SENECA — In late March, three Republican candidates for county council came out together, signed a platform they vowed to keep and said they would quit if they broke their word upon being elected.

The trio — two of whom are taking on incumbents and one who is seeking a seat to be vacated — has been pretty quiet ever since … that is, until this week.

“The first part of our pledge was to listen to the citizens of Oconee County and that’s what we’ve been doing,” said Reg Dexter, candidate in District 5. “And, what we’ve heard is that people aren’t happy.”

Dexter, along with Wayne McCall, a candidate in District 2, and Stan Smith, who is seeking the District 4 seat being vacated by Marion Lyles, agreed that people are still “up in arms” over a reassessment Oconee County went through in 2006-2007, that, in some cases, raised property values by 42 percent.

“They (County Council) just never listened,” McCall said, “and now, all of a sudden, they’re saying we need to slow down and listen.”

McCall, Smith and Dexter are convinced that the sudden interest on the part of the incumbents to listen is strictly election-year politicking.

“It’s definitely political,” McCall said. “There’s never been any opposition but now there is. Look at the history.”

“You would think someone handed them our platform,” Dexter added.

Dexter is taking on incumbent Frank Ables in the Fair Play area district. Ables chaired the Budget Committee during recent hearings and Dexter said he believes Ables’ push for “no new taxes” is also driven by politics.

“They say they are doing things with a lease-purchase. Well, the problem is, you have to pay for it sometime,” McCall added in support of Dexter’s claim.

The trio said they have also heard from people who are not excited about the county’s plan to build a spec building or to spend $6 million to build a firehouse that McCall referred to as “a monstrosity.”

“If they didn’t throw money away other places, they would have the money the school needs,” McCall said.

“If our education system doesn’t have the money it needs to produce top students, what is industry in this county going to do,” Smith asked in questioning spending priorities.

“The bottom line is there is a lack of direction. There is confusion and there is inefficiency,” Dexter said. “There is a real need for long-range planning.”

McCall will face incumbent Tommy Crumpton in the GOP primary. The winner faces no opposition in November. Smith is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Westminster businessman Joel Thrift. The winner will face one of two Democrats in November.

The primary election is June 10.