those weights . Over time our roads won ’ t be as damaged compared to roads we ’ ve had in the past . … Hopefully they ’ ll be able to last longer and withstand more weight ,” Cannon said .
There are many other obstacles that await the board in 2022 . There is a possibility of redistricting , continuing to handle voting for all elections going forward , possibility of renovating the Colquitt County Jail and three board seats that are up for reelection .
The county has recently been working to provide many poll locations with up-to-date digital voting platforms .
“ There ’ s a lot more emphasis on the IT side ( of voting ). Our IT folks , call it luck , have been helping out for about a decade now . Just so happens that they ’ ve morphed into a role of handling the components of the new election equipment . Other counties have had to hire out but we ’ re able to handle it in house .” Cannon said .
In 2021 , the U . S . government released the results of the 2020 census , which said that Colquitt County ’ s population had increased by 438 people . Cannon disagrees with the results saying that he believes “ it was well over 1,000 .”
“ The census was a little politically charged this year . I wish that wasn ’ t the case because a lot of our money we get is based on population … Many rural counties around the country are decreasing in population . Based on what I ’ ve seen as far as the traffic and pressure on the infrastructure , I feel there ’ s more people here than there were 10 years ago .”
With the population increase comes the possibility of redistricting . At the time of Cannon ’ s interview , there was still no official decision on redistricting . Cannon stated that there were “ some population shifts ” within the districts but a decision will be announced “ sometime before the end of January .”
“ While there is a chance , I don ’ t imagine much will change ,” Cannon said .
“ There ’ s a lot of ways to find solutions to problems you aren ’ t even aware of yet .”
Four of the six board seats are up for election in 2022 . Barbara Jelks , District 1 representative ; Marc DeMott , District 3 representative ; Paul Nagy , District 5 representative and the Colquitt County Board of Commissioners Chairman Denver Braswell are all up for reelection in 2022 , according to Cannon .
“ That always gets kinda interesting . The staff tends to stay out of the political handlings … When they make decisions , we just execute .”
Those elections will occur on November 8 , 2022 .
Cannon said that he has been in talks with Colquitt County Sheriff Rod Howell in regards to putting “ emphasis on inmate mental and physical care ” as well as possibly renovating the county jail . “ The state had facilities that dealt with individuals dealing with mental health . The state used to have some mental health facilities but they ’ ve closed those down . So now they ’ ve been moved into the jail . We really want to focus on the inmates ’ health … It ’ s basically a miniature hospital now .” According to Cannon , the jail and Colquitt County Prison currently employ six healthcare professionals including a physician , four nurses and a nurse practitioner . The board wants to continue expanding the healthcare availability of county inmates while taking some work load off jail employees .
This is where the renovation of the jail pods comes in . The jail is currently set up in a three-pod system .
“ Talking with the sheriff , he would like to create what they call a ‘ super pod .’ That puts everybody in one building . That brings your required supervision down immensely … You can manage the inmate population much better .”
Cannon didn ’ t give any dates on when the renovation could possibly begin but did say that “ like many other things ” was still on the horizon .
20 MoultrieScene JANUARY 2022