Meet the Candidates: Justin O'Dell

Justin O'Dell seeks the Democratic nomination for State House District 41 against Diana Eckles and Michael Smith. The candidate who wins the nomination in the July 31 primary will compete against the only Republican candidate to qualify Phillip Daniell. O'Dell lives in Marietta with his wife and two children.

What do you think are some of the most important issues facing District 41 in the coming years? 

The most important issues facing District 41 are jobs, recovery of the housing market and education. South Cobb has the highest unemployment rate in the county, including District 41, it’s the highest unemployment rates in the county. The area relied heavily on construction and other trade jobs. A lot of people in the district have worked in those industries and a lot of people have lost those jobs with the downturn in the economy and with the downturn in the construction industry. 

So a lot of people are out of work and that translates into the housing market. There are a lot of foreclosures, a lot of vacant homes. A lot of people are trapped in houses that are under water and have negative equity or their neighbor’s house is vacant, which is affecting their home values. 

All of that of course translates into the school system. The school system has suffered with declining revenues. The schools in South Cobb have not received the same level of attention and support, in my opinion, that schools in other parts of the county have received. So with the budget cuts they took a harder hit in District 41 than other areas of the county.

What's your position on charter schools?

I think when it comes to education, the first thing I will always say is we have to be willing to put all options on the table. We have to be able to have a discussion with education. Whether it’s charter schools or public schools no matter what, the real issue is funding. Education is not being funded. Everybody is treating education, whether it’s charter schools or any other kind of school like it’s another state department. That’s not the way it should be. Education should be a priority whether it’s charter schools or public schools. You have to restore funding. 

What’s your position on TSPLOST?

I’ve decided to support the TSPLOST and the reason is I’ve come to the conclusion that we have to start when it comes to transportation improvement. Since I’ve been in Georgia including my time in Athens, we’ve been talking about transportation and having ideas about transportation the entire time I’ve been here. We’ve never actually done anything regionally regarding transportation. And now we’re seeing conversation, “Well, we can do a better plan.” If we keep having conversations about when we can have a perfect plan we’re going to be having conversations forever. It’s time to start.

What made you decide to run for office?

I decided to run for office because I feel Georgia at the state level has lost focus. In the last several legislative cycles, we’ve seen things become more and more partisan and more and more focused on divisive social issues under Republican leadership. Quite honestly we’ve had a lot of things in the past five or six years at the state level that keep Georgia on the late night comedy shows. I want the Georgia back that I came to. That’s’ why I decided to run. I want the Georgia that was focused and progressive, that was moving forward, that was fiscally responsible and that people wanted to be a part of. That’s the Georgia that I came to. Everybody was talking about Georgia there was positive energy about Georgia. There were a lot of things moving forward in Georgia and all of that has gone away. 

See Also:

• Meet the Candidates: Phil Daniell