Special to the Journal

Lee County activist and vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Southwest Georgia Tim Nelson will qualify Friday, August 3, 2012 at 9:30 AM to challenge incumbent Rick Muggridge in the November general election for the Lee County Commission district 4 race.

Nelson has recently made headlines as he has campaigned vigorously again the unpopular T-SPLOST initiative in Lee County, including taking on Lee County Code Enforcement for failure to enforce its own sign ordinance against multi-message signs placed in support of T-SPLOST. He also assisted the anti-garbage tax campaign collecting signatures to reverse the commission’s decision to apply garbage fees to property tax bills.

In order to qualify as an independent, Nelson had to gather 168 signatures on a petition and submit them to election officials, which he will perform by noon Monday, August 6, 2012.  “I feel the working people struggling to pay their bills who have not weathered the current economic storm unscathed need to have representation that has suffered right alongside them. I look forward to representing the engine of Lee County’s economy that is District 4,” Nelson said.

Nelson vows to stay true to his free market principles should he be elected. “My goals are simple,” Nelson said.  He said he plans to “stop using fees to support the general fund, cut frivolous spending on pet projects and work to make Lee County a better place to do business than Albany and Americus, by lowering taxes and reducing government involvement.”