The Columbia County Republican Party has a new executive committee that is focusing on some new goals.
Joe Edlemon was elected as the new chair last month and set five pillars of goals that he would like to see the organization work toward. Those are strategic growth, education and outreach, technology and innovation, transparency and oversite and voter integrity. He came up with these pillars, which he describes as a “roadmap” after talking with members of the community.
“So, all five of those areas were areas I identified through talking with others in the community and understanding their concerns and the things they were concerned about with our party and our country and our county,” Edlemon said. “So those are the five pillars that I put forward.”
While these are the original five pillars Edlemon set, he said they can change depending on what the people want because that’s who he represents.
“It’s about our community, it’s about togetherness,” Edlemon said. “So, I want to bring that sense of togetherness back to the party.”
Since the new executive committee was only elected last month, not a lot of action has been taken on these pillars just yet. But Edlemon has a plan.
To achieve these goals, he said there will be specific committees dedicated to each pillar.
“Each one of the goals that are associated to those committees will be aligned to something specific in those pillars,” Edlemon said. “So, the goals that will be set by the people that are part of the organization will be aligned to one of those five pillars if not all five.”
He also wants to make sure the organization is structured for growth at the right time and make sure there is transparency in the process so the public can be educated on the mission and goals for the party.
“We can use technology and innovation to help us drive a lot of the things that we want to do and a lot of my background is in technology and technology leadership, so I bring a strong sense of that knowledge, as well as surrounding ourselves with people that are also technology minded that we can use in the most effective way to help us accomplish the goals that we set forth,” Edlemon said.
He added that he would like to make the Columbia County Republican Party a force within Georgia, along with becoming a force within the national party.
“We have a big campaign season ahead of us, so we’re hitting the ground running,” Edlemon said. “We’re looking at our committees, we’re looking at everything internal as well and we’re trying to structure ourselves so we can effectively bring outreach to the individuals in our community.”
This is very important because Edlemon said the GOP is a grassroots organization, and things start at the bottom, which is the neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has its own needs, so what a neighborhood on one side of the county needs might not be the same as one in the middle of the county.
“If those people in that neighborhood don’t have a voice because they’re not part of the process, then the system isn’t working as effectively as it should,” Edlemon said. “So first and foremost, we’re trying to address that to ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity to a voice within the overall party. Really kind of flipping this model on its end and making this less of a top-down driven structure and more of a bottom-up structure, which is how the GOP should be functioning from a grassroots perspective.”
Edlemon, who moved to the area in 2016, said he decided to run for chair after colleagues in the community asked him to and he prayed on it. During this time, he noticed the area needed someone who could bring a different perspective and togetherness.
“Our Columbia County party with Debbie (McCord) being termed out needed someone strong that could come in and bring a different perspective to the party,” Edlemon said. “So, without getting into too much more I was answering a call to serve. I’m at a place in my life right now where I can and my colleagues and family were asking me too and I felt it in my heart as well. Just decided to run because we need some good leaders up there and I hope to bring to the party is some inclusiveness.”
The members of the executive committee are Edlemon, Bill Williford as 1st vice chair, Alex Griffin as 2nd vice chair, Mike Wiltse as secretary, Terry Brown as treasurer, YeSun Wiltse as at large commission chair, Ben Richardson as 1st commission district chair, John Duggan as 2nd commission chair, Ashley Lee as 3rdcommission district chair and Joanee Murdock as 4th commission chair.
Stephanie Hill is a staff writer covering Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com
