The Town Square Podcast

He Bought His Hometown Newspaper at 25

At six years old, Evan Newton was picking up The Monticello News for the football contest and the arrest page. In 2023, he returned as an intern. At 25, he bought the newspaper.

That is a pretty good hometown headline. The next question is what happens after the headline: Who covers the meetings, asks the uncomfortable questions, sells the ads, checks the pages and makes sure a newspaper actually reaches its readers?

In Episode 109, Trey sits down with Evan to talk about all of it. After a successful Candidate Conversations series, Town Square Podcast is back to its regularly scheduled conversations with local leaders, influencers, nonprofits and people making a difference. Our community continues to grow beyond Newton County into Rockdale, Henry, Walton and Jasper counties. Evan’s story is a fitting place to pick that conversation back up.

The internship that changed the plan

Evan grew up in Jasper County as the creative kid, drawn to music, cameras and making videos. His interest in film carried him to Georgia College & State University, where he earned a mass communication degree. A career running a weekly newspaper was not the original plan.

With graduation approaching, his dad suggested checking whether The Monticello News needed help with its website. Evan graduated on a Saturday and started at the paper the following Monday. A three-month internship became six months, and the work grew on him.

He moved to The Covington News as news editor and later became managing editor. That experience meant reporting, photographing, making decisions and juggling the many jobs that come with a small newsroom. It also helped prepare him for an opportunity back home.

Saying yes to the hometown paper

Evan says Kathy Mudd first approached him about taking over The Monticello News in June 2024. He was interested, but not sure he was ready. The managing editor opportunity in Covington gave him time to grow.

When the conversation returned in 2026, the circumstances felt different. He had bought a home in Monticello, his family was there, and he had a clearer idea of the newspaper he wanted to produce. Buying the paper became a decision he could make with more experience behind him.

He is careful about how he describes leaving Covington. The newspaper’s sale was part of the timing, but he speaks positively about the people involved and says he was already leaning toward Monticello. This was a chance to build something in his hometown.

The work readers never see

Owning the paper means writing stories, designing pages, selling advertising and running a business, often with very little room in the schedule. Evan describes working nearly every day during the early stretch of ownership. There is also a newsroom cat named Typo, because apparently the newspaper business comes with its own sense of humor.

Then there is the physical work of getting a paper out. In the process Evan describes, finished pages travel electronically to a printer in South Carolina. Printed copies come back by truck, then move through local distribution and the mail.

That is why the future of print involves more than whether people enjoy holding a newspaper. It also depends on access to presses and the cost of production. Evan hopes print remains part of the business while investing in the digital product readers will increasingly expect.

Reporting the facts and writing an opinion

Trey and Evan spend time on a distinction that can get lost when everything arrives in the same social feed: a reported story and an editorial do different jobs. Evan says news coverage should stay fair and factual, while opinion belongs on a clearly identified editorial page.

They discuss that distinction through Jasper County’s annexation debate and questions about potential development. Evan describes why he wrote an editorial about elected officials listening to residents. He also makes clear that speculation about a possible data center does not establish what will ultimately be built.

The broader question is one communities across our area recognize: How do residents get reliable information about decisions that affect the place they live? Evan’s answer starts with showing up, documenting what happens and asking questions, even when the people answering are neighbors or advertisers.

“It’s remembering who you do it for and that’s the readers,” Evan says.

A front page should reflect the whole community

Choosing what leads the paper involves public interest, newsworthiness and strong photography. Evan acknowledges that negative stories often draw attention, but says he tries to make room for good news on the front page, too. He mentions featuring the Humane Society as one example.

He is also candid about mistakes. In one edition, two similar planning and zoning stories led to the same story appearing twice under different headlines. Readers caught it, and the paper addressed it the following week. For Evan, striving for accuracy includes recognizing that a small newsroom will sometimes have to correct its work.

New readers and the next chapter

The story of a 25-year-old buying his hometown newspaper has brought attention from far beyond Jasper County. Evan says the response has been encouraging, especially when the daily work can feel thankless. National coverage also translated into subscriptions, he says.

Closer to home, he is experimenting with short weekly video recaps and social media as another way to bring people into the reporting. His background in video turns out to have a place in the newspaper business after all.

He can imagine expanding coverage where there is a need, though he offers no firm timetable. For now, the priority is local reporting that readers find useful and can trust. When Trey asks him for a headline explaining why people should subscribe, Evan lands here:

“Local journalism is the foundation of the community.”

That is a good place to end, and a good reason to keep the conversation going. Watch Episode 109, get to know Evan and consider supporting the people doing the work of covering your community.

Watch Episode 109: https://youtu.be/hRxXi8yWdgE

Explore The Monticello News and its subscription options: https://www.themonticellonews.com/

Links Mentioned

Episode 109 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hRxXi8yWdgE

The Monticello News and subscriptions: https://www.themonticellonews.com/

The Covington News: https://www.covnews.com/

The Monticello News ownership announcement: https://www.themonticellonews.com/2026/07/15/monticello-native-evan-newton-purchases-the-monticello-news/

WSB-TV coverage: Click here

MSNOW, Jacob Soboroff coverage: Click here

Sponsors and Advertisers

Headbangers Taphouse brings beer, food and a place to gather to Covington. Stop by with friends and thank them for supporting local conversations.

https://headbangerstaphouse.com

SteelCo Buildings supplies custom pre-engineered metal buildings for projects such as workshops, agricultural buildings and commercial spaces. Explore their building options and connect with their team about your next project.

https://www.steelcobuildings.com

#EvanNewton #TheMonticelloNews #localjournalism #Monticello #JasperCounty #TheCovingtonNews #NewtonCounty #newspaper #community #mediatrust #printjournalism #journalism #digitalnews #smallbusinessv#TheTownSquarePodcast

Who Pays and Who Answers

Don Scarbrough on taxes, data centers, and accountability | Town Square Podcast Episode 108 | Candidate Conversations

Listen to Episode 108 in your favorite podcast app by searching for Town Square Podcast. Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dEDjt44eNjs

You work, pay your bills, and pay your taxes. How much should government ask of you, and how clearly should it explain what happens to that money?

For Don Scarbrough, those questions sit at the center of his campaign for Georgia House District 113. In Episode 108 of the Town Square Podcast, our Candidate Conversations series continues with a candidate who describes himself as a working man, an IT professional, and a Christian constitutional conservative.

He has strong opinions about taxes, public spending, and the role of government. Trey asks him to explain what those convictions would mean for schools, law enforcement, health care, and the data centers drawing so much attention in Newton County.

The conversation also gets into the harder part of running for office: turning a principle into something that can work alongside other lawmakers and serve people who may disagree with you.

A working man with firm convictions

Scarbrough says he did not set out to become a politician. People who knew him encouraged him to run, and he describes his motivation in familiar terms: taking care of his family, practicing his faith, and wanting government to stop making life harder for working people.

That perspective shapes his approach to the District 113 race. He wants voters to understand his principles before they decide whether he should represent them. He also acknowledges that people across party lines have much in common, even as the conversation explores some sharp ideological differences.

When Trey asks about his campaign language opposing the Democratic agenda, Scarbrough narrows his objection to what he calls a Democratic Socialist agenda. His concern, as he explains it, is the growth of government power and its effect on individual freedom. Trey brings the conversation back to affordability and why people who feel shut out of homeownership might become open to different economic ideas.

Taxes and the question of who should pay

Scarbrough uses blunt language to describe his frustration with taxation. But he also says taxes are necessary to support basic services. His argument is that government takes too much, spends too loosely, and makes it too difficult for people to see whether programs deliver what they promise.

He favors exploring a consumption-based tax approach and discusses a simpler system with possible relief for people living in poverty. This is a statement of direction in the interview, rather than a costed legislative proposal. He also recognizes that federal tax administration is outside the office he is seeking.

The discussion becomes especially local when it turns to school taxes. Scarbrough questions why people without children in public schools should have to pay them, including families using private schools and people without school-age children. Trey presses on the shared-service principle behind that argument and asks whether rising property assessments are part of what makes the burden feel so heavy.

It is a real disagreement about how communities fund services. The interview gives voters a chance to hear both Scarbrough’s objection and the questions it raises about paying for public education.

Education and the ability to think independently

Education comes up as both a spending question and an opportunity question. Scarbrough argues that larger budgets should be judged against results. Trey raises the science of reading, phonics, and the importance of getting the fundamentals right.

Scarbrough emphasizes independent thought: students should learn the basics and develop the ability to research, evaluate information, and make decisions for themselves. That concern resurfaces later when he discusses AI and the risk of relying on technology to do the thinking for us.

For local readers, the connection is straightforward. Literacy and critical thinking affect a person’s ability to work, support a family, and participate in community life. The interview explores what Scarbrough thinks schools should accomplish without laying out a detailed education funding plan.

Public safety with an emphasis on training

Scarbrough’s views on crime are informed in part by personal experiences he recounts during the conversation, including a house fire while he was in Iraq and theft from his property afterward. He also describes more recent vehicle break-ins.

He supports law enforcement, stronger enforcement of existing laws, and Second Amendment rights. When Trey asks what safer communities would require, Scarbrough discusses hiring more officers and investing in training, especially constitutional law and knowledge of the laws officers enforce.

He also calls for accountability when judges make decisions involving repeat offenders. He clarifies that his point is about whether a judge should remain in office. Throughout this portion of the interview, his stated priorities are public safety, fairness, and constitutional protections.

An IT perspective that calls for slowing down data centers

An IT background might lead you to expect an enthusiastic pitch for data centers. Scarbrough takes a more skeptical position.

He questions the pace of development, the assumptions behind AI demand, and the consequences for local power, water, and infrastructure. He supports a moratorium while those issues receive closer scrutiny. Trey presses him on the services data centers already support, including cloud computing, business operations, and the platform carrying this very conversation.

Scarbrough acknowledges that data centers are useful. His position centers on how many are needed, whether the technology and demand justify the buildout, and who carries the cost. He also raises concerns about AI errors, bias, privacy, and dependence on technology.

His clearest line is about infrastructure: private enterprises should pay for the demands they create. “Taxpayers do not need to pay for private enterprise,” he says. That principle also drives his skepticism toward public subsidies more broadly.

Follow the money before expanding programs

On Medicaid, Scarbrough says he wants fraud and waste addressed before considering expansion. He argues that government should understand where existing money goes and what it achieves before asking taxpayers to support more spending.

He calls for audits and public access to their findings. His broader goal is to make spending traceable so residents can see what was purchased, what it cost, and whether it worked. The conversation presents his case for oversight; it does not establish how much an audit would recover or whether those savings would meet additional health care needs.

“Accountability is my number one goal here,” he says.

The flashlight candidate

Near the end, Trey gives Scarbrough a memorable description: the flashlight candidate. The idea is to shine a light on spending and let the public see what is happening.

Scarbrough is careful about promising results. He can commit to trying, he says, but cannot honestly guarantee what he would accomplish in a first term. That distinction matters in a conversation full of firm convictions: governing would still require working with other members of the House.

That is why we do Candidate Conversations. Voters deserve time to hear a candidate explain his priorities, respond to follow-up questions, and work through the places where a slogan leaves something unanswered.

Watch Episode 108 and hear Don Scarbrough’s perspective in full. Bring your questions to the messy middle. Unity does not require uniformity.

Links Mentioned

Watch Episode 108: https://youtu.be/dEDjt44eNjs

Don Scarbrough campaign website, shared in the episode: https://caariga.com

Campaign email, shared in the episode: [email protected]

Town Square Insiders: https://TheTownSquarePodcast.com/insiders

Sponsors and Advertisers

Headbangers Taphouse

Cold beer, food, and live entertainment in Covington, as featured in the episode’s sponsor message. Gather some friends and check them out.

https://headbangerstaphouse.com

SteelCo Buildings

Custom pre-engineered metal building systems for commercial, agricultural, and other projects. Planning a building? Visit SteelCo to explore the options.

https://www.steelcobuildings.com

Our Candidate Conversation series continues as Trey Bailey welcomes Rev. Dr. Eric Lee, candidate for Georgia Senate District 42.

A young family moves in with relatives, works to get on its feet, and hopes a first home is somewhere within reach. Rev. Dr. Eric Lee knows that experience personally. In this conversation, he recalls receiving food assistance and substitute teaching during the year he began pastoring Springfield Baptist Church. Six months later, he says, his family bought its first home.

Now he looks at his own children and wonders how many young adults can still make that kind of move.

That question runs through Episode 107 of The Town Square Podcast. Lee joins Trey Bailey for our continuing Candidate Conversation series to discuss his run for Georgia Senate District 42 and the priorities he would bring to the Gold Dome. Affordability gets much of the attention, but the conversation also asks what makes a community worth living in and what residents should expect from the people who represent them.

A pastor with family on both sides of the affordability question

Lee and his wife came to Newton County in 1999 with a young son. Their family grew to five children, and his ministry at Springfield grew with the community. He talks warmly about Mansfield Elementary, where his wife worked as a speech therapist and their first three children attended school.

His decision to run is rooted partly in the stage of life he occupies now. He has aging parents and children beginning their adult lives. Healthcare, housing, and the cost of getting established feel immediate when he thinks about both generations.

Lee also describes how ministry has shaped his understanding of influence. He recalls the sense of calm he felt hearing Senate Chaplain Barry Black pray in the aftermath of January 6. The moment helped him think about the importance of bringing his voice into places where public decisions are made.

“It’s not just what you say,” Lee says. “It’s where you say it.”

He sees public service as another opportunity to help people, while recognizing that representing a district means reaching people beyond his own congregation.

Making a first home feel possible again

For Lee, homeownership is one measure of whether hard work can still lead to stability. He wants first-time buyers to have a better chance of purchasing a primary residence, and he argues that competing with corporate buyers can put families at a disadvantage.

He calls for incentives for first-time homebuyers and consideration of ways to limit direct competition from corporate entities. These are priorities he wants lawmakers to pursue; the conversation does not lay out a completed bill or a detailed financing plan.

Trey connects the issue to the character of a neighborhood. A home can give people a reason to invest in the place and the neighbors around them. Lee’s concern is that families who work and save should have a realistic opportunity to put down those roots.

Fuel costs and access to healthcare

Lee also raises shorter-term relief from fuel costs. He suggests considering periods of suspended state gas taxes, with attention to travel seasons and the fuel needs of farmers. His argument is that transportation costs reach beyond the pump and affect the price of producing and moving food.

On healthcare, he supports Medicaid expansion. He points to North Carolina as an example and argues that broader coverage could help Georgians afford care and reduce pressure on hospitals. Trey and Lee connect that discussion to their experience around a hospital board table, where financial decisions have practical consequences for local care.

The proposals give listeners a sense of where Lee would focus. They also leave room for the questions that follow any policy idea: how it would be funded, who would benefit, and how lawmakers would measure whether it works.

Tax relief without leaving schools short

Property taxes bring the discussion directly into Trey’s work on the school board. Families need relief, especially seniors at risk of being priced out of homes they have already paid for. Schools and other public services still need dependable funding.

Lee argues that those responsibilities can be addressed together. He favors looking at relief based on income and says revenue removed from one place has to be accounted for somewhere else. He is skeptical of sweeping promises to eliminate taxes without explaining how essential services would continue.

“We should all have skin in the game,” he says.

He also challenges the idea that a large state surplus, by itself, proves government is meeting its responsibilities. His concern is whether needs in healthcare, education, and infrastructure remain unmet while money sits unused. The conversation makes the tradeoff concrete: a tax decision eventually reaches a classroom, a school bus, a hospital, or a household budget.

Data centers and the need for public answers

When the conversation turns to data centers, Lee resists an easy yes-or-no answer. He describes them as growth that communities will have to manage and calls for a substantial role for local control.

His concerns include energy demands, the distinction between temporary construction jobs and permanent employment, and the information residents receive before decisions are made. He questions the use of nondisclosure arrangements in a process that affects the public.

Trey raises the possibility of appropriately located industrial development helping support local services, while acknowledging the concerns of people living nearby. Lee encourages people to keep learning and to approach educational discussions with an open mind.

The exchange leaves listeners with a useful set of questions: What is being promised? What will the community be responsible for? And how much will residents know before a decision is final?

What wages have to do with community life

Lee supports raising wages, but he does not offer a specific minimum-wage target in this interview. He says employers and economists need to be part of the discussion and acknowledges concerns about the effects on small businesses.

He describes conversations with people whose employees work multiple jobs to make ends meet. The issue, in his telling, is both income and the time left over for living.

Trey follows that thought into the community. If someone can meet expenses with one job instead of several, there may be time to attend a child’s game, volunteer, or participate in church. Lee adds Bible study to the list. It is a small exchange that explains why the conversation keeps returning to quality of life.

Representing the whole district

Lee’s view of community investment includes places where people meet outside political arguments. He talks about the Cricket Frog Trail, local arts events, and Springfield’s support for the Fuzz Run. Those experiences, he says, can help neighbors get to know one another.

Asked what distinguishes his candidacy, Lee says he wants to represent the entire district. He rejects a county-against-county approach and says he is seeking support from people across political affiliations. He wants voters to consider what their communities could become.

That is also the purpose of making time for a full Candidate Conversation. A campaign name on a sign tells you very little about how a person thinks. This episode gives listeners time to hear Lee’s reasoning, weigh his proposals, and decide which questions they want their next state senator to answer.

Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/-iZSh6fJfvg

Links Mentioned

Rev. Dr. Eric Lee campaign website - https://ericleeforgeorgia.com

Springfield Baptist Church - https://www.sbcgrowth.church

Watch Episode 107 on YouTube - https://youtu.be/-iZSh6fJfvg

Sponsors and Advertisers

United Bank — Covington Branch

Thank you to United Bank’s Covington Branch for supporting local conversations on The Town Square Podcast. United Bank offers personal and business banking, mortgage services, and financial planning. Stop by the Covington office or visit the website to learn more, and let the team know you appreciate their support of the show.

https://www.accessunited.com

Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

A data center moves into the conversation. A school needs resources. A family needs medical care, but help is a long drive away. State policy can feel distant until the consequences land close to home.

For Michael Caw, those concerns are connected by a question he says he hears from residents: Are the people making decisions actually listening?

In Episode 106, our Candidate Conversation series continues with the Newborn councilman and candidate for Georgia House of Representatives District 114. Caw joins Trey Bailey and Gabriel Stovall to discuss growth, education, healthcare access, local businesses, and how he would approach representing his neighbors at the Gold Dome.

From testing building materials to serving neighbors

Caw introduces himself with stories from Wichita, Kansas, his move to the South, and a career at Georgia-Pacific testing building materials. The work involved walls, roofs, ceilings, and doors, with safety as a practical concern: Would the materials and hardware do their job when people depended on them?

He returns to that idea of standards throughout the conversation. Working with different people requires flexibility, he says, along with a foundation everyone can build on. He connects that experience to service on the Newborn council and volunteer work with the Newborn Heritage Trust.

Asked why he wants to run for the state House, Caw says residents need representatives who hear their concerns and bring them into the policy process. He describes himself as a fellow constituent seeking to become their advocate.

Data centers and the responsibilities of a neighbor

Data centers are among the concerns Caw says he hears while talking with voters. He questions the scale of their resource use and raises concerns about water, noise, lighting, and the surrounding environment.

“People should be first for those resources,” he says.

Caw recognizes artificial intelligence as a tool, while questioning how much infrastructure is needed and what communities should expect from the companies building it. His test is whether a business will be a good corporate neighbor and participate in the life of the community.

He points to the local merchants and gathering places that help sustain Newborn and nearby Mansfield. For him, economic development should be evaluated with the people already living there in mind.

School funding gets a closer look

When Caw names education as a priority, Trey pauses the conversation to dig into the school funding formula. Caw says Georgia needs to revisit its Quality Basic Education, or QBE, formula and better support schools.

The conversation looks at how the demands on schools have changed, including technology, safety, and the cost of educating students. Caw also calls for residents to take an active role by helping children read, explore their interests, and understand their responsibility to the community.

His view of preparation goes beyond learning to operate the latest device. He emphasizes thinking, communication, and adaptable skills, along with the lessons students learn through art and athletics. The hosts join him in discussing why young people need an education that can serve them through changing jobs and stages of life.

Healthcare that people can reach

Healthcare access is Caw’s third major priority. He describes concerns about ambulance response times and the distance residents in rural areas may need to travel for care. He asks whether more places to stabilize patients before transfer could help families who live far from a hospital.

He also raises access to care for women and children and argues for a stronger regional healthcare presence. Mental health belongs in that discussion, he says, alongside physical health.

The conversation presents his priorities and reasoning rather than a detailed plan for financing or implementing those services. His central argument is that healthy residents and accessible care are investments in the community’s future.

Keeping local businesses and farms in the picture

Asked about supporting businesses, farmers, and working families, Caw starts with buying locally. He describes purchases from a neighborhood merchant as part of a network that supports mortgages, children, jobs, and other businesses nearby.

He wants farmers to have markets for their products and encourages people to develop and share practical skills. That leads to a lighter exchange about artisan businesses, handmade goods, and his own interest in sewing and learning to repair shoes.

There is also a question about how government spends. Caw says public resources have limits and argues that policy should look beyond the next election cycle. He wants leaders to consider who benefits from a decision and whether the investment serves residents over time.

Working together starts with seeing the person

When Gabriel asks about working with Republicans and Democrats, Caw starts with recognizing the other person’s humanity and the people they represent. Listening, patience, and empathy are part of his answer.

“Compromise is not a dirty word,” he says.

Trey recalls meeting Caw at a gathering of local leaders from different political backgrounds. Sharing a meal and talking helped build relationships that could matter later, when those same leaders needed to solve a difficult problem together.

That is a fitting place for this Candidate Conversation to land. Voters deserve time to hear how a candidate thinks, what he prioritizes, and how he responds to questions. Watch the full conversation, consider Caw’s answers, and keep asking questions of the people who want to represent you.

Learn more about Michael Caw’s campaign:

https://cawforgeorgia.com

Links Mentioned

Watch Episode 106 on YouTube - https://youtu.be/dxvfHeb9H7o

Michael Caw campaign website - https://cawforgeorgia.com

Angel Pitts with United Bank Wealth Management - https://www.accessunited.com/wealth-management

Town Square Insiders

Join the Town Square Insiders

https://TheTownSquarePodcast.com/insiders

Sponsors and Advertisers

Angel Pitts with United Bank Wealth Management

This episode is sponsored by Angel Pitts with United Bank Wealth Management. United Bank offers financial and retirement planning services built around clients’ goals. Reach out to Angel to start a conversation about your financial future, and thank her for supporting local conversations on The Town Square Podcast.

https://www.accessunited.com/wealth-management

A grocery bill. A long drive to medical care. A veteran still trying to get help. When Pamela DeLancy talks about the people she meets on the campaign trail, those are the kinds of concerns she brings to the table.

In Episode 105, our Candidate Conversation series continues with DeLancy, a retired Army colonel and registered nurse running for US Congress in Georgia’s 10th District. She joins us to discuss the experiences that shaped her, why she decided to run, and what she hears from residents across a district that takes serious windshield time to cover.

She is direct about her convictions. She also has stories to tell, beginning long before she ever thought about putting her name on a ballot.

Learning to lead before she had a title

As the oldest of six children, DeLancy describes taking on family responsibilities early. After her parents divorced, her mother worked nights as a licensed practical nurse. DeLancy helped get her siblings up, fed, and ready for school so that the morning could run smoothly when her mother came home.

She also recalls her younger brother’s serious medical needs and the family’s move from Louisiana to Houston to find care. Helping her family was part of daily life. Looking back, she sees those experiences as the beginning of her understanding of accountability and service.

At 17, she asked her mother to sign the paperwork allowing her to join the Army. She saw a way to continue her education, support herself, and send money home. The plan eventually led her into nursing and a military career that lasted much longer than she initially imagined.

From enlisted soldier to Army colonel

Early in the interview, DeLancy corrects the hosts’ notes: her service totaled 39 years, including 31 on active duty and eight in the Army Reserve. She describes beginning as an enlisted soldier, taking college classes while stationed in Germany, and later returning to school full time.

Through ROTC and nursing school, she became an officer. She tells the story of discovering that the Army needed her back on active duty as a nurse, a development she now sees as one of the best turns her career took.

The conversation also addresses the challenges she experienced as a Black woman in leadership. DeLancy says she learned to stay focused on her work and goals even when others questioned her authority. Her advice to younger soldiers was practical: be dependable, meet the standard, and do not let someone else’s behavior determine the course of your career.

Why she decided to run

DeLancy says her decision grew out of concerns about constitutional rights and the direction of the country. She emphasizes the military oath to the Constitution and argues that public officials should serve the people rather than pledge loyalty to a particular administration.

Her experience surviving gallbladder cancer also changed how she thought about the time ahead of her. She describes surgery, chemotherapy, and the importance of advocating for herself as a patient. After a long career of service, she felt called to do more.

There is a candid campaign origin story, too: a YouTube class, advice about raising money, and a prospective campaign manager whose discounted fee was still beyond what she had available. DeLancy kept going. A friend’s phrase, “Pam speaks boldly,” becomes a recurring thread in the interview.

What she hears on the road

Asked what residents tell her, DeLancy returns to affordability. She describes concerns about groceries, housing, fuel, and wages, along with the practical difficulty of finding services in rural communities. Some of the conversations she recounts involve limited access to dental care, maternity care, or a nearby grocery store.

For DeLancy, those issues connect. A job needs to pay enough to support a household, and a community needs the services that allow people to keep living and working there. She argues for stronger wages and career training, including opportunities for people who do not pursue a four-year degree.

She also talks about farmers who want to preserve agricultural land as pressure for development grows. The needs of a rural community, she says, cannot be understood solely from a distance. That is part of why she puts so much emphasis on visiting people in person.

Veterans and the work of getting help

Veterans’ care is one of the most personal parts of the episode. DeLancy describes people she has met who spent years trying to secure benefits, and she recounts her uncle’s experience seeking disability compensation. She says his approval arrived the day before the family buried him.

Her central argument is that veterans should not have to struggle through an exhausting process to obtain support connected to their service. She calls for more consistent access to mental healthcare, with attention to continuing treatment and prevention as well as crisis response.

She also describes an idea for a public-service employment and training program inspired by earlier conservation efforts. In her proposal, veterans and workers who need additional skills could train for jobs that meet needs in their own communities. She connects that idea to rural employment and the care an aging population will require.

Affordability without a magic wand

The hosts ask what Congress can realistically do about food and housing costs. DeLancy acknowledges that Congress cannot simply make prices fall overnight. She discusses supporting locally grown food, scrutinizing corporate pricing, and improving pay so that more families can cover basic expenses.

She also argues that debates about food assistance need to account for what people earn. In her view, it makes little sense to criticize families for needing help while accepting wages that leave them unable to pay for necessities.

Her answers place household stability at the center of her campaign. They also give listeners a useful starting point for follow-up questions about the federal policies, costs, and partnerships that would be needed to carry out her priorities.

Data centers and the people living nearby

When the conversation turns to data centers, DeLancy questions whether the promised economic benefits adequately account for the burdens on nearby residents. She raises concerns about water use, electricity demand, noise, and the protection of farmland.

She argues that developers should bear responsibility for addressing resource needs and community impacts. She also suggests that residents should share more directly in the benefits of projects built near them. These are her policy views and concerns; the interview is not a technical assessment of a particular facility.

The hosts acknowledge that they have heard different perspectives on data centers across the podcast. This conversation adds DeLancy’s priorities to that wider discussion: protect essential resources and ask who receives the benefit when a community accepts a major development.

Voting and the meaning of representation

DeLancy recounts receiving a voter-registration mailing that concerned her and contacting election officials about it. The experience becomes part of a larger conversation about access to voting and the importance she places on constitutional rights. For official registration and polling information, Georgia listeners can use the state’s My Voter Page: https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/

The hosts also ask her to identify both a difference and a point of agreement with her Republican opponent. DeLancy draws a sharp distinction between their approaches and says the shared pursuit of the office is the only common ground she can name. It is a revealing answer in a series built to let candidates explain where they stand.

She closes by asking voters to consider a candidate’s values and commitment to representation. Her case for running rests on the idea that serving people has been the consistent work of her life. Hear her make that case, weigh the ideas, and bring your own questions to the conversation.

Watch Episode 105: https://youtu.be/zHkwm1U8VKA

Links Mentioned and Listener Resources

Pamela DeLancy campaign website https://www.votepamdelancy.com

Watch Episode 105 https://youtu.be/zHkwm1U8VKA

Georgia My Voter Page — official voter information resource https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/

Town Square Insiders. https://TheTownSquarePodcast.com/insiders

Sponsors and Advertisers

Bizzy Bee Exterminators

Thank you to Bizzy Bee Exterminators for supporting this episode. Bizzy Bee provides pest control for homes and businesses, including termite and mosquito services. Visit https://www.bizzybeeexterminators.com to explore their services and request help with unwanted pests.

Headbangers Taphouse

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Headbangers Taphouse! The episode’s sponsor spot introduces a Covington gathering place with food, beer on tap, sports, music bingo, and live music. Bring your friends and get to know the business helping support these local conversations. Visit https://headbangerstaphouse.com for more information.

What does “meeting in the middle” actually mean when the conversation turns to healthcare, immigration, abortion, and the cost of living? It is easy to say we need more cooperation. The harder question is where a candidate is willing to practice it.

In Episode 104, our Candidate Conversation series continues with Jonathan Chavez, a Republican running for US Congress in Georgia’s 13th District. The Conyers resident joins us to discuss the experiences behind his positions, the problems he wants Congress to address, and the places where his answers depart from familiar party talking points.

There is also a surprisingly detailed conversation about loading a dishwasher. Around here, getting to know a candidate includes the person who goes home after the campaign event.

The family and work behind the campaign

Chavez describes a path from Albuquerque to Boston and eventually to Conyers, where his wife’s family helped draw them to Georgia. He talks about raising four children, his family’s decision to homeschool, and the work ethic his father passed down to him.

Those family stories help explain how he approaches opportunity and responsibility. He recalls working as a teenager and learning to keep a goal in view when setbacks came. Today, he says, his children are a central reason he keeps pushing himself.

His professional background brings another perspective. Drawing on his military medical service and work in healthcare administration, Chavez describes leadership as a responsibility to make decisions with the best information available, including information that challenges your first instinct.

Why he wants people who will challenge him

One of the episode’s most revealing stories comes from a military training exercise. Faced with a simulated casualty lying on a grenade, Chavez had to decide how to protect his team while continuing to help other patients. He describes choosing to report the hazard and move the team forward.

The lesson he carried away was about making a decision under pressure, then learning from it. In his civilian work, he says that also means hiring people who will question his approach.

“I need to surround myself with not just yes people,” Chavez says. He wants respectful opposition because someone else may see the angle he missed. That idea becomes a recurring test throughout the conversation: how would it translate from a hospital team to Congress?

Healthcare beyond a yes or no on Obamacare

Healthcare produces some of the most detailed policy discussion. Chavez says he values the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting conditions and wants to improve the system rather than reject it wholesale.

He proposes expanding public coverage for certain expensive medical conditions while giving health insurers more ability to compete across state lines, with a minimum coverage standard. In his view, taking on some of the costliest care could create room to press insurers for lower premiums. Those are his proposed changes and expected benefits, not established outcomes.

Chavez connects his ideas to the patients he encounters through his work, including people who struggle to afford copayments. He also describes efforts to shorten inpatient MRI turnaround times and develop cardiac imaging services. For him, the policy question starts with whether people can actually get the care they need.

The discussion leaves room for the implementation questions: how coverage would be financed, how quality would be protected, and what would make the promised savings reach patients. It gives listeners a clearer picture of what he wants to pursue.

Affordability and a different way to collect taxes

On affordability, Chavez discusses housing tax credits, business regulation, and support for small businesses. The hosts press him on the boundary between what Congress can change and what belongs to state or local government.

He also explains his interest in the FairTax proposal, a national consumption tax approach with a monthly household “prebate.” He sees potential in changing how federal taxes are collected, while saying the idea needs more research and questioning whether it would really eliminate the IRS.

For listeners, the useful question is what such a change would mean for a household’s full budget: take-home pay, purchases, and the monthly prebate together. Chavez’s expectations about prices and savings are part of his case for studying the proposal.

Border security and a pathway for longtime residents

Asked what securing the border means to him, Chavez argues for enforcement alongside a more workable legal immigration system. He also says some longtime undocumented residents who have contributed to their communities should have a pathway toward citizenship.

His grandfather’s immigration story helps shape that view. Chavez says this is one area where he differs from some people in his own party, and he describes wanting a process that is faster and better able to vet applicants.

The exchange gets at an important part of Candidate Conversations: a broad campaign phrase can hold very different ideas. Asking the next question is how listeners find out what a candidate actually means.

Schools and measuring student growth

Education brings the conversation back to the relationship between federal support and local decisions. Chavez favors expanding support for students facing poverty, educator development, and students from immigrant backgrounds while giving states and districts room to determine how resources are used.

He argues for measuring students’ progress from their starting points. When students struggle, he wants schools to receive help and resources to improve. He also supports assistance for homeschooling families, while acknowledging that homeschooling is not a workable option for everyone and that public schools will continue to serve families.

Faith, abortion and the limits of party labels

Chavez is direct about his Christian faith and opposition to abortion. He describes those convictions as central to his reasons for running, and he discusses wanting a larger place for prayer and Christian principles in public life.

The hosts also explore how voters weigh competing priorities. A person’s party affiliation does not necessarily tell you what they believe about every issue, or which concern will carry the most weight in their vote. That exchange adds context without resolving the disagreements.

Chavez says he once identified as a Democrat, and he credits conversations with his wife with challenging his views. His willingness to describe that change sits alongside firm positions that some listeners will share and others will question. Both are part of understanding the candidate.

Hear the reasoning and bring your questions

Near the end, the conversation returns to accountability: what should voters expect from the person they send to Washington, and how should they judge the results? Chavez argues for a change in representation and says he does not want a lifelong career in Congress.

This episode offers listeners time to hear his reasoning across several issues, including where he draws a firm line and where he sees room to work with others. Watch the full conversation, consider the proposals, and bring your own questions. That is the work of the messy middle.

Watch Episode 104: https://youtu.be/4b3pWEq1Cv8

Links Mentioned

Jonathan Chavez campaign website - https://jonathanchavezforcongress.com/

FairTax proposal discussed in the episode - https://fairtax.org/about/how-fairtax-works

Watch Episode 104 - https://youtu.be/4b3pWEq1Cv8

Become a Town Square Insider. Don't miss a single episode or the weekly blog posts. Click the link and enter your email address to be a Town Square Insider - https://TheTownSquarePodcast.com/insiders

Sponsors and Advertisers

Thank you to United Bank Mortgage for supporting Town Square Podcast and our Candidate Conversation series. United Bank offers mortgage services with local lenders who can help you explore buying or refinancing a home. Visit https://www.accessunited.com to learn more and connect with their team. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

What Ten Dollars a Month Can Do for Your Community

YouTube: https://youtu.be/zaKh0YOmQYM

Ten dollars a month may not sound like the beginning of a community investment strategy. Zayvion Sheppard thinks it is a perfectly good place to start. Get 50 people to commit, and those small gifts add up to $500 a month, or $6,000 over a full year. For a grassroots organization helping students prepare for college or neighbors find work, that can mean something practical.

Zay returns to The Town Square Podcast with an invitation to participate in that kind of giving through For Atlanta. By Atlanta., known as FABA. He also brings a book announcement, an honest account of nearly giving up on the organization, and a reminder that the people who invest in a young person may never see the full reach of what they started.

Making room for everyday donors

Zay describes attending an Atlanta benefit and leaving energized by the generosity in the room. He appreciated what large donors and corporate partners could make possible. He also wondered how more people could experience the same connection to the work without a high price of admission.

That question helped shape what he calls “affordable impact.” The FABA 50 invites 50 people to give $10 a month. It is a way to make regular community giving accessible to people who want to help but may never write a large check.

In the conversation, Zay is candid about how hard it can be to ask. At 22, he has had to challenge his own doubts about whether people will trust him with their money. The response from his network has pushed him to take that trust seriously and to stop assuming the answer will be no.

Raise invest and elevate

FABA’s approach centers on raising money, investing in community organizations, and sharing the stories of what those investments make possible. Zay wants donors to see the people and work behind a contribution.

He points to the Taylor Made Foundation as an example. In his account, FABA’s support helped the organization send five graduating students off to college with dorm-room supplies. Refrigerators, microwaves, toiletries and school supplies may not sound glamorous. For a family getting a student ready to leave home, they are real needs.

Zay also discusses support for after-school learning and workforce development. When asked whether education, housing and employment define the organization’s limits, he clarifies that fighting poverty is the broader purpose. The team wants to find trusted organizations doing effective work, including those that may not fit neatly into a predetermined category.

Finding the people a neighborhood already trusts

The way Zay describes finding partners is refreshingly local. Talk to people. Ask who has helped their children, their families or their neighbors. Pay attention to the organization that keeps showing up, even if its leader is too busy doing the work to promote it.

He wants that community knowledge to matter in funding decisions. Many of the leaders he describes hold another job while running their nonprofits. FABA aims to support their work without adding a heavy administrative burden. Follow-up conversations still matter: What did the support accomplish? What need remains? What could additional funding make possible?

That approach also puts responsibility on FABA. Zay describes board oversight and regular conversations about the organization’s decisions. He tells a particularly personal story about a donor who preferred to hand over cash: a $20 contribution covering two months of support. He does not know what it took for her to spare that money. He knows he has a responsibility to use it well.

The part of leadership people rarely announce

Zay admits that there was a point when he hoped FABA might quietly fade away. The ambition was big, and the team had overcommitted. Then someone at a professional program asked about the organization after Zay had deliberately left it out of his introduction.

That conversation helped him reconsider. Instead of trying to do everything, the team focused on work it knew it could carry out: raise funds, support organizations already serving their communities, and tell their stories. Starting with a small group of partners gave them room to learn how to manage an investment cycle responsibly.

It is a useful part of the story for anyone who has started something and then wondered whether they were qualified to keep going. Zay’s confidence has grown alongside that willingness to narrow the work, ask questions and accept help.

A book about the people who invested in him

Zay also shares that he has completed a manuscript. Its working title is A Dollar’s Worth of Impact, a callback to a story he told during his earlier Town Square appearance. The title and publication plans are still developing.

He hopes the book will speak to young people trying to lead and to the adults mentoring them. Writing it has meant revisiting family support, the loss of his grandfather, and the people who made room for him in places he had never been before.

The central idea is personal. Zay does not describe his path as proof that he was smarter than everyone around him. He points to the time, attention and opportunities other people gave him. He wants readers to consider what a similar investment might mean for someone else.

Taking Newton County with him

The conversation keeps returning to home. Zay talks about his work in government and community affairs at Georgia State University and the relationships he has built in Atlanta. He also makes clear that success elsewhere does not erase his connection to Newton County.

“I like home,” he says.

He connects that attachment to a question he uses to think about community decisions: “And how are the children?” For Zay, the value of an investment may become clearest years later, when a student who received support has the chance to help someone else.

His invitation is practical. Give if you can. Share the work. Introduce FABA to an organization your community trusts. There are several ways to participate, and the first one may be as simple as starting a conversation.

Watch the full conversation with Zayvion Sheppard:

https://youtu.be/zaKh0YOmQYM

Links Mentioned

For Atlanta. By Atlanta. https://foratlbyatl.org/

The FABA 50. https://foratlbyatl.org/the-faba-50/

Taylor Made Foundation https://taylormadefoundation.org/

East Atlanta Kids Club https://eastatlantakids.org/

The Same House https://www.thesamehouse.org/

Newton Education Foundation https://newtoneducationfoundation.org/

Sponsors and Advertisers

United Bank

United Bank serves individuals, families and businesses with banking and lending services. Thank you to United Bank for supporting conversations that keep our community connected. Visit the Covington office or explore what the bank offers online.

https://www.accessunited.com

History Is in the Spirit: Rev. Dr. Terrence Evans on Faith Memory and Civic Life

Town Square Podcast Episode 102 | Faith and Community

Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/73cI1WtGUGg

A church can hold a community’s history in ways that a courthouse file or a history book cannot. St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church has served Covington since 1878. Its congregation rebuilt after fires, lived through segregation and integration, helped people register to vote, and carried its ministry from Stone Mountain Street to a larger home on Brown Bridge Road.

In Episode 102 of the Town Square Podcast, Rev. Dr. Terrence Evans joins the Faith and Community series to talk about the life behind that history. His story moves from Opa-locka and Miami to Georgia State basketball, eighteen years serving people experiencing homelessness, a call to ministry, and his 2023 appointment as senior pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Covington.

The conversation also offers a plain-language introduction to the AME tradition: why the denomination was formed, how its structure works, and why worship, memory, social action, and grace remain connected.

The Barbershop Test

Before Evans was a pastor, he was Sherry and Willie’s son, a six-foot-seven basketball player from Opa-locka, Florida, and a young man deciding where a scholarship might take him. He knew Miami. Atlanta was new.

Georgia State began to feel like home almost immediately. Evans arrived without having gotten a haircut, asked his coach for help, and was taken straight to a local barbershop. That ordinary act told him something important: he could find community here.

His years as a Panther also shaped his approach to leadership. Evans remembers one coach as quick and direct and another as deeply relational. The second model is especially visible in his ministry now. He believes leaders should offer clear direction, trust people to use their gifts, receive feedback, and pivot when a better path serves the church and the gospel.

Grace in Action at Jefferson Place

After earning a criminal justice degree with a minor in sociology, Evans considered law enforcement. His mother, a Miami police officer, urged him to remain in Atlanta. A summer youth-employment job opened the door to Fulton County government, and an overnight position at Jefferson Place became an eighteen-year vocation.

Jefferson Place was a transitional housing program located in the former Fulton County jail. Evans began by checking residents in at night and later became a case manager. He watched men complete technical training, build businesses, restore family relationships, and move toward stability. He also witnessed relapse, disappointment, and the painful consequences of rules that could not simply be wished away.

That work changed his understanding of ministry before he had a pulpit. “It helped me to see grace in action,” Evans says. “It helped me to see how it is that there are consequences.” Holding those truths together became part of his pastoral formation: compassion does not erase accountability, and accountability does not cancel a person’s humanity.

A Call and an Immediate Assignment

Evans was raised Baptist and did not grow up expecting to enter ordained ministry. While serving at Jefferson Place, raising three children with his wife, and worshiping in an AME congregation, he began to recognize a persistent call. He entered the AME Board of Examiners process and studied at Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center.

The transition from preparation to pastoral responsibility came quickly. In 2010, almost immediately after his ordination as an itinerant deacon, a presiding elder told him about a small church that needed a pastor. His first appointment was St. Paul AME Church in Dallas, Georgia. He later served Greater Ward Chapel AME Church in Columbus before being appointed to St. Paul in Covington in June 2023.

There is a fitting symmetry in beginning and continuing his pastoral work at congregations named St. Paul. There is also a consistent thread: Evans’ ministry grew from service, relationships, and the belief that God was already present in places he had not expected to go.

What African Methodist Episcopal Means

For listeners who have seen the initials without knowing the distinctions, Evans breaks the name into three parts. African points to a church founded by people of African descent. Methodist identifies its Wesleyan theological roots and disciplined approach to Christian life. Episcopal describes a structure of governance led by bishops, with pastors appointed to congregations and layers of accountability that extend from the local church to the denomination’s General Conference.

Evans describes a connectional church rather than a collection of independent congregations. St. Paul belongs to the East District of the Atlanta North Georgia Annual Conference, within the Sixth Episcopal District. Local church conferences, quarterly conferences, district and annual conferences, and the denomination’s quadrennial General Conference each have a role.

The structure can sound complicated from the outside. Evans sees strength in its checks, relationships, shared doctrine, and wider mission. The local congregation is rooted in Covington, but it belongs to an international church.

A Church Born from Worship and Protest

The AME story begins with the Free African Society, organized in Philadelphia in 1787 by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others. After Black worshipers at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church faced racial discrimination, Allen and others pursued a place where people of African descent could worship freely and serve one another fully. Allen established Bethel in 1794, and in 1816 representatives of Black Methodist congregations formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Evans emphasizes that this history is not only denominational history. It is American history. The church grew from a refusal to accept dehumanization inside Christian worship and from a commitment to mutual aid, religious autonomy, and the full dignity of Black people.

That founding story still asks something of the church. Evans argues that remembering injustice is not an exercise in resentment. It is a way to understand the cost of progress, honor those who endured and resisted, and recover the church’s responsibility to serve people whose dignity is still challenged.

St. Paul Carries Its History Forward

St. Paul’s own story reflects that resilience. Founded in Covington in 1878, the congregation rebuilt after multiple fires and continued serving across generations. Its history includes voter registration and civil rights work, and that legacy now lives through its Social Action Ministry.

The congregation hosts a polling place, organized a candidate forum, and works with community partners to help new voters understand the political process and identify the offices and people on their ballots. Evans is careful about the distinction: this is nonpartisan participation, not an instruction about whom to support.

The point is access and responsibility. Local elections can be decided by a handful of votes, while many residents do not know who represents them or how local offices affect daily life. For St. Paul, encouraging informed participation is connected to the sacrifices of people who fought for voting rights.

When the congregation moved from its historic site to Brown Bridge Road, some members worried about leaving physical history behind. Evans offers a line that captures the transition: “History is not in the walls. History is in the spirit.” A larger campus did not discard the story. It gave that story more room to continue.

What a Sunday at St. Paul Feels Like

Evans describes St. Paul as a congregation where a visitor should feel like family. The service follows a recognizable AME order that includes the doxology, prayer, Scripture, music, and preaching. First Sundays lean more traditional, with hymns that carry theology and memory across generations. Contemporary music has a place too.

Evans calls himself a teacher and storyteller more than a “whooper,” though he acknowledges that the energy can rise. He often works from the lectionary and has also begun preaching in series. Preparation matters, but so does listening. He describes preaching as a collective moment shaped not only by the person in the pulpit but by the congregation’s response, silence, faces, and later conversations.

Sunday school begins at 9:30 a.m., and worship begins at 11 a.m., as stated in the episode. St. Paul AME Church is located at 13108 Brown Bridge Road in Covington. Visitors can learn more at https://www.stpaulamecov.org.

A God Who Is Available

Asked what he would say if all of Newton County and the surrounding community were listening, Evans returns to grace: “We have a God that is available.” He means available in success and disappointment, trauma and healing, clarity and uncertainty.

His own path gives the statement weight. The young athlete did not know he would become a pastor. The county employee did not know that overnight work in a transitional housing program would become ministry. The newly ordained deacon did not know a pastoral appointment was waiting before he left the building.

Faith, in Evans’ telling, is not an escape from community life. It is a reason to enter it with humility, memory, service, and hope. St. Paul’s history belongs to Covington, but its work is happening now, in worship, voter education, hospitality, and the ordinary relationships through which a community learns to see one another more fully.

Links Mentioned

Watch Episode 102 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/73cI1WtGUGg

St. Paul AME Church in Covington: https://www.stpaulamecov.org

St. Paul AME Church history and pastor biography: https://www.stpaulamecov.org/about-us

African Methodist Episcopal Church history: https://www.ame-church.com/our-church/our-history/

Luther Rice College and Seminary: https://www.lutherrice.edu

Bizzy Bee Exterminators: https://www.bizzybeeexterminators.com

Sponsors and AdvertisersLuther Rice College and Seminary

Luther Rice offers biblically grounded, accredited, 100 percent online programs for traditional students, adult learners, ministry leaders, and working professionals. Explore undergraduate, graduate, certificate, and doctoral options at https://www.lutherrice.edu.

Bizzy Bee Exterminators

Bizzy Bee Exterminators is a full-service pest-control company serving homes and businesses in Covington and beyond. Request service at https://www.bizzybeeexterminators.com or call 770-787-3718.

The Cost of Staying Home: Clint Crowe on Property Taxes Housing and Data Centers

Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XjBIapdxdqI

For many homeowners, affordability is no longer an abstract campaign issue. It is the tax bill on a house they have owned for decades, the price of a starter home their children cannot afford, and the argument over whether new development will ease the pressure or create new costs.

Representative Clint Crowe brings several perspectives to that conversation. He represents Georgia House District 118, chairs the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, serves on Ways and Means and four other committees, and has worked in law enforcement and real estate. In Episode 101 of the Town Square Podcast, he explains how those experiences shape his approach to taxes, housing, data centers, and the work of representing a district that includes parts of Newton, Butts, and Monroe counties.

This Candidate Conversations episode presents Crowe’s record and positions in his own words as voters prepare for the November election.

A Career Built Across Public Safety and Real Estate

Crowe was first elected in 2020 and took office in 2021. Before entering the legislature, he volunteered with a fire department, worked as a 911 dispatcher, served in law enforcement, and built a real estate company with his family. He describes those jobs as different versions of the same work: dealing with people, solving problems, and trying to find an outcome that competing sides can accept.

His family story also informs the way he talks about public service. Crowe and his wife, Kristie, raised two sons and later adopted a great-niece and great-nephew who came to live with them as very young children. He says his decisions at the Capitol affect his own children and grandchildren along with the rest of the district.

Why Legislation Moves Slowly

Crowe offers a practical explanation of a process that often looks needlessly slow from the outside. A House bill may pass through subcommittee hearings, a full committee vote, the Rules Committee, and the House floor before beginning a similar path in the Senate. Tax referendums and some other measures require a two-thirds House vote rather than a simple majority.

He argues that the friction is intentional because state policy must work across communities that differ sharply in population, tax base, and public-service needs. Crowe says committee hearings are among his favorite parts of the job because local officials and residents can explain how a proposal would affect them before lawmakers vote.

The Property Tax Question

The longest policy discussion begins with residents who fear being priced out of homes they already own. Crowe says he has heard from seniors on fixed incomes who cannot keep up with rising property-tax bills. His guiding view is that a primary residence should eventually become secure from that pressure. In his words, a homeowner should not have to “continuously rent that from the government for your entire life.”

Crowe discusses House Bills 581 and 92, including the effort to limit increases in taxable value through a floating homestead exemption. He also describes a proposal that did not pass in the most recent session: replacing property taxes on homesteaded homes with revenue from an additional one-cent sales tax and other funding sources.

He acknowledges the central tradeoff. Local governments and school systems depend on property-tax revenue, and a sales tax spreads costs to renters and consumers as well as homeowners. Crowe argues that visitors would pay part of the sales tax, while communities with weaker retail activity would need another way to replace lost revenue. The episode does not pretend that the arithmetic is simple.

Housing Costs Begin Before Construction

Crowe also connects affordability to the shortage of homes within reach of first-time buyers and public-safety employees. Drawing on his real estate background, he says permitting delays, minimum square-footage rules, low-density requirements, infrastructure costs, and limited housing supply all raise the final price paid by a buyer.

He supports local planning and zoning, but questions rules that prevent smaller or less expensive homes even when they meet accepted safety standards. His concern is that every delay and development cost eventually appears in the home’s sale price. The policy tension is familiar: communities want control over growth, while the same restrictions can narrow the supply of attainable housing.

Data Centers and Local Control

The conversation then moves into one of Newton County’s most contentious subjects. Crowe opposes broad moratoriums on data centers and believes local comprehensive plans should determine where major industrial uses belong. He points to Stanton Springs as an example of placing a data center inside an established technology and industrial area rather than near homes.

Crowe frames data centers as infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence, economic competition, and national security. He also recognizes the concerns that residents raise about electricity, water, noise, tax incentives, and the number of permanent jobs. He argues that large users should pay for the infrastructure their projects require and that local governments must use new revenue in ways that benefit their residents.

Several statements in this part of the interview, including Crowe’s claims about foreign misinformation and water-use patterns, are his assessments as presented in the episode. His broader position is clear: he favors case-by-case local decisions, careful siting, and financial safeguards rather than a statewide stop.

Showing Up as the Measure of Representation

When asked why voters should return him to office, Crowe emphasizes responsiveness. He recounts a conversation with a Democrat who disagreed with him on several issues but voted for him because, as the voter put it, “I know you show up.” Crowe says he wants residents to judge him by his positions and his accessibility rather than by the party label alone.

That answer fits the larger conversation. Crowe does not claim that every policy problem has an easy fix. He argues instead that experience, access, and a willingness to explain a vote matter when the issues involve competing taxpayers, local governments, schools, businesses, and neighborhoods.

Episode 101 gives District 118 voters a sustained look at how Crowe reaches those judgments. The purpose of Candidate Conversations is to let voters hear that reasoning directly and decide how well it matches their own priorities.

Links Mentioned

Watch Episode 101 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XjBIapdxdqI

Georgia General Assembly member directory: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house/5002

Crowe for Georgia: https://croweforgeorgia.com/

Georgia General Assembly legislation search: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/all

SponsorUnited Bank Mortgage

United Bank Mortgage offers conventional, jumbo, government-backed, first-time homebuyer, and Community First mortgage options. Its local lenders help borrowers understand available programs and move from application through closing. Learn more at https://www.accessunited.com/mortgage/mortgage-services or visit a United Bank office.

United Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. NMLS number 413054.

Episode 100: From Furious to Curious with Kamal Carter of A Long Talk

One hundred episodes ago, The Town Square Podcast began with a simple conviction: people who see the world differently should still be able to sit together, ask honest questions and search for understanding. We call it “unity, not uniformity.” For our 100th episode, we found a guest whose life’s work feels almost tailor-made for that mission.

Kamal Carter is the president and co-creator of A Long Talk About the Uncomfortable Truth, an organization that helps people interrupt ignorance and bigotry in real time. Its work reaches locker rooms, boardrooms, schools, churches and other places where people with different histories and perspectives must learn to function as a team.

That made Carter more than a fitting guest for this milestone. It made him the perfect one.

Two Dads Who Wanted Something Better

A Long Talk did not begin as a polished national initiative. It began during the pandemic with Carter and his business partner, Kyle Williams—two former educators and two fathers who wanted a safer, more humane world for their children.

Carter traces his instinct for service even further back. One of his grandfathers was a Tuskegee Airman who modeled excellence, discipline and responsibility while also carrying the pain of being treated as less than after serving his country. That family history taught Carter that achievement should be joined to service and that each of us can choose to leave the world better than we found it.

The immediate spark for A Long Talk came after one of Williams’ sons attended a protest in Washington, D.C. An accusatory exchange with a college basketball teammate escalated through text messages and FaceTime. Williams contacted the coach, expecting to talk the next day. Instead, the coach called that night—and listened.

That conversation changed the temperature. The coach asked for resources, began taking action on his campus and helped prove that a difficult exchange did not have to end in injury or estrangement. Within six weeks, Carter and Williams were helping convene a conversation with 107 college basketball coaches. What started with one father, one coach and one hurting student began spreading across athletics, education and corporate life.

Information + Empathy = Action

Carter describes the A Long Talk formula plainly: “information plus empathy equals action.” The goal is not to drag everyone to the same opinion. It is to create an environment where people can speak honestly, listen carefully and respond to harmful statements without either freezing or exploding.

That distinction matters. A conversation leaves room for questions, reflection and boundaries. A confrontation becomes a contest to win. Carter argues that people retain the right to their beliefs, but organizations also have the right—and responsibility—to establish what conduct belongs in their locker room, workplace, church or civic space.

The work begins with grace and what Carter calls “progress over perfection.” If people fear that one awkward phrase will get them banished, honest conversation becomes nearly impossible. But grace is not passivity. A Long Talk trains people to step in when language is harmful and to replace an instinctive blast of anger with disciplined curiosity.

Go From Furious to Curious

When an inflammatory statement lands, most people do one of two things: freeze or react at full force. Carter offers another option—go from furious to curious. That does not require pretending the statement was harmless. It means regulating the first reaction long enough to understand what was said, why it was said and whether the speaker has ever seriously examined it.

Curiosity can also change who carries the burden of responding. If a sexist comment is made in a room where only one woman holds leadership, why should everyone look to her to challenge it? A colleague can intervene. A teammate can ask the question. A bystander can become an active participant in protecting the culture.

Carter calls critical thinking “kryptonite to ignorance.” It forces a careless generalization into the light, where the person who made it must explain, reconsider or openly own it.

CPR for a Difficult Conversation

The practical tool A Long Talk teaches is CPR: clarify, probe and redirect.

Clarify begins with a deceptively simple question: “What do you mean when you say…?” The key is to repeat the person’s actual words and then remain quiet. Rather than supplying the accusation and the verdict, the listener gives the speaker room—and responsibility—to explain.

Probe moves deeper. A question such as “How do you think that would make your mother, sister or teammate feel?” invites the person to consider impact, not merely intent. Redirect then asks what language or action would support the people affected and the values the group claims to share.

Like any skill, CPR requires practice. Carter tells participants to expect mistakes, extend grace and build new conversational muscle memory through repetition.

We Put CPR to the Test

This episode does more than describe the method. Carter coaches Trey and Gabriel through a hypothetical claim that “everybody in Newton County is racist.” By returning the exact words, asking questions and testing the sweeping logic against real relationships, the exercise demonstrates how curiosity can expose the weakness in a generalization without dismissing the pain that may sit underneath it.

It is uncomfortable work. That is the point. Carter reminds us that the aim is not perfection on the first try; it is becoming ready to respond well when the real moment arrives.

Why This Conversation Belongs in Episode 100

For 100 episodes, The Town Square Podcast has tried to make room for the messy middle: a place where disagreement does not require dehumanization and unity does not require uniformity. A Long Talk is pursuing that same hope through training, role-play and a growing community of people prepared to interrupt harm.

Carter says it may take only one or two brave people in a room to begin changing its culture. That is both a challenge and an encouragement. We do not have to wait for a president, a movement or a massive national campaign. We can begin at a dinner table, in a team meeting, at church, on a school board—or behind a podcast microphone.

One hundred episodes in, that still sounds like work worth doing.

Links Mentioned

Watch Episode 100 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XjBIapdxdqI

A Long Talk: https://alongtalk.com

A Long Talk resources and CPR Protocol Study Guide: https://alongtalk.com/resources

A Long Talk on social media: https://www.instagram.com/alongtalk2020/ — @alongtalk2020

United Bank Wealth Management: https://www.accessunited.com/wealth-management

Meet Angel Pitts: https://www.accessunited.com/wealth-management/meet-your-team

SponsorAngel Pitts — United Bank Wealth Management Advisor

Angel Pitts serves clients in the Covington and Madison markets, helping individuals and families develop wealth-management plans around short- and long-term financial goals. To learn more, call 770-412-4932 or visit https://www.accessunited.com/wealth-management.

United Bank Wealth Management Services: building relationships that go beyond investments.

Disclosure: Wealth Management Services are not FDIC insured, not bank guaranteed, may lose value, are not a bank deposit, and are not insured by any federal government agency.