-
Alan Mitchell
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 Education.
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. What role should the board of education have in economic development, if any?
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 Samantha Sinclair
Staff Writer
Alan Mitchell wants to continue to serve the public, and is seeking a third term on the board of education.
“As I have stated before, the main reason I am running again is because I have a true servant heart and the children of Franklin County are our most important generation,” he said.
He believes that true leaders need to be elected positions.
He has served in leadership roles, and he said he loves to hear from stakeholders, and get their thoughts, concerns, and ideas.
He said he’s shown the ability to work with three different superintendents and several different board configurations since he was first elected to the Post 4 seat in 2014.
“As a board of education member, I’ve always strived to collaborate as a team and sometimes that means you have to negotiate to have a consensus,” Mitchell said. “I am a true conservative both fiscally and in principle. The Franklin County Board of Education is in the best financial shape we have ever been right now and I want to keep that going.”
If he’s reelected, his plan is “to keep all systems go.”
He noted there’s always room for improvement, and he would strive to improve the educational system in the county.
One way he wants to do that is to provide better supplements for teachers, improving retention.
He also would like to continue to fight for lower taxes.
“This is always a difficult balance at the local level, balancing the budget while trying to protect the taxpayer,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was one of a couple school board members to attend an economic development summit for local leaders last year. However, he said it’s not the role of the board to have a hand in economic development.
“With that being said, it is our mission to prepare students for the next step in life after graduation, whether that be college, tech school or workforce,” Mitchell said. “That is the only way I see the board of education impacting economic development.”
Mitchell was born and raised in Franklin County, graduating from Franklin County High School in 1987.
He went to the University of Georgia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in technology management from the School of Agriculture Engineering in 1991.
He and his wife Becky married in 1995 and have three children — Will and Joe are Franklin County High School graduates, and Ginger is graduating this month.
Mitchell lives in the Red Hill community, where he is a self-employed diversified farmer with a main focus on poultry for Fieldale Farms. He also raises commercial cattle and row crops.
The Mitchells are members of Toms Creek Baptist Church where Alan is an active deacon and Sunday school teacher.
Since 1995, he has served as a volunteer fireman with Red Hill Volunteer Fire Department.
He is also an active member of the Franklin County Young Farmers organization, and is serving on the board of directors for the new Franklin County Christian Learning Center.
Mitchell said he would love to speak with everyone in Franklin County to hear their thoughts and concerns.
“My door is always open and I’m only a phone call, text or email away,” Mitchell said.
He encouraged all stakeholders to look into what the board of education has done and the financial state of the school system.
He noted the school system is financially sound, and the board has been responsible with the general fund and special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) money. They are also looking into increasing supplements for teachers.
“The facts speak for themselves,” Mitchell said.
He also would like people to understand that Franklin County is growing, and leaders are needed that can manage that growth.
“I feel I have a track record to prove that I can help do that,” Mitchell said. “We may not agree on every decision that is made, and that’s OK. But ultimately I would hope if you are a concerned citizen, you would look to my past decisions over eight years and come to the conclusion that I definitely have our most important generation (the children of Franklin County) at heart. I appreciate your prayers and would appreciate your vote to keep Franklin County School System moving forward.”