Dr. Gail Drake Dismuke hopes to do her part in continuing the growth and success of Bulloch County if she is elected to the Bulloch County Commission for District 2C.
The spot is up for election because incumbent Roy Thompson did not qualify for that seat, instead qualifying for the Bulloch County Commission chairman position, for which he is unopposed.
Dismuke, along with candidates Jappy Stringer and Gene Anderson, qualified to run for the District 2C seat.
Developing more business, especially small businesses, in Bulloch County is one area in which Dismuke hopes to focus. She would like to look into ways to benefit small-business owners “and make it easier to compete with larger companies in the marketplace,” she said. If elected, Dismuke said she would make efforts to bring both industrial and retail business into the county.
She is interested in learning more about the zoning process, she said in an interview with the Statesboro Herald on Wednesday. She would also focus on lowering the county animal shelter’s euthanasia rate, ensuring the fire and EMS departments have “state-of-the-art equipment for a county this size” and taking an “in-depth look” at the county budget.
The number of citizens involved in County Commission meetings is another area in which she would like to see improvement, she said. Finding ways to get people interested and to make sure “their voices are heard” and that they are able to approach their commissioners is important as well, she said.
“I’d like to encourage more people to be a part of the meetings and show up to the meetings,” she said.
Improving cooperation between Statesboro’s City Council and county commissioners to make coming to decisions on shared issues “a seamless process instead of between two separate entities” is another point of concern, she said, adding that she would have to do more research before commenting on whether she supports the idea of consolidation.
“My reason for seeking election to the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners is to have a voice in continuing the success that has been a Bulloch County tradition in growth and development for all citizens of Bulloch County,” she said. “It is my desire to encourage a beneficial working relationship between the Statesboro City Council and the Bulloch County Commission while seamlessly continuing the tradition of having a female representative on the Board of Commissioners.”
Dismuke has lived in Bulloch County since 1971. She was married to the late Johnny Dismuke, who founded Statesboro Grain in 1998.
After being educated in the Berrien County school system in south Georgia, she earned an undergraduate degree, master’s degree, education specialist degree and doctorate in education from Georgia Southern University. She taught in Emanuel, Bryan, Evans, Candler and Bulloch counties before retiring in 2010.
She is a member of First Baptist Church Statesboro, where she volunteers in the music ministry as a member of the Celebration Choir and Senior Celebration Choir. She also directs the preschool children’s choir and participates in Caring Threads. She is a member of the Kate Martin Sunday school class, through which she volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club. This summer, she will begin work with her classmates at the First United Methodist Church soup kitchen. Dismuke is a member of Community Bible Study and the Staying in Stitches Quilt Guild, president of the Preceptor Laureate Beta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi and an assistant poll manager at the Register election precinct.
A cancer survivor, she is co-captain of the First Baptist Church Statesboro Relay for Life team and is very involved in Relay for Life of Bulloch County. She is also a member of the Bulloch County Retired Educators.
Dismuke is the mother of three adult children and has three grandchildren.
Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.