WINNSBORO – Although election season may be a few months from heating up to a full head of steam, this week a candidate emerged to challenge County Council Chairman David Ferguson in District 5. Making his announcement Monday night at the Fairfield County Democratic Convention at the County Courthouse, Eugene Holmes threw his hat into the ring of Fairfield County politics.
Holmes, 79, was born and raised in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Department of Labor for 27 years before retiring with his wife, Fairfield native Margaret Pauling Holmes, to their Fairfield County home on Charming Circle, where they have lived for the last four years. They have two children and three grandchildren, all in the D.C. area. In addition to working for the federal government, Holmes said he was also a substitute teacher in Maryland and substitutes here in Fairfield County now as well. He also serves as third vice chair of the Fairfield County Democratic Party and is a volunteer worker with the Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
What drew Holmes into the political arena?
“I wasn’t satisfied with the dictatorship-type system we have here with our County Council,” Holmes said. “Citizens don’t have any say at all at County Council meetings. And I’m not happy with the amount of money that isn’t accounted for. There is also a lack of transparency. I want a transparent government, not a dictatorship.”
Holmes said he was also concerned about what he sees as an excessive rate of taxation in Fairfield County.
“If I had realized how high the taxes were in Fairfield County when we were looking to buy a home, we wouldn’t have bought in Fairfield County,” Holmes said.
With the filing deadline not until July, Holmes said he has only just begun to collect signatures on his petition to be included on the November ballot. Potential candidates must collect signatures from at least 5 percent of the registered voters in their respective districts to qualify.