Susan Baird will officially take her seat on the Alachua County Board of Commissioners tomorrow afternoon.
Baird said, "It's going to be different for them." Baird's philosophy as a Republican is clearly different from that of the other Commissioners and she feels she'll bring a perspective that has been needed on the Board for years.
Baird said, "I think this will at least create some of that balance and hopefully will always have some of that with all sides in there so that we don't over develop, over conserve, over give, over take." She said change in priorities by the Commission is inevitable due to the realities of our economy. Baird said, "To have the ability to say we cannot fund anymore of these wonderful, great, we would love to do programs and we honestly have to focus on those special, core essential services which is public safety, and infrastructure, which a big portion of that infrastructure is roads."
So after an endorsement by Sheriff Sadie Darnell and a stated difference in priorities, will Baird fight for the Sheriff's budget in the coming weeks?
Baird said, "I appreciate everybody's support, but I will always make the best decision for the county and granted right now that's to get a resolution. Go ahead and get this behind us, move forward and in any type of situation that we have to solve it among ourselves and then work on next year. If next year there's still a problem, well guess what? There's gonna be something that we really need to address."
Baird admits she has a lot to learn, but is ready to collaborate with the other commissioners, while bringing a different viewpoint to Alachua County's problems, especially the creation of jobs.
Baird said, "I think I'm able to be in the same level with the other Commissioners that they, I don't believe would want tot see a lack of jobs...I think they would also like to see more jobs come up in Alachua County. Because once people have jobs, they have money to then pay for their mortgages, they aren't so many foreclosures. They don't need so much assistance."