Bobby Winters and Stephanie Dickert
Incumbent Bobby Winters faces Stephanie Dickert in a runoff of the Republican primary held July 20.
District 2 includes the Boynton, Duncan Park and Westside precincts in the north central part of the county.
Since no opposing party challengers qualified to run, the winner will not need to campaign for a November general election.
Winters garnered 507 votes in the primary, but not the “50 percent plus one” required to win over Dickert, with 297 votes, and Mark Lindsay, with 222 votes.
As the runner-up Dickert qualifies for the runoff, while Lindsay’s campaign came to an end.
In the week following the primary, Dickert sent Winters a letter challenging him to a debate.
“I think the voters deserve to hear both of us talk unfiltered about the issues facing Catoosa County,” the letter reads.
Dickert said as of Wednesday, Aug. 4, she has not received a reply but did get the return receipt from the certified letter the previous evening.
She said the post office stamp indicates that "Robert Winters" signed for the letter on Monday, Aug. 2.
Even with just a week until the election, Dickert says she is still game for a debate. “I think we can and should make the time for this.”
Winters did not return a call seeking comment.
In the meantime Dickert said she and her staff continue a rigorous campaign, including a meet-and-greet event hosted last week by Republican state Sen. Jeff Mullis.
Being that she would need to bring in most of the Lindsay supporters to beat Winters, Dickert said she hopes to get even more voters out for the runoff.
“We have knocked on over 1,800 doors, and we’ll continue until they start counting the votes next Tuesday,” she said.
We don't need the solid block of 3 votes of Greene, Marks and risky Dickert to vote for Fort Oglethorpe expansion, tax payer money give-a-ways to put the YMCA on County property, and more.
Remember that a vote for Dickert may put the people in the Boynton and Dietz Road areas into the City of Fort Oglethorpe if Ronnie Cobb/Greene get their 3rd vote from Dickert.
Do you want your taxes raised? I don't.
We need to keep Winters in office.
Again, regarding the YMCA and the Catoosa Board of Commissioners, the BOC voted on not using Benton Place and not using taxpayer money to subsidize the building or property; the media did not say the BOC voted against tax exemption. The BOC doesn’t have a say in that.
How many “high class” people are common to both the boards and leadership positions of both the YMCA and the Catoosa C of C? Several.
Do you also see several names from the YMCA, Chamber and Hutchinson Medical Center Boards as common? How well are these organizations doing?
Seems like the same group of names all like higher taxes to subsidize their pet projects. How many on those boards don’t even live in Catoosa County?
Hutchinson should have sold out to Erlanger or Memorial years ago. People won’t even bring their dog there and it’s getting worse.
Must comment on the Costco deal. My bet says that no Catoosa County resident’s property tax money has gone or will go to support Costco.
The bond money that Catoosa County has borrowed to pay for the property/improvements and the interest on this money will be paid back in the first 5-6 years from the 1% sales tax revenue from SPLOST. That is just 1% from the Costco sales tax revenue. That 5-6 year total payback also takes into account the fact that 40-50% of Costco sales are sales tax exempt because they are selling wholesale to other stores that will resell the products.
Costco will collect 7% sales tax on their taxable sales. 4% goes to the State of Georgia, 1% goes to SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), 1% goes to ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) and 1% goes to LOST (Local Option Sales Tax).
People are forgetting that while that 1% SPLOST money is earmarked to repay the bond for 5-6 years; there will be the 1% LOST money that will immediately come, on day one, from Costco sales and that money will go to reduce the total property tax digest to lower what we all pay in property tax.
Also, the Catoosa County School System will immediately collect their ESPLOST 1% sales tax and that goes directly to reduce our school tax bill that is the vast majority of property tax anyway. (side note; we spend too much time worrying about the $20-30 million the BOC spend and not enough time worrying about the $100 million the school system spends each year).
The Costco deal is a good deal and anybody that looks at the details should easily see that.
The most dangerous development in your new county is that local ambitious politicos have discovered that they can borrow money today , hand it to profit making businesses , tell the voters that they have "created jobs" and then retire before the money has to be repaid with decades of interest tacked on. Those crap sacks get to play the big shot and enjoy perks and pensions while our streets are crumbling, there is open sewage in some subdivisions and we need at least two new schools. Now. Today. 125 retail jobs at Costco will not generate enough tax revenue to address those needs.
We could spend over a cool million on a new YMCA. That would make the 1/10 of 1 percent of the county that would use it very happy. The rest of the taxpayers would have to give up some civic improvement so that those people could get their bodies and minds in shape to move to Florida when the tax bill comes due (and there is no income tax). But this is stupid public policy. This is akin to a family with faulty plumbing and a leaky roof borrowing the money for a new swimming pool.They could always justify the pool as an "investment" , and the bank would encourage this -if it was sure to be paid back.
No , dear friend , the biggest danger we face in little 'ol Catoosa county today is that our political leadership are copying the irresponsible behavior that they see in Washington - And for the same reason.
The comment that Costco is only an investment to Costco is especially discouraging to me in a time when I personally know many who are unemployed. Many of our residents will become employed there in coming months. Costco will draw customers from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and probably even North Carolina and will generate a great deal of tax revenue for our county, paying for our investment many, many times over. I am glad that Ft. Oglethorpe had this kind of insight!
I love Catoosa County, even after only being here for a short time. I concur that I do not know the details and history about Jack Mattox or the Colonnade which is why I prefaced my comment with the phrase "from what I hear." I also cannot say that I know Ms. Dickert's position on these issues. Watching spending is essential; however, let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Research shows that youth activities help prevent both drug use and teen pregnancy, two problems that we could use some help with.
I think the assumption that my comments somehow reflect Ms. Dickert's depth of knowledge is very disingenuous, as is the inference that Ms. Dickert will vote lock-step with Keith Green. I agree with catoosacitizen that a debate would have been helpful in illuminating the differences between the candidates. It is unfortunate that Mr. Winters was not willing. Nevertheless, I have appreciated your willingness to debate the issues here :). Happy voting!
For example "One other thing bothers me about this. If I read the letter from NewCatoosan correctly, it sounds like this lady has already decided that however Keith Greene votes is the way she will vote. That certainly doesn't sound (to me) like she is any kind of new voice or has any "vision" other than what makes Keith Greene happy." You are taking what some one else said and applying it to a candidate. You are assuming that she is speaking for her.
That is exactly what I would like to see prevented. I am not saying you are wrong in doing what you are you are free to voice your opinion just like me and every one else but I had rather get my information from the candidates themselves.
I understand he is an incumbent and the decision to keep him or not is partially based on his job performance. If it was completely based on that why do all the other incumbents attend debates and not just hang back and relax? What if the candidates views have changed and are not what you want in there? How are you going to find that out?
He feels the need to go on TV programs and do news paper articles why not just let his performance in the past speak for itself? Once again he can campaign how he sees fit. I am just voicing my opinion and we know every one has one of those.
One other thing bothers me about this. If I read the letter from NewCatoosan correctly, it sounds like this lady has already decided that however Keith Greene votes is the way she will vote.That certainly doesn't sound (to me) like she is any kind of new voice or has any "vision" other than what makes Keith Greene happy.
We already have one Keith Greene on county commission,do we need another? While the rest of the commission has to make their constituents happy ,she apparently would only have to make Mr. Greene happy. This is dangerous. This is a voting bloc that would cut back room deals like nobody's business and by the time we threw them out,the damage would be done. If Mr. Greene has three votes in his pocket at all times,we have a dictatorship,pure and simple.It's dangerous to concentrate that much power in one office.
It also stops the here say about both candidates in question and lets them tell you what they think and can show you what they know or don't know about the topics you are interested in. The mass media is not an accurate way of getting your information. Mr. Winters even said so him self about the comments that had been made about him by the paper.
I just can't bring my self to back some one though that is unwilling to address the public in the open without suggesting a one on one meeting. All that does is continually fuel the he said she said battle that continues on and on.
As I have said before I will be voting for the person I feel that is best qualified to do the job based upon questions I and others have asked and not by assumptions that I have made. On August 10th I will be voting for MS. Dickert based upon her hard work and the answers I have heard her give to various questions.
Your comments about the YMCA tax exempt status are totally wrong. The Chamber, via the media, portrayed the Board of Commissions as having something to do with tax exemption. Smokescreen. The BOC cannot do this. Tax exemption is granted by the Tax Board, and even though the BOC appoint and approve the members, the BOC cannot overrule the Tax Board. The appeal goes to Superior Court, I think.
Again I believe your homework should include finding that the 1st tax exempt requests by the YMCA were not completed properly and the Tax Board could not rule on it. I think the County tax office could confirm that once the Y filed correctly, the tax exemption status was indicated. The BOC had no authority to approve or disprove.
You obviously didn’t look into what the YMCA wanted from the taxpayers of Catoosa County. I am of the belief that the YMCA facilities in Chattanooga and most other locations are absolutely not subsidized in construction or maintenance by Hamilton County taxes. The YMCA and their contributors take care of themselves. The YMCA’s at other locations do not ask senior property tax paying residents without sewers to put up with sewage in their yards for a few more years so other residents can have a new health club. I have been a member of the YMCA and know how they support their programs (and they have great programs for both kids and seniors), but they don’t need to grab tax money from Catoosa County taxpayers.
When the YMCA wanted to take over all the remaining space in Benton Place around the Senior Center; the Y wanted Catoosa County taxpayers to help build the building, build the parking lots, provide new roads coming directly off Battlefield Parkway, and the Y also expected Catoosa County to build all new storm sewer ponds.
NewCatoosan. Are the above facts anything like that Ms. Dickert explained to you? She is a big member of the Chamber and just takes their position. Ms. Dickert in no way has ever said she will take care of the existing Catoosa County taxpayers. Ms. Dickert wants to promote the Chamber position of getting more customers via tax payer subsidies for something broadly (no pun intended) described as improved quality of life. How about improving the quality of life for us existing tax paying residents by decreasing or holding on tax increases?
NewCatoosan. You really don’t have a clue about Jack Maddox and Bobby Winters. Jack Maddox was previously a good source of backdoor income for some previous employees and their relatives/friends when they sponsored these big tournaments. Hopefully that has been stopped. I know that Bobby Winters at one time, and perhaps still does, wanted to expand Jack Maddox to add the property between the church and I-75 and let the Boynton Recreation Department run it. The BRD could do a good honest job.
The Colonnade has been a drain on the County in the past due to mismanagement. The Chamber leaches off the County still by trading so called “economic development efforts” for subsidized rent. How much free (subsidized by the taxpayer) time does the Chamber and their groups use the Colonnade for? Winters again is just doing what the voters want and that is to watch the spending.
NewCatoosan. Please educate Ms. Dickert. She isn’t ready yet if your comments mirror her depth of knowledge. Do you think Ms. Dickert is ignorant of the facts (a correctable condition with time and homework) or is she ignoring the facts (with the guidance of the Chamber) which makes a vote for Ms. Dickert dangerous?
Money spent on large salaries at the Y is not an investment. It is an expense. An ongoing, ever increasing expense that the taxpayers here might rightly question when some subdivisions have unsafe sewage bubbling through them and county workers have to take furlough days.
Costco- There's an investment...That benefits Costco. It's easy to offer low prices when the land and utilities for your business are given by taxpayers for nothing. The tooth fairy is not building their facility- the taxpayers are.The only short sightedness that I see is your generosity with the money that I earned. handing out public money is not progress,no matter how they did it "back home" -it just enriches the well connected that can pry it out of the public purse.
If this is what is the real agenda for the person you support,I think we all know where this is going.
Perhaps you were unaware that there are three other jurisdictions that have refused to grant the YMCA tax-exempt status. Ever. In the history of the organization. So, add Catoosa county and now there are FOUR. In refusing to grant tax-exempt status to the legitimate non-profit that the Y is, the Catoosa County Commissioners voted against having a Y in Catoosa County.
The Y is much, much, MUCH more than a "a health club for well -to-do yuppie creatures that can afford their own workout palace" and anyone who tells you different is lying to you. The programs that the Y offers and the ways they improve quality of life are too numerous for me to list here, but I encourage you and anyone interested to do the research. There is also a large chunk of the tax paying public who is interested in making this investment in our county.
Exempting the Y from taxes might cost the county dollars on the front-end, but it is an investment that would have paid for itself over and over again in multiple ways, similar to the way that the Costco will. It is unfortunate that such shortsightedness will send businesses and residents to other counties and lead to a lower tax base in the end.
I appreciate your comments and the opportunity to clarify my previous post. I am certainly not supportive of government bodies that throw hard-earned tax dollars at frivolous projects, but am encouraged by Stephanie Dickert's vision and apparent desire to help Keith Green take this county to the next level.
Couldn't let your comment pass without giving you the truth. I don't have a dog in the fight here ,(I can't vote for either of these candidates), but NOBODY has ever ,once voted to keep the YMCA out of Catoosa County. The Y wanted over a million taxpayer dollars ,free land and an ongoing ,open ended subsidy to build a facility on some of the most valuable property in the county and they were politely refused. Anybody that tells you any different is lying to you. The Y is and always has been welcome here.On their own dime. ( In fact ,they just shut down their facility of their own volition in April 2010). But a large chunk of the taxpaying public is opposed to their tax dollars funding what amounts to a health club for well -to-do yuppie creatures that can afford their own workout palace.
Again , I can't vote for or against either of these candidates,but if Ms. Dickert wants to hand money to the YMCA,I am in opposition.
I will be voting for the candidate that will represent the best interests of ALL of Catoosa County now and into the future. I will be voting for the candidate who is professional and respectful and has never pubically referred to her opponent using the word "bull." I will not be voting for the candidate who appears to feel entitled to his position and whose "folks" steal yard signs on Sunday morning while everyone else is at church!! I hope that you will do the same.
Change will come to Catoosa County no matter who gets elected. Should we not elect a commissioner who will embrace the challenges of the future head-on and truly "represent" all of the citizens in Catoosa County!!
"Dickert is going to vote to expand Fort Oglethorpe, support tax increases for “better quality of life”, which means supporting more subdivisions so Chamber members can have more customers, and cause our school taxes to go up to support a jump in population. New houses paying $1500 in taxes doesn’t support school costs of $6000 per kid. The rest of us taxpayers get hit with higher taxes too.
Stephanie has never said such a thing and you know that. You all know that Stephanie is a wondferful smart person and you can't say anything bad about her and you have to make up lies. Get a life! There is more to life than cutting people down all of the time and putting your nose into everyone's business. We all know that Bobby is afraid of Stephanie and he should be. She brings more to the table. I am going to try to be negative like you for just a moment. "I really don't like that butterfly stretch thing that you wear in the back of your hair." Yeah, I don't like being negative. It makes my stomach hurt.
1. She is a progressive. If you know anything about the progressive movement you know of what I speak. If not look it up and you will agree.
2. She is arrogant; she doesn't believe Catoosa County has an office good enough for her accounting business. Perhaps the position of Commissioner is not good enough for her. She should have something better somewhere else.
3. Is she guided by any spiritual life? I don't mean going to church. It is not necessary to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and profess him to be your saviour to serve in public office. Seperation of Church and state is an accepated principle and God forbid it be denied. If she wants to look to her salvation in Government so be it. So long as she looks to Biblical principles which are meant for all of mankind it is ok. My problem is I have heard nothing. With Bobby it is a different story. He always says he "will pray for you", "God bless you" etc. While this might not mean much to some it means something for me. Where does she get her guidence?
In summary:
Who will be glorified by her election? "In order to represent Him (Jesus) effectively, everyone who is born again must be guided by God. To this end we have the promise:
"and the Lord will continually guide you,
and satisfy your desire in scorched places,
and give strength to your bones;
and you will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail" Isa. 58:11
Pray for our county, state and Nation and all of its public officials believer or unbeliever.
God Bless
If everybody wants higher taxes, wants Catoosa County to be run by the three votes of Greene, Marks and Dickert like the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce wants, then people should vote for Dickert. Dickert is the hand picked choice by mostly the out of county people of the Chamber. The Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce has supported every tax increase that has ever been proposed. Dickert is their choice.
If voters want Bobby Winters to keep fighting for low taxes they better come out and vote.
Dickert is going to vote to expand Fort Oglethorpe, support tax increases for “better quality of life”, which means supporting more subdivisions so Chamber members can have more customers, and cause our school taxes to go up to support a jump in population. New houses paying $1500 in taxes doesn’t support school costs of $6000 per kid. The rest of us taxpayers get hit with higher taxes too.
We all, particularly the senior citizens that don’t want their taxes raised, need to go vote for Bobby Winters.