Local attorney Craig Turner is putting his name on the ballot for Alamance County Board of Commissioners. The Alamance County native is running for reelection as a Republican.
Turner started his term in February 2021, and is hoping to be elected and serve four more. He said he wants to increase teacher salaries and provide more resources for substance abuse, with a long-term goal to have one place, within Alamance County, for those suffering from addiction to go.
“You either divert them from the jail into long-term care or you divert them from the emergency room to long-term care,” Turner said. “We're working with health professionals here in the county to create a space, a building really close to the hospital that will allow mental health, substance abuse folks to receive care and also connect with long-term care.”
Another component of Turner’s reelection campaign is to continue to increase funding for law enforcement. In 2021, the current board increased funding for Alamance County Sheriff's Office by 5%.
However, three departments under the law enforcement category did not see an increase in funding: Emergency medical services, detention officers and the Department of Social Services and Turner said he would like to see funds distributed more evenly.
Turner was raised in Alamance County. He graduated from the Naval Academy and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1998 to 2001. Afterward, he came back to North Carolina to get his law degree from Elon University.
He said even though he has a close connection with Elon, he is not just looking to reach Elon students.
“The things that we've done on the commission over the past two years benefits all of Alamance County,” he said. “My campaign, the message is something that everybody would want to accept.”
Among Turner’s other platforms are expanding ROTC programs in local public schools and backing our farmers and protecting agriculture.
Turner said one of the biggest problems he has seen in Alamance County is a lack of retention in various departments, including schools and law enforcement. He said his hope is that with increased funding and reduced taxes, that problem will dissipate.
“That's important for the county to have a competitive tax rate with respect to the counties that are around it, that encourages economic development, allows for businesses to keep more of what they earn and also individuals,” he said. “That encourages job growth in the county. So that's been a good thing that we've done. We've also focused on retaining and recruiting quality people to serve the county.”