LEESBURG — Sammy Smith of Leesburg is a contractor. He has worked with concrete since he was 15 years old and has run his own business since he was 23.
The 39-year-old husband and father of two makes no claims about the need for drastic change in Lee County government, or about defeating his opponent, accountant Bill Williams, for the District 5 Commission seat.
Both Republicans, Smith and Williams are the only candidates who qualified to run for the post, which represents the southeastern part of Lee County called Redbone, so the July 15 GOP Primary will decide the race.
Smith said he didn’t become interested in holding elected office until the current District 5 commissioner, Wally Roberts, told him he didn’t want to run again, for health reasons.
“I can’t say that they’re doing things right or wrong. The county’s run fine to me — I’d probably do it the same way, but it’s hard for me to comment now about what is wrong with it. I do plan on raising my family here — my wife, my business is here — and for this county to succeed is vital to me.
“I didn’t really run in this (election) to compete against anybody. It just doesn’t take a whole lot of knowledge to do what’s right.”
The Toombs County native, who has lived in Southwest Georgia since his 20s, said he’d like to see the commission come together to work for the county as a whole.
“It’s not about what you’re getting,” or that you’re getting “whatever he gets,” Smith said, though he added he’d like to see a little more commercial growth in eastern Lee County.
While Smith has been warned that holding elected office can sometimes cost him customers, he said most of his business is not residential work and is located outside Lee County.
One other thing Smith is not — “I am not a whine-on-my-shoulder kind of guy,” he said.
The phenomenon of “30- to 50-year old people griping like 10-year-olds” is one he has seen often, he said. “I’m not a person to come and whine to.”