By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
1972 Athens High School grad, Vietnam veteran, and former USAF Staff Sergeant Steve Garner is running for the District 1 position in the Limestone County Commission. He is running for one reason, and that’s love. The love to which he is referring is for his passel of grandkids, and his other love is for the people who live here. “I’m not much into politics, and I don’t need the money,” he told me. With regard to his grands, Steve is most concerned that once he is gone, they will have to deal with the mess of poorly planned “overgrown growth” and crumbling infrastructure. That is something he simply cannot abide, and last fall, when he decided to run, he said the following:
I have been holding off for a while but feel it is time to let everyone know that I am tossing my hat in the ring to run for Limestone County Commissioner for District 1. I believe with a passion that our county needs to prepare for the future and listen to our citizens. I want to pledge to serve our county with all my ability and most of all listen to YOU. I will post more later and publish my experience and my platform. Thanks to everyone that has urged and supported me in this decision.
Steve chuckled as we chatted, and he asked me, “You know how in Field of Dreams they say, ‘If you build it (he) they will come?’ Well, in Limestone County, if we don’t build it, they are still going to come!” He added that his “why” is also that he wants to give back and prepare for growth.
Limestone County is an interesting blend of farmers and farm land, manufacturing and manufacturers, businesses and business owners, a university, public and private schools along with two school systems, two law enforcement organizations, and a current speed and level of growth that makes your hair blow back. Thankfully, Steve has experience in many of these areas. He was involved with his grandparents’ farm, worked cattle, horses, and chopped cotton. He has owned his own trucking company. He has literally manufactured his own Jeep when he worked as a consultant and project manager at their plant. He has swept floors and been in C-suite corner office management where he had to wear suits every day. When he was in the Air Force, he was part of the Air Rescue team that got wounded soldiers out of the jungle on choppers what were affectionately referred to as “Jolly Green Giants.” While in the Air Force, he also served in Personal Security Details. He worked for TVA and got his degree in electrical engineering from Alabama.
Steve has been a project manager and consultant for companies such as KIA and Shell Oil, and has done short-term missionary work in Africa building schools and orphanages. He has had to manage projects involving literally billions of dollars. He is currently doing consulting and project managing at Robins & Morton in Huntsville, and if elected, being a commissioner will be his full-time job.
Steve has three basic priorities: roads, staffing, and economic development.
“The roads were originally made for light-haul trucking, and we need to get them built properly,” Steve said. Trucks are too heavy, and the roads can’t handle them. They are central to everything else in the county,” he said. An avid classic car and antique tractor collector, Steve is the co-owner of a Fordson gasoline tractor, which was delivered by train to Limestone County in 1919. He teaches classes to kids about our past and what life was like here, with the hope that he’ll be able to instill a love for Limestone in them.
“There are departments that have too much staff in one area and not enough in another. I am used to dealing with and solving those kinds of staffing issues,” Steve said.
“Economic development is my third priority, and we need to give the residents of Limestone County what they need. There isn’t one dog park in the county, and the county needs its own Parks and Rec Center,” Mr. Garner added. I asked him why I should choose him as District 1 Commissioner, and he had several reasons. “Because I am not looking to build a political career, I will be free to vote my conscience, and because I do not need the salary or the accolades, I can really focus on building the county well,” he said. The only thing he wants is for his grands and others to be able to say someday after he’s gone, “That guy, he sure did a lot for us.” If this is what you are looking for in a county commissioner, then Steve Garner would appreciate your vote.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
