When State Representative Julie Alexander was a Jackson County Commissioner, she was posed with a vote to transfer the JDOT from a commission to a department within the county.
She voted no at the time, but with hindsight having 20/20 vision, she’s glad it moved forward. “I consider our Jackson Department of Transportation to be one of the most innovative entities, not only in the state, but in the country,” Alexander said. “Christopher Bolt, as a director, is bringing so many pieces to the table. Again, the innovation, and what they’re doing as far as JDOT with the bonding issues, some of the new pieces of equipment. They are going to be a department to be followed by many others in the 83 counties in the state.”
Alexander wasn’t 100% sold on the idea, but also admits she was a bit green at the time of her vote.”I wasn’t convinced in the beginning, that vote to change from a road commission to a department of the county. I’ll be honest, I was one of the only ‘no’ votes. I just had some concerns at that point in time; but I had also only been a commissioner a couple of months,” Alexander said. “So until you have that experience and that expertise of having that background information, sometimes you can live to say that wasn’t the right decision that I made. Fortunately, the majority of commissioners moved forward with that and it’s been very successful.”
Representative Alexander also pointed out that the farmers in the area have drawn the short end of the stick; with tariffs and the government shutdown, something Alexander, whose family owns a farm, is sympathetic to. “It’s interesting because my husband is in touch with so many farmers around the state on a continuous basis. What we’re hearing in those conversations is that there were federal dollars available because of the trades, the barriers put in place through trades, and now that the US Government has shut down, all of that process has stopped,” Alexander said. “When we look at the Farm Bill, by far the majority of the Farm Bill actually goes for food services, (like the) SNAP Program. Those families in need of additional dollars to feed their family, that is the majority of the Farm Bill by far.”
