Former second grade teacher Lillie Brooks and former member of the Board of Elections and current science teacher Adam Shirley are both running for School Board in District 7 in Athens, Georgia. Current Board of Education member LaKeisha Gantt is running for mayor, so there’s no incumbent.

0:00 - Intro0:33 - Meet Lillie Brooks3:56 - Meet Adam Shirley9:38 - Adam's assessment of the school system17:38 - Lillie's assessment of the school system23:14 - Lillie: How can we improve our schools?26:29 - Lillie on student retention27:52 - Adam: How can we improve our schools?29:29 - Adam on student retention32:40 - Adam's parting thoughts33:33 - Lillie's parting thoughts37:03 - Outro

Insurance agent Tracy Smith and lawyer Barry Irwin are both challenging incumbent ACC Commissioner Ovita Thornton in District 9 in Athens, Georgia. APN interviewed all three candidates and edited them together for this week’s podcast.

0:00 - Intro0:28 - Meet Barry Irwin2:14 - Meet Tracy Smith5:23 - Meet Ovita Thornton10:36 - Tracy's experience12:42 - Barry's experience & top priorities15:08 - Tracy's top priorities18:46 - Ovita's top priorities19:47 - Ovita's voting record on resolutions25:40 - Tracy's thoughts on Ovita as commissioner26:44 - Ovita responds to Tracy's criticism29:24 - The water crisis in Pinewoods33:37 - Why voters should choose Ovita35:36 - Why voters should choose Tracy36:15 - Why voters should choose Barry37:53 - Outro

Pastor Sharon Miller, Commissioner Dexter Fisher, community advocate Mara Zúñiga and ACC Board of Education members Tim Denson and LaKeisha Gantt are all running to be the next mayor of Athens-Clarke County in 2026.

0:30 - Meet Tim Denson
1:40 - Meet Mara Zúñiga
3:00 - Meet Sharon Miller
4:18 - Meet LaKeisha Gantt
5:35 - Meet Dexter Fisher
6:49 - What is your most important issue?
13:13 - How will you make housing more affordable?
24:17 - Why should voters choose you?

Housing advocate Bennie Coleman and lawyer Ed Tolley are both running to be the next ACC Commissioner from District 7. Commissioner John Culpepper is not running for re-election, so there’s no incumbent.

0:00 – Intro
0:29 – Meet Ed Tolley
2:44 – Meet Bennie Coleman
3:59 – Bennie’s housing plan
11:04 – Ed’s top priorities
16:45 – Ed’s opinion of the current commission
21:18 – Bennie’s opinion of the current commission
22:39 – Bennie’s experience
24:17 – Ed’s experience
26:46 – Why you should vote for Ed Tolley
27:14 – Why you should vote for Bennie Coleman
28:18 – Bennie’s final thoughts

Community advocate Kimberly Bennett, vice chair of the ACC Hearings Board Rick Stanziale, financial advisor Zander Mason and chaplain Craig Topple are all running to be the next ACC Commissioner in District 5.

Commissioner Dexter Fisher decided to vacate this seat to run for mayor, so there's no incumbent.

0:00 - Intro

0:45 - Meet Craig Topple

4:48 - Meet Kimberly Bennett

8:36 - Meet Zander Mason

10:40 - Meet Rick Stanziale

14:01 - Zander's experience

16:25 - Kimberly's experience

16:52 - Craig's experience & priorities

20:31 - Kimberly's priorities

24:44 - Zander's priorities

31:55 - Rick's priorities & assessment of the commission

42:14 - Zander's assessment of the commission

43:39 - Kimberly's assessment of the commission

45:57 - Craig's assessment of the commission & why you should vote for him

49:48 - Why you should vote for Kimberly

50:27 - Why you should vote for Zander

52:43 - Why you should vote for Rick

53:29 - Outro

Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Touch of the Sea

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

Social services case manager Tammie Foote is challenging Commissioner Tiffany Taylor to represent east Athens on the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

0:00 - Intro

0:25 - Meet Tammie Foote

2:50 - Tammie's priorities

6:15 - Tiffany Taylor's accomplishments

10:31 - Tiffany on housing

15:49 - Tammie on the Triangle Plaza community garden

20:30 - Why Tiffany voted for the community garden

24:49 - Tiffany's priorities

26:27 - Tammie's priorities and experience

27:33 - Why voters should choose Tammie

28:11 - Why voters should choose Tiffany

Handyman Terry Johnson is challenging incumbent Commissioner Patrick Davenport for the privilege of representing the southeast side on the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Democrat Eric Gisler is running to become the next state representative for district 121. His Republican opponent is Mack “Dutch” Guest IV.

APN sat down with Gisler for an interview on November 3. Guest did not respond to repeated interview requests, which is why this video only includes a conversation with Gisler. The election is coming up on December 9.

Deborah Gonzalez and Kalki Yalamanchili are both running to be the next District Attorney of the Western Circuit of Georgia, which includes both Athens-Clarke and Oconee County.

1:08 – Deborah’s first term

Kirrena Gallagher is running for Board of Education in District 2 in Athens, Georgia. Her opponents are Claudia Butts (the incumbent) and Mary Bagby. The election is on May 21, 2024.