“Kitchen Table Issues”— the Bread and Butter of Elections

Breaking down how economic matters affect daily life, frequently dubbed the “kitchen table”— where we often debate the casserole of economics, inflation, taxes, and cost of living —is not so easy. Forsyth County, despite its noteworthy affluence, has a host of unaddressed problems that threaten our well-being. Voting matters, local elections have consequences, and county voters need to understand how differently the two main parties view kitchen table issues and our neighbors’ needs. 

In addition to a strong national recovery from Covid 19, Georgia has benefited greatly from Biden’s major legislative acts. Investment in infrastructure, broadband, electric vehicle and battery industries, as well as solar panel manufacturing (GA leads the nation) is significant. Though our US House Reps readily tout Georgia’s economic prowess, they voted against the legislation. 

Rankings do not tell the whole story
At the county level, Forsyth ranks highly across many categories of economic success:  8th most affluent in the country; top 10 in the country for incoming investment; and top scoring ACT results in the state and country.
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Yet, despite our affluence, Forsyth County has a striking number of people in need. Of the nearly 90,000 households in the county, some 25% are working residents who do not earn enough nor have sufficient savings for emergencies and rely on community support. Most are single parent households. And an astonishing 27,000—or nearly 10% of our neighbors—are without health insurance. 

Our county has no emergency mental healthcare access; in the last two years, over 3,000 residents in crisis had to travel elsewhere in the state to obtain care. As we highlighted in the last Kicker, our Board of Commissioners recently (BOC) opted against using one-time federal funds for a mental health facility. BOC member Kerry Hill said a “state-operated mental health crisis center is not the most effective use of…ARPA funds, as  the facility would be open to people outside Forsyth County.” This insular attitude ignores the fact our residents currently rely on other counties for care.
Many may not know that over 1,000 students in Forsyth County lack housing—nearly double the number of just five years ago--forced to live with others while they go to school. A consortium of nonprofit organizations looks out for them.

Why is our wealthy county in this situation?
Our county and state political leadership has been dominated by one party for decades. They have shown us they are ignoring those in our community with urgent needs. Biden passed legislation that expands infrastructure and other core investment across the country to support all citizens. The GOP’s Project 2025 plan focuses on continuing tax cuts for the wealthy, eroding safety nets, eliminating reproductive health, gutting the Department of Education and eliminating regulatory oversight on everything from the EPA to the FDA–on top of further restricting voting rights.

As we move toward November elections, it is vital to bring new leadership to elected positions to ensure we have the necessary discussions and action to support our neighbors in need while we continue our county’s development. These are not mutually exclusive goals, especially in a county like ours.