Incumbent Republican Danny Elsberry is seeking re-election
by Wayne J. Reynolds
District 2 Commissioner Danny Elsberry (Republican) is running for reelection to the Haralson County
Commission. He is on the ballot for the May 19th Primary Election. Elsberry was first elected in 2022.
Looking to the future, Elsberry stated he will continue to work hard for the Haralson County citizens and
work to get an economic boost for the county. “People want their roads paved. They want to make sure
someone shows up if they have an emergency. I will continue to work in that direction – to make sure our
services and employees are taken care of and our tax base is lowered as the economic base improves.
Slow growth. Private living, not look out your window and see what shirt your neighbor is wearing. I think
everyone deserves that. The American dream. I want people to look at our county and say, ‘I want
that!’ Everyone wants something beautiful and affordable and I think that is what Haralson County is.”
Danny Elsberry grew up in Paulding County and along with his wife, Sherri, graduated from Paulding
County High School in 199 and started his own trucking company in 1994, now for 31 years. Not long
after the birth of their daughter, they moved to Haralson County where they have lived for the past 21
years.
“We moved to Haralson County back then because Haralson had small town values. You weren’t just a
number – you were a name. That is how I wanted our daughter to grow up, like Sherri and I did,” said
Commissioner Elsberry. “Paulding County obviously was changing with explosive growth with
subdivisions. We need small growth bringing in business before housing developments. Paulding grew by
housing development with no economic development. Slow growth is good growth. We need business
growth to take care of the tax base, not overburden the property owners.”
During Elsberry’s term, Haralson County has dropped the millage rate every year. “No, we don’t control
what the school board does, that is completely separate from the county. We have given our county
employees at least a 6% pay raise during my term. We are working on the tax base. If we don’t have
economic development then the burden falls back on the property owners. It takes time. Bringing
business creates 20 to 100 times the income that housing developments do. My number one focus is
getting the MY Turn project completed, and economic development, so we can obliterate property tax for
the citizens. Eliminate property tax. And if we can bring in the business, our citizens won’t have to drive to
Atlanta for work.”
Elsberry and the Haralson County Commission opted-in to Bill 581 Homestead Act keeping the property
rate at 2024 levels. “The main goal was to lower the tax burden to our citizens. The school school board did not opt in.
The county is looking better. I know a lot of people were shocked when their tax
assessments came in. Some people’s assessments were high because the tax assessor’s office was
seven years behind assessments. But the county commission has no control over that office. They are
independent from us. I understand they still have over 800 appeals still outstanding. But, for many, their
tax bill went down because we and the school board opted-in to the 2024 rate. By law, now the tax rate in
Haralson will never go up by more than 3%.”
Note: Each of Georgia’s 159 counties has four independently elected constitutional officers:
the sheriff, clerk of superior courts, judge of probate court, and tax commissioner. These officials are
established by the state constitution to serve four-year terms and manage essential county services,
operating independently of the board of commissioners.
Concerning the issue of battery plants, Elsberry is 100% against those. Battery plants assist in supplying
the massive amounts of energy required to run data centers. Elsberry said, “Data centers are evolving every year, every six months. They are getting cleaner and more self-sufficient. They are getting better every year. And they are not going away. I am not saying I will vote for or against one. I am educating myself on it so if one comes to us, I am ready. One has not come to us yet. I will educate myself before I vote on behalf of the citizens. It is my responsibility to be able to show what my thinking is in black and white. I need to be able to prove what I say, that I think because I use this line of reasoning. I work well with the other commissioners.”
“The trucking business taught me how to manage people and customers, and those same principles are
in being a county commissioner in District 2 for the past three years. Manage your business, employees,
and money at the same time,” Elsberry explained. In Georgia, it is mandated that each newly-elected commissioner take a two-day class. Elsberry is now a certified county commissioner having done so. And, he has taken specialty classes to enhance his knowledge. “I want the most knowledge I can get to do this job. I am now doing leadership classes.”
“Over the past three years, we have accomplished a lot. Probably what I am most proud of is getting
raises for the employees, bringing economic development to Haralson County which has been neglected
for over 20 years, and the My Turn field. The My Turn project is to take care of special needs children who
have been neglected. This facility will be designed for those with special needs to play and includes the
concession stand and bathroom facilities as well. The name came out of a special needs child asking his
father, “When is it my turn?’
The county commission – by a 5 to 0 vote – approved the funding of this handicap accessible facility in our meeting April 6th for $3.85M using SPLOST funds. The four cities will contribute toward this total with county funding $2.85M of that total. This unique facility is one of the few in the state. The groundbreaking should be in a few weeks. We hope to have it ready by the fall. This kind of project is what our job is – take care of all our citizens. It is what we were elected to do!”
When Elsberry was first asked to run to this seat, he said he observed there were a lot of things not going
on. He said, “I am a businessman and am used to getting things done. Not procrastinate for months and
months. I don’t agree with putting things off or putting bandaids on situations. We need to figure things
out. I thought I could bring my business skills to the county to find solutions and get things started. We
needed to get business into Haralson. Since elected, we have brought Infra-Metals which started from the
ground up and is now running – a multi-million dollar operation. Several businesses are now looking at
us. We have a massive project looking at the landfill property. A lot of things are coming.”
Before being elected, he said he had he suggested to the commission board to buy the landfill property to end the controversy. Make them an offer, he said. They did and bought the land for $6.5M. “We had the money using SPLOST and other funds, not the county money. We now have a potential customer for way more than that and it is for economic development and business.”
Among other accomplishments during his term, Elsberry mentioned that he and the board did the
following: 100 miles of roads paved, caution lights working with state DOT at Morgan Road, four fire
trucks, more equipment for the sheriff’s department, and fleet rotation among county vehicles.
“During this term I didn’t get the fire protection for the Mountain View area, but it is coming. They deserve fire protection!” said Commissioner Elsberry.
For more information call Danny Elsberry at 770-815-8667 or email dannyelsberry@haralsoncountyga.gov.