Two Catoosa County Commission seats will be decided in Tuesday's Republican primary runoff.
Commission Chair Larry Black, the incumbent, is up against Steven Henry, and incumbent Vanita Hullander, who represents District 3, faces Richard Tharp. District 3 includes a north-central party of Catoosa County that includes Graysville and much of Ringgold.
In the May 21 primary, no candidate in either race won more than 50% of the vote, triggering a runoff under Georgia law.
Black was the top vote-getter in the five-person chair primary race with 37%, while Henry followed with nearly 30%. Nick Ware received about 27%. Mickey Headrick collected nearly 4%, and Kay Helton Provonsha won about 2%.
In the District 3 race, Hullander received the most votes with nearly 48%, while Tharpe was second with just over 29%. Jimmy Gray won about 23%.
The winner of the District 3 runoff will face Democrat Alex Brady in the Nov. 4 general election, while Greg Bentley, a Democrat from Chickamauga, will be the general election opponent for the winner of the chair runoff.
Catoosa County commissioners serve a four-year term.
The county's 11 voting precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Registered voters must have a photo ID and vote at their assigned precincts, according to Georgia law.
Call the Elections & Voter Registration office with any questions at 706-935-3990.
Ahead of the election, the four candidates answered the following questions about their run for office:
1. What are your priorities if elected?
2. What should be done to increase citizen participation in local government?
3. What is something that's been misconstrued about you in this election?
(READ MORE: Georgia primary voters unseat commission chairs in Walker, Chattooga Counties)
LARRY BLACK
Catoosa County / Larry Black, chair of the Catoosa County commission1. If reelected, Black said by phone that he wants to find ways to lower the property tax burden.
One avenue he cited is a homestead option sales tax, a 1% tax to reduce reliance on property taxes for funding county governments. The new sales tax would require action from the Georgia legislature, and Black said that's something state Rep. Mitchell Horner, R-Ringgold, is working on.
The county government's portion of Catoosa County property taxes is one of the lowest in Georgia, Black said, but the portion set by the county's school board is the majority of homeowners' total tax bill.
Black was elected in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Henry, who stepped down to mount an unsuccessful run for state Senate.
Other priorities, he said, are finding tenants for the county's two business parks and increasing salary and benefits for county employees to decrease turnover.
2. Black said the county commission doesn't really have a problem with citizen participation -- but there is a problem with voter participation, especially among younger generations.
The county has a challenge of trying to figure out how to get people more involved and incentivized to take the time and go vote, because it's an important individual right and responsibility, he said.
3. Black said he's been straight forward in his campaign and leadership of the commission, and he can't think of anything that's been misunderstood about him in this campaign.
"I'm born and raised here and a longtime sheriff's department employee," Black said. "I think a lot of people here know me and know what I stand for."
STEVEN HENRY
Staff File Photo by Matt Hamilton / Steven Henry, candidate for chair of the Catoosa County Commission1. Henry said that if elected, he wants to work on lowering property taxes. He said he also wants to revitalize relationships with leadership in the county's cities, the school board and county chamber of commerce by restarting monthly elected officials meetings.
"Frankly, that's how you keep from having to go up on taxes: Make sure everybody's working on the same page," he said about the meetings in a phone call.
He said he's seen increases in his property tax bill since he left office that he wants to reverse.
2. Regarding community participation, Henry said he wants to do more to involve young people in local government. He said using already established avenues like the U.S. Army Junior ROTC and the county's College & Career Academy would be a good place to start.
For adults, he said more educational videos could get citizens more familiar with how their government works -- and that could encourage them to get involved. Those videos could be paired with a citizen comment email address, Henry said.
3. The biggest piece of misinformation, Henry said, is that he was wrong for stepping down from the position of chair to run for state Senate in 2022. After long-serving Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, stepped down, Henry said it was important for him to protect the district by running. Henry lost the primary to Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton.
Henry said he wants to serve as chair in Catoosa County now because he and his wife are raising two foster children, and he wants to be closer to home.
Henry said he's been criticized as being against free speech because he ejected a citizen commenting at a county commission meeting in 2021. He said that decision was about enforcing rules at the meeting, and that he is a supporter of free speech.
VANITA HULLANDER
Catoosa County / Vanita Hullander, Catoosa County District 3 commissioner1. Hullander was asked about her priorities if reelected.
"Serving the people the way they deserved to be served," she said in a phone call. "Improving my district and improving the county as a whole."
Hullander was first elected in 2020 after serving as county coroner for nearly 2 1/2 decades.
Another issue for Graysville, a community in her district, is establishing a text message-based alert system to warn drivers of intersections blocked by trains. She said she is helping set up the system, which would need commission approval, with the county manager. Chattanooga is using a similar system.
Road repairs, storm water upgrades and keeping first responders trained and ready are other priorities, she said.
2. Hullander said there are plenty of opportunities for citizen involvement, including county-level boards. She said citizens can also file open records requests, speak at commission meetings or reach out to their commissioner or county department heads to get more information on issues facing the county.
(READ MORE: Catoosa County commission race focuses on taxes and growth)
A countywide master plan will be updated at the end of next year, she said, which is another opportunity for citizen involvement.
"I'd like to have everybody get together as a unit and discuss how do we want our county to look," Hullander said about a community effort to plan Catoosa's future growth.
Another point Hullander made is that she's paying attorneys fees to give voters options at the ballot box after the Catoosa GOP attempted to disqualify several candidates -- including her, Henry and Black -- from the primary ballot. The party said the four candidates weren't upholding Republican principles, a claim Hullander denies.
3. Hullander said Tharpe has been criticizing her and the county commission in some of his online ads, and she wanted to push back on that.
"I've ran a positive, clean campaign," she said. "And my opponent has chosen to go in the other direction."
In recent video ads on social media, Tharpe said the county commission makes backroom deals and is not accessible to the public. Hullander countered, saying the commission is hard-working, dedicated and doesn't deserve to be disrespected.
Voters should be concerned, she said, that a builder fairly new to the community is spending money for an elected position that pays little.
Hullander said she stands on her reputation, experience and commitment to the community despite what's being said by her challenger.
RICHARD THARPE
Contributed Photo / Richard Tharpe, candidate for Catoosa County District 3 commissioner1. Regarding his priorities if elected, Tharpe said by phone he wants to give citizens more opportunities to get involved with commission meetings.
He said he wants citizens' comments before the commission votes on issues so commissioners can hear from the voters before decisions are made. Requiring meeting agendas be published two weeks before meetings would give citizens time to ask questions and file records requests -- allowing them to be more engaged, Tharpe said.
The frequent blocking of Graysville Road is another priority, he said, though the text message alert system being put together is a good step forward.
He said he also wants to make sure each county department is efficient so taxpayer funds are well spent.
2. Increasing citizen participation is already one of Tharpe's priorities, he said.
"We've got to get the citizens their voice back," he said. "That's where a lot of the contentions in the government come in."
3. His time as a builder is one of the most misunderstood elements of his campaign, Tharpe said.
Tharpe said he's worked for his father-in-law and builder/developer Emerson Russell as a homebuilder for the past four years. Homebuilding is a vital trade, he said, but the county needs "controlled, responsible growth."
"I've built 30 homes in the past four years, so I'm not a large homebuilder," Tharpe said.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.