“Tomorrow looks like work. Tomorrow I am going to get to work,” Alison Couch said on election night. The Republican defeated Democrat Cambrey Wood for Columbia County Commission Chair, tallying 54.7% of the vote Tuesday in a race that turned on data center development, traffic congestion, and property tax relief, WRDW/WAGT reported.
The victory hands Couch the county’s top elected office after a race in which Wood pointed to 25 years of rapid growth driven by area military installations and incoming hospitals. She will take office facing a Board of Commissioners that voters also reshaped, alongside an 87% approval of a homestead exemption referendum aimed at cutting property taxes for qualified homeowners.
Couch’s Record Against Wood’s Push for Oversight
Couch, who has served as the Appling Harlem commissioner, campaigned on her institutional knowledge. “I have been a commissioner. I have the experience there. I have the professional experience necessary. I have the legislative experience necessary. And I’m an experienced citizen, having lived here my entire life,” she said. “So, what really defines me for my competitor is that experience.”
Wood, a nearly 10-year Army engineer officer veteran with 25 years of project management and infrastructure experience, argued the county needed fresh oversight. “I think it’s transparency and development are really the two big issues here locally,” she said, calling for quarterly town halls within her first 90 days. “I think I bring a lot of experience to the table when it comes to issues that we deal with here locally in Columbia County.”
Both candidates told voters the county should slow residential growth and that public safety is the top budget priority. But they split sharply on how to handle the 3,000-acre data center approved for the Appling Harlem area and the tax relief it generates.
Couch Explains Data Center Priorities
Couch defended the county’s data center decisions, noting she voted for the White Oak project because it sits in an industrial park, but against the Pumpkin Center project located across the street from a neighborhood. “I do not see the need for any more data centers in Columbia County,” Couch said. “The goal was property tax relief and that will be achieved with the funding from the data centers that we currently have. I worked diligently on the data center ordinances to provide guardrails for our citizens and protect them.”
She reiterated her position on the campaign trail: “Our entire goal with the data centers that are here was property tax relief. I voted yes on one of the data centers and no on the other two because that single data center did provide the funding needed for the property tax relief. Going forward, I do not see the need for any future data centers in Columbia County.”
Wood countered that the process lacked transparency. “I don’t think that the way that the data centers here in Columbia County have been handled was transparent or above board,” she said. “I have asked for a 180-day moratorium in order to, if we would like to bring more data centers to Columbia County, to at least put a stronger ordinance in place to protect the residents of the county and kind of preserve the community feel that we have here.”
She also challenged the financial trade-off, arguing the community is not getting enough in return. “I think that $40 million a year is a pretty short-sighted and low payoff solution when you’re leaving 2 plus billion dollars on the table over the next 25 years that could have been used to offset costs for other things like capital improvement projects or road projects or safety upgrades or law enforcement equipment,” Wood said.
Couch pointed to House Bill 439 on the ballot as central to achieving property tax relief, noting the next step involves a constitutional amendment to lift an $18,000 cap to deliver full relief. “Property tax relief is the number one concern for citizens in Columbia County, and I will strive to achieve that for them every step of the way,” she said.
Wood Stresses Road Coordination Needs
Traffic congestion emerged as another flashpoint, particularly around the Interstate 20 Grovetown exit. Wood highlighted rural, underdeveloped roads and called for coordination with state and federal partners. “Prior planning and enforcement of the existing current requirements,” she said. “A lot of the infrastructure that we have here as far as our road networks is state or federally funded. So just working with those agencies moving forward to make sure we’ve coordinated, we have a good plan, and we coordinate with the regional jurisdictions as well to make sure we’re not trampling on each other’s projects.”
Couch highlighted the county’s recent initiatives, including the completed Lewiston Road and Columbia Road intersection improvement, the widening of Lewiston Road, and the diverging diamond interchange at the Grovetown exit. “We really are very forward-thinking and innovative with some of our traffic projects,” she said.
On land use, Wood advocated for a comprehensive zoning overhaul to spread development into rural parts of the county while maintaining their character. “I would definitely support an overhaul of our existing planning, zoning, and development ordinances, targeting specific areas within the county as appropriate for increasing density, which would allow us to then plan our growth out into the more rural areas of the county and maintain the county character that we have in the various areas,” she said.
According to Couch, attracting businesses is important, but the primary focus remains expanding county services into areas of growth. “An important part of growth also is to be able to provide services for the residents that are joining our community,” Couch said. “So responsible growth means providing sheriff’s department, providing fire services, providing quality of life projects and providing traffic infrastructure.”
The Rest of the Ballot
Voters also decided two Board of Commissioners seats. Republican Alex Griffin defeated Democrat Michael Jordan for the District 1 seat, tallying 63.3% of the vote. Griffin stated he would like work done on the Washington Road segment around Bobby Jones Expressway. In District 4, Democrat Samantha Rockwood defeated Republican Al Reeves.
In the homestead exemption referendum, 87% of voters decided yes on the question: “Shall a local homeowner’s incentive adjustment program be established for Columbia County for the purpose of reducing the tax burden upon qualified homesteads within Columbia County?”
“I’m representing all citizens of Columbia County, no matter if you voted for me or voted for Ms. Wood,” Couch said. “She fought a very hard race and worked very hard, and I commend her for that. And I will work for those who voted for her as well as every citizen in Columbia County.”
Keep reading
Tennessee Supreme Court Upholds Law Capping Metro Nashville Council at 20 Members
Twenty. The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 2023 state law capping the Metro Nashville Council at...
South Dakota Republicans win statewide races, including secretary of state Heather Baxter
Republicans won in South Dakota on Tuesday. What happened instead was a clean sweep: the GOP finished ahead...
Yale SOM alumni win seats in Connecticut, Kentucky and Rhode Island
59% to 41%. That was the commanding margin by which Connecticut Ned Lamont won his third term on...
Charleston Voters Approve Half-Cent Transportation Sales Tax Extension
Charleston County voters have chosen to keep a half-cent transportation sales tax in place, with the extension projected...