After over a 20 year absence in politics, a familiar face has returned to county government, as Gary Tallent is now sitting in his former seat as 3rd District Magistrate.

Tallent, now 75, is a Clinton County native and 1967 graduate of Clinton County High School. He is the son of Doc and Reba Tallent and one of nine children, which included seven boys and two girls.

Like most local residents his age, Tallent is no stranger to work, starting at Ferguson Brothers during his senior year in high school in 1967, where he was employed around 13 to 14 years.

After living in Indianapolis, Indiana, for four years, he returned home, and he and his brother, Guy, owned and operated Somerset Oil for several years.

Although Tallent served various terms on the Clinton Fiscal Court as magistrate, his first run for office was that of sheriff when he was in his early 20s, where he recalls he tied for third place in a seven man race.

Tallent then ran for magistrate in the early 1980s, where he served for two terms in the 3rd District representing the Snow, Seventy-Six and Piney Woods, the same precincts in which he is representing today.

He again ran for sheriff in the early 90s, finishing second in another crowded field of GOP candidates.

The current magistrate served as county Road Foreman under Judge/Executive Charlene King in the 1990s, and, again that decade, ran for magistrate and served one more term. “In all now, I’ve been out of politics for almost 25 years,” he said.

Tallent served with three different county judges, including King, Larry Hatfield and Donnie McWhorter, and now with sitting judge Ricky Craig.

Tallent said he got back into politics because, “I would like to see something start happening in Clinton County, like more business and industry coming in,” he said. “Our county is at a standstill, not moving forward, we have lost jobs,” he added.

Tallent said that while campaigning, a lot of people said they could not get internet. And, in some areas, cable TV is still unavailable, but only a short distance away from their homes and they cannot afford to pay for the lines to be run to their homes.

Another issue he would like to see addressed is more local voting locations opened. He said the new voting machines were high tech and some elderly persons can’t operate them well. He said that at local precincts, people were comfortable in asking precinct officers they know for help in voting.

The aforementioned concerns, as well as helping bring in more businesses and industry to the county, are Tallent’s noted priorities as a court member.

Tallent also believes it is very important that the county work with the city, along with other groups, to get things done. “If you don’t work together, you begin pulling apart and you lose stuff that way,” he said.

Tallent also believes in sticking with one’s own convictions. “Every magistrate should vote for what they feel is right, not what someone else thinks,” he said.

Tallent thinks the local governments, including the fiscal court, mayor and city council, can all work well together, and a top priority in that relationship is solving water problems.

“The county needs to help the city get water to everyone, including Duvall Valley, Bald Rock, Sugar Valley, etc.,” adding the (city’s) engineers have been working for years and the problems are not solved.

Magistrate Tallent believes the county should be up front with the people about everything that is going on. “The county needs to start talking more in the public and at meetings” to keep people informed on is happening.

Tallent believes his past experience as a magistrate and work history will be an asset as a member of the county’s governing body, but does admit that over the past couple of decades, there have been a lot of changes in laws and regulations that he will have to catch up on.

Tallent thanked the people of the 3rd Magisterial District for their confidence in voting for him, but he added he, as a member of the county fiscal court, would also be working for everyone in Clinton County, including those outside the 3rd District. “I want to help my district and the whole county,” he said.

He also said that if anyone had a question or concern about an issue, they could call him anytime at (606) 688-9322.