Get to know Alan Gibbs in exclusive interview
A new chairman will take the gavel in Monroe County in January. Alan Gibbs won the recent run-off by a margin of almost 2 to 1 (62.9% of the votes) against incumbent Greg Tapley, who according to our sources, was the only chairman in history of Monroe County to serve back-to-back terms. Gibbs will take over the chair January 1st, after 8 years under Tapley.
Gibbs, who is 46, is married to his wife of 23 years, Nikki. Together, they have three children James (21, Steven 17, and Chloe 7). Alan is a Sr. Training Coordinator with Norfolk Southern Railroad and has been with them since 2011. He is also a proud member and Sunday School teacher at Maynard Baptist Church. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Chairman Elect Gibbs for over 20 mins recently to hear from him his plans for Monroe County.
We asked Gibbs what inspired him to run for office. He said he felt there was a disconnect between the community and commissioners and that some of this is a result of mistrust in government on the federal level. “I don’t think we communicate well from our government level with our citizens. This reflects on transparency. What I mean… is that there are things we can’t talk about (topics like litigation or personnel), but the things we can talk about, we need to.
Gibbs went on to describe how he felt that if people could see our staff at work and better understand what they do on a daily basis, the community would have a better appreciation of their government and what it is doing for them. “Just that little bridge… will help us grow by leaps and bounds.” He said he thinks we need to have Richard Dumas, the county press correspondent do some videos showing what some of the staff does for our county on a daily basis and explained how he felt the value of what we do will be better understood and appreciated. “Citizens need to know what they are getting for their dollar.”
When asked about how he would plan to engage with the community and to ensure the voices in the community will be heard, Gibbs expressed the desire to get involved outside the county offices. “I want to get on the level with the community where they are at. Juliette River Club, Bolingbroke, High falls all have clubs. I can’t make it to every one of them but, we should have a plan to get out there and do that. It’s a grass roots effort. That’s where it starts at, and those relationships can be meaningful.” He went on to express a desire for the county employees to be more involved in the community as well. “If we fill that communication gap with the community, we will see some of that (improve).”
Regarding the relationship with you and your staff… how are you going to balance chain of command and at the same time be accessible to employees in the county?
“The dept heads need to be in charge of their people.” Gibbs said, “But I have an open-door policy with my employees. I won’t take an action on it without involving the chain of command, but I do want to have that communication.”
How do you plan on working with other local officials, community leaders, and stakeholders to advance the interest of Monroe County?
In a nutshell, Gibbs said better communication was needed. “If we are all honest with each other, communication is our biggest problem as humans. You can call my wife and talk to her about that! If I start talking to the mayor, the relationship I have with them matters. Building on that trust factor is the way to move forward.”
What does transparency and accountability mean to you in the context of public service, and how do you plan to uphold these principals?
“When you say something, your word should be good. I have done my best not to make any promises in this campaign that I can’t keep. But it takes more than me to make a decision on behalf of the county…. I’ve said on Facebook posts, remember what I’m saying, if I don’t carry through, I want to be held accountable.”
Touch on campaign promises. Would you mind running through those?
Gibbs explained, “Insurance has come up a lot. That’s a cost to the taxpayers. We need to make sure we take care of our employees. The library. We can’t just let that simmer and have problems. Can we come to an agreement… I’ll be honest with you… (regarding the books with sexual content in the public library), I told a gentleman at dinner the other night that if I had an opportunity to move them, I would put them in the trash can. Any sexually charged books in the kids’ section, if they have vivid pictures, they need to be out of the reach of the children. And obviously they don’t have to be put in the trash can. But they need to be put out of the reach of children. Regarding taxes, Gibbs mentioned that he couldn’t promise to lower taxes. I’ve gone through the budget, and we have some struggles coming up. Transparency was my biggest campaign promise. The campaign I ran was successful and it was successful for a few reasons. I have been sincere.”
When asked about if he had thought about what he wanted his legacy as a chairman to be.
“I want people to look back and say Alan cared. He was a friend to the taxpayers and to the community around him. I don’t want to be remembered as being divisive and causing problems.”
Gibbs went on to say that he was very pleased in meeting with the current chairman and staff.
“They are wanting to pass this torch in the smoothest possible way. They want this to be, when I step into that chair in January, to be sitting pretty and ready to go. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. Kudos to Greg Tapley for stepping up and helping with that.”
When asked to share a hobby that he has that residents of the county may not know about him.
Gibbs said he loves to go saltwater fishing. He joked that he hoped PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – an animal rights activist group) wasn’t watching but that “When you go down into that water and you shoot your first fish, there is absolutely nothing like it. Going from being at the top of the food chain to somewhere in the middle is a scary and exciting feeling.” He went on to say that he has gotten “old and fat” he can’t’ do much anymore, but that he really enjoyed it when he was able.
