The Alamance County Board of Commissioners candidates priorities ranged from issues such as funding education, lowering taxes and increasing emergency medical services.
The six candidates running for county commissioners spoke at a forum held Oct. 1 at the Paramount Theater in Burlington. The board has six commissioners, with three seats open at this election. Two candidates, Republican Pamela Tyler Thompson and Republican John Paisley Jr., are running for reelection and Democrat Carissa Graves, Democrat Chris Smith, Democrat Anthony Pierce and Republican Ed Priola are looking for a seat.
The forum was hosted by Impact Alamance, Alamance Chamber and Elon University with support from the city of Burlington and Elon News Network. Ryan Blackledge, vice president of government and external affairs of cone health, moderated the debate and asked candidates about their priorities heading into November.
Paisley said he liked that the board was able to fully fund both the school board and the sheriff’s office. He said he didn’t like how the school board previously requested an additional $1 million for its budget the night of the vote. While one of his main goals is to not have to raise taxes, Paisley said another expense the board cannot afford is to put additional money toward EMS.
“We're doing everything that we can to support the emergency services,” Paisley said during the event. “What I don't like is the increase that we had this year in the tax rate, felt like it was unnecessary. We did not have to do it, and I voted against the increase in your tax rate for this past year.”
Pierce said one of the main reasons he was interested in local politics was to put additional funds towards EMS. When Pierce was 12 years old, there was an accident killing his father, uncle and two nephews and injuring his niece, aunt and cousin. Pierce said this accident would have been preventable had there been proper EMS available.
“The reason why there were so many deaths is because they ran out of ambulances and could not transport all the critically injured,” Pierce said. “That very thing could happen right here down in Alamance County.”
Candidates for Alamance County's Board of Commissioners sit at a community forum on Oct. 1 at the Paramount Theater in Burlington to engage with the community ahead of elections in November.
With additional growth in the county, Pierce said this is becoming a larger issue and is something the county needs to be proactive about, not reactive.
Chris Smith, first-time political candidate, said the last election he ran in was senior patrol officer at his Boy Scout Troop — a race he won. He said as an adult he is on his fourth career and has been laid off multiple times. He grew up with a single mother and relied on school buses to get to school everyday, he said. Smith is also looking to not increase taxes, as he said he understands the challenges of the middle class.
“I'm asking you all to do something different,” Smith said. “I'm asking you not to vote for the career politician, the professional campaigner. I'm asking you to vote for someone who has known a real struggle.”
Priola said an important thing the board accomplished last year was giving bonuses to the sheriff department. On the other hand, Priola said he does not think that every government worker deserved to receive merit pay.
“Merit pay is for merit and I think that's one of the big savings that we could make,” Priola said. “The top 25% get merit, everybody else gets to keep their job, and should work a little harder.”
Another issue Priola brought up was spending within the school system. He said he is concerned about administrative costs within the school system rising, after the mold crisis last school year — costing the school board an estimated $225 million over five years.
One issue Graves mentioned was zoning, saying that there needs to be a plan in place to help maintain the county’s sustainable growth. Alamance County does not have zoning ordinances for unincorporated areas, but Graves said this is something worth considering to help with the county’s growing population and developments. Graves, as she is not currently on the board, could not speak on specific budget issues.
“To be completely transparent, I did not review this current budget,” Graves said. “But I would say that obviously there are things in our budget that we need to focus on. We have issues with some of the money that's being used for the school board and how money is being dispersed with, obviously, the new courthouse and things like that.”
Thompson said one thing she is proud of is the work of Veterans Services, including providing free transportation for veterans to Veteran Affairs meetings. She also agreed with Graves and said she would like to see zoning in place that makes sense for the county — not just the same version a nearby county is doing. Thompson said in order to make sure zoning is something everyone can support, she would look to get input from members of the community.
“I don't want anybody telling anybody what to do with their land,” Thompson said. “But I also don't want things coming into our county that isn't what our county is.”