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Cole Roper
As part of its coverage of the 2022 elections, the Franklin County Citizen Leader submitted the same list of questions to each candidate running for a seat on the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.
The questions were:
1. Please provide information about your background, education, past service in government or with community organizations, church and family.
2. What qualities and/or qualifications do you feel will serve you best in the position you seek?
3. What are your plans if you are elected to the position?
4. Growth has been a big topic in Franklin County of late. What criteria will you use in deciding requests for rezoning, conditional use permits and other applications from developers?
5. If you had a chance to speak one-on-one with each registered voter in Franklin County, what would say to secure his or her vote?
The answers submitted by the candidates were used to write the story below.
By Shane Scoggins
Publisher
Cole Roper credits being a part of a livestock judging team in college for teaching him “premier leadership skills, personal growth and career success.”
And running his own business – Cole’s Sweet Corn, which is part of his family farming operation – has shown him how to be responsible and conservative with money “to prepare for harder times.”
Those skills and others will serve him well as a county commissioner, the candidate for the District 4 seat on the Board of Commissioners said.
“I also am able to think quickly, make a decision and defend that decision,” he said. “Dealing with the public on sweet corn sales, as well as my broiler supervisor job, I know how to talk to folks and get things done, using a common sense approach.”
Roper grew up on his family’s poultry and cattle farm in Sandy Cross and graduated from Franklin County High School in 2012.
“I was very active in the FFA which pushed me to further myself and go to [the University of Georgia,” Roper said. “I went on to UGA where I attained a bachelor’s degree in animal science, was a part of the livestock judging team and was student of the year for the College of Ag.”
After graduation, Roper went to work for Fieldale Farms as a broiler supervisor and served as livestock judging coach at Emmanuel College from 2018-21.
He and his wife, who have a six-month old daughter Blakely, also have a cattle farm and grow sweet corn, where they enjoy spending time with family.
“We are both active in the community and attend Liberty Baptist Church,” Roper said. “I am a member of the Georgia Young Farmer’s Association and am also on the state board of directors.”
The Ropers are members of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association.
“Yes I am young, and still have a lot to learn. I get that,” Roper said he would tell potential voters. “But I will listen, and I will find an answer if I don’t know it. I would tell them my faith and family comes first. I would then explain to them I am a conservative, pro-life, pro-constitutional right. I love Franklin County and everything about it. I would also encourage everyone to get out and vote. Class of 2012, I am running for y’all so your family has the same chance of growing up the way we did if not better.”
If elected, Roper said he will stand firm against suburban sprawl and encroachment from Atlanta.
“Growth and change are coming, however that doesn’t mean we have to embrace it,” he said. “Just because the world is changing around us doesn’t mean we have to change with it. Our number one industry is agriculture, and this land needs to be used to feed people.”
Protecting the school system and emergency personnel from the effects of growth is important, Roper said.
“One of our largest employers is the school system and our teachers. We need to do what we can for the county as a whole. My wife is a teacher and I will not make decisions that overrun our schools and hurt our teachers that are already overworked and underpaid,” he said. “Same goes for our police, our EMTs and firefighters. Many of my previous classmates work in all these positions and I want to make sure we don’t do something that puts them in a worse position. We need to make their lives better as they are the ones who we call on in times of need and teach our youth.”
Roper said that growth is coming considering that Franklin County sits between Atlanta, Greenville, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C.
“One person told me you aren’t going to stop it. This may be true, but I will not sit on the sideline and watch us get run over and our Franklin County way of life ruined,” the candidate said. “I am running for the people of Red Hill, Line, Bold Spring, Prospect, Sandy Cross, Five Area, Middle River, Ashland, and Gumlog. If you don’t know these places you don’t know the Franklin I know. Yes I am running for the good folks of Royston, Franklin Springs, Lavonia, Canon and Carnesville too. The folks that want to keep our small town way of life.”
Industry is needed, he said, to help take the tax burden off of farmers, landowners and senior citizens
“Franklin is where it is at because of them,” Roper said. “It’s time to give them a break. We just need to be careful on what industry we choose to come. I would also like to back the industry we have here. Go check out Carry-On, AutoZone or Harbin. They have plenty of jobs last time I checked.”
Taxes and infrastructure improvements are also on Roper’s agenda.
Roper said he would also like to see the county “get to a point of being able to lower taxes on our senior citizens.”
“Expansion of natural gas lines throughout the county needs to happen, he said. “This is something that would save 50-65 percent of heating costs for anyone able to switch from propane to natural.”