Candidates in three-way race for District 3 |
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By NICOLE CARTRETTE A three-way race is on for the Columbus County commissioner’s District 3 seat. The outcome of that race will be decided at the primary as no Republican is running for the seat and no unaffiliated candidate has yet emerged. Incumbent County Commissioner Sammie Jacobs, 59, is the first minority ever elected to the board. He has served for more than 15 years representing the district that includes portions of Lake Waccamaw, Buckhead and Riegelwood, along with other areas in the eastern portion of the county. Former County Commissioner Giles Edwin “Buddy” Byrd, 59, is hoping along with R.O. “Reggie” Spaulding, 54, to unseat Jacobs. The News Reporter asked all commissioner candidates to participate in an interview and the first in a series follows. Sammie Jacobs Age: 59 Education: Waccamaw Indian High school Miller Business College Wilmington, earned associates degree in accounting Family: Wife Jean, a son and daughter and four grandchildren Business interests: Truck broker and owner of Sammie Jacobs Dispatch Background: Jacobs grew up on a farm in Columbus County. After college he was employed as an accountant with Brown and Root Construction in Wilmington that was involved with building several power plants in the area at the time. He came home and together with other local individuals started a trucking business. Later, he ventured out on his own. Giles Edwin “Buddy” Byrd Age: 59 Education: Hallsboro High school Family: Business interests: Primary business is farming, real estate and houses. Background: When I was going to school and growing up my family farmed and ran a country store. Dad would give me the money if I fixed gardens and that served as an incentive at an early age to work hard and achieve the goals I set out to do. Most of the time the gardens we did for free. I’d till a farm for someone else. I really got involved in agriculture in FFA Those were the first soybeans I ever saw. Corn, soybeans and tobacco were the main cash crop until a couple of years ago. Changes in the program and rising supply costs forced the profit too tight. Reggie Spaulding Age: 54 Education: Hallsboro High School graduate, 1971, some college at Southeastern Community College and 12 years of military service in the U.S. Army Business interests: Spaulding is employed with the DZ Atlantic Group in Southport as a lineworker. Background: Spaulding says he was raised by a single mother and is a member of Rhoebeth AME Zion Church Jacobs: No Byrd: No Spaulding: No Penalized for not paying taxes? Jacobs: No Byrd: No Spaulding: No Previous offices held: Jacobs: First elected chairman of the Waccamaw Siouan Development Commission, current county commissioner Previous offices you have been a candidate: Jacobs: none other than Board of Commissioners Byrd: none other than Board of Commissioners Spaulding: none other than Board of Commissioners Why are you running for this office? Jacobs: I’ve always had an interest in community and government. My parents always taught me to be active in the community and be of service to the community. Byrd: I see the need in the county for improvement in management. I see a lot of wasteful spending such as the time wasted on dealing with the landfill. I’m against a regional landfill and if we need a landfill it needs to serve just Columbus County. I don’t feel like all the answers to the problems is another fee or raising taxes. I really want to emphasize that the number of credit cards in the county that no one has to answer for is a problem. Spaulding: I ask myself that. I woke up the other morning wondering why does anyone go behind someone and clean up a mess. Somebody has got to step up. I’m hungry for change. I’m hungry for the job. We’ve got good people. Textiles and agriculture are gone. We need to do something about getting people decent jobs. If we did, we wouldn’t have all the crime. People are in desperation. People need to want to wise up. We need leadership to inspire people to do better. One of my pet peeves is term limits. I think commissioners need eight years and eight years only. Just like water, our politics become stagnant. We need fresh ideas and different ideas to point us in the right direction and keep going to get out of the mess we’re in. I’m hungry for change. I want to see change and want to see us go in the right direction. I want to inspire someone else to come behind me and pick up where I left off. I’m only just one individual but we should expect more from our elected officials and our elected officials should give more. I mentioned not running for a salary to my friend but he told me: “No. I want you to earn that salary,” and I will earn it for the people of Columbus County. What is your vision for Columbus County? Jacobs: I visualize Columbus County being a leader in economic development. I see jobs and so forth coming to the area like what we are working on with the Columbus and Brunswick counties’ regional industrial park. Columbus County is showing growth in the eastern end there. I see a lot of industry and the possibility of more industry. The new port will mean a lot for that project and Columbus County. Byrd: I see Columbus County at a point where we are fixing to see a lot of growth within the county. The beach is coming, Wilmington and Leland will be here in the next 10 years. I want to see growth in more than just houses and some type of industry. Spaulding: I visualize us moving into more technology-based industry related to biotechnology. I foresee us going that way. We can’t stay down forever. We need leaders to point us in the right direction. What positive things are ongoing in the county and in county government? Accomplishments? Jacobs: We’ve got a new manager. That’s always a good fresh start. He brings something to the table that previous managers did not. Commissioners are getting along well, voicing their opinions and respecting each other’s views. We are embarking on a time where we see economic development at the forefront. The new prison has brought a lot to the county and Tabor City and I give Rep. Dewey Hill and R.C. Soles Jr. the credit for that. We’ve also got some great county employees and supervisors. We have some of the best. Byrd: I can see the sewer line to Bolton to Whiteville is definitely an improvement and stepping that line up to a 12-inch line was positive. It allows other opportunities for others to tap into the sewer line. The industrial park that is a joint effort with Brunswick County is positive and some of the growth we are seeing in the south end for the county and the prison in Tabor City. The prison has brought more construction in Tabor City than in any other area. Spaulding: The two representatives and one from the southern part of the county seem to push for accountability. I like what they are doing – pressing for accountability. If we had accountability there wouldn’t be so much waste. The sewer line from Bolton to Whiteville is positive. Hallsboro wanting water and sewer is a step. My neighborhood of Farmers Union has people who are slowly but surely considering county water because of our wells. What areas of county government, in your opinion need improvement and how do you propose to improve it? Byrd: Inventory in the county is a main priority and assets. The retirement plan that commissioners passed with health benefits for themselves – that was ridiculous. We need to keep a closer watch on county government. Everybody needs to answer to somebody. The commissioners cut 10 percent of their own salary yet the right to reserve where the money went was an insult to the taxpayers. Spaulding: Commissioners need to be more open with the media. Closed sessions should be for personnel only. The only time there should be a closed meeting is for personnel. I can’t foresee me ever wanting to take something into a closed meeting. Economic development is at the forefront of discussions. What is your assessment of the county’s effort for economic development? In your opinion are any improvements needed? Jacobs: There again economic development has been at the forefront but we definitely need to improve. We need to dedicate ourselves to put aside a certain investment in economic development. Byrd: I think there’s always room for improvement in anything you go at or anything you do. I think we are doing very poorly. First of all the Board of Commissioners needs to be aboard that they can work together and have the best interest of the citizens at heart and listen to what people of the county have to say. They need to take their views into consideration and make the best judgment they can so we can recruit better industry. I think that we have so much to offer other than landfills. I think the eastern end of the county deserves more than the opportunity to host a landfill. Spaulding: I think the industrial park with Brunswick County coming to the eastern part of the county is an improvement. I can’t put my finger on it but there are some in the county who refuse to let us grow. Education, broken homes, crime – all these things are impacted by economic development. You can’t hold down a good job if you don’t have a good education. A lot of this starts at home. We have our immigrant problem. I foresee sooner or later we must pass some type of resolution. I can’t go to Mexico illegally. We shouldn’t treat them any different than how we would be treated in their home. Good folks on green cards or work visas are welcome. Do you approve of the way the board is handling the redistricting of commissioner districts? Jacobs: Really it’s not redistricting. Really it’s redrawing the lines to adjust for population. We need to get the best demographer that we can so that we will leave no stone unturned and make sure that we do the best. That’s why I voted the way I did the other night. (To set aside funds.) Byrd: I’m open-minded and definitely want to look at that. I definitely feel that it is unfair and inadequate the way the lines run. We really have an opportunity to look at the best and fairest, and cheapest way to draw the lines for the taxpayers. Spaulding: At the moment I’m not quite knowledgeable on that and I need to give it more consideration. If we need to redistrict by law then we should. I don’t have enough information on the demographics. I don’t have all the answers but I’ve just got the will to go in there and do the right thing. The county is facing tremendous financial issues … the fund balance is at a low, while educational and infrastructure needs are growing. How do you propose the county address this issue? Jacobs: I think that the fund balance is going to change with the next audit. International Paper has recently put a lot more tax base into the system and there is growth at Top Tobacco. That and the gradual reduction in county Medicaid costs is going to give us a much better financial picture at the end of the year. We have addressed the Medicaid issue for years and with the help of Sen. Soles and Rep. Hill that in itself will give us a better financial picture. Byrd: That is a very tough question, another tax another fee and an unjust collection of the fees is unfair to the taxpayers without going back in and assessing the operation of the county and its needs. We need to put cuts in place that need to be in place, improve areas that need to be improved. We need to start considering and thinking about revaluation – that is a major issue coming up in the very near future. This is where some of the board may try to overcome budgeting issues is with revaluation and taxes. We all should realize that is right around the corner. Spaulding: I believe in the quarter cent sales tax to spread that tax among everybody. Most people wouldn’t stop to pick up a penny and we are talking about a quarter on $100. County government needs money to operate but we could operate more efficiently if we bring in accountability. Our purchasing office should purchase everything from pencils to police cars, not individual departments. We need control and accountability. As far as education, I’m still waiting to see where this education lottery money is gong. I haven’t seen where it’s put out. How do you propose the county balance growth, preserve farmland and address planning in areas of the county that are outside municipalities? Jacobs: We have got to be careful there. We’ve got to always remember this was an agricultural county. I grew up on a farm and that was the way we made our living growing up. We will need areas to be utilized but need to keep an acceptable balance. Byrd: I feel like at anytime there is a board or committee put together it needs to represent the entire county – people from the municipalities as well as the rural people. I have known in the past of appointees coming from only one incorporated area. We need a voice in Freeman, Hallsboro, Delco. We need to listen and to represent the whole county. Spaulding: The county needs to control growth so it won’t end up like Brunswick County with people building on top of people. Agriculture is on the way out but there should be new types of agriculture available for farmers. We should diversify agriculture. When I came up everybody farmed; now farming is just four and five farmers. I think our farmers market will boom when the road is completed to the market. Duplin is doing well with grapes. There are things we can look at. As for planning, you just can’t throw up a bunch of houses without planning and considering the impact on environment and resources. Unplanned growth is not healthy. Under what circumstances, if any, would you vote to increase taxes? Jacobs: I would not vote to increase taxes this time. I sincerely feel that we are at a point that we do not have to increase taxes. Byrd: It would be the very last resort. We have to keep up with education and be prepared for economic development. We always have to have in consideration our senior citizens that live month-to-month, paycheck to paycheck and not keep imposing more fees on those living on fixed incomes that can’t afford to have fees and taxes increased. Spaulding: I’d want to freeze all taxes except the quarter cent sales tax until incomes catch up with the tax. You don’t want to foreclose on people. You are not doing any good. We need to manage money correctly and start managing the money smartly. If elected what will you do to ensure that the business of the county is conducted in the public’s view and what would you do to ensure that closed sessions are only held for specific purposes allowable by law? Jacobs: I think we’ve done well on closed sessions in the recent year. My main thing is personnel issues. I will not discuss people’s personnel issues in the public. Byrd: I will never try to keep things secret that is newsworthy. When the county withheld a memo from the newspaper it was evident that was public. Spaulding: I would just do the right thing. It’s simple to just do the right thing. This is the county’s business, this is the people business – except personnel matters. Editor’s Note: Spaulding did not avail himself to having a photograph made nor did he supply one when requested to.
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