During the last three months, I have learned a lot about the current state of Adams County and the direction it is moving into the future. I can say I am honored to be in the position of county supervisor, and I look forward to the many bright opportunities of the future. Being new to the position, I have received questions as to my perception of things before being elected and now in office. I decided to share a few of these questions with you and my thoughts on them.

Q. Do you think Adams County has a bright tourism future, what is missing?

Appearance! Tourism is a major industry for our area; it represents a symbol of our past and the hope of our future. Although, it is probably most recognized during Spring and Fall Pilgrimage, people come here year-round for the opportunities we offer. Whether it’s balloon festivals, professional conferences, wildlife watchers, outdoor enthusiasts or historic buffs, I believe our biggest challenge ahead is how we present our hometown as a tourism destination.

Our antebellum homeowners and community volunteer groups, such as the Master Gardeners, have done a superb job beautifying their respective areas, but I think it’s time the city and county start establishing more pride in our public appearance. I hope in the next few years more emphasis will be placed on public appearance. This will have an advantageous impact on our tourism status, visitor perceptions, hometown pride, and research has shown it also impacts sales revenues and repeat visitors. I also strongly feel this will increase community involvement and help to continue improving areas of needed attention.

Q. It seems the county is behind from a technology standpoint, are we?

When I was elected, I must say I have been surprised to see how far behind we are from a technology standpoint. We have no computer service department or management on a county level. Moving into the future, I would hope that we find means to establish a position to bring us up-to-date. You should be able to pay taxes, car tags, sanitation fees, etc. online in the year 2012. Other counties offer payment options in the forms of online bill payments, credit cards or even bank drafts; we must begin offering some of these options to our citizens in the near future.

We should have a comprehensive website that links all of Adams County together; departments, attractions, events, elected officials, airport, port, court systems, etc. This should be up-to-date and maintained daily by a professional. We should offer wireless services in many downtown areas and locations.

Citizens should have electronic access to issues pertaining to meetings and decisions made by the board of supervisors. Some things are happening, but I think it’s safe to say as a whole we are a decade or more behind schedule.

I fully understand both of these issues are costly to be done, and full-scale changes like these take place over years, not weeks or months, unfortunately. But I would hope for the benefit of our citizens we can slowly begin to emerge as a county making changes for the future one day at a time.

 

David Carter is an Adams County supervisor representing district 2.