Andrea Farnham, candidate for Athens Clarke County District 8 Commissioner is pushing for a candidate debate inside the local Athens Clark County jail. On Wednesday, January 8 at the ACC library, four Athenians and ex-inmates will join a panel discussion relating their experiences with the criminal justice system, and voicing support for the debate at the jail.
 
Panel participants include Terrance Patton, Kikema, Stoval, local rapper Torrance Wilcher (Squalle), and UGA PhD student Irami Osei-Frimpong. The event is hosted by the Farnham campaign, and Athens Area Democratic Socialists of America (AADSA).
 
Richard Winfield, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, will also speak at the event to voice his support for the ACC jail debate, and discuss his proposals for community initiatives.
 
“It is a great idea,” Winfield stated, adding “as a matter of right candidates should be campaigning in local jails because residents and voters are in there.” Mariah Parker, County Commissioner for District 2 also voiced support stating “I would be in favor” of a debate or town hall at the local jail.
 
On her reasoning for proposing the debate at the jail, Farnham said, “the people in jail are part of Athens. They are citizens, residents, voters, fathers, mothers, friends, brothers. Those are my future constituents and I should be able to campaign for their vote, talk to them about issues they care about, and field questions. Since they cannot come to my events I should be able to go to them. We don’t annul marriages or void deeds when people go to jail, so why deny inmate the right to be informed voters?”

Sheriff Edwards denied Farnham’s request to host a debate at the jail citing “safety issues” and costs of paying overtime as well as “it hasn’t been done before” as his primary concerns. When pressed about other events hosted at the jail such as GED classes, educational programs, therapeutic programs as well as voter outreach programs Edwards declined to comment and reiterated his “safety concerns”. Sheriff Edwards stated that in the past they have “helped inmates vote” and get mail in ballots so seems to support inmates voting but did not comment of how denying inmates access to candidates was consistent with his stance on voting rights. Sheriff Edwards can be reached at (706) 613-3250 (ext 6906) for comment.

"Right now we have a governing class and the governed class, so one of the missions of my office is to fulfill the promise of democracy and extend political and economic power to those who have been locked out," says Farnham. “Inmates are part of the polity and should be extended the same right to access to candidates running for office as a matter of good governance because I am running for public office which is about governing the whole polity, including inmates”.

Farnham concluded by stating, “When you go to the local jail website there is a long list of events and programs allowed at the jail. Sheriff Edwards has decided that this forum/debate should not be allowed despite the existence of such programs such as the “prison debate” program in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia” which hosts debates in the Lee Arrendale prison in Alto Georgia. The Prison Debate program is run by Dr. Edward Panetta.

Election day is May 19, 2020. The local commissioner elections will be held concurrently with the statewide direct primary election.