GOOD HOPE — Many of Cullman County’s Republican candidates for office got a chance to make their campaign pitches and answer questions from local residents in a town hall meeting in Good Hope City Hall Thursday night.

The forum, the first of several hosted by the Cullman County Republican Party, featured several candidates for local offices who gave their campaign pitches and answered questions from County GOP Chair Waid Harbison and the audience.

For the candidates for Associate County Commissioner, East Side, roads were the main topic of discussion.

Incumbent Garry Marchman said there are a lot of factors that affect the county’s roads, and funding is one of the biggest.

“You can know all you need to know about fixing a road, and if you don’t have the money, you can’t fix that road,” he said.

He said he didn’t believe higher taxes were the answer for fixing roads, and thinks the County Commission needs to show that it is spending Cullman County residents’ money in the right places.

“You can’t ask for more money to fix roads until you’re spending money the way you need to spend it,” he said. “What we’ve got to have a good, firm plan and go forward with that plan.”

Marchman’s challenger, Andy Coffey, spent 27 years working for the county road department, and most of that time was spent building and maintaining roads.

He said road maintenance is a big issue for the county, and he has seen that there are roads in every district in Cullman County that are failing at their bases.

“Let’s start where the rubber meets the road,” he said. “Let’s get a good base under it so it will last.”

Coffey also said that he has seen many roads that were paved one year that then have to be repaved or have potholes filled the next year, and making sure that the roads are fixed correctly will save the county a lot of money.

“That’s a waste of money,” he said. “I think we can do a better job and save money by doing it right the first time.”

The candidates also spoke about how they plan to continue the economic growth that Cullman County has seen in recent years.

Coffey said the model that Cullman and other communities have followed is creating a clear line of communication with industry leaders and building a close bond to welcome them into the community.

“I say let’s communicate with folks who are important in making this happen and watch it continue to grow,” he said.

Marchman said he has been a part of the county’s economic growth as a member of the County Commission, and he has played a part in the recruitment of new industries to the county, but the area’s small businesses also need the county’s support.

“We don’t have anything in place to help and take care of small businesses that have been here for a long time,” he said.

The candidates for Good Hope’s seat on the Cullman County School Board, incumbent Jason Speegle and Kerry Neighbors, were asked to name a few goals that they have if they are elected to the seat.

Speegle said he wants to install air conditioning in all of the system’s gyms because they are being used more and more as multipurpose facilities, and he would like to continue the system’s emphasis on music and arts programs.

On a local level, he said he would like to see plans in place for expanding Good Hope’s schools to keep up with the growth that the city is seeing.

“In the next five to 10 years, we’re going to be looking at portables,” he said. “And when you hit portables, you’re going to have start looking at plans for something big.”

Neighbors agreed that Good Hope is growing, and said he didn’t believe there are any plans in place to meet the needs

“We’ve got to have some plans in place to accommodate the growth,” he said.

To help promote school growth, Neighbors said he would also like to see the establishment of a matching fund for schools, which would allow schools to raise their own money for facility construction or upgrades and that money would be matched by the County School System.

After an audience member asked for the candidates’ thoughts on arming teachers to help keep students safe in the classroom, Neighbors said he did not support that idea.

“I’m not a fan of arming a teacher,” he said.

Teachers should be focused on providing an education to their students, and adding a gun to the classroom

He said he would like to have the county’s school resource officers in every school, and would consider a volunteer group made up of veterans to help provide improved school security.

Speegle said he supported the idea as long as teachers went through extensive training.

“I’m ok with arming teachers,” he said.

He said teachers would need to go through the same training as a deputy and be approved by the board and superintendent, and any teacher who carried a firearm would have to keep it concealed and use it solely for protection.

Candidates for Circuit Judge, Place 2 also got a chance to speak to the crowd and answer questions, and one of the topics was legislating from the bench, in which some judges have been accused of trying to make the laws rather than just enforce them.

Incumbent Martha Williams said laws come from the the U.S. and Alabama constitutions and from the Legislature, she said.

“We are a system where we have a divided government,” she said. “And I think it is very important that judges honor the laws that are passed.”

Challenger Melvin Hasting agreed that there are rules for procedure for both attorneys and judges, and the adherence to those rules and enforcing the laws as they are written.

“We have to be careful to make sure that we follow the law,” he said. “If you’re not going to follow the law, what good are we doing?”

A member of the audience asked about the number of nonviolent offenders who go to prison, and Williams said most nonviolent offenses do not go to prison, but every case is different and every offender has a history.

“I don’t think it’s possible to really say that nonviolent should not be in prison and violent should be in prison,” she said. “Everybody has a history. Cullman is blessed to have excellent probation and diversion officers, and there are a lot of faith-based and non-profit organizations that offer addiction treatment, and those should be considered as options for people as well. As a community, we have to use all the resources that we have,” she said.

Hasting said he and other attorneys and judges would likely agree that nonviolent offenders are not the problem, but repeat offenders are.

“The problem is career criminals,” he said. “You send people to prison, they get out, they do it again.”

Many of those people are addicted to drugs, and the nonviolent offenses could lead to more serious crimes if they keep coming in and out of the court system, Hasting said.

“Do they need to go to prison? Well, if they keep on committing crimes, eventually I think they should go to state prison,” he said. “I think everybody would agree with that.”

Tammy Brown, who is up for re-election as the Cullman County probate judge, described some of the work she has done to help streamline the family court process and improve the courthouse experience for people who are there for a drivers license or a clerical matter.

She also spoke about her work in the mental health issue, including joining a task force that is meant to tackle the issue at a local level.

Brown said the task force is in the process of implementing a plan to help people with mental illness at a community level, and used the April 2011 tornadoes as an example of Cullman’s ability to handle a crisis.

When the tornadoes hit, the people of Cullman did not wait for someone else to come and help, she said.

“We all went out and we helped each other, and that’s what makes Cullman special,” she said. “That’s what we’re going to do with mental illness.”

Brown’s opponent, Carol Berry, attended the town hall but had to leave for a prior speaking engagement before their segment of the forum.