CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – Meet the Chatham County Chairman candidates ahead of the election.
Savannah native Joel Boblasky is running against current Chairman Chester Ellis, also a Chatham County native.
WTOC sat down with both of them to see why they deserve your vote.
The countywide chairman’s race is historically the most competitive seat on the board, Ellis won the race back in 2020.
Boblasky came into the picture from a commercial real estate background. He said his bid for election was motivated by a belief that Chatham County residents deserve better.
“I think we deserve better, you know, in our emergency services, number one. Number two, we need to address our roads, bridges, and drainage, number two. And number three, we need better tax accountability to keep the taxes fair and low for everybody in Chatham County. Unincorporated is included in that. We need to keep our county spending local,” said Boblasky.
He said getting the emergency services department and the 911 center set in place is critical.
“Right out of the gate, I would love a shovel in the ground to get that command center built. Especially with the hurricanes coming, we need that type of facility. We need it, that’s why it’s supposed to be built, but to be waiting 12 years for it to come to fruition, it’s just, it’s unacceptable, and in the business world, that doesn’t happen. You draw it up. You get it done,” said Boblasky.
He’s also looking to tackle the issue of homelessness downtown and on DeRenne Avenue.
“That’s killing us. That is absolutely killing us here. It’s overriding the shopping centers. It’s into the neighborhoods. It’s bad, but that, you know, we’ll address that day one,” said Boblasky.
Another big issue he wants to tackle is getting infrastructure in place.
“Don’t let the developers drive us. We need to drive the developers. They’ll fall in line all day long, but when they go out here, and there’s no infrastructure in place, you know, then the road’s under construction for the next 10 to 15 years. Perfect example, I-16,” said Boblasky.
Chairman Chester Ellis said he’s running again to finish the job he started. Infrastructure issues are also on his to-do list.
“So being in the midst of catching up with the growth spurt, we have laid the foundation for things, and so we need to carry those out. I’m talking about infrastructure, I’m talking about roads, I’m talking about waterways, I’m talking about sewage, I’m talking about draining, I’m talking about flooding, I’m talking about housing. We’re talking about preparing folks for the jobs that are now in the market here, getting our high school kids prepared so that when they come out of high school they can step into a job to make things worthy,” said Chairman Ellis.
Chairman Ellis said in the last two years, Chatham County’s population has grown by close to 52,000 people.
“We did not have a plan for the growth when I became chairman. A lot of the factors and things we found about the growth. Now, we knew the port was growing, but we didn’t know Hyundai was coming. We didn’t know Amazon was coming. We didn’t know Gulfstream was going to grow at the rate it’s growing,” said Chairman Ellis.
Chairman Ellis has his own plan to address homelessness.
“As to what we are going to do with those homes camps, and so we are working with our private partners, that means our hotels and some places that we are going to turn into residences for folks who are down on their luck,” said Chairman Ellis.
He said he hopes voters see the work he has already done and the plans for the work he continues to do.
“For the first time ever under my administration since 2021, we have been in the congressional budget more than once, and that has never happened before. So we have got those federal monies that are in here, and I mean large federal grants too, like $30 million to take care of flooding and draining, $30.7 million to take care of transportation that went to CAT, that they are spending, and those monies are going to come in year after year, it is a five-year grant, $6.6 million a year, that we have to take care of transportation here in the county,” said Chairman Ellis.
You can watch the full interviews with each candidate below:
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