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DEL.ICIO.USCounty commission race fires up Forsyth voters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite the presence of some statewide races on the ballot, voters in one Forsyth County precinct were focused on two very local races.
At First Redeemer Church, one of the county’s larger polling places — located just off Ga. 400 in south Forsyth County — a steady stream of voters passed under the glass-domed student and family center on their way to cast ballots. Several people interviewed Tuesday afternoon said they were motivated to vote in order to settle two undecided County Commission races.
Charles D. Cerosa, 63, wheeled his 93-year-old father, Charles M. Cerosa, to and from the polling place. The younger Cerosa said he voted for incumbent Charles Laughinghouse for District 1 County commissioner because of his position on growth issues.
“He’s more cautious about growth,” Cerosa said. “He wants to provide more infrastructure.” He said the same reasoning guided him to vote for Jim Harrell for District 3 commissioner over incumbent Commission Chairman Jack Conway.
“He’s less prone to sanction unbridled growth,” Cerosa said.
As for the older Cerosa, he jerked his thumb toward his son and said, “I’m the same as him.”
The younger Cerosa said he votes every chance he gets.
“This is America,” he said. “If we can vote, we’re going to vote. I’m a vet and I don’t know why more people don’t vote. People complain about what they get, but if you don’t vote, then you can’t complain.”
“That’s the way I raised him,” said his father.
Jim and Linda Warner both cast ballots for Charles Laughinghouse and Jim Harrell.
“I thought Mr. Conway and his crew didn’t provide the leadership we need,” said Linda, 65.
Jim, 66, concurred, adding, “I don’t think the board of commissioners gets along with the city, the administration, they don’t get along with anybody. Four years ago, Conway said he was going to slow down the growth, but he hasn’t. Now we have too many people.”
It’s no surprise that growth is a political topic here. Forsyth, with a population of 131,865, led all Georgia counties in population growth, with a growth percentage of 42.7 from 2000 to 2005.
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