Sizemore looks to earn a seat on the Putnam County Commissioners

Denver Sizemore knows the road to earning a spot on the Putnam County Commissioners is rocky, but that's not stopping the Democratic candidate for District 2 from doing what he can to earn the seat. 

Sizemore is challenging Republican incumbent Rick Woodall in the November general election and said he decided to run after not getting answers to basic questions. 

"I am 26 years old, and I moved to Putnam County about 10 years ago. Three years ago, I started going to our town hall meetings in Fillmore, and I have had questions I couldn't get answered from the Fillmore Town Council, so I started showing up at the Commissioners' meetings. I would get the same thing there. I had questions and couldn't get real answers, and I felt like I was being sent back and forth. The more I showed up, the more I realized we needed something to change and I decided I could make that change," Sizemore told the Putnam County Post. 

As for his age, Sizemore said the response has been more positive than negative. 

"I think people are happy to see young people get involved and care about what is going on in their community. When I started showing up at those meetings at 23 years old, I was by far the youngest guy in the room by many years. At 26, I am still the youngest guy in the room. I have had a great response from the older generation, and they are happy to see a young guy in there. I think people are ready for some new energy in there," Sizemore admitted.

Sizemore said Putnam County is a county with small towns that once were something more. He cited Fillmore as an example. 

"Fillmore used to be something and used to be a thriving small town when the railroad line was here. We haven't recovered since then. We've gone from 50-plus churches, businesses and organizations down to five or 10. It's not a dying small town. It is a small town that died and nobody ever came back to pick it back up. When you look at Putnam County, there are a lot of historic, small towns that you look at and say, "Wow, these used to be something." I think they can be. Putnam County is a donut county, and if we invest in these small towns again and we lean into our ag tourism, the ruralness of Putnam County with the parks and the trails, it is a beautiful place people want to live in. It is how we lean into who we want to be in the future," Sizemore said. 

Sizemore said Putnam County's status as a "negative employment county" has a ripple effect and indicates a county "funding" problem. 

"As I have been on this campaign, I have gone to multiple departments from the highway crew to the sheriff's department and everyone has the same answer -- a lack of funding. When you look at the numbers it makes sense. We really need to grow our economy and our pie. Our gross domestic product, as a county, has been stagnant for the last 10-plus years. Our population has been stagnant for the last 10 years, and all of these things work together. When you have a lack of opportunity, you have a lack of hope in the community and a lack of people investing in their community. These things are all side effects of one another. Getting out and talking to people, it is clear we have a funding issue and we need to grow the pie, lean into who we are and grow some of these funds," he said. 

If elected, Sizemore understands that people are not looking at Putnam County as a place to come live and do business. 

"We have a lot of things internally we need to work on from capital improvements plans to roads and bridges. We are number one in the state for the worst bridges. These are things that rest on the Commissioner's shoulders, and they oversee these things. To become a negative employment county, to have the worst bridges, it is not happening overnight. This is the result of years of pushing things off, saying we are fine and if we are going to attract people to Putnam County, we need to invest in the county and people that are already here," Sizemore admitted. 

Sizemore pointed to recent news that Dixie Chopper is ceasing operations as a need for a "new energy" in Putnam County. 

"Dixie Chopper just left, and it is sad they are leaving. You see other companies in Putnam County struggling. I don't see that changing if we don't have a different direction and energy at the table. We need someone to say let's do something different. I think a lot of times it is the we've always done it that way mentality. Some things need to change," he said. 

In addition,  Sizemore said he would like to see transparency regarding how money is being spent. 

"We have a website we spent $57,000 for over a five year contract and it is to track election results. Those results aren't even available until the night of. You can't look and see how many votes I have on this site until the day of. That is a $57,000 contract. You often hear people say we don't have money for this or that. I have seen us spend $20,000 on two lawnmowers. We have some money that can be reworked. That is $77 grand in two contracts. We are spending money in the wrong places," Sizemore noted. 

Sizemore said if elected, he would look at contracts and see if money can be spent elsewhere. He cited the $4 million in reserves spent on the annex as one example he would investigate. 

"We had $4 million in reserves that we spent on the annex. At the same time, the highway department says it doesn't have any money, but we have $4 million in a bank account. There's money out there and the way it is all broken down is very interesting. I believe we should have a dashboard telling us where all the money is going. We hear $5 million in general, but what is that? I have to get in there, see what the money is being spent on, see what can be reworked and see if we can spend better," Sizemore said. 

The political newcomer said he would like to see Putnam County lean into its future identity. 

"Putnam County is a beautiful place, and we have a thousand little things we could be working on. We can lean into our rural agriculture, learn about farm life and develop a special appreciation for that. In 10 years, I hope we are still rural and we are leaning into it and leaning into our downtowns and don't let the outside world pressure us into who they want us to be and we be who we want to be," Sizemore said. 

He said that his entire life, he has heard people voice displeasure with government, yet they continue to vote the same people into office, and he provides a change. 

"If you want change, you have to vote for it. You have to get out, look into who is running and see what their ideas are. I think a lot of people get sucked into national politics, but here locally, there are a lot of things going on that need help and your attention. If people aren't getting out and getting informed, things aren't going to change," Sizemore said.