On Monday, Harlem businesswoman Alison Couch announced her candidacy for the District 4 seat on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners, running against incumbent Dewey Galeas.
“I’ve been volunteering in the community for several years now,” said Couch. “Hundreds of hours toward helping small business and bringing events to the town. I realized that decisions that were being made that determined that a lot of these were coming from the commissioners. I decided that that would be a logical next step for me to take to further help this area.”
Alongside being the proprietor of Couch Consulting, a tax preparation and bookkeeping firm that has had an office in downtown Harlem since 2017, Couch is the president of the Harlem Merchants Association. She was instrumental in rebooting that organization with her fellow business-owners, as well as in launching recurring events such as Ladies’ Night Out in Harlem.
Couch, a woman of faith, began seriously meditating on the decision to run after a friend contacted her, telling her she felt Couch was being called toward a political position.
“About two weeks after that, someone from the political community reached out to me and discussed the possibility of running, and I just kind of felt like that was confirmation,” said Couch. “I prayed about it for several months and talked to my family and friends and just decided that was the next step that I wanted to take.”
[adrotate banner=”55″]
Growth in Columbia County, particularly in the direction of Harlem, and complications resulting from it are issues Couch feels strongly about addressing if she is elected. Some of these issues include traffic safety, especially regarding Exit 183 and surrounding construction, as well as growing traffic near Harlem Middle School and Harlem High School.
“Growth is not a bad thing,” she said. “You can’t sit still. You have to grow or your community will start to die. So I think that it’s good that we’re growing. I think it just has to be done with a lot of foresight, transparency and intention.”
Couch is also hoping to help nurture further development such as what Harlem has experienced in recent years, such as the arrival of both a pharmacy and a dentist’s office.
“It takes about 30 minutes 20 to 30 minutes to get to the closest doctor from here,” she said. “So we’re looking forward to that coming in soon, hopefully.”
Couch calls herself a “very proud resident” of Columbia County, who has lived in the area all of her life, save for her time in college. In the event she is elected, she says she looks forward to being a team player, working with the other commissioners to strengthen the aspects of the county that make it such a coveted place to live.
[adrotate banner=”15″]
She admits she’s nervous, and sometimes still questions her decision. But ultimately, she believes her faith and her commitment to her town, as well as to the county, will prove her present course the right one.
“I’m not a political person,” said Couch. “I’ve never been in politics. But I just want to help the community and I want to represent what the people in this area want, and I just feel like I’m being called to do that. So I’m taking the leap of faith and obeying the Lord and moving forward with it.”
Primary Election Day is May 24. General Election Day will be Nov. 8. For more information on Couch’s platform, visit her website at https://www.electalisoncouch.com/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
