Bryan County chairman race heats up

PEMBROKE, Ga. (WSAV) – Bryan County is gearing up for a high-stakes election that could change the course of history for this rapidly expanding municipality.

That could be why the election for the chairman of the Bryan County Board of Commissioners is playing out so publicly on social media, with accusations of illegal voting, ethics violations and even derogatory signage from one campaign.

“Social media is playing a big part, which I don’t think it should, because people don’t get all the facts right when they go on social media. So, there’s been a lot of back and forth,” said Carter Infinger, the current chairman, who is facing Buck Holly, owner of C&H Precision.

Responsible growth has emerged as the most critical issue in the race. Much of the discussion has been centered around the Hyundai Metaplant and the many people moving to Bryan County because of it.

Infinger tells News 3 he plans to enforce existing unified development ordinances or design standards for housing and impact fees for new builders to minimize overcrowding.

“The Savannah homebuilders, they don’t like it. But this is our community, and four or five years ago when this happened, I had to take a stand,” Infinger said. “Are we going to stand with the homebuilders and do whatever they want, or are we going to stand with the citizens of this county? We decided to stand with the citizens of this county.”

Holly says he wants to encourage homebuilders to operate freely.

“The incumbent seems to be hell-bent on taking a whip to the builder – the local builders who are also small businesses. If you do the numbers, we need somewhere between five and 10,000 new homes to offset the cost of new water treatment facilities,” he said.

Infinger though, says he has been leading the charge since the Metaplant broke ground and sees Holly as lacking a critical quality.

“This is a critical stage. You can’t come in and have never been to a meeting and think you can step into this role. It’s like, “Hey, I’m not in the Army, but I’m going to be the general.” It’s not going to work,” the incumbent said.

Holly disagrees.

“Yes, experience does matter. I have been boots on the ground in this community building a small company, and I know what it takes to listen to customers, listen to my employees and make the best decision,” the firearm parts manufacturer said.

Bryan County’s population grew more than 30% from 2010 to 2019, and it will only continue to do so.

Only voters can decide who will lead the charge.

Early voting began Monday and will be happening until May 17.