Grover Brannen during the meet and greet that preceded the forum.

More than 150 politically-active citizens gathered at the fair grounds under cloudy skies, and on soggy soils, for the 2010 election forum hosted by The Press the evening of August 14.

A question-and-answer session was added to the program this year following three-minute speeches from 11 candidates for county commission and school board seats.

Candidates were quizzed on issues like Sunday alcohol sales, the county budget shortfall and the controversial education reform measure Senate Bill 6 that Governor Charlie Crist vetoed this year.

Troy Stanley, who is running for incumbent Congressman Ander Crenshaw’s District 4 seat in the House of Representatives, was the only candidate for state office to attend, though all were invited.

Jackson-Shaw partner Tom Jones and LaBuena Farms president Jimmy Knabb.

For the second time in a year, the Baker County Commission is caught between two companies invested in Baker County real estate.

Both Roberts Land & Timber Investment Corp. of Lake Butler and Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw Co. are planning industrial park projects on US 90 at either end of the county.

And because of traffic concurrency regulations that force landowners to fund road improvements, rather than existing taxpayers, to handle traffic from new development, both companies face millions of dollars in traffic mitigation costs after the initial phases of their projects.

Under these rules, the county accepts traffic concurrency applications and then negotiates agreements with landowners that define how much development can take place before roads must be improved, what improvements will be needed and how much they’ll cost.