CULLMAN — Water, roads and a five-member county commission appear to dominate discussions for the westside seat of the Cullman County Commission.

The runoff between Republicans Jerry Parker and Stanley Yarbrough took an unexpected turn last week when news surfaced that Parker had not filed all of his election papers on time. Parker said it was a mistake and would be quickly corrected. Yarbrough has indicated he would not make the matter a campaign issue and would wait to see what election officials decide.

Yarbrough, who has in the past served a term on the commission, said he is concerned about road money for the county.

“Everybody needs a good road to drive on, but we have to work within a budget,” Yarbrough said. “I think we can do some of the work, such as paving, in-house and not always have to contract it.”

Yarbrough noted that the road money must go toward much more than paving and repaving. There are bridges, culverts and grass trimming for safety purposes that must be included in the work that is performed.

“There is also some federal grant money that alternates between the two sides of the county,” Yarbrough said. “You essentially have two road departments in the county, one working on the east and the other on the west.”

Parker has pledged to go to Montgomery and Washington to seek more funding for Cullman County’s road needs.

“My intention is to go to Montgomery and Washington and get as much money as possible for the westside road department,” Parker said. “My opponent has already said he didn’t believe this was possible. It may not be possible, but he was speaking for himself.”

Parker said he does not see a problem in working with the eastside commissioner in solving road problems together.

“Cullman County is only second to Jefferson County in paved roads, but we’re 15th in budgeting for them,” Parker said. “Funding is the problem. The failure has been in bringing home money from the higher offices.”



Five-member commission

The local legislative delegation has been conducting community meetings to gain feedback about expanding the size of the county commission. The issue arose after the current associate commissioners voted to establish a new water board. The matter has since settled into litigation among accusations that the public was left out of the process and that the open meetings law may have been violated.

Parker favors expanding the county commission to five members.

“I spoke to a man who is a very successful businessman and asked him if he would be willing to serve. He said he couldn’t because he would have to shut down his business. But if the job were part-time he would be able to keep his business and serve the county,” Parker said.

Parker said an expanded commission with districts would provide the public with a distinct representative to contact and address their needs.

“You would also open the door to get a new field of politicians into public service,” Parker said.

Yarbrough said he is interested in the concept of an expanded commission and would like to learn more details of how it would be set up.

“I would certainly like for the people to have a strong voice in what should be done about the commission,” Yarbrough said. “I think the commission conducts enough business that the commissioners could be full-time members.”



Water supply

Yarbrough said he is clearly in favor of the Duck River project.

“I will support Duck River. It’s a countywide project. The county uses 47 percent of the water. We will all own it, and I say that because there will not be another governing body outside of Cullman County saying what we can and can’t do.”

Parker said he recognizes the Duck River project’s value and that it is probably the best option. However, he said he will fully study the proposal and ask questions on behalf of his constituents.

“As a county commissioner I need to and should explore and understand everything about Duck River,” Parker said. “As it stands now, I believe it is the only viable option. But I want to understand it fully before I sign on to it.”



Sunshine law

Both Parker and Yarbrough say that conducting business openly and gaining public input are key ingredients for effective government. Both men said the biggest questions from voters about the water board creation have been focused on how the decision was made.

“If you are making decision affecting the public, and spending taxpayers’ money, you should be open and fair in all your discussions and decisions,” Parker said.

“I think the media should attend all the meetings, and that means notifying them when any meeting is planned,” Yarbrough said. “People have the right to know everything about their government and the decisions that are about to be made.”

The winner will face Willy Hendrix, a Democrat, in the November general election.