Chambers County Commission District 5 has two candidates on the November 3 ballot, and they start in different places. Sandra Calloway-Crim, the Democratic nominee, names roads and run-down property as the concerns she hears most. Sara Crutchfield, the Republican nominee, names growth and the planning it demands.
The Frequency put the same 14 questions to both women. A few were adjusted to each candidate’s background.
The Seat
District 5 includes parts of Valley and the areas around Cusseta and Huguley. Calloway-Crim calls it “sliced and diced.” “It’s a huge district and is kind of cut up at a weird kind of angle,” she said.
The seat is open. David Eastridge, who holds it now, did not run. Whoever wins takes one of six seats on the commission. Calloway-Crim put the job this way: “You’re one person in your district, but you’re one of six people when it comes to going back to the table.”
Sandra Calloway-Crim (D)
Calloway-Crim is a Valley native who joined the Valley Police Department on February 6, 1998. “Currently I have 28 years of service with them,” she said. She works as a school resource officer, and says that work reaches past one campus. “When we serve as school resource officers, we serve Chambers County as a whole,” she said. She holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Troy State University, now Troy University, which she says she earned in 2004.
She helped start the Junior Police Academy, a week-long program for children, with the Valley Police Department and the Valley Community Center. Food, water and snacks came from community donations, and receipts went to the City of Valley. She says the program is still active. Asked about budgets she has managed, she gave no dollar figures. “We have to stick close to our budget, because we don’t want to overdo ourselves,” she said.
Of the decision to run, she said: “I want to make sure that things continue to be done properly, listen to people’s concerns, follow up on their concerns, and report back.” She is eligible to retire from the department now. If she wins, she said, “I would retire sooner than later, which could mean before the end of the year, or shortly after the first of the year.”
Her answer on what residents bring up was roads. “I would have to say the roads are the biggest concern.” Some still talk about “the rubbish, the run-down houses,” she said, and worry about what “can harm their children.”
On the county budget, she called it “an umbrella for so many other aspects.” Asked to name a line item she would change, she said she was not ready to. “We want to just keep it on the table and look at it and see how we can make it all work so everybody can be serviced.” Asked what she would do differently at commission meetings, she said she cannot say until she is seated. “Right now, as of today, I’m still on the outside looking in.”
Her first-year promise was to keep working and listening. “District 5 can expect me to continue to work hard and listen to their concerns,” she said. She also asked voters to turn out: “I need everybody in District 5 to make sure you are out there voting,” she said. “If you don’t have a ride, let me know.”
On disagreements with other commissioners: “We have to agree to disagree. If we all agreed every time, no matter what, we wouldn’t get anything accomplished.” She would keep them out of public view. “That’s something we should be able to handle in-house.”
Calloway-Crim’s answer about the new Chambers County High School is not included, at her request.
Sara Crutchfield (R)
Crutchfield was born and raised in Chambers County and has lived in District 5 her whole life. She graduated from Valley High School, has worked in pediatric dentistry since 2012 and is now an office manager. She also directs The Valley Local, which she and her husband started “to support local businesses, students, schools, and nonprofits.” She cites Leadership Chambers County and other community involvement as where she learned “how important it is to listen, collaborate, and follow through.”
Asked whether she has managed a budget or a team, she pointed to her practice. She has managed staff and “the financial and administrative side of a busy pediatric dental practice.” The biggest lesson, she wrote, is that every dollar matters. She gave no dollar figures. On The Valley Local, she committed to “a clear separation between my nonprofit work and my responsibilities as commissioner.”
She won the Republican primary over Toby Boyd with about 69 percent. Asked what resonated, she wrote: “I think people responded to authenticity.” Of the decision to run: “I believe God opened this door for me.” And: “I’m not running because I want a title.”
Her answer on what residents bring up was growth. “People want economic development and opportunities, but they also want responsible planning, infrastructure that can support it, and protection for the land and communities they’ve worked hard to build.”
Her budget priority is “making sure we are being responsible with taxpayer dollars and planning beyond the immediate year.” She did not name a line item. At commission meetings, she wrote, she would arrive “having done my homework, understanding the financial impact, asking questions, and knowing how a decision fits into the county’s long-term plan.”
On the new Chambers County High School and the road projects underway: “I support investing in our children and our infrastructure, but I also believe major projects require careful planning and accountability.” On roads she wants “a clear prioritization process and long-term plan, so residents understand how projects are selected and where we’re headed.”
Her first-year promise was communication. “People shouldn’t have to wonder what’s happening in their own county government.” On disagreement: “I can disagree with someone and still respect them.”
Where They Meet
Both addressed roads. Crutchfield describes herself as “not a career politician.” Calloway-Crim says she cannot say what she would change until she is seated: “I’m still on the outside looking in.” Neither named a specific change to county spending, and neither gave dollar figures for the budgets she has run.
The difference is where each one starts. Calloway-Crim begins on the ground: roads, run-down houses, a neighbor who can reach her. Crutchfield begins at the planning table: a priority list, a long-term plan, information residents can read. Both are answers to the same question: what should a District 5 commissioner do first?
Before You Vote
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Voter registration closes Monday, October 19. The absentee calendar and the Supreme Court ruling that kept the mail-ballot rules in place for this year are covered in our earlier Signal.
Disclosure: Hazel Floyd, a candidate in House District 38, is the daughter of Sim Floyd, Jr., who publishes Read the Room.