STATESBORO —Challenger Paulette Chavers and Incumbent Sam Lee Jones are seeking election to Statesboro’s district 2 city council seat. 

Paulette Chavers- District 2 (challenger)

• Chavers has lived in Statesboro her entire life, and she graduated from GS with both a degree in child and family development, with aMaster’s degree in Addiction Counselor (MAC) and is a National Certified Counselor (NCC). She is the CEO of Refocus Counseling and a partner with Road to Success Counseling.

• Chavers said that poverty in district two was a big issue, “I feel like there’s just not enough industry in district two to create jobs to combat the poverty rate there,” Chavers said.

• On the issue of a city-wide bus route, Chavers said she was for the proposal. “I feel like the Georgia Southern students need to be integrated into the community, so I feel like a bus route needs to actually come through the city of Statesboro, not just on the campus,” Chavers said. “We want to retain some of the students that are here, we don’t want them to just get a degree and leave and go back and never come back to Statesboro…. in order to do that [retain students], you have to integrate them into the city–make them a part of it.”

• Chavers said that she believed crime was a symptom of poverty, and that implementing job skill programs that teach people basic job search skills, like using the internet and other basic computer skills, can help alleviate some of the crime problems.

Sam Lee Jones- District 2 (Incumbent)

• Jones is an Afghanistan combat veteran with the National Guard, retiring as a staff sergeant after a 32-year military career, where he saw service in the Army and the Army Reserve, along with serving in law enforcement. Jones he is self-employed as an independent insurance agent with the AMI group

• Jones said that he believed there was a need for public transportation in Statesboro, and the city council is now looking for ways to finance a city transit operation, “Students can take advantage of [the transportation system] by going to our local stores and shops,” Jones said.

• On the issue of public safety, Jones said that he supports the security camera system being rolled out by the city of Statesboro. “When we get the money, we can install more security cameras so that we’ll be able to protect all our citizens, especially those citizens on campus,” Jones said.

• Jones has also been advocating for a public pool in Luetta Moore park on the west side of Statesboro,” Jones said.  “The residents of Statesboro can have a pool inside the city limits, right now there is not a pool in the city limits of Statesboro. There’s definitely a need for it so that youth can learn how to swim.”

District 2 encompasses western Statesboro, the full map can be found here.

Nathan Woodruff, The George-Anne Managing News Editor, gaeditor@georgiasouthern.edu