County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. This will be a series of questions over the next three weeks dealing with the upcoming campaign season.  The commissioner also wanted to let the public know more about what was involved with this job. Some of these questions are actual questions received and some are designed to help educate the public about the position.

Q. I have heard a couple of names of people who are considering running against you next year in the election.  Does that concern you?
A.  Sure.  Naturally, anyone would rather run unopposed, but that is not going to happen.    I have had someone run against me in every election that I have run in and I do not expect that to change.  Campaigning is hard work and when you are commissioner, you must do your job plus campaign in the evenings.  However, I enjoy the opportunity to get out and talk to the public and hear what they have to say.  Other than the time involved being away from family and friends, I look forward to the campaign.  There may be someone out there that can out “bull” me, but there is not anyone out there that can out work me.

Q. What about after the campaign when someone wins?
A. If you win the election like I did in 2000 and like the previous commissioner did four years earlier, there is no way to understand what you are getting into.  Had I known in 2000 what I now know about this job, how difficult it is and how you will be required to make many people mad because you cannot give them what they ask for, there is no way that I would have made the sacrifices required to be commissioner.    It is a monetary sacrifice, but more than that, it is a sacrifice for your family and friends. 

Having said that, now that I am in the job and have made those sacrifices and have learned what this job involves, I now enjoy how much we are able to do for the people of Union County.  You cannot be selfish in this job, because to do it right, you have to pour your soul into it, which is what I have done and will continue to do.

Q. Is being Union County Commissioner a full time job?
A.  I was asked that question after being Commissioner for about 6 months and my statement then and now is, “No, it is not a full time job, it is an all-the-time job.”

Q.  How many hours do you work each week?
A. A normal week would be about 60 to 70 hours including at least 10 hours at home reading work related materials or on the computer. There are many meetings that occur after hours as well.   However, many weeks I will be in the office until 10:00 PM and have had many 70 and 80 hour weeks.  When traveling is required with regional meetings and meeting in Atlanta with state officials, you just lose count of hours worked.

You have to be in good shape, physically and mentally, because by Friday night, I am so tired that I generally fall into bed.  A few Saturdays I have no meetings or functions, but most Saturdays involve meetings, travel, local events to attend, and constantly thinking about what you have to be ready for on Monday.  Unfortunately, I also end up working part of many Sunday afternoons or nights either in the office or on the computer at home.

Q. How long does it take to learn the job of sole commissioner?
A. It takes a minimum of two years to really know what you are doing.  The first two years you spend hundreds of hours traveling and sitting in training classes all over Georgia.  These years are especially hard because there are always members of the public who will try a new commissioner to see what they can get out of him or how he will react. Besides being gone so much to training classes, you then have to catch up on what you missed while you were gone.

Q. Does the job get easier after the first two years?
A.  I certainly thought it would, but as I have found out, the job never gets easier.  The more you learn and  the more you understand how to obtain grants, and the more you learn how to talk to government agencies and  how to gain respect from those in government you work with, then you want to do more for your citizens and the county. I am now able to accomplish so much more and with the great county employees that we have, we continually try to provide more and better services for the county.  However, it just takes lots and lots of hours to accomplish these things.

Next week questions on more details of what the job requires.

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