Snellville candidates

Candidates who have filed qualifying papers for Snellville election. I have linked the names to their election websites, if available.

Council Post 3
Robert Jenkins (incumbent)
Tom Witts

Council Post 4
Niria Dominguez Baggett
Barbara Bender (incumbent)

Council Post 5
Jackie O. Ginn
Mike Sabbagh

Who is Tom Witts?

Snellville businessman announces candidacy for Snellville City Council post.

SNELLVILLE – Tom Witts, a Snellville business owner and Springdale Trace resident for the past seventeen years, announces his candidacy for Post three of the Snellville City Council, the seat currently held by Robert Jenkins.

Tom is a decorated combat veteran having served two tours of duty in Vietnam which included assignments on Navy Swift Boats. After completing his military service, he attended college under the GI bill, and then embarked on his business career.

Prior to opening his current company, Georgia Property Restoration, Tom established and operated WFS Mortgage Funding, a mortgage banking firm with offices in Atlanta and Tampa, Florida.

Tom and Carol, his wife of twenty years, have four adult children and one granddaughter. They are active members of St. Oliver’s Church in Snellville where he has served as President of both the church’s Men’s Club and Parish Council. He is also a former Junior Vice-Commander of VFW Post 4180 in Snellville.

Tom believes that owning his own businesses has given him the opportunity not only to experience a wide variety of economic situations but to learn how to quickly adapt to those changing economic conditions. From the high interest rates of the late 1970’s to the economic revival of the 1980’s to our current financial climate, each era brought its own set of business challenges with constantly changing parameters. Having to adapt to these different situations has been a matter of survival.

Tom learned to think on his feet and to make decisions knowing that the results of those decisions would have an immediate impact not only on himself and his family, but his company, and its employees. Errors in judgment can be financially crippling and have far reaching effects.

Tom believes that in our current economic environment your elected officials should be astute at reading and analyzing financial information. They must know the difference between an income statement, balance sheet, and a cash flow analysis and know how each one relates to the other.

Tom believes that it is not politics that make a city prosper.

“Politicians can paralyze progress. Politics can be a cataract on the vision of growth and improvement.”

“We have some very talented people on Council and on staff with the city; I would like to add my business experience to that team. It is time to empower the team of leaders to do the will of the citizens and make Snellville the place where everybody is PROUD to be somebody.”

Tom believes “Snellville is our City and its future is in our hands. The decisions we make in November will decide whether Snellville adapts and thrives in the 21st century or whether it becomes a series of red lights between Lilburn and Loganville.”

For more information: Visit Tom Witt's website at www.ElectTomWitts.com

Related links:

Veteran to vie for Snellville council seat
Gwinnett Daily Post
"It is time to empower the team of leaders to do the will of the citizens and make Snellville the place where everybody is proud to be somebody. ...

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Snellville Mayoral Vote Recount

The votes for Snellville Mayor were/are being recounted. This report on the AJC is very good, I almost felt like I was actually there! LINK

I'm sure that 200 people out of the 11,000 registered voters in Snellville who actually voted are just on pins and needles. The rest are quietly enjoying their apathy.

"The count was still ongoing about 5 p.m., as a small audience of about 20 people — city and county staff, high-powered Atlanta attorneys and interested Snellville neighbors — looked on.

Garraway asked for the recount. Only 19 votes separated him from Oberholtzer at the polls. The vote Tuesday was 1,101 to 1,082.

"The law says if it less than one percent and it's a proper request, then a recount is authorized," said Snellville's interim city manager Jim Brooks.

Oberholtzer did not attend the recount. He was represented by his attorney Adam M. Walters of Powell Goldstein of Atlanta.

"Jerry is in Augusta working, he has an emergency project," explained Walters in between vote counts. "We have no problems with doing a recount." "

Who won the Snellville Mayoral and City Council elections?

Jerry Oberholtzer has won re-election as Mayor of Snellville. It was a very close race - Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer had 1,101 votes and Bruce Garraway had 1,082.

For Snellville City Council Post 1, Kelly Kautz was the victor, with 1,230 votes. Marilyn Swinney had a decent showing with 951 votes.

If you would like more data, as well as election results for other counties, see this LINK

The Mayor's race was so tight that there could possibly be a recount. Here are some recent articles about the Snellville election:

Snellville Mayor retains his seat - AJC

ELECTION 2007: Recount likely in 19 vote win - AJC

Trivia tidbit: Snellville has 11,000 registered voters and only 20% showed up to vote

Of note: Loganville voters approved the liquor by the drink referendum. LINK
"I feel that the public has spoken about what they want," said city councilman Chuck Bagley, who has helped to rally support for the referendum. "They really saw it as an economic issue, not an alcohol issue.".....

..... "Neal Byrd, a realtor, said he was relieved that the grassroots fight against it didn't work this time. He stood on a corner rallying votes for the "economic development tool" early Tuesday morning.

Already, there is talk of new restaurants moving to Loganville now that the referendum has passed, said Byrd."

Snellville Elections Today

Well it's that day.
Time to go and vote at Snellville City Hall. The polls are open until 7 pm.

If you need to visit the candidate's websites or check out some other links relating to the vote, see this page: LINK

I hope you will find it helpful.

I have some snarky comments to make about some of my recent recorded phone calls from candidates and their wives, but I'll keep them to myself since it's election day. Enjoy it, I don't keep snide comments to myself very often so this is a special day.

Ask the Candidates Meeting - Snellville

"Ask the Candidates"
Presented by the Hickory Hills Homeowners Association

Monday, October 29th

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

at the

Masonic Lodge

(on Lenora Church Road across from the Library)

On Monday night, October 29th, candidates running for the Snellville offices of Mayor and our City Council Seat have agreed to attend our homeowners' association meeting to answer OUR questions about the issues in Snellville.

After providing each candidate a brief opportunity to present their platforms, we will then open up the floor for YOU to ask questions of the candidates!

Come and take advantage of this opportunity to become more informed about the candidates and their stances on the issues.

If you have already voted (via absentee ballot), or have already decided on a candidate, then this will be an opportunity to become better acquainted with your candidates of choice.

The meeting will end at 8:30pm. There will be an opportunity afterwards to visit informally with the candidates.

Two of the four candidates WILL be representing you on City Council. So take this opportunity to get to know them. All four candidates have agreed to be present on Monday night.

Candidates for Mayor:

Bruce Garraway

Jerry Oberholtzer

Candidates for City Council:

Kelly Kautz

Marilyn Swinney

What's all the hubbub...bub?

In the AJC's blog "Snellville Talk," there is a new blog entry today called "Snellville Residents Making Mudpies."

All this hubbub could have been avoided.
Two words: keyless entry.

Even my 10 year old car has keyless entry, and 7 times out of 10, it even works!

Are you tired of this election stuff yet? I am.

Online Gossips

I made the mistake this morning of browsing some forums where people discuss politics in Snellville. Whew, I was emotionally tired after reading some of it. So much seems like just downright gossip. There are 2-3 people who are regular posters, and anyone who comes in and posts anything that disagrees with what is said gets blasted. So I wasn't surprised that they don't have very many people joining in the discussions in their forums. It was really ugly....I won't even tell you where it was, because I don't think they deserve website traffic.

With only about 19,000 residents, it seems like some portions of Snellville can seem like a bickering family. I can get that at home. LOL... It's very tiresome and it feels like a long time until elections.

Bottom line: Nobody is ever as good or as bad as they are said to be (especially in online forums)