HARRIS COUNTY: District 4 Commissioners Race, meet Bobby Irions
HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL)— Coming up in May, two contested races are set to appear on Harris County ballots. Five candidates are vying for county commissioner seats for Districts 4 and 5.
Bobby Irions is seeking reelection to his seat representing District 4. He was sworn into his first term in January 2021.
The network engineer has called Harris County home for seven years. In his reelection campaign he touts his track record in upholding what he campaigned on the first time around: supporting first responders, recreation, and expanding broadband.
Irions said when first elected, he noticed stipends for volunteer firefighters had not been reevaluated in nearly six years.
“I’ve actually raised stipends, $1,800 dollars over the past three years. We’ve also pushed for a fire training building that’s been kicked around and has really been talked about, but no actions have ever been done. So, we actually got that done and got it built,” Irions said. “We also built a fire and EMS station in northwest Harris County, where we didn’t have any Harris County fire coverage, or volunteer coverage in that area.”
During COVID, Irions noticed a lack of internet access throughout the county especially amongst students.
“I brought free public Wi-Fi access to each one of our parks, [E.C.] Pate Park, [Charles] Moultrie Park, and also the soccer field. That in itself is a small step that gets broadband into the county,” Irions shared. “We actually did that without using taxpayer dollars. We used ARP funds that came from the federal government during the COVID era. That actually gave us a chance to be able to utilize those funds in a way that would benefit everyone.”
Plus, Irions says investing in recreation is paramount.
“You can go back and look at all of our meetings. Recreation has been one of the top three for me. Reason being, is because our kids. We have to invest in our kids. If we want our kids to stay here and we want our kids to do wholesome things and we want to keep them out of trouble, sports are where it’s at,” Irions informed. He went on to say bringing sports tournaments to the county will help increase revenue for the county.
Irions shares with WRBL what his next three big ticket items are if reelected.
“Number one, the emergency response radio. That to me is a big deal for all of Harris County to be able to augment that, to be able to get us to a new standard, get us up to date and get us to where we can talk across different agencies,” Irions said.
The SPLOST that is set to renew on April 1, 2025, has earmarked nearly $5 million for public safety vehicles and associated equipment plus $1.5 million to replace the 911 radio system. The entire breakdown can be found, here.
Second, Irions wants to continue his push for infrastructure. Six roads have been resurfaced under Irions’ tenure with plans for a seventh this year. Roads resurfaced include Waterford Drive, Grey Smoke trail, Greysmoke Loop, Calhoun Road, Grey Rock Road, and Ripshin Road. West Bonacre is set to be resurfaced this year. Irions believes the supported infrastructure will help his third ticket item.
“One of my main focuses for this next term is to bring revenue into this county and to figure out public to private agreements to where it’s not the taxpayer that’s having to foot this, we’re bringing in partners that want to be better partners for the county,” Irions informed.
Irions is facing two opponents, longtime resident Jim Kelly and small businessowner Richie Grantham. Both Kelly and Grantham highlighted their plans to improve communication between commissioners and residents of District 4. Irions says he communicates with residents mainly via Facebook and is active in addressing any concerns or questions.
To folks heading to the polls, Irions shares the following.
“Look at my record and everything that I promised during my campaign. I’ve delivered that 100%. Everything I said I was going to do, I did. There’s still more work to be done. You don’t have to worry about me making promises and, not knowing I’m going to follow through or not,” Irions said. “My track record speaks for itself. That to me is one thing that I wanted to bring was accountability and transparency and to be able to support and represent 4 and Harris County as a whole.”
Early voting for this election begins April 29, election day is May 21.
Additional Reports
March 11, 2024: Most incumbents safe in Harris County, only two contested commission seats | WRBL
March 25, 2024: HARRIS COUNTY: District 4 Commissioners Race, meet Jim Kelly | WRBL
April 3, 2024: HARRIS COUNTY: District 4 Commissioners Race, meet Richie Grantham | WRBL
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