Oconee commissioners have a very small number to work with right now as they decide how to spend a new $40 million special sales tax, which they'll take to voters early next year -- and that's making for some difficult decisions

With only a little more than $8 million to play with (thanks to debt payments, needs for road and water and sewer system improvements, along with a fairly large slice of the tax revenue being claimed by the county's four cities) they're basically picking between some large public safety projects -- two new fire stations, a regional 800 MHz radio system for the sheriff's office -- or seed money for more farmland protection (conservation easements and the like) and historic preservation grants.

Well, they asked for it.

Next week’s marathon work session at the Oconee County courthouse will give the part-time members of the Oconee Board of Commissioners a glimpse into Chairman Melvin Davis’ world.

Two familiar faces from Oconee commissions of yore -- well, up until four years ago, so not really that yore -- announced this week they're saddling up as challengers in July's Republican primary.

One of them, current Bishop Mayor Johnny Pritchett, wants to take back the Post 1 seat he lost in 2004 to Jim Luke. Pritchett, the retired Athens-Clarke fire marshal, served eight years on the board. He's running on his experience in government and offered in his announcement to send a copy of his resume to anyone who wants it.

And, in a surprise move, longtime commissioner and chicken farmer William "Bubber" Wilkes called Thursday to say he's coming back for another run. Wilkes' 20-year turn on the board also ended in defeat in 2004 (to Post 4 Commissioner Chuck Horton), so on one hand, it's not too shocking he wants back in. But then again, after the '04 campaign, he said he was hanging it up.

Presidential candidates have been on the campaign trail for at least a year, but candidates for local elections are just beginning to awake from the stupor of real life and join their national counterparts for a few Kafkaesque months of mudslinging, misspeaking and political MacGuffin-ing (any issue these days, it often seems).

In the coming months, this blog will keep track of the 2008 election seasion in Oconee County, where nearly every county post is up. And, since Oconee stories in the Banner-Herald usually have a regional perspective, for good reason, the blog will also provide county residents a reliable source for smaller, local issues -- wrap-ups after commission and school board meetings, new trends, extra interviews, etc.