I, Chip Ledbetter, would like to announce my candidacy for mayor of Quitman. I am a native of Clarke County and currently live in the City of Quitman. I grew up in Stonewall but have lived in Quitman for more than 20 years. I am married to Angie Ledbetter. We have three grown children: Courtney Hyde, Kade Ledbetter, and Allie Klaire Ledbetter. I spent over 30 years of my career working in the oil and gas industry. During that time, I managed multi million dollar projects and budgets and had the task of managing hundreds of workers on various projects. I have worked all over the world but am happy to settle back in Quitman and give back to this community.
Over the last six months, I have looked at the drain system in Quitman during the heavy rains and feel that 80-90% of the issue can be resolved with manpower from the city and county. If elected mayor, we will continuously monitor the drain system during heavy rains and use a common-sense approach to alleviating the problem. We will always consider cost when making these decisions and not spend money where it is not needed.
Our fire department has always done a great job representing our community. We have great volunteers in the fire department, and if elected, I will work with them whenever possible to make sure they have the right equipment and resources needed to tackle any emergency. Having worked in the emergency response business for 10 years, I understand what it takes to be ready to tackle any emergency. If elected, I will work with local leaders and businesses to test our emergency management system and to verify we have the proper people and resources in place.
I promise to work with our board to cut costs where needed and consider where our community wants their tax dollars spent. Our parks and recreational complexes are not being maintained well enough to maximize the potential they could provide. If elected, I will ensure that our parks are in the best shape the city can afford. I will also ensure that our families are protected when they are visiting our parks. We have a very valuable resource with our parks and recreational complexes, and I intend to maximize that potential in every way I can. I can remember when I was young and would go play in baseball tournaments at the ball complex and have a great time. I feel it is a must that our city provides our youth with a place to exercise and play sports.
If elected, I will also work with our chief of police and the sheriff to make sure our community is the safest it can be. I will make sure our officers have the proper resources to carry out this job. I have also talked to many of our citizens about the concern of safety. The City of Quitman will make this top priority and do everything that we can to make this the safest community in the area. We will be taking the drug dealers off the street. I will assure everyone that when someone is arrested, our officers will do everything possible to make sure they get their day in court. If they do the crime, they need to do the time, and our police force will work diligently to make sure this motto is carried out.
Our city needs to be cleaned up. While I understand this is a sore subject to some of the citizens of Quitman, I promise to be fair and not single out anyone in the process of making our city beautiful. I have made the following statement and I will stick with it. If your property is affecting the property value of your neighbor in any way, you will be getting a visit from someone that works with the City of Quitman. At that time, the city will work with you to get it cleaned up. I will work to set up a community service program that can assist with this or look at other ways to help in this process. I will also say that the city needs to clean up their own property before knocking on the citizen’s doors. I will work to make sure that the city is clean and is setting a good example. Then, we will work with all property owners to make our town beautiful.
If elected, I will work with the local media to have our board meetings live streamed so the citizens of Quitman can see what the mayor and board are discussing. Transparency and the truth will always be at the forefront of anything we are doing for the people of Quitman.
I would like to see our local parades return to Quitman. This is a great way for everyone to come together and promote our great county and city. I have spoken to several people about this, and I can see both sides of why we should and why we should not have parades. We will get with the organizers of the parades and make sure that they are safe and not causing undo resource strain on our local law enforcement.
I do not claim to be a politician, and I don’t want to turn into one. I just want to see the City of Quitman thrive and grow and be a great place to live. I will serve this city with integrity and I pledge to be truthful and transparent with the citizens of Quitman. We will work for the people.
I humbly ask for your consideration and vote in the primary election on April 1.
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