Gasaway called out during Habersham County’s Political Forum

During Habersham County’s Political Forum, last week, District 28 State Representative Republican Incumbent Dan Gasaway was under fire, after being questioned about his recent accusations tarnishing the reputations of his opponent Republican Chris Erwin, the Habersham County Board of Education, and a recent flier his campaign mailed out to tax payers.

In the flier, Gasaway calls the recent appointment of Habersham County Commissioner Stacey Hall to the Habersham County Hospital Authority illegal.

As Gasaway began to answer, he was immediately cut-off by Hall who shouted “Dan, I’m not gonna’ let you lie!”

This was the beginning of a back-and-forth debate which ended with Hall suggesting that candidates shouldn’t be allowed to lie while in office.

Prior to the Habersham County Political Forum, Stephens County held its Political Forum, where both Gasaway and Erwin were present; however, unlike Habersham’s forum, Stephens County leaders, citizens, and listeners remained calm and respected the rules set-in-place by the moderator.

During the political forum, here in Toccoa, Gasaway was asked how he would reduce poverty in Stephens County.

Gasaway said by increasing funding for the education and treatment of drug abuse.

“There are several good-paying jobs in Stephens County that anyone could get if they could pass a drug test,” Gasaway said.

Erwin was asked the same questions, and responded by saying how important it is to bring jobs to Stephens County.

“The first thing that comes to mind, is more jobs. We need to have better paying jobs come to Stephens County,” Erwin said.

As reported in the April 27, edition of The Northeast Georgian, Gasaway cited Toccoa-based Lawyer Allan Ramsey as the source of his allegations of illegal activity; however, when The Northeast Georgian reached out to Ramsey, he denied saying Hall’s appointment to the Hospital Authority was illegal.

Ramsey continued to add that what he did tell Gasaway was that the appointment created a conflict of interest – not that it was illegal, as Gasaway claimed.

One of the two candidates vying for the district 28 seat will be chosen by the people in the General Primary Election on May 22.