The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 9

i a ll glir Amrifiton friar Friday, June 20, 1986 He Fuller ire upcb mi ssion race big issues are garbage and the roads," Hess says. ft'. Hess says he wants to be on the commission because county voters are looking for "strong leadership and they want a change." If elected, Hess says he would call together "good people from all over In the earlier race, it was difficult for Hess and the other challengers to attract the kind of attention needed to win votes. Now it is down to just Hess and Fuller, and Hess says he is making inroads. in the primary.

He also scored a sizable victory at the Alexandria Fire Statiorr and won bjra smaller margin at six other boxes, mostly in areas northwest of Anniston. "I'll be honest with you, word of mouthr people knowing about-me-and my family is what got meinto By MIKE STEDHAM Star Staff Writer J.D. Hess, who has helped put out'' hundreds of fires during his 18 years with the Anniston Fire Department, is now trying to quench the political "fires of Charles who is run- ning for his third term on the -Calhoun County Commission. Hess will square off with Fuller in the June 24 Democratic Runoff Election. winner will face no Republican opposition in the General Election.

Hess is one of three political novices facing a more experienced politician in this year's commission races. He also has the biggest challenge ahead of him, since Fuller beat hfm by almost a two-to-one margin in the June 3 primary. But by next Tuesday, Hess expects to have made up the difference and pull ahead of the veteran commissioner. "I'm in this to win," he says. Hess won an important victory just getting into the runoff.

He came in second in a field of eight, narrow- ly beating out several other strong contenders. the county toddress' the-area' problems. He faults current commission for failing to consult with area residents before making major decision which have affected them. Hess has had to fit in his. campaign around his duties as a city fireman.

He is on duty for 24 hours and off for the next 48, which has given him ample opportunity to travel around the county shaking hands and distributing campaign cards. IF ELECTED, Hess says he will retire from the Fire Department within a couple of years "to give me more time for the job." The position of associate commissioner is by law a part-time job that will pay $16,500 per year beginning next January. A native and lifelong resident of the Saks community, Hess made his strongest showing at his home box Jacksonville is. the focus of House race VJ l.jy;-"'"""" fs '-y0s WirL) Willis thankful to those who voted for him and LIKE MOST of the other commission challengers this year, Hess favors a dual garbage system that combjnesJheanj8tersyithJiome pickup for more populous areas. Hess also favors the use of plant mix to pave more county roads.

The purrent commission has often turned to tar and gravel, which costs less, especially on less-traveled rural roads. Hess says plant mix' may be more expensive, but is more durable and less dangerous than the tar and gravel. He says many motorists have had their windshields cracked and their paint scratched by loose gravel on county roads. Prior to his discovery of politics, Hess has been involved with his church projects and in several sporting programs. "Sports is my life," Hess says, and he has served as captain and coach of numerous softball teams.

Hess has also worked with several area Little League programs, serving as umpire and hopes they will again Star Photos by "It's, this Old type of influence peddling that the people of Alabama want to put behind them," Zeigler said. He said Wallace's election would mean continuation of his father's brand of politics and "Gerald's manipulation." "There's nothing Wallace-Jr. can do about it. It's built in and he can't divorce himself from it," he said. Following Wallace's lead, Zeigler also pledged to raise an extra million for the' general fund to aid Medicaid and handicapped programs cut by Gramm-Rudman.

Wallace earlier proposed having state banks pay interest on state checking accounts toraise the extra funds. Zeigler proposes to place the 4 percent of state investments or about $50,000, in "interest-bearing checking accounts. He said the state Mental Health Department has already tried this method. "THE REASON for my weakness in the primary was that I was making my own signs, trying to get them up, then going out to meet people," Hess says. "Now, I've got volunteers helping me with the signs and I've gone directly to the.

people." Hess may be working hard, but Fuller is himself an energetic campaigner, and wresting the office he has held for the last eight years away from him would not be an easy task for anybody. Still, Hess is hopeful of receiving a majority of the votes cast in the primary for the other challengers. "Some of them will probably run for. public office again, sb they aren't making endorsements," Hess says. "But I certainly wouldn't mind anyone calling them and asking them who they're going to vote for." shift changes.

While campaigning, he said, he had little time to talk to people "Most of the time they're flying by in cars." So Thursday he called a press conference to discuss issues and his positions. He said that he had been looking at the budget, trying to see where funds could be found to pay for some of the improvements, particularly" in education, that people seemed to want. The education budget, he said, had a lot of unnecessary expenditures, such as money for some private schools and funding for state theaters. "We need to clean the budget up," he said. He also mentioned the cost of special legislative sessions, several million dollars paid for storage and high legal fees as areas from which he thought money could be redirected.

HE SAID he will not vote for any new taxes, but that he Will support measures that allowed popular ref-erendums 'on proposed tax increases. Kimbrough also discussed his commitment to the job. Willis had talked about only wanting to serve a single new term, he said. He, on the other hand, said he is willing to stay as long as necessary. District 34 has suffered in the past, he said, because a series of single-term representatives kept it from gaining any seniority or important committee-positions.

Willis responded to that criticism by saying that he will not necessarily serve only one term, and by adding that he thingks the job should be "passed around." He had been very successful in getting committee positions as a freshman, he said, adding that if legislators stay in Montgomery too long, "lots of them get lax on their job." Mrs. Johnson said this week that all her political energies are going into Bill Baxley's gubernatorial campaign, but that she plans to vote for Willis. He is a friend, she said, and thinks his record in the House is better than he is given credit for. s-Watch Mm Star Photo by Stovo Orow the runoff, Hess says. Relying on his family name has been a good tactic for Hess.

His father and uncles were owners of five Hess Food Stores in the Anniston area several years ago, and Hess says he was brought up in a small business environment. But Hess says he cannot rely on past associations to win this election, so he is out on the stump at every opportunity, especially in the county's urban areas. Fuller, as expected, showed considerable strength in Anniston and Oxford, but his vote totalis from some boxes out in the county may have been hurt by his association with the removal of garbage canisters and the implementation of door-to-door collection. "Out in the rural areas, the two million in 1983. He also cited his suits against elected politicians enrolled in the state, employee retirement fund and against 200 members of the Wallace administration who were driving state cars without state tags.

He said he won both suits. Zeigler said he believes this "watchdog" approach is why he's leading in a recent poll from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, 55 percent to Wallace's 33 percent, and why he'll win on Tuesday. In the primaries Zeigler carried 31 percent of the vote to Wallace's 26 percent. ZEIGLER SAID Wallace's family connection would present a "conflict of interest" should Wallace be elected. He said the life insurance credit agency of Gerald Wallace, his opponent's uncle, is regulated by the state treasurer's office.

Hess He says these sports programs have shown his ability to work with people and to listen to their problems. But now that' he has discovered the lure of elective office, Hess has spent most of his time lookin for votes. "This is probably the hardest work I've ever done, but it's also the most enjoyable because of the people I've met," he says. Arnold's election challenge is denied By LADALE LLOYD Star Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM A state Democratic party subcommittee Thursday denied Ragland Mayor Bart Arnold's challenge of the results in the House District 42 race and declared incumbent A.J. Blake the winner.

Arnold challenged the race June 9 after falling 22 votes short of a runoff election with Blake, a two-term incumbent. ARNOLD CHARGED that irregularities in vote handling at St. Clair County polling places cost him a runoff. "We're certain that things happened that would have cost us a runoff," Arnold's attorney, Dennis Abbott, told the committee. According to election offficjals, Blake, with 3,822 votes won over Arnold (3,411) and St.

Clair County businessman Donald Broome (368) in the June 3 primary. ARNOLD CONTENDS that 56 illegal votes were cast and 12 legal votes were denied in the election. At least 45 of the disputed 68 votes would have had to go to Blake for them to have cost Arnold a runoff spot, according to the committee. Blake and his attorney Bill Hereford, countered the charges calling them "a bare assertion of a series of allegations" and asked that they be dropped. "A lot has been said, but there is not much substance to it," Hereford said.

No solid evidence of the allegations was presented at the hearing, but Abbott made a request to continue the case so that the proof could be gathered. After hearing testimony from both parties, the committee denied the challenge and a request for continuance saying "the burden of proof for Mr. Arnold was simply too great." BLAKE SAID after the hearing that even if the continuance was granted, "I still would have won it Most of (the disputed votes) involved went for him (Arnold) any way." Many of the charges stem from a misprint on absentee ballots sent to voters in House District 30, which apparently included the names of candidates in the House District 42 race. Arnold contends that a number of voters in House District 30 voted at House District 42 polling places and that a number of legal voters were denied votes for various reasons. BEFORE THE 1982 reapportionment of the Alabama Legislature, voters in House Districts 30, voted at places now reserved for House District told the committee.

"We have problems in St. Clair County as far as these districts are concerned," Abbott By PAMELA GRUNDY Star Staff Writer House District 34 candidates Ed Kimbrough and Gerald Willis are concentrating on Jacksonville as they shake hands and knock on doors, preparing for next week's runoff. Both candidates have been getting up before dawn and politicking into the night, trying fo add to the votes that each garnered in the primary. A proposed debate was called off because Willis refused to particiapte when full television and radio broadcasting was hot guaranteed so the main encounters between the candidates have been when their campaign trails have occasionally crossed. Jacksonville, the key battle area, has the highest population in the district, and is the home turf of Kay Brown was narrowly eliminated in the primary.

Willis led in the primary, with 3,005 votes. Kimbrough was second with 2,124, and Mrs. Johnson received 1,927. Willis said that he was spending his time thanking the people who had voted for them, and telling them he hoped they would vote for him again. He worries that apathy may keep people from the poljs, he said.

HE HAS not been talking about any new issues, he said, but he does have a new campaign item a little wooden circle with "Get Tuit," on one side, and "Vote Gerald Willis" on the other. He had given away all 10,000 of his Gerald Willis pencils, he said, and didn't have time to order any more before the runoff. When he did have time to talk about issues, he said, he continued with the themes he had stressed in the primary, talking about his experience in the legislature, where he served a term once before, his business background and the empathy he said he has with farmers. Kimbrough said that while before the primary he had tried to contact a lot of individuals, now he was concentrating on places where a lot people gathered, such as factory Si 4 Ktn Elkim Kimbrough concentrating on places where a. lot of people gather Zeigler pounds area pavement JTK By MICHELLE GILBERT Star Staff Writer Jim Zeigler left his "watchdog" mascot, behind and brought his wife Linda instead to the Anniston-' Calhoun County airport, pounding away at waste and corruption in state government as he pounds the pavement near the close of his campaign for state treasurer.

In a Thursday press conference, Zeigler cited his past record of ferreting out fiscal abuses on behalf of the Alabama Taxpayer's Defense Fund. He proposes to use the the job of the state treasurer in similar fashion. And Zeigler disputed the claims of his opponent, George Wallace that state law does not allow the treasurer to act as an aggressive financial overseer. Zeigler said his suit against more 400 extra paychecks made out to state politicians saved the state $1.1 rt I ARRIVAL State treasurer candidate Jim Zeigler Visits the Anniston Calhoun County airport Thursday as he campaigns for Tuesday's.