Watch now: Offices in Kingsport, Bristol are key issue in race for Sullivan trustee

KINGSPORT — Sullivan County Trustee Susan Ramsey is seeking reelection to a second term. Angela Taylor, a longtime county employee, is seeking to replace her in the $105,000 per year job.It is not the first time the two have competed for the job.In 2018, longtime Trustee Frances Harrell, a Democrat, retired. Five people, including Ramsey and Taylor, ran for the GOP nomination that year, with no Democratic or independent candidates — meaning the election was decided in the party primary.The same situation this year means the same thing: voters will de facto elect the trustee in the Republican Party primary on May 3.But this time, it is Ramsey and Taylor head to head.In 2018, Ramsey won with 26.3% of the vote. Taylor was second with 20.2% of the vote. The other three candidates, combined, drew 53.55% of the 12,678 votes cast.On Monday, Ramsey and Taylor were among candidates up and down the GOP primary ballot to speak to the Republicans of Kingsport.If a defining issue emerged between the two, it is Ramsey's closure of trustee offices in Kingsport and Bristol and Taylor's promise to restore a trustee's presence in each city for the convenience of residents.The trustee's office is likely best known to most county residents as the place they pay their annual property tax bill. But county trustee has been likened to being "county treasurer" because the office is responsible for the county's money.Ramsey spoke first at the Republicans of Kingsport meeting on Monday.She noted she has 36 years of employment with the county, 34 of which were/are in financial operations (she worked 23 years in the accounts and budgets office, seven years for the sheriff's office and is completing her fourth year as trustee).Ramsey said she's proud to have used technology to bring the trustee's office "into the current century."Another accomplishment she cited: developing a partnership with Bank of Tennessee to accept and process property tax payments at five locations throughout the county.Ramsey said that efficiency allowed her to close the Kingsport and Bristol offices of the trustee, saving $50,000 per year "while providing the same service."Taylor, however, said the closure of those offices is the biggest concern residents have mentioned to her as she has campaigned.Taylor said a lot of people don't want to, or are not able to, drive to Blountville to have the in-person experience they want and expect from the trustee. The closure of the trustee's offices in the cites, Taylor said, created an inconvenience for some residents, especially the elderly and those on fixed incomes.Taylor vowed to return trustee's services to each city, saying she thought she could do so with little extra cost to the county. Taylor said there are 91,000 tax bills sent out, and if residents are spending 55 cents postage to mail their notices in, that money, along with savings for gas to drive to Blountville, would offset the cost.Taylor's website states she will provide trustee services in Kingsport and Bristol during December, January and February to make it more convenient for taxpayers during the peak period of property tax payments.Taylor, a county employee for more than 20 years (including time as a manager in the county's public library system and 14 years as assistant to the county mayor) said she thinks elected officials should serve the public and services of the office they hold should not be structured "around an indulgence to ease the burden on the officeholder.""At the same time, the officeholder should not be the source of continued problems, when multiple mistakes have been cited by the state," Taylor said.Early voting for party primaries begins April 13 in Blountville and expands to locations in Bristol and Kingsport on April 21. Early voting concludes on April 28.The last day to register, if you aren't already, and be eligible to vote in the May 3 primary is April 4. In Tennessee, voters do not register by party and primaries are open.