The News Reporter

Soles-Fairley state senate race is close

By BOB HIGH

“I’m feeling really good about the campaign. An awful lot of folks in Columbus County are interested in my candidacy,” an upbeat Bill Fairley said recently about his attempt to replace R.C. Soles Jr. as the state senator representing Brunswick and Columbus counties.

“R.C. runs on longevity, and that’s become sort of a negative thing for him. Things have been difficult in Columbus County for a long time and he’s been in the Legislature the whole time,” the 53-year-old Fairley declared.

“Some people are beginning to associate him with the longstanding problems in Columbus County’s economy. I think I’m presenting some new thoughts about how Columbus County can prosper, and people are beginning to embrace my ideas,” the Southport resident added.

Soles, who has served in either the N.C. House or Senate continuously since 1969, says his candidacy isn’t something new to the people of Columbus County.

“I’ve known Bill Fairley for 25 years and consider him a friend. It’s been a clean campaign thus far,” the 71-year-old Soles noted.

“We have each campaigned hard and there have been no negatives from either side. This is the 20th time I’ve campaigned and some have been harder than others. This is one where I’ve had to work harder than the last few I’ve been in,” the senator added.

The News Reporter asked Soles and Fairley nine identical questions about their campaigns. Their replies follow:

Why do you wish to be elected state senator? How can Columbus County benefit?

SOLES: “I’m running for election this year for the same reason I first ran for public office – to help make our community a better place. In the Legislature I have fought to strengthen our economy, improve education, and enhance our quality of life.

“These will continue to be my top priorities because they are priorities that will help people and families in my Senate district.”

FAIRLEY: “I want to be senator because there is a need for new vision for the future of Columbus County. The economy of Columbus County is unacceptable.

“Almost one in four Columbus County citizens lives in poverty. Unemployment rates are about 50 percent higher than adjacent counties or the state average.

“In a state and region where the population is increasing, Columbus County’s continues to decline. In fact, Columbus County is one of only five counties in the state that has suffered a decline in population from 2000 to 2005.

“The incumbent has been a senator for the entire time these problems have developed, and he has done nothing.

“I want to see Columbus County regain its economic vitality. The best way to increase the economic base of Columbus County is to create an environment that welcomes and is conducive to new business. The benefits of a good economy include a larger tax base so your tax rate goes down, more and better jobs and reduced crime rates.”

What goals have you set if elected?

SOLES: “I want to continue serving our area with integrity and a strong work ethic so I can continue to enhance education, economic growth, healthcare and other important priorities for our community.”

FAIRLEY: “I would like to see an economic development summit held in Columbus County among a legislative delegation, the county commissioners, municipal leaders, educational leaders, commercial and industrial leaders, and anyone else that might have an interest in the economic prosperity of the county.

“The purpose would be to produce a focused vision for economic development in Columbus County, together with a detailed plan, to which all can agree, about how to get there. We need all interested parties pulling together and heading in the same direction.”

What should be your primary responsibility in representing Columbus County?

SOLES: “To make sure the people here have a strong advocate in Raleigh. I appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve our community in the Senate so I can continue my efforts to improve education and our economy.

“I have worked together with people in our community to bring much-needed funds to Columbus County for schools, roads and other important needs, but we have to keep working to build on this progress.”

FAIRLEY: “The primary objective in representing Columbus County is to assess needs and to attend to those needs to the greatest extent possible.

“The greatest need here is to begin the hard road back to economic prosperity, but there are other concerns.

“Landfills are a serious problem in the entire senate district. We must regulate them so they aren’t automatically located in environmentally sensitive areas simply because the land there may be cheap. Wetlands have value far beyond their mere fair-market value.”

What legislation would you be willing to sponsor and/or support that would benefit North Carolina and Columbus County?

SOLES: “I will continue to work closely with local elected officials, community members and fellow legislators to develop legislation that will benefit our county and our state. Education and healthcare must be top priorities, but I am always willing to consider any issue that might be beneficial for our area.”

FAIRLEY: “I want to make North Carolina more competitive with other states in attracting industry. That type of growth leads to more and better jobs and the community-wide prosperity that comes with it.
“I want regulation of landfills to keep them out of environmentally sensitive areas.

“I want the state to begin to control the increases in your taxes – the state budget grew by 10 percent last year alone. The best way to make sure people get their ‘piece of the pie’ is to not take money out of their pockets to begin with.”

Would you vote for a state budget that lowers funding of schools, replacing the funds with lottery money?

SOLES: “No. This year’s budget invested $10.8 billion in education – our highest investment ever – and that is in addition to the new funds generated by the lottery.

“I also support an independent oversight committee that will make sure the lottery maximizes, not replaces, education funding.”

FAIRLEY: No. The problem, of course, is that while the legislation that created the lottery promised it would not be used as a substitute for general funding of schools, the legislature made that law and legislators can just as easily change it. There have already been substantial efforts in that direction. I would resist all such legislation.”

What can be done to stop Senate and House leaders from raiding Highway Trust Funds for personal projects, even though Columbus County has benefited from some of the money? The statewide road system, even in Columbus County, is in bad shape.

SOLES: “I voted this year to put $195 million back into the Highway Trust Fund to help meet our needs. I also will continue working to secure transportation funding for projects critical to our community. We also need to modernize the way we pay for road projects.”

FAIRLEY: “This is a question of honesty in government. Highway Trust Funds are collected at the gas pump and justified because they go into a fund dedicated to road maintenance and construction.

“The problem is our present senator cannot keep his hands off the money. With his consent and approval, the Senate has taken $523 million from this fund over the last five years and spent it on things other than roads. It appears the senator thinks it is okay to raise taxes for one purpose and spend the money on another.

“It is also a question of priorities. Infrastructure should be at the top of the legislature’s statewide list of priorities and it clearly isn’t. The state Association of Civil Engineers says the North Carolina infrastructure system is “crumbling” and will require $95 billion over the next 20 years.
“This has been simply badly ignored in the past and appears to be yet another debt we will pass on to our children.”

How should the state handle any future budget surpluses? Should there be a rainy day fund? Should it provide tax breaks for working-class families or used to fund local projects?

SOLES: “North Carolina is ranked fourth in the country for fiscal integrity because of the priorities we set when we develop the budget. About half of this year’s surplus, for example, was put toward education.

“Another 25 percent was dedicated to savings, like the Rainy Day Fund, and the rest was put toward economic-development initiatives and tax relief for families and businesses. I think those are good, responsible priorities for our budget and our state.”

FAIRLEY: “Ideally, tax rates should be lowered so there is no tax surplus. However, when a surplus does arise the state should determine what part of the surplus is recurrent income and what portion is one-time income.

“One-time income should be tucked away and used as a source of supplemental income in years when there is a deficit. Recurrent income can be used to fund new recurrent obligation for the state.

“Unfortunately, the legislature doesn’t want to be that responsible with your money. This year, the $2.5 billion surplus contained only $400 million of recurrent revenues, yet the legislature committed the state to over $800 million of recurrent expense.

“They have guaranteed a budget deficit for next year. You can bet your bottom dollar they will choose to fund that deficit by raising your taxes again.”

What does your opponent say about your record that you would like to explain or compare?

SOLES: “One contrast is education. I have worked for funds to raise teacher pay, lower class sizes and improve accountability and have shown a strong commitment to education. My opponent ran for the school board but did not work to help our schools.

“My opponent will say whatever he wants to say about me – that’s the nature of campaigns – but I have faith that the people of Columbus County will look at my record and my commitment to serving our community, and I would be grateful for the opportunity to continue serving them.”

FAIRLEY: “I don’t know what my opponent has been saying about me, and I’m not worried about it.”

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

SOLES: None.

FAIRLEY: “I would like for the questionnaire to have included a question about legislative ethics. The legislature passed a bill last year that prevents a senator from taking money from lobbyists, but failed utterly to prevent them from taking money from political action committees (PACs).

“There is the money that big business uses to influence state lawmakers. The money that lobbyists passed around so freely to influence legislation came from PACs. By stopping contributions from lobbyists the senate merely cut out the middleman.

“Now, the same money flows to the senator from the same PAC – it just can’t go through the lobbyist. It is laughable to refer to that legislation as “the strongest ethics reform bill in history.

“The incumbent still takes money from in-state and out-of-state PACs and much of his campaign money for this campaign comes from those sources. He wants to suggest to the voters that he is concerned about ethics reform without really doing anything about it.

“It’s just business as usual. Columbus County and the entire senate district deserve so much more.”

BACKGROUND – Soles, the senior attorney in the Soles, Fipps, Ray & Prince law firm, was born in Tabor City in December 1934 to Robert C. Soles and the late Myrtle Norris Soles. He is a graduate of Tabor City High School, Wake Forest University and obtained his law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1959.

He began his legislative career in 1969 in the state House and has now served longer than any present member of the General Assembly – 36 years. He has an unbroken string of service in the Senate since 1977.

Soles was the deputy president pro tem of the Senate for four years and has been majority chairman since 1997. He is a member of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Special Legislative Committee on Tobacco, the Joint Legislative Utility Review Committee, and the Civil Procedure Study Commission.

Soles was the founding chairman of First Investors Savings Bank, and is a board member of First Citizens BancShares and First Citizens Bank, and a director of the Land Bank and related development companies.

The senator is also a member of the American and N.C. bar associations, American Trial Lawyers Association, N.C. Association of County Attorneys, Phi Alpha Delta, a former president of Rotary, and active in Red Cross and local mental health committees.

Former boards and commissioners he has served on include as founding president of Southeastern Community College Foundation; former trustee of the Consolidated University of North Carolina and UNC-Wilmington; and former member of the Governor’s Crime Commission, General Statues Commission, Medical Malpractice Study Commission; and the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Soles is also a present board member of the Columbus County Community Foundation and the Opera Company of North Carolina.

Fairley has been a resident of Southport since 1972, and his mother Jean lives there, as well as his brother Clay and his family.

Fairley received undergraduate degrees in history and economics from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1975, and his law degree in Chapel Hill in 1978. He and his wife of 30 years, Tedi, have four children – ages 27, 24 and 21-year-old twins.

He and his wife are members of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and active participants in the county and Southport recreational programs.