Helen candidates speak out at forum

Helen residents heard from candidates vying for three seats on the Helen City Commission during a candidate forum hosted Oct. 12 by the White County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the White County News and WRWH radio.

All Helen City Commission seats are at-large posts and are voted on citywide. During the forum, candidates responded to questions about different issues in the community.

Candidates were asked what assets they would bring to the table.

Steve Fowler, an incumbent, said he worked at a company for 31 years and learned a lot of skills there.

“I learned how to manage people, processes and programs, and money,” Fowler said. “I think that will enable me to bring, and has helped me in the last four years as serving as a commissioner. I think that gives me some skill sets that are beneficial. I have seen what a positive influence that working hard and a good commissioner can bring to the city, what it does for the future and plan for that. I want to share that and use that resource I think I have.”

Incumbent Lee Landress cited his previous business experience.

“The last four years I’ve learned a lot about how the Helen government runs, and it’s ran very successfully,” Landress said. “We’re doing as best as it’s ever done, it couldn’t do much better. I would like to continue that. I work well with others. No one person is going to change anything. All you can do is come in and work with the other commissioners to hopefully keep us going in the same direction we’re going right now, and  I would like to be part of that. I think I can do that.”

Cinnamon Ruston, who previously served on the commission, said her prior experience on the council and experience as a business owner is a benefit.

“The experience of being on council before and learning how our government is ran, because it is a little bit different, you have to work as a team because no one person makes the changes,” Ruston said. “Having five people on the council is majority vote, so being able to work well with others. One thing is I’m not afraid to speak up, and you’re not always going to agree. I think that, you have to have that ability to be successful on the council.”

Linda McAllister stated that not only does she have business experience, but she’s also very involved in the community.

“I’m in the middle of the community and I talk to, not just to the residents, the businesses equally,” McAllister said. “For some reason they feel like I’m a good person to make suggestions to or complain to. I like that. I like to hear from everyone because that’s how we stick together, that’s how we figure out how to do it right the best way we can for most people, and for most businesses that’s how we grow.

Steve Brooks cited his ability to not only listen, but to listen to understand, as his biggest asset.

“If you can understand what’s going on, then you can make the right decision,” Brooks. “I’ve negotiated contracts all over the world with different companies, with different cultures. Listening was the most important thing you could do to make the correct decision.”

Candidates were asked if there was anything else that could be done to support Helen businesses of if there is something that has been done that they support.

Landress said he believes the city is very supportive of businesses. He added that while there are restrictions, they are necessary.

“We do have restrictions on signage and look of the buildings and all of that, but that’s to protect our one asset and that’s our Alpine facade,” Landress said. “We don’t have historical buildings and all the other, we’re our little made up village. And yes, all of that is restricted, and I would hope we don’t deviate from that. I think the city is supporting businesses. If anybody complains we are not, I have not heard it.”

Ruston said there are a couple of areas she would like either changed or reviewed, noting that the sign ordinance is 62 pages.

“If you read it, there’s actually a spot in there that says a sign cannot district or basically make somebody look at your business,” Ruston said. “I really think that what we need to do is review that ordinance as a whole and maybe reword some things. One pain point I have is a sandwich board. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a little board on a hinge that most cities have them sitting outside the businesses, restaurants, retail. Those are not suppose to be allowed in town because they’re considered a mobile sign. Yet you will see people put them out because it’s a small thing, but it’s a huge impact. I think that we should allow those types of things. Some of our zoning, I would love to see that revisited because we have new construction going up in town and there’s not parking available for the apartments that are being put int. Parking is a premium in this town and those things need to be considered when new things are being built, especially vacation rentals because that’s the hot thing right now. So I would just hope that when I get re-elected to council that we have the opportunity to review some of those things and get the business owners input, because trust me they do have input, they just don’t feel like they’re voice is heard coming to council and I would like to get over that.”

McAllister said she would like to see more involvement with the businesses and the community, especially when it comes to topics such as rezoning and remodeling.

“The [Planning, Design, and Review Board] worked very quickly to put together tougher, or maybe not tougher, maybe clearer would be the better term for any remodeling, any new construction in this town to make sure the Alpine Helen look kept thriving,” McAllister said. I have not seen the ordinances that support the work the PDRB did for that. I would like to see it. Because right now if you are remodeling, I don’t believe we have a lot of say in how that remodeling looks. The other thing is, we have the availability to reach out to our businesses more than we do. We have Constant Contact that the city uses, so when we’re rezoning, and I know it’s not legally required, but when we’re rezoning and when we’re writing ordinances, I would like for the businesses to be informed so they have the opportunity to give us their input prior to the ordinances being written, prior to the second reading.”

Brooks said he believes the commission needs to talk to businesses more about their needs. He also added there is a need for more public restrooms, which can help businesses.

“In speaking with some of the businesses here in town, some concerns have come out. I think that as commissioners we need to speak to the businesses, because we don’t go out, we don’t say what can I do to help you. So how can we decide what we need to do to help them without knowing what they’re concerns are. So I think we need to talk, we need to get out, we need to see what’s going on with all, not just the main stay businesses, but also the smaller businesses here. One thing I hear, and this is going to be a sore subjects, is restrooms. There’s only four restrooms in all of Helen and how many visitors do we have a weekend. So that is something I think would help the businesses out.”

Fowler said the exterior finish schedule McAllister mentioned is in the zoning ordinance. He then went on to say that the biggest challenge is managing the growth.

“We’re a very large visited area,” Fowler said. “Our fiscal year runs from July 1, so there’s portions of each fiscal year that’s in two different years. As an example, in 2020 hotel/motel tax was $1.3 million, 2021 it was $2 million, and this current, from July, August and September, even for those two years it’s up another 58% for these years. Sales tax 2020 was $1 million, 2021 it was $1.3 million, for the first three months of this year it’s up another 38%. Our SPLOST tax is up 49%. I’m telling you those things, not to boast on how much money we’re getting, but to me the bigger thing is, the convention and visitors bureau has done an excellent job in promoting businesses, promoting tourism, getting people here. But the biggest thing, the biggest challenge in this city, I think businesses is here, we’ve got monies and we’re very blessed to do so. But our biggest challenge is to properly manage our growth. We’ve got growth, whether you want it or not, we do. Anybody else would die to have it. But our hardest thing is how to manage that growth and I think that’s our biggest challenge.”

Other topics included public safety, beautification, what they would do if they had $3 million to spend on anything, and what issue has the biggest impact on the town.

Five of the six candidates took part in the question and answer session. Candidate Cliff Hood was unable to attend most of the event due to a conflict with a doctor’s appointment made six months prior that he said would have taken four to five months to obtain another appointment if rescheduled.

“I do not have any life-threatening health issues but do have an ongoing problem with skin cancer, so I have to go every six months, to Emory [Clinic], for a check-up and minor surgery procedures,” he said in a statement.

Hood said his residents could read his profile previously published in the White County News and that he had mailed letters about his views to active voters on the Helen voter list, with an invitation to contact him directly.

The full forum can be found here or by going to the videos tab on the White County News Facebook.