The Cullman Tribune Debates – District 12

0:16 Good afternoon and welcome to the state

0:38 representative district 12 debates. I'm your moderator, Noah Galloway. We sent invitations to all, but only Mr.

0:46 Mcuarter and Mr. Hollingsworth elected to attend. Now to the rules. No one is

0:52 allowed to accompany the candidates as we don't want outside influences impacting the debates. U number two, no

1:01 cell phones or electronic devices of any kind can be worn or in the possession

1:06 during the debate. Number three, we do not allow any pre-written statements or notes.

1:14 People want to hear what you have to say, not what has been prepared to say.

1:19 The only notes permitted are those to be taken during the debate. Each candidate

1:24 has been provided paper and pen just for that reason, and it will be taken up

1:29 before the final uh statement. Questions are formulated by the Tribune crew members before the final questions

1:40 are decided by a vote within the group. Questions alternate from Asw answers first, then B follows. In this instance,

1:50 Mr. Haulingsworth will go first and then followed by Mr. Mcuarter. The second question, Mr. Mcuarter will answer first

1:58 and then Mr. Hollingsworth. Each will have the chance to answer first on four

2:03 questions and second on four questions. This is to even the field. Each candidate will have 60 seconds to

2:11 introduce themselves and what position they are running for before this debate begins. Once the debate has concluded,

2:19 each candidate will have two minutes closing remarks, but this cannot be used to make accusations.

2:26 This next rule is for all questions. If accusations are made and the other

2:32 candidate has already spoken, then they will receive 45 seconds to reply to the

2:37 accusation with no further rebuttals. All right, gentlemen. Are y'all ready for uh for our debates?

2:45 >> Yes, sir. >> All right. Uh Mr. Hollingsworth, since uh you were uh won the coin toss, would

2:54 you like to go first as far as the um introduction? >> Sure, absolutely. So, I'm Clint

3:00 Hollingsworth. I'm running for House District 12 seat. Uh the vote is July 15th and just want to remind everybody

3:07 to show up to vote. Uh I'm a small business owner. I'm a cancer survivor.

3:12 I'm also a father of five. Um four children here on earth, one in heaven.

3:17 Um I am uh been married to my wife Lesie uh for 28 years and it has been an

3:23 incredible experience on this campaign trail and I've learned quite a bit. I'm also currently on the Cullman City

3:29 Council and been public service and really have enjoyed seeing the private sector in my business but also uh being

3:36 in public service and having experience in both. And it's been wonderful seeing a lot of you guys on the campaign trail

3:43 and learning more about your communities and hearing from you guys on what your

3:47 needs and wants are and look forward to serving you guys in Montgomery and I

3:51 appreciate your vote July the 15th. >> All right. Thank you, sir. Mr. McQuarter, your sir.

3:56 >> Yes. Uh I'm Dan McQuarter. Been a Coat Springs resident for 35 years. I run my

4:01 own business out of my house uh selling and servicing optical emission spectrometers. been married for 40 years

4:08 to my high school sweetheart. Uh we have uh three daughters and nine grandchildren. Uh it's been a wonderful

4:15 experience to get out and meet the people of Cullman. Uh have traveled for

4:18 a living. So it's kind of a new experience getting into town and and

4:22 meeting you guys and uh we certainly look forward to representing you in Montgomery.

4:28 >> Thank you both for the introductions and we'll get straight into it with question

4:32 one. This is involving hemp and CBD ban uh HB445. Mr. Hollingsworth, um do you support or

4:42 oppose the new Alabama law banning smokable hemp products? And how would you justify this decision

4:52 in light of the economic impact on small businesses, farmers in our district? I

4:57 certainly think that um you know there had to be some guard rails in place and

5:02 I know there are some mixed emotions and debates back and forth with kind of just

5:07 anti- everything group versus the business side and obviously being a small business owner the last thing I

5:13 want to do is to um you know do anything that's going to be detrimental to small

5:19 business. um we've got it hard enough as it is and it's important that we try to

5:24 do the things to to make the climate um where small business owners can survive.

5:29 And so this bill here, I know there's always the positives and negatives of

5:33 anything, but it is important to have some type of oversight and make sure

5:37 that number one, public safety comes first and there's nothing going out there that's going to harm folks. And so

5:44 it's important that we understand exactly kind of the devils in the details of any of these bills. And so

5:49 certainly it's important that uh we understand that and going forward um you know from what I've been hearing going

5:56 forward some of the main issues is listen your constituents on what's important to them and um I've heard this

6:02 topic pop up not as much as roads and bridges and schools and those type

6:06 things but certainly be glad to educate myself going forward if assuming I'm able to get elected.

6:12 >> All right. Thank you sir. Uh Mr. Mcquarter uh would you like me to repeat

6:17 please? >> All right. on hemp and CBD ban HB445. Do you support or oppose the new Alabama

6:23 ban uh Alabama law banning smokable hemp products? And how would you justify this

6:29 decision in light of the economic impact on small businesses and farmers in our

6:34 district? >> Well, um I oppose it as is currently written. Um um the people I've talked to uh who uh

6:43 run these uh shops uh are for a lot of the uh the rules and or the law as it's

6:51 written. Uh the childproof labeling, the packaging, uh the uh testing of batch products are all something these people

7:00 agree on. Uh the uh smokables um you you run into a couple of different versions

7:06 of smokables. You have vapes and you also have uh uh flowers. Um I think

7:11 there uh um uh would give uh give up the flowers if they could get a certain uh

7:19 uh type of vape manufactured that we've talked specifically of bringing all of this manufacturing process into Alabama

7:26 to be controlled by the state of Alabama. So that would be give us

7:30 another industry to work in the state. Uh so that's uh something that we would

7:35 look forward to. I think the the bill has guard rails on it. Uh I've looked at

7:40 other uh states and their modeling of this type of uh uh industry. Uh Missouri

7:46 comes to mind uh as that they have uh uh uh uh isolated the uh uh material from

7:54 the public. In other words, you would have to walk through an enclosed door

7:58 and and and identify yourself, make sure that you uh pass a legal identification

8:03 to be over 21 and then you would go into an adjacent room and and be able to

8:08 purchase the products. I think that's a a a real good way to do that. I don't

8:12 think in shutting the industry down the way it's uh written right now. uh also I

8:17 think the uh uh trace amount of THC at 03 is almost an incidental element even

8:24 though there's a lot of canniboids that can be derived from that level. So I

8:29 think it needs work and I would be against it in its current form.

8:33 >> All right, thank you. And we're going to move to question two which starts with

8:37 you Mr. >> Uh it's on the topic of medical marijuana. Mhm. >> Uh, where do you stand on Alamians

8:44 finally having access to medical marijuana in Alabama, but yet they don't have access to medical marijuana? Do you

8:52 believe current feed dragging and restrictions are too much? Why or why not? >> I absolutely I think medical marijuana

9:01 back to the smokables. I think once you go into the medical marijuana side, then

9:05 you know that's where the flowers would come into effect. That's where the smokables would come into effect. Uh I

9:12 do think that it's being held up. I think we have uh from what I understand

9:16 one company that is holding this up legally because they're not included into the licensed that were uh uh put

9:24 forward. So I'd say uh open it up to one more lency and let's get this show on

9:28 the road. >> All right. Thank you, sir. And uh Mr. Hollingsworth, would you like me to

9:34 repeat the question? >> Uh sure. >> All right. medical marijuana. Where do you stand on Alamians

9:40 uh to finally have access to medical marijuana in Alabama but yet not to have

9:47 access? Do you believe current feet dragging and restrictions are too much? Why or why not?

9:53 >> Well, this hits home to me. Um in 2006, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins

9:59 lymphoma at age 29. went through several scans, obviously six rounds of chemo, one of which was called the Red Devil,

10:08 and it lived up to its name. And I remember, of course, my wife having to

10:12 take care of me, but in the middle of the night having excruciating pain. I

10:17 felt like I just had lightning going through my joints and bones. It was

10:22 awful. Um, certainly something that Tylenol was not going to take care of. And so I know there's a lot of folks out

10:29 there that have either gone through what I did or something similar or seen a

10:34 family member struggle and go through. So I would be the last person to tell

10:39 somebody when it comes to trying to help with certain pain uh that they can't pop

10:44 a gummy uh to try to help them. If that will help them and they get relief uh

10:48 physically and and really mentally, then that's the scary thing with cancer. It affects you mentally and physically. and

10:56 that caretaker is also involved, the one that trying to help you. And so that's

10:59 one of those that hits home to me. And certainly like anything, there's use and

11:03 abuse of anything. And we see that in other things. And I think it's something

11:08 that um certainly like I've talked about before, the devil's always in the details. When anything is presented, you

11:15 want to look up look over it, make sure you understand what's being presented,

11:19 and make sure before you cast a vote that you truly understand what you're

11:22 voting for. >> All right. Thank you, sir. And now we're going to move on to question number

11:28 three. And Mr. Hollingsworth, this goes to you. This is on rural infrastructure. So we got to the bridges and stuff. And

11:35 of course, so uh the question is, what is your plan to help improve rural

11:40 infrastructure in districts 12, especially roads, water system, broadband, internet? Who should be financially responsible? The state

11:50 developers or local government? Well, you know, we have all seen this locally. Uh Tim Co Pepper uh has done a fantastic

11:58 job with the co-op with what we've seen with broadband and I know we all went

12:02 through co and kids and trying to get Wi-Fi and all these different things.

12:05 People in business for themselves. I know Dan was talking earlier where he lives and running a business out of, you

12:11 know, his office and home. There's a lot of people that work from home and need

12:15 highsp speeded internet. It's crucial. Um, and I think it's important that we kind of don't lose sight of that when

12:20 you talk about infrastructure, but we naturally talk about roads, bridges, street repair, all that kind of stuff.

12:26 I've been a part of a lot of this um 157, seeing that finally come to

12:32 fruition for our hospital, our industry, our residents, our businesses, even though that was such a rather three mile

12:38 stretch, it took forever to try to get funding in place. Uh, roads and bridges

12:42 and all that is very important. being on the council, seeing Eva Road Bridge

12:46 getting done, seeing Larkwood Bridge getting done after it was washed away with awful storm, securing over $20

12:53 million for St. Bernard Bridge, which we all been screaming for that project. We've got to have help from our state

13:01 and uh DC to get these uh projects done. And it does not happen in a couple of

13:07 years, one term, sometimes two terms. It takes time. And so it's important when

13:12 you get to see these things through and be a part of it. It's so rewarding at

13:16 the end to see the benefit for all of Cullman County. And that's what I'll

13:20 continue to do for this district. >> Thank you, sir. And Mr. Mcuarter, would

13:25 you like me to repeat? >> All right. It's on rural infrastructure. And what is your plan to help improve

13:33 rural infrastructure in District 12, especially roads, water systems, and broadband internet? Who should be

13:40 financially responsible? The state developers or local government? >> Um I believe all three. Um the U state

13:49 uh obviously 157's a state road. Uh 278 is a a state road. Uh we did talk to

13:58 ALDOT on the bridge in by St. Bernard. Uh they have plans to uh uh uh two-lane

14:06 that from uh Fourth Street out to where the uh uh uh two-lane is at um I think

14:13 it's uh the 69 157 uh uh interchange. Um but um yeah, the uh the roads itself,

14:22 broadband is I think uh already been uh uh discussed. Sprout is out here.

14:28 They're going through the county. I have it. It works great. uh very reliable,

14:33 high speed. Uh have been begging for that for years. So I think that's been a

14:37 wonderful uh addition. Um the um water um is interesting in that we live on a

14:45 dirt road uh for the last 35 years that has a 2-in water line. There's not a

14:49 fire hydrant within a mile. So uh but I don't want to say we're used to it, but

14:54 we are. Um the uh so the there's not enough road money. there's not enough uh

15:02 uh taxes coming back to Cullman. Cullman has the second largest amount of road

15:06 mileage behind Jefferson County. Uh one of my platforms is to try and get a

15:12 negotiation with the uh uh legislature to change the uh uh distribution from a

15:18 population base to a road mileage base and see if we can't get some more money

15:23 that way. Um I've been told that's going to uphill battle. I'm sure it is. Uh I

15:28 don't I don't anticipate any uh of my uh legislative uh um products to be uh uh

15:38 just a slam dunk. I'm sure you got to work with people. I'm sure there's

15:42 compromise. And uh but uh if you don't if you don't try, you're never going to

15:47 get it done. >> Yes, sir. And that leads us to question number four. So we're going to kind of

15:53 move away from all that. So question number four is public safety and mental

15:59 health. So this is for you Mr. Start. >> Do you support funding mental health

16:04 crisis centers and training for law enforcement on mental health calls? How would you improve rural mental health

16:12 access? >> I'm going to be pretty honest on this. I have uh have not really uh thought about

16:19 the mental health side of uh uh especially when encounters with police department. I do know that that is an

16:26 issue that a lot of people have lost their lives with encounters of the

16:30 police with police. Uh I I'm always surprised that um uh the uh uh some of

16:38 the uh encounters have turned into fatalities. Uh I always wonder why deadly force is used especially when

16:45 someone is is uh apparently uh uh not a a complete threat. Uh I can understand

16:53 where you want to protect yourself as an officer and uh but um uh I I think uh

16:59 that is a a difficult question and uh I haven't really gone in depth on that

17:06 particular topic. So um that would just be my personal opinion. All right. Hey,

17:12 we appreciate the honesty and that's what everybody wants. And uh Mr. Hollingsworth, would you like me to

17:17 repeat the question? >> Yes, please. >> All right. This is public safety and

17:20 mental health. Do you support funding mental health crisis centers and training for law enforcement on mental

17:26 health calls? How would you improve rural mental health access? >> So, this kind of looking at this in

17:33 multiple different way. I wish really Cindy was here because she's talked a lot about this on the campaign trail

17:38 about mental health in the in the in the school system >> and I've talked to a couple counselors

17:43 and it's really scary at the ages of these children that have got severe

17:49 mental illness issues and it seems to be younger and younger like second graders,

17:54 first graders and it's really um concerning. Uh, and I know a lot of

17:59 families have dealt with mental illness in their families where it doesn't seem like whatever money you throw at it,

18:05 time you throw at it, counseling you throw at it, government, you know, whatever, it doesn't work and it's so

18:13 hard because dealing with somebody with mental illness, it's like you're throwing your hands up because you want

18:18 to help, but you're trying to figure out how to do it. Uh I know on the council

18:23 um with Chris Van Djk has done a really good job locally and being able to try

18:28 to help folks and we give appropriations every year um to uh his organization

18:34 that will help a lot of our locals and but it just seemed like it's never

18:38 enough. I've got a brother who's a local police officer, so I hear from him of

18:42 dealing with folks that just are hard to deal with. And it's it's just it's it's

18:47 a big issue that needs to be discussed and it's in the school system. It's in

18:53 obviously everything that we're involved in of just dealing and trying to get help for these people, but what's going

18:58 to be effective? Uh is it medication? Uh obviously education, these type things are how to deal with it. And certainly

19:05 I'd be a big proponent of trying to tackle this at multiple different angles.

19:10 >> Right. Thank you both for that answer. Uh Mr. Hollings words number five is for

19:15 you. Uh it's workforce development. What will you do to strengthen workforce development programs including trade

19:23 education and partnerships with local employers? Um, you know, when I think of workforce

19:29 development, I think of what, you know, the county has done with an opportunity

19:34 for kids and the city to be able to go to work. You know, college isn't for

19:39 everybody. Um, and our um workforce, it's it's tough. Um you look at employers, they're all scramging around

19:48 trying to find um you know employees and they're having bidding wars with all of

19:53 our industry trying to keep good employees because you know it's a lot of

19:58 competition which is good but our workforce it's a double-edged sword. We've got one of the lowest unemployment

20:04 rates in Cullman County which is great but the pool of applicants is really

20:08 tough when it comes to filling these jobs. Uh Wall State comes to mind.

20:12 Vicki, Miss Vicki, has done a fantastic job down there um at being able to

20:17 partner with our industries and companies and businesses to try to to have these um students a opportunity in

20:25 a career, not just a job when they graduate from Wallace. Um and so there's

20:30 just so many different things, but the at the end of the day, there's so much

20:34 opportunity here in Cullman County. If somebody wants a job or career, there's places that they can be hired at. And I

20:42 think being a part of that during my time on the council of making an

20:46 environment where people we have a strong economy and a strong workforce, uh we just need to be able to keep

20:52 supporting um these folks and u I'm proud to be a part of that and continue

20:57 to work hard for this whole district and the Brett Crowers of the world that hire

21:03 in his plant and these are local folks mostly that rely on that plant for to

21:08 support their family and seeing this from a local level and the people. It's

21:13 been tremendous to see these companies expand and grow and want to locate here

21:17 in Cullman because they've got confidence in this area. >> Thank you, sir. Mr. Mcuarter, would you

21:22 like me to repeat the question? >> Sure. All right. It's on workforce development and the question is, what

21:27 would you do to strengthen workforce development programs including trade education and partnerships with local

21:34 employers? Well, uh, currently, um, I think the, uh, uh, biggest impact would be to

21:41 promote, uh, the dual enrollment programs that are allowed out of the high schools. Uh, this would allow

21:47 people who are not necessarily looking to go to a 4-year college to get a trade

21:53 through Wall State in welding or some other uh, technical uh, application or uh, trade. Um and uh that would bring me

22:01 uh to my uh one of my planks on my platform which is a standalone lottery

22:07 bill. Uh we are putting uh uh kids in Tennessee and Georgia through two years

22:12 of trade school, technical school and or a junior college and tuition free. Uh

22:20 and uh I think that's something we should be doing. We should stop giving

22:24 our money away to these states. we should break out the lottery from the

22:28 class 3 gaming bills that it's attached to. That would be a constitutional amendment. Uh so everybody in the state

22:34 would get an opportunity to vote on that. So I would think that and that's

22:39 one of my platforms is to uh uh get our guys uh uh trained up and um um

22:47 um pretty much >> you know educated it cost effectively and and from what I

22:57 understand even the dual enrollment right now if you have a dual enrollment uh then uh some of the high schools

23:04 actually uh uh pay for or wave the cost of going to say Wall State for a

23:10 technical uh degree. >> Thank you sir. Thank you both for that question. All right,

23:19 we're probably going to give you just about 60 seconds more on this question.

23:22 This is kind of a larger question that's been at hand for the last couple months,

23:27 actually for about a year now. Um, so Mr. Mcuarter, you'll start with this.

23:32 Okay. >> And this is question number six, and this is involving SB 322 in Smith Lake.

23:37 >> Yes. >> All right. This is multi-tiered. So, if you would kind of answer in order. Okay.

23:44 >> Okay. >> Have you read SP 322 in full? And could you explain in your own words what it

23:51 actually allows? Specifically, do you believe this bill could open the door to annexation

23:58 without voter input or create tax advantages for out ofstate developers? What is your stance on the bill? And

24:05 please elaborate. Uh I have read uh SB uh 322 and I've also read SB 328

24:15 and um I I think it does uh open up uh uh tax advantages for uh uh investors

24:23 that are from out of state. Um it it appears to me that um the um uh

24:32 annexation portion of it uh is something that uh they're probably going to come

24:36 back to the city of Kleman and ask for some type of bond issue. The uh Porch

24:42 Creek Indians are definitely involved in this. It goes into a potential casino gaming. If you look at the last uh

24:51 casino gaming bill that was put forward in 2022, I think it was SB 293,

24:59 uh the U what they do not go into uh it's two twofold. One is you you make the Porsch

25:08 Creek Indians monopoly uh of casino gaming. They can put uh casinos in the

25:15 uh racetracks, uh dog tracks, uh and they're allowed to have up to four uh uh casinos, but

25:22 nobody else is allowed in. There's nobody there's no room for a bin or MGM.

25:28 Uh I'm not personally for casino gaming. Uh since it would be a constitutional

25:33 amendment, it would have to go to the people. It it does the uh seem to uh uh

25:41 the gaming seems to lean heavily on the fact that the lotteryy's attached to it.

25:45 That's why I want to break the lottery out. That again, that would be a

25:48 constitutional amendment to be voted on. Uh so, um yeah. Um it's uh there's other things that are going on

25:59 behind the scenes. Uh there's an actual bill in the uh Congress, the Senate uh

26:06 uh sponsored by Katie Britt and Tommy Tupperville. It's SB1750. It would allow the Porch Creek Indians

26:12 who were only formed or recognized as a tribe in 1984 to fall under the um uh uh

26:21 reorganiz Indian reorganization act of 1934. This would allow them to uh form a

26:27 council or what they would have to do first is it's called a feed of trust uh

26:34 procedure where they would hand their deed over to the Indian affairs and from

26:38 there uh if that's accepted and that bills passed through the uh Congress, the United States Congress, then uh

26:44 wherever they have land would be historic tribal land. So they could form a committee and do whatever they want to

26:51 with it. uh back to 293. Uh there's no uh it's not a solidified

26:59 bill, so anything can change in that bill, which would allow them to possibly

27:04 have uh what's called satellite casinos. This would allow for up to 300 different

27:08 gaming machines at a at a different location. And uh again, uh as Clint

27:15 says, the dirt's in the details, and there's a lot of them there. >> Thank you, M. Mr. McWater. Uh, Mr.

27:22 Hollingsworth, would you like me to reread the question? >> Absolutely. Yeah, my add's kicking in.

27:26 >> It's all right. That's all right. We've only got a couple more questions after

27:28 this, I promise. All right. Uh, this is question six. This is SB 322 and Smith

27:33 Lake Resort. Have you read SB 322 in full? And can you explain in your own

27:39 words what it actually allows? Specifically, do you believe this bill could open the door to annexation

27:45 without voter input or create tax advantage for out ofstate developers? what is your stance on the bill and

27:51 could you please elaborate? >> So, you know, yes, I've read over the bill. Um, I really have not spent a

27:59 whole lot of time on this mainly because uh nothing has really been presented to

28:04 me as a council member and I don't know if there ever will be, but if there will

28:07 be, obviously I'm going to be off the council by then. And so, whoever is

28:11 elected will have to deal with that. But like any annexation, it has it has to

28:16 come from the property owner. So, whoever that property owner has got to send a request to be brought in. And

28:23 now, I've dealt with that quite a bit because of neighborhoods and folks wanting to be part of the city school

28:29 system or for whatever reasons, but most of the time it's school system. And so,

28:33 I've been a part of that. And so, that's basically something that's not a slam

28:37 dunk. There's still requirements and steps and procedures that are in place that have to be gone through in order

28:44 for somebody to even qualify to be annexed in. And whether that's annex in

28:49 the city of Cullman or Good Hope, Hville, whatever, there's still procedures in place that's got to

28:54 happen. Um, we have heard a lot of rumors. I know Dan probably has heard

28:58 certain things, too. You don't know what to believe, but I know ultimately it is

29:03 a hot topic and we want to be sensitive to this district. not only the district

29:07 but the whole county u but especially those folks down in Cold Springs that

29:11 are closer to this and make sure it's not going to be something that's

29:15 detrimental um to our communities and from traveling around and listening to folks you know

29:22 their top priorities is roads, bridges, schools, volunteer fire departments. That's what's resonating in the district

29:30 um that I've been going to. Have they brought that up? Absolutely they have.

29:34 Um, but it's one of those situations that I think if we make oursel

29:38 available, they know we're actually going to show up to Montgomery, like we're showing up to this debate today,

29:44 and realize, you know what, Clint's going to answer my call. If I end up

29:47 want to meet with him, he's going to meet with me and let's talk about it.

29:51 But I hate to kind of get into a bunch of hypotheticals on something that may

29:55 or may not even happen. Um, and I just hate that it's gotten to a point that a

30:01 a social media post a long time ago came out and really stirred things up.

30:07 Whether you're whatever side of this you're on, it's not good for Cullman County. Um, it's just not and it just

30:14 makes things the quarreling and just the emotions just go crazy. And we all know

30:21 what happens when we start making decisions out of emotion. It's not good for anybody. It's not good for me. it's

30:26 not good for this district or Cullman County. And so I think the biggest thing

30:30 is is is going around to these different communities. I love what Sheriff Gentry

30:35 has done when he does even the hamburgers and hot dogs. It's an opportunity for folks to come and let's

30:42 talk about the issues. Let's talk about what concerns you. And I love seeing the

30:46 reaction from these senior citizens that love having us there so they can ask the

30:52 questions and let's get the story right. And I want to make sure I'm available

30:55 going forward and keep that going um for all our community to make sure that

31:00 their voice is heard and make sure that they do have a vote. If it's something

31:04 worth voting on, let's make sure people are educated. And like I said, the devil

31:09 is in the details. We've got to make sure and understand what we're voting on

31:13 and what we're doing. U but we also have heard a lot of you our school folks and

31:18 our uh folks with roads and and homeowners and businesses saying we've got to have some help. we've got to put

31:23 it in dad gum four low just to get to my house out here in the county or their

31:28 lake home or whatever because the roads are so bad and I know that the

31:32 commission's probably doing the best they can but you've only got so much money there and so you know in a dream

31:38 world if we could wave a wine and this retail development is able to bring the

31:44 revenue in and does it in a safe you know a safe manner where you've got a

31:48 full-time police station a full-time fire station that's fully staffed that is state-of-the-art where they've got to

31:55 respond to these medical calls. They've got to respond to these calls on the

31:59 lake. They've got to help. When a business owner, Brett Crowder, for instance, on Sunday had a fire with an

32:04 AC unit that fortunately that volunteer fire department responded and was able to put that fire out. Otherwise, it

32:11 could have gotten into this whole other operation. So, and our interest rates or

32:16 I'm sorry, interest rates will also lower for the business owner and the homeowner. So, if this does happen,

32:23 there are some positives that could happen from the actual development. But like what Dan has mentioned, you've got

32:28 two different issues going on here. You've got the bill and then you got the

32:32 potential is this going to be a resort? What all is going to be encompassed with

32:36 this? You know, and until I see this, which I have not yet, the details of it,

32:42 it's hard to really form a strong opinion on something that there's still a lot of question marks. So, that's

32:47 where I stand at this moment. >> All right. Thank you sir for that

32:49 question or for that answer. Um we're going to stick with you Mr. Hollingsworth and this is kind of leads

32:57 into our next is which is economic development versus local control. How do you balance economic development

33:05 incentives with protecting the rights of local residents and small businesses who may be affected by largecale resorts or

33:14 retail developments? So, we actually just had this discussion um just the other day because not all incentives are

33:20 good. Uh a lot of times there's a mis, you know, of like, yeah, we're going to

33:25 do this. And it's like there's some criteria that need to be involved. Um

33:29 does it truly create the jobs that they say it's going to? Uh what kind of

33:33 cannibalization is going to happen? Um being a small business owner and Dan too, uh the last thing I want to do is

33:40 have one more competitor come in, especially a big box. Now, however, there's also a duty, I think, to meet

33:47 the demand for certain things, too. You got a Mary Carter paint store, which is

33:52 a nice locallyowned and operated store, but you also have Walmart. And there's roles for both here, you know, and so I

33:58 think that it is a delicate balance when you look at these incentive packages

34:03 that you kind of have to dangle the carrot out a lot of times because

34:07 there's certain things they've got to meet in order to get that incentive. And

34:11 I think that's so important because I think there is um uh an idea out there

34:16 that they're going to automatically get it and that's not the case. They've got

34:19 to create these jobs. They've got to do the things that they're going to promise

34:23 and the investment made in order to get those incentives. So for a lot of the

34:28 things that we've done, it's been great, but it's not always something that we

34:32 want to do. And going forward, I think the biggest thing with this council,

34:35 whoever's elected, is they're going to have to relook at some of the ways we've

34:40 done it in the past, because let's face it, where we were 10, 15, 20 years ago

34:44 is a lot different. And because I've seen industrial development, the growth, the expansions, which were great. I've

34:50 also seen the retail uh growth and development, been a part of it. Publix,

34:54 the exporting goods, that whole area of retail was dead and dying. We had

35:00 merchants saying, "Y'all have got to do something." And so Publix came here three or four times before they finally

35:07 said yes. And they have killed it. Dick Sporting Goods, that whole Ulta, all of

35:11 that area has been fantastic, not just for those merchants, but you've seen other development trickle up Highway 31,

35:19 which eventually is going to connect 157. And so I think, you know, once you

35:24 do a certain project, you love to see how it how it comes out. And that

35:28 particular retail project has done very well and has meet a lot of the the the

35:34 things that customers have asked us not customers or residents have asked us for

35:38 because they don't want to have to go to Decatur, Birmingham or Huntsville to buy

35:42 certain things. They want to eat here. They want to shop here. And we need that

35:45 sales tax to go forward. That's what pays the bills locally is the sales tax.

35:50 It helps the city and the county. And what's good for the city is good for the

35:54 county. What's good for the county is good for the city. And it's a uh a

35:58 unique tax breakdown. And so all this goes full circle from small business to

36:04 bigger business. It's all part of a a uh part of our city and our county and

36:09 district that everybody benefits if it's structured the right way. >> Thank you, sir, for that that answer. Uh

36:15 Mr. McOrder, would you like me to repeat the question, sir? All right. Uh this

36:18 leads into economic development versus local control. How do you balance economic development incentives with

36:25 protecting the rights of local residents and small businesses who may be affected by largecale resort or retail

36:33 developments? >> Well, that's interesting because a lot of what I've heard on the uh uh talking

36:39 to people is that uh Cullman is starting to lose its small town feel. We're

36:44 starting to get a massive amount of traffic uh through here. Um uh some of

36:49 the uh uh people I've approached u uh just recently at some of the events are

36:56 uh from out of state Ohio, Tennessee, they're bringing in uh tax dollars. I

37:01 think uh maybe our expansion could be happening a little too quick for some of

37:05 the uh older residents. I think um when you're bringing somebody uh uh we we

37:11 don't need to sacrifice our quality of life for another box store. Um, I think

37:17 uh we should be picky with our incentives. Uh, we do have a great

37:21 quality of life. It's a lot of people moved out out here uh years ago and and

37:27 we we're watching it slowly disappear. Uh, the quality of life on Smith Lake.

37:31 You're going to put a what a 2100 acre resort, three golf courses, airport, uh,

37:39 large hotel. I mean, that sure it brings money in, but it bring is going to bring

37:43 a a lot of traffic. Uh when we moved up here, Smith Lake had 600 miles of

37:48 shoreline. It's over 700 miles of shoreline now. That's the erosion that's going on. That's the lake uh getting

37:55 bigger but getting shallower. Uh so I I think uh you got to you got to be really

38:00 careful on how who comes in, what they bring to the table, what kind of

38:05 incentives there are. Having said that, uh some of the uh uh people who have

38:10 come in and gotten incentives u are I think contribute greatly to what Cullman

38:17 has to offer. And so it's a it's a true double-edged sword. >> Can I say something to that? Were you

38:24 able to >> I'm going to give you both 20 seconds each to rebut. I just wanted to say that

38:29 yes, a lot of the same things, but I think the biggest thing I've talked

38:34 about is I can deal with somebody that comes to me, Clint, it takes me 10 long

38:38 10 minutes longer to get to home. Hey, you know, this growth, traffic, all

38:42 these kind of things. I get it. I get we all deal with it. But what is so hard to

38:47 reverse and so hard to deal with is when they come to me, I can't find a job. I

38:52 can't I can't support my family. I'm having to close down my business. Those

38:56 are real problems. >> Mr. order. >> Um, I don't have any comment for that.

39:00 >> All right. All right. And this leads us to number eight, Mr. Mcuarter. Uh, your

39:07 legislative philosophy. If elected, how will you ensure your vote reflects the will of District 12 residents? Not

39:16 Montgomery lobbyist, political party leaders, or large donors? >> Well, I don't have any large donors. Um,

39:23 and or political party leaders, per se. uh so they those wouldn't come into

39:29 effect. I I think uh communication and is the the best way we would like to

39:35 leave up our uh our phone, you know, certainly my phone number and uh my uh

39:41 Facebook page. I've never been on Facebook until now. Uh so that's a new

39:46 uh method of communication. Uh and it's a two-way street. uh the the the fact

39:53 that uh uh the last election was uh basically 3,000 people showed up and and

40:00 in a special election that that's going to affect, you know, how this this state

40:05 or this county moves forward in the next four years, next session anyway. Uh so

40:12 it's um um uh I I I I think we could vote the the will of the people. I think

40:19 uh it takes a a you know a concerted effort, but it it's it's a two-way

40:24 street. You you you got to have the the uh electric get in touch with you and

40:28 tell you how they feel. And uh like I said, uh the communication through

40:33 phone, uh text, email would be helpful. >> And Mr. Hollingsworth, would you like me

40:39 to repeat that question? >> Sure. Great. >> It's uh your legislative philosophy. If

40:44 elected, how will you ensure your vote reflects the will of District 12 residents? Not Montgomery lobbyists,

40:51 political leaders, political party leaders, or large donors. >> You know, I think that from some of the

40:57 travels, I was down at Colony, there's senior center, and u precious people down there. And they told me, said,

41:04 Clint, we've had so many people come through here, everybody's wanting our vote and all this kind of stuff. Because

41:09 I asked them, I said, "What can I do to help? what's your top one or two things

41:12 that we can, you know, we can do to make improvements? And they just said, "Don't

41:16 forget us. Don't forget us down here." Because a lot of times people come

41:19 through, we don't ever see them again. And I think that the way technology is

41:26 uh which you know people want to bash technology and this there's a bad side

41:29 of it that we see with cyber bullying and all these kind of things but when it

41:34 comes to getting in contact uh whether it's through Instagram, a Facebook, a Tik Tok or a you know obviously a text

41:42 message, phone call, you can get in touch with folks better than any way

41:47 ever since when I was a kid. uh if I wanted to be able to send a message to

41:52 my NBA, you know, idol Larry Bird and for the Celtics back then, I couldn't I

41:58 couldn't reach that guy. Now, you've got access to be able to send him a message

42:02 or do all sorts of things now that you never could. So, as a public official,

42:07 you've got to make sure sure you're available, but also be in tune with some

42:11 of these ways for them to contact you. Now, sometimes you might not able to,

42:15 you know, respond as quick as as they want to, but you certainly need to to be

42:20 able to be in tune with that. Um, and as far as, you know, special interest in

42:25 these things, you know, I'm proud to be a small business owner in automotive

42:29 industry and get in support of my constituents. I'm proud to have locals that see confidence in me that want to

42:36 invest and certainly want my, you know, obviously I've asked for their support and they've given my support. But in

42:42 sales, if you don't ask for it, you won't get it. And so, you've got to ask

42:46 for it. Same way when we go to Montgomery, uh, when I'm down there, I'm

42:49 going to ask for funding for my district, and I'm going to expect to get

42:53 it. And if I don't get it, I'm going to be persistent, and I'm going to keep

42:56 showing up and keep showing up until I take care of my people. Because

43:00 ultimately, if I don't take care of my district, then they're going to kick me

43:03 out. And that's the great thing about an election every four years, if you're not

43:07 showing up and doing your job, even when it gets hard. Even it when you think you

43:11 may get embarrassed or maybe you're uncomfortable a little bit, you still show up and you fight for your district

43:18 and you see it through. You see it through. And so, it's so important that

43:22 people that resonates with them. This guy's going to go down there and fight

43:26 and bring home funding and grants for our volunteer fire departments, our roads, our school system, our needs

43:33 throughout this district and all of Cullman County. And once again, I've been doing that for my constituents here

43:38 in Cullman. I will continue to do that in Montgomery for my district. And I'm

43:42 proud of that and I have a record that we can point to on it.

43:46 >> All right. >> I'd like to make a comment. >> I'm going to give you both 20 seconds on

43:50 that. All right. >> Okay. Um, yeah. Um uh I've been to Colony a couple of times and they they

43:55 they are interesting in that they are one of the few uh interstate interchanges that have not been

44:01 developed. Uh the people I've spoken with mentioned that uh a lot of their uh

44:08 younger people are leaving and moving out of that area. They were they're wanting to see if there uh if there's

44:14 any way to get development into that area. Uh I I've offered them to either

44:18 go to an enterprise zone or an opportunity zone and I'm waiting to hear

44:22 back. >> Sir, Mr. Hollings, sorry. >> Uh and I've actually talking with the

44:26 fire chief the other night. We had a um little forum with all the chiefs

44:30 throughout the volunteer fire departments throughout the county and I'm meeting with them Monday night and

44:34 talking about their needs down there. And so it's important once again to answer the question, you got to show up.

44:39 You got to be available and that people need to know that you care and you

44:42 listen. You listen first. Thank you both. Uh, I'm going to grab your notes before we do our closing

44:50 statements. >> That's a bill. You want to pay that one? >> Don't think I could.

44:58 >> All right. And Mr. Hollingsworth, if we let you go first on opening statement. Mr.

45:04 Mcquarter, we're going to let you go first on our closing statements. You both have two minutes.

45:09 >> Okay. Well, um, I think I think we need a change in Montgomery. I don't think we

45:15 have uh adequate representation. Uh we have actually no representation in the last year or so. Uh and when SB 322 went

45:24 through, there was nobody in the house to uh uh voice a different opinion. Uh

45:30 it kind of sailed through. Um I don't know why we actually needed SB 322 if

45:36 you had SB 328. So uh that's uh kind of problematic. I I hear a lot of that. the quality of life

45:44 out in uh Code Springs and out in the that part of the lake has been

45:50 deteriorating. I don't think this project going out there is going to help us uh uh much. I don't know if it will

45:57 get off the ground. Uh like Clint says, it may it may be a nothing burger, but

46:02 uh there there is a lot of uh uh money being thrown at this. And um uh I think

46:09 uh back to uh representing your constituents. I hear what they're saying and again I one of my platforms is to

46:17 repeal 322. >> All right. Is that it, sir? All right. Mr. Hollingsworth, you have two minutes

46:25 on your closing statement, sir. >> Yes. I just obviously ask for your vote

46:29 for July the 15th. Um and your support, but more importantly, your prayers going

46:34 forward. This has been a long campaign. Even though it's a short window, those

46:38 days and nights and going door todo, putting up signs. It's been very educational, but it definitely is a lot

46:45 of work. And I hope people have seen that I truly uh am working to earn your

46:50 trust and vote. And it's important to me, and it's important that everybody is

46:54 represented. And it's one of those we're going to continue to work. Um, I think

46:59 that some of the things that are cons concerning um that I've, you know, kind

47:03 of heard from constituents are volunteer fire departments. I was at Cold Springs and a gentleman that's the fire chief

47:09 there said, "Clint, we're working off radios that are over 20 years old." And

47:14 to me, the most fundamental thing about their job and public safety is communication. And we've got to get them

47:21 new radios. And they're not the only ones. And so we've got to once again

47:25 when you show up and you listen to people, you get to understand what the

47:29 needs are. Um when you hear folks that have built a nice home or they've been

47:34 in that area for, you know, 50 years and they haven't had their road paved since

47:39 1995, um those are things that are concerning. Uh these are things that we need to

47:45 address. Um and yes, there's only so much money to go around, but once again,

47:50 you've got to show up as a public official. and my experience being in the

47:54 public eye and representing uh Cullman for these years matters. It's going to make a difference when we go to

48:00 Montgomery. And so I obviously want to know and let folks know that I will be

48:06 available and I will work hard and I'll make sure that we get what we need for

48:10 this district and I appreciate your support and prayers and vote on July 15th, this Tuesday.

48:17 >> All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mcmortar, Mr. Mr. Hollingsworth for

48:21 both showing up for this debate and answering the questions and uh you know

48:26 answering to the best of both of your abilities and uh I know our readers and

48:31 watchers are uh happy to actually see people come in and instead of just a

48:37 normal forum setting actually have a normal debate. >> Um thank you both. I appreciate you. I

48:43 appreciate you both and uh we are going to end uh this debate and uh thank you

48:50 both and thank you for everyone watching. >> Thanks for the invite. >> Thank you.