The primary election for the District 3 County Commissioner ise June 28, 2022.. This year’s candidates are Chris Duroy and Pete Bridgman. Duroy is the incumbent while this is Bridgman’s first time running. Both candidates were asked a few questions to allow the public a chance to get to know them.
Tell us a little about yourself?
Duroy - “I have been the Commissioner here in Marshall County for 14 years. I was a Road Foreman for two years before that. I have also worked in an assessor's office for a year and a half. I grew up in Del City, Okla., and lived out in West Texas for 15 years. After that, my wife and I bought a business here in Marshall County. We took it from next to nothing and built it up. We sold that business and that was when I started working for the county.”
Bridgman - “ I was born in Ardmore, Okla., and I was raised in Jefferson County, south of Ringling Okla. I graduated high school in Ringling and went to college for a while. I have worked as a construction superintendent for over 30 years.. I went to supervisor school in 1976 when I was working for Spade Engineering. I went to procedure school in 1985 at Glen Rose Nuclear Power Plant. Over the years, I have supervised several multi-million dollar projects and managed and supervised large construction crews. I have been a crane operator, backhoe operator, and ran bulldozers before.”
What goals do you have if you are elected/reelected?
Duroy - “I will keep building roads and rebuilding roads as much as possible and that funding will allow. We receive funding for about four to five miles of road per year. We want to renovate these roads for the growth in population we’re going through right now. We’re talking about building a new EMS building. Our ambulance service is getting bigger and that building is in bad shape. We will use ARPA funds and no tax dollars for funding this new building. We would also like to do an addition to our expo building using those ARPA funds, so it doesn’t cost our taxpayers any money. I believe this will help with the growth of Marshall County.”
Bridgman - “The main construction I want to work on are roads that citizens drive on every day. We will pave roads that haven’t ever been paved before. There are too many people that still drive on dirt and gravel roads that need to be fixed, as well. I also want to add a sports complex in Marshall County. I want to build a complex that includes softball, baseball, and soccer. Kingston, Madill, and the surrounding areas don’t have a facility that these kids can use. While Kingston does have the KYA association, it's incredibly old and out of date. These kids in Marshall County are going to Lone Grove, Durant, Silo, or anywhere but here. There is nowhere in our county to hold these sporting events for our kids. We’re losing many talented athletes due to not having a facility for them to play at. The ambulance service here in Madill is in desperate need of an upgrade. Why has it taken so long to fix this issue? I also want to add a flood board to Marshall County. The citizens of Marshall County are having to pay insurance companies so much money since we’re considered a flood zone. There are too many things in this county that have been overlooked for the last 14 years.”
What are some reasons the public should vote for you?
Duroy - “My experience, along with the alliances I've built with other commissioners, state representatives, and federal people. I also sit on a lot of different boards from INCA to Southern Workforce. I’m also on the Oklahoma Homeland Security Committee. You have to be around for a while to be appointed to these committees and groups. It takes a lot of years of training for this job. If you want to do a good job here, you need to get certified for this job. I’m one of the few certified commissioners around here. It wasn’t mandatory for me, but I went through all of the training of over 300 hours at Oklahoma State University. I was trained in county government, budgeting, purchasing, and road work. It took me six years to get all of the accreditation. The road work is easy, but the budgeting, financial, EMS, hospital, and health department stuff that you need to organize. My knowledge of how to do this job, and my experience are worth keeping me here.”
Bridgman - “I believe that I will do a lot better of a job than what is being done. I think we need to do stuff for the people in Marshall County. If you have a problem, you contact me with that problem and we will work together to solve that problem. If you have an idea or suggestion, you can come to me and I will listen to that idea and listen to that suggestion and we will use it if it is deemed usable and we will figure something out. This is not a dictatorship type of a deal, this is the people of Marshall County, not me. We will do what is best for the people of Marshall County.”
What do you wish to have accomplished by the end of your term if you’re elected?
Duroy - “I would like to have the EMS building com plete. I would also like to have the add-on to the EXPO center done, as well. I have one more road on my eight-year plan which is Texoma Park Road. I also have Alberta Creek Road planned, as well. These are multi-million dollar road projects. I already have worked on most roads going down to the lake in the Enos area, the Buncombe Creek area, and the Rock Creek area. All of the major collectors going down to the lake and marina I’ve been working on over the years as well. That would give me all of the multi-million dollar projects completed. Those projects are not coming out of local tax money, they come from the tax of buying cars, buying fuel, and everything else from the state tax. The Texoma Park Road project will be an early 2023 project, which will begin in October of this year.”
Bridgman - “Marshall County and especially District 3 is one of the fastestgrowing communities in the country. I’ve been told it's the fastest-growing community in the country. It is going to take strong leadership to work on the infrastructure, roads, and hospital to keep it going. I would like to at the end of my career be able to look around our county and feel proud of what we have accomplished. Not what I have accomplished, but what we have accomplished. We have a lot of good people in Marshall County and they deserve better.”
Why did you decide to run for District 3 County Commissioner?
Duroy - “I have these road projects that I would like to complete. I’ve got a lot of neighborhoods and subdi visions I would like to see redone. I have those planned and will work on them. We just finished working on the Buncombe Creek tornado and I still have state money coming in for that. These are ongoing projects and only people that have been in this job for a while and understand this stuff is needed. They’re finally building the Pointe Vista area and I have overseen that for 14 years trying to protect Marshall County from going in there and from the state selling all of it out. We’re trying to keep tourism involved and having some success there. We do want to see Pointe Vista develop on their property. We also want to see the Chickasaws build their project as well. We do want tourism to stay involved and keep the state park down there. There are a lot of rules they have to follow and not a lot of people know about that. I have been involved in this for 14 years and I’m looking out for Marshall County. I think it is imperative for people to keep me here just to oversee those projects as I am trying to protect Marshall County.”
Bridgman - “A lot of it was dissatisfaction with the way it was being run in the previous years. I didn’t just jump out and decide I’m going to be county commissioner. I went and talked to people that I know. The Bridgman name is well known in this county and has been for the last 100 years, so my family knew a lot of people here. People wanted someone to run and I ended up being the one that wound up running because we need a better situation in District 3 of Marshall County.”