machine shop at Micromeritics Instrument Corporation in Norcross, Georgia. I worked to pay my way through college, and, in my final quarter, while continuing to work at Micromeritics, I started as an unpaid intern at Justin Entertainment, a record and tape distributorship in the Atlanta area. After three and a half years, I had worked my way up through positions as Warehouse Associate, Warehouse Manager, Operations Manager, and then left that company as Vice President of Operations to become a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I worked as an agent for almost 25 years and held several different positions within the Bureau, including supervisor, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, and Section Chief of Congressional Affairs. I was stationed in New Orleans, FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Washington, D.C. Field Office, Omaha, and I completed my career in the Rossville and Dalton Resident Agencies of the Atlanta Field Office. During my career, I investigated public corruption, health-care fraud, white collar crimes, bank robberies, kidnappings, and murder. In addition, I served in the United Arab Emirates as the legal attache’ to the governments of the UAE and Oman. While conducting countless investigations, I had the opportunity to collaborate with numerous local, state, federal, and international law enforcement and government agencies.
Following my retirement from the FBI, I began working at UNUM in Chattanooga, where I am the Director of Corporate Investiga
The winner of the Republican primary race between Robert Blakemore and James “Jim” Hill will face off against Democrat Bobby McDonald in the general election for the District 1 seat. The winner of the Republican primary race between Mark Askew and Marcus Veazey will face off against Democrat Tyrone Davis in the general election for the District 2 seat. Republican Brian Hart and Democrat Hakie Shropshire will face off in the general election for the District 3 seat. Daryl Massey,
Mike Nowlin, Alan Painter, Alan Slaven and Robert Stultz will vie for the District 4 seat in the Republican primary. Matt Harris, Perry Lamb and Shannon Whitfield, current sole commissioner, will vie for the commission chairperson seat in the Republican primary. No Democratic candidates qualified for either the District 4 or chairperson seats.
tions. This position affords me the chance to work with internal partners, as well as representatives from other businesses and agencies.
Consequently, I am well versed in collaborative production and am excited about the opportunity to work with other members of Walker County’s new Board of Commissioners as we all strive together to complete the necessary steps to continue to make Walker County a wonderful place to live, work, play, and raise a family.
Any other things about you that make you a better candidate for the post you’re seeking? I have a great deal of management experience, as I have been a senior executive in each place that I have worked after graduating from college. I have worked in management positions in critical and time-sensitive situations, such as post-9/11 investigations in Washington, D.C., the Washington, D.C. Sniper Investigation in the Washington, D.C./Virginia/ Maryland areas in the early 2000s and the Anthrax cases around Washington, D.C., also around that same time. I have prepared and acted within multi-million dollar annual budgets and worked with appropriations for Congressional funding for FBI field office budgets and direct funding.
I enjoy interacting with families and the people in this area. I coached youth sports for years when my sons were younger, and my wife and I were very involved in the football program at Gordon Lee when my son was playing ball in high school. I was the television broadcaster for the Gordon Lee football games shown on UCTV for several seasons when my son, Gabriel, was in school. I have a heart to serve people and served for several years as a deacon at our church in Nebraska and at First Baptist Chickamauga. I also have strong communication skills.
I have been a speaker at national fraud conferences. I’ve also been a guest lecturer at Georgia State University, at the FBI Academy, at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in South Georgia, and, locally, I have spoken on various topics at many chambers of commerce meetings, schools, civic groups, leadership academies, and churches. I even provided fraud training through an interpreter for members of the Eqyptian military!
What are the issues that most concern you? The two main areas of concern I have in regard to Walker County right now are the continued erosion of our infrastructure and the financial situation, specifically the
debt that county has. Getting the county out of debt frees up a tremendous amount of resources that can be used in more fruitful ways to provide better services, such as good roads and good, affordable water, for all of the residents of Walker County. Also, being out of debt will allow us to put aside some rainy day funds, which this county has not had for a long time.
Recent history and certainly our current situation show us that bad things do happen here. We do have devastating tornadoes and storms. We do have new diseases and pandemics strike small towns, not just the nation’s large cities. We need to take steps to plan for the bad times as well as providing a strong infrastructure and safe, healthy areas for the good times.
In addition, I am concerned about the general quality of life for many of our citizens and our county employees. We need to review the insurance and retirement benefits offered to our county employees and determine how we can best take care of them both now and in their retirement years.
If elected, what changes, if any, would you make and what goals would you have?
My desire is to see this county run professionally, transparently, and strategically. I would like to track departmental performance measures to help identify cost-saving opportunities and determine budget appropriations. I would like to see that financial resources are driven by policy, performance, and residents’ needs and not by who knows whom. And I would like for us to work together in a manner in which we expect excellence in our work, our organization, and the county we are building. None of us can be perfect; but we can do the absolute best we can with the absolute best we have, and that is excellence. My goals include employing strategic planning and professionalism in all matters considering the government of the county.
Any final words to voters?
I believe I bring a unique set of skills to this board as a retired Special Agent of the FBI, a Director of Corporate Investigations, and a Certified Fraud Examiner. I believe the biblical principles that guide my life will allow me to serve with integrity and further the improvement of this county.
Questions/comments contact you or get more information about you? Voters can get more information at my website, electmarcusveazey.com, or on Facebook, Marcus Veazey for Walker County District 2. They can email me at mveazey@gmail.com. My phone number is 423-488-0215.