Candidates have signs out, machines are being tested and readied, and residents in Aragon and Rockmart have big choices to make on the 2023 ballot for local elections.
Polk Today is giving you a chance to pose questions to candidates and hear their responses (either in-person or by video) in upcoming forums in October.
Here’s a rundown of what’s happening:
Details
Candidates from both cities have been invited to separate events coming up on Monday, October 16 in Rockmart and Tuesday, October 17 in Aragon. Both events will begin at 6 p.m.
Rockmart’s event will be held at the The Depot at Richardson Field at 180 W. Elm St., Rockmart.
The Aragon Candidate Forum will be held at City Hall at 2814 Rome Hwy., Aragon, in the Council Meeting room.
Additionally, both events will be filmed and provided free of charge for all voters to watch here on Polk Today.
You get to pose the questions, so click the images below for the candidate forum you’re interested in hearing answers from in submission forms.
Who are the candidates?
Candidates in this year’s races that are contested in the Rockmart Mayor’s Race include Mayor Sherman Ross, former council member James Payne, and former council member Cooley Austin.
Several races are being contested in Aragon. The Mayor’s race this year features Judd Fee and Stephen Wilson, and council races featuring Donnie Canada seeking to keep his seat, as well as Ed Streetman and Gary Shindelbower, both challenging and at least one or both could end up on the council, and then a special election with Stephen Sanders and Tammy Kilgore.
At the discretion of the venue, candidates will be provided an opportunity to meet and greet with voters following the conclusion of the forum. (I hope to keep the event to 90 minutes.)
Moderators
The Rockmart Mayor’s Race Candidate Forum set for Monday, October 16, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the Rockmart Depot will feature AtriumHealth Floyd’s Daniel Bevels as moderator.
Dan Bevels is Director of Community Health for Atrium Health Floyd. Dan is a health care leader and a 30-year veteran in the fields of community outreach and engagement, marketing and public relations. Over his career, Dan has won multiple awards for content production and public relations campaigns.
Even though he grew up just across the county line in Cave Spring, Dan spent most of his summers swimming at Peek’s Park and eating giant ice cream cones from Burger’s Market. That background is why he loves that his role at Atrium Health Floyd allows him to spend so much time working on community engagement programs in Polk County.
He is currently Board Chairperson for both the Polk County Chamber of Commerce and the Rockmart Farmers Market. He also serves on the Board of Directors for United Way of Rome and Floyd County and the Cherokee County, Alabama Chamber of Commerce.
Bevels holds an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications and Political Science from State University of West Georgia and a Master of Business Administration from Berry College’s Campbell School of Business. Bevels and his wife have been married for 31 years and have two daughters, a son-in-law and a new grandson.
The following night for the Tuesday, October 17, 2023 Aragon City Elections Candidate Forum, Sarah Horne will be the moderator for the evening. This LEAD Polk Class of 2018 grad has been involved in a lot over the past several years besides her family life as wife and mother.
While running SarahBellum Consulting, Sarah Horne is a multidimensional professional who strives to improve her clients’ lives and businesses. Before consulting, Sarah represented Classical Conversations in Northwest Georgia, a demanding homeschool program. As a regional support representative and program director, she promoted homeschooling excellence in Rome, Georgia.
Sarah earned an MBA and a master’s in human resource management from Keller Graduate School after studying psychology at South Carolina State University. Sarah serves on the Polk County Department of Family and Children’s Services Advisory Board in addition to consulting. Sarah is a compelling, inspiring, and motivating speaker, a successful grant writer, and a dignified and graceful obituary writer.
She uses her people-centric approach to assist businesses in turning customers into brand ambassadors in customer service consulting.
Your Questions
Polk Today is giving the public an opportunity to send in their questions – which might be edited and/or consolidated down in the case that multiple people pose the same query, though maybe not the same way.
A page is now online for the Rockmart Mayor’s Race Candidate Forum, as well as for the Aragon Candidate Forum.
All we ask is you provide your name and be as brief and plainspoken about your questions as possible.
NOTE: Audience members will not be allowed to pose questions to candidates during the forum. Anyone who attempts to do so and causes a disruption will be asked to leave. Since this is being filmed, we ask attendees to please follow this rule.
Check back for more this week about candidates here on Polk Today.
