Re-elected officials talk work, presidential results

In the aftermath of last week’s elections, Montgomery County’s newly-re-elected officials weighed in on their local wins and the presidential race.
District 3 Supervisor Bryant Amos, District 5 Supervisor Donna Robinson, and Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie Burke all won their bids for re-election, while Mike Olson was officially elected to fill the remaining term of prior District 4 Supervisor Josh Wiig.
While the general election races were uncontested, Amos faced opposition from challenger Mike McCunn, whom he defeated in the June 7 primary to snag the nomination on the ballot. Meanwhile Olson was picked instead of  Delaine Paul and Karen Blue on June 28 to win the appointment for his supervisors seat.
Amos reflected on his re-election, and said he was appreciative of the confidence of his constituents.
“I’m very pleased to have their confidence for another term, and I appreciate them all for getting out to vote,” Amos said.
Now that the election is over, Amos outlined some of his priorities for the county as he begins his new term.
“We’re going to continue to repair our county facilities while we have funding available. However, we’re going to be responsible to the taxpayers to keep the costs as low as we can. It’s reached the time that we have to make repairs to these facilities. We’ve gotten a nice start, and I would like to see that continue. Also, we’re going to continue to keep improving our roads system,” commented Amos.
Robinson, like Amos, said she was very thankful and grateful to people who turned out to vote.
“This job is very enjoyable. We appreciate the confidence of the people of Montgomery County to make the decisions we do,” Robinson said.
County buildings and roads were also a focus for Robinson, who said the board had a good mix of people who worked well together.
“I think we all bring different things to the table, and I believe that is beneficial to all of us. I’m also focused on continuing to do the best for our county, and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars while moving the county forward,” advised Robinson.
Olson, whose appointment was temporary until he was officially elected on Tuesday, said it felt great to be able to take over the seat officially.
“It’s very exciting. I think it’s going to be challenging at times, but I also think it’s going to be very fulfilling. I’m looking forward to it,” said Olson.
Olson was in agreement with the goals of Amos and Robinson, and said he also wanted to focus on the county budget.
“I want to work with the budget, and continue to maintain the services the county offers without raising taxes too much,” Olson said.
Burke reflected on the re-election, saying she was appreciative of the trust of Montgomery County voters.
“I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to the voters for allowing me another term. I look forward to serving,” Burke said.
Now that another successful election is in the books, looking ahead, Burke said she’s looking at keeping things running smoothly the next four years.
“I want to continue to run successful elections in the county, continue to get state education and continue to find ways to work with the supervisors on lowering levies, controlling the budget, and keeping up the strong relationship with the supervisors and other county officials,” commented Burke.
The biggest story of the 2016 election, all across the U.S. was the presidential race. Republican Donald Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton has been viewed by many as an upset, and Trump’s win has been protested by many across the U.S. Amos, Robinson, Olson, and Burke all agreed that they had never seen a presidential election that was so divisive with voters, which Robinson attributed to the rise of social media.
“A lot of the issues that have come up have to do with the prevalence of social media. People are a lot more confident in making their statements digitally. Now that the election is over, it’s time for everyone, red and blue alike, to work together, nationwide, to come together and do what’s right for our country and get back to being nice,” advised Robinson.
Amos’ biggest disappointment in the race was all the time spent on insults and finger-pointing, and not on the actual issues.
“Digging into people’s personal lives has become the politics. It needs to get back to progress and policy,” Amos advised.
One of the biggest issues raised in the weeks leading up to election day was the speculation of voter fraud, which became a hot-topic, even in Montgomery County.
“With this election, my office had many questions and concerns regarding voter fraud, deceased voters, and how we handled that. It has definitely been in the public eye. I do want to say that everything on election day went smoothly. We gained a lot of new voters and interest. We had a nearly 70 percent turn-out, which is the highest turn-out that I can remember in my term as County Auditor,” commented Burke.
Olson, who said he now has an account on Facebook, said he’s seen a steady dose of insults, innuendo, and unsubstantiated rumors for many months during this past election. He felt it was starting to affect the judgment of U.S. citizens as a whole, and Olson felt that was not what elections are about.
“In an election, there’s no reason to be making fun of someone’s race, or their economic situation. It’s about the issues, like Bryant said. There was nothing about the issues this election. There’s been talk of doing things like eliminating Obamacare. If we do that, I’d like to know the plan to replace it, as there are millions of people on it now. That was never brought up, the economy was never brought up, that I saw. It was just who was guilty of what, and who did what wrong, and personally, I felt embarrassed by the whole situation,” Olson said.
Montgomery County’s election canvassing is scheduled for the next Board of Supervisor’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15.