Two candidates are running for the Georgia House of Representatives for District 124. District 124 consists of Oglethorpe, Greene, Taliaferro and a portion of Putnam County.
Melanie Miller is running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Trey Rhodes in the Nov. 5 election.
Rhodes took office in 2023. Georgia House of Representatives members serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits.
Rhodes and Miller spoke to The Oglethorpe Echo about their plans for the office.
Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What legislation that you agreed with or supported in the last session passed?
Rhodes: Our goals and our highlights of what we wanted to do as a caucus was fight inflation and cut taxes, combat illegal immigration, keep our community safe, strengthen our election integrity and of course invest in our education system to keep our kids moving in the right direction.
Miller: The $36.1 billion state spending plan. It includes the raises for around 300,000 state educators and state workers. So that’s more money for law enforcement, education and mental health programs. I definitely agreed with that.
Q: What legislation that you supported did not make it through the last session, and would you want to try again with any of these bills if elected for the upcoming term?
Rhodes: One thing that I was working on locally that did not pass was some legislation to help rein in private water companies. Our city and municipal water entities have oversight from our voters. If people don’t like them and they’re getting overcharged and have high tap fees, they can elect a new regime to look after that water system. But private companies have zero oversight, nobody to tell them that they have to charge this or that, or make it fair. I worked on a piece of legislation that would put private water companies under the purview of the Public Service Commission, and that did not make it through, so we’re going to have a study committee this off-session, just to make sure that our constituents are being charged a fair and reasonable rate for a necessity of life.
Miller: Medicaid expansion.
Q: What do you think are the key issues for constituents in Oglethorpe County?
Rhodes: I think they want to cut taxes, invest in education, they want a safe community and see prosperity in their community. Keep it a safe, viable and growing place to live, work and play.
Miller: I think that money should be allocated among the entire district, and I know that Oglethorpe County has been left out, as far as issues with infrastructure, workforce development and mental health resources.
Q: What is something specific you would like the residents of Oglethorpe County to know about you?
Rhodes: I have a record, and they can see that over what we’ve done while we’re there. I think we cut taxes, their state income taxes, we cut it four times, and we are hopefully going to get it under 5%. We have given money back to them in the form of rebates and property tax rebates. Just this year, we did some things that are going to help double the homestead exemption from $2,000 to $4,000, and we increased child tax dedication to $1,000. What we are doing is working good, strong conservative leadership to give their money back to them, and we’re trying to cut taxes.
Miller: I am a team player. I want to have open communication with the local government. I’m approachable, and I want to see things being done fair with integrity and consistency.
Q: How do you learn about your constituents’ views?
Rhodes: The big thing is, you don’t ever know there’s a problem, or somebody needs help, unless they reach out. So the biggest thing that I will say is if somebody needs help at the state level, please feel free to email me or call me. If there’s a problem, I need to know it. Communication is the key in all aspects of life.
Miller: By actually getting out and speaking to my constituents. Having quarterly town hall meetings, getting with the local government and inquiring about any issues. I want to know what’s going on. What do my constituents need? That’s why I said I’m going to be approachable, I’m going to be reachable. I’m going to be around, not just sitting in my office.
Q: What are the top three issues you are concerned about?
Rhodes: Basically, just building off what we have done here in the state of Georgia. We’ve been No.1 in business to do business for 10 years in a row. And to do those things, you have to keep the correct leadership in place. The thing that I want to make sure we have is safe communities to raise our families. We did some election integrity stuff this past election, and we’ve been building on that, so that will be an issue that will be continued to expand on.
Miller: One is mental health resources, because there’s a lack of that in rural Georgia. We have the money, but it’s not allocated for mental health resources that we need. The next one is human rights, the ability to continue to make our own choices. And workforce, housing, affordable homes.