Most people celebrate their birthdays with cake and candles, but Richmond Hill resident Meredith Gibson decided to mark hers by registering as a write-in candidate for County Commission Chair.
“It was [on] August 27, the last day to get my intent to qualify in the newspaper,” explained Gibson on how she jump-started her nascent political career on her 48th birthday.
But despite that late push, Gibson says that momentum for her campaign has been steadily growing over the past few weeks.
“I announced it in the paper, and a lot of people noticed right away,” said Gibson. “I think my phone blew up a bazillion times since then, and then in the next week, we [volunteers] had signs, and got the Facebook page going and got my
website going.” A real estate agent by trade and a mother of three, Gibson says that she has always been ‘very interested’ in politics but became motivated to run for Commission Chair after seeing the devastation brought on by the flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Debby.
“It was just a lack of planning, the lack of communication, there were so many red flags,” said Gibson on her view of the county’s response to the flood damage brought on by the storm. Gibson currently works as a volunteer coordinator at Richmond Hill’s Community Resource Center.
“I just think it’s time for change,” Gibson said.
If elected, Gibson says that she would improve flood and disaster-related preparations for the county, as well as introduce term limits and promote “smart” growth. “We need to make sure that our infrastructure is in place before we go crazy,” said Gibson. “We can’t stop the growth, and nobody wants to stop the growth, but we need to make sure that we’re doing things the smart way, and not just smart for big business, but smart for the people too,” said Gibson.
Currently, Carter Infinger is serving as County Commission Chairman, having done so for two terms, or eight years. Infinger won the Republican primary back in May against entrepreneur Buck Holly.
“I don’t know what her qualifications are,” Infinger said when asked about what he thought of Gibson’s campaign. “She has no government experience. Anybody is free to run for any position, but she should have [at least] run in the primary,” said Infinger.
Gibson acknowledges the difficulties of running as a write-in candidate against a well-established incumbent but says that the obstacles haven’t deterred her so far, having already done various meet-and-greets and rallies across North and South Bryan.
“It’s hard to win a writein,” said Gibson. “But I think that’s what has motivated me to run [such] a campaign with rallies and get-togethers and such.”
“I have a lot of support... I’ve been told a few times [from others] that it’s unique because I’m really bringing red and blue together, said Gibson, a registered Republican. “It shouldn’t matter if you’re red or blue, because red and blue make purple, and that’s what we’re trying to do [here] is just unite Bryan County.”