The newness of the job — and his enthusiasm for it — was foremost on Lowndes County District 2 Supervisor Bill Brigham’s mind Thursday, as he spoke to the Columbus Exchange Club.
Brigham, serving his first term, said he still doesn’t consider himself a politician, but he had high praise for his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, noting he appreciated each of them for their experience, wisdom and passion for their districts. He also commended Road Manager Ronnie Burns for his quick response to citizen concerns.
The bulk of Brigham’s presentation was a brief overview of the past three months.
He said the five new community centers recently completed at New Hope, Crawford, Anderson Grove, Sim Scott Park and Townsend Park are “very nice,” especially considering their relatively cheap price tag of $850,000 for the five.
Brigham also explained construction continues on a soccer complex at Burns Bottom and the project, which he cited as one of many ways the county and city work together, still is expected to be complete this fall. Lowndes County funded the project and the Columbus provided in-kind services.
“It’s really going to be a facility I think the county and city will be proud of,” Brigham said.
He added that local residents can make a big impact by serving on one of many governing or advisory boards of directors throughout the city and county.
But the responsibility lies with both the applicants (for board appointments) and those who make appointments, Brigham said.
“It’s critical to appoint the right people, because they control a lot of things, a lot of money in the community,” he explained. “We get criticized sometimes, but we don’t have people willing to do it. We need responsible people in responsible positions.”
Overall, Brigham noted strong progress, a great deal of which he attributed to the “remarkable job” done by the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link, along with Link CEO Joe Higgins and Board of Supervisors President and District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders.
For those concerned about the Link’s recent three-year agreement to represent West Point and Clay County, in addition to Lowndes County, Brigham had a message: Don’t worry about it. Each county will get its share of the industrial pie.
“We’ve got to be a team,” Brigham, who has not previously served in public office, said. “What we do here and they do there helps all of us.”
In the past five years, the county has added more value to the tax rolls than in all previous years, said Brigham, citing the additions of industrial powerhouses like Severstal, Paccar, Kior and Sillicor (formerly Calisolar, which is expected to break ground in May).
“The more industry we can get here, the more retail,” he said. “There are lots of positive things that are happening.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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