Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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MARCH 2-8, 2016 UCW 23 ELECTION GUIDE 2016 ELECTION 2016: Billy Richardson District 44, Democrat I am running for the House because, as an attorney and former legislator, I have been blessed with a rare combination where the talent and experience I have are uniquely suited to build consensus and get diverse groups working together. My prior experi- ence in the House permitted me to serve under Republican and Democratic speakers. Our present General Assembly demands we have moderate voices who will advocate for teachers, higher education, clean water and a detailed job creation/job recruitment plan. I hope to be part of a bi-partisan effort to increase teacher pay to well above the national average and the best in our region. This will ensure our children have strong teachers. Those teachers work with well-trained, loyal and intelligent principals. Every education study proves drastic improvement in student outcomes are the direct result of outstanding teachers backed by strong principals. We need to reinvest in our outstanding universities. The jobs created in North Carolina over the past 40 years are directly linked to them and our system of community colleges. Education and technical training means well-paying jobs. North Carolina is also blessed with abundant rivers, estuaries and ground water. Jobs of the future will follow water. But our water supply is not unlimited. We must keep our water clean and use it wisely. This means no interbasin transfer. We also must modernize our aquaculture, ban netting and trawling in our rivers, restore oyster beds and create more state parks. We need to be more proactive with economic development. We must accept the hard facts that neighboring states are beating us in recruiting high paying industry. They are doing so with a common sense approach. Their legislature is not so ideologically entrenched to the false belief that lower taxes alone will bring industry to our state. It is the main reason South Carolina has beaten us to Boeing, Tennessee with Volkswagen, and Mercedes relocating to their state rather than North Carolina. It is why we are 4th in shrinkage of the middle class. And why we have lost the film industry, solar industry and small businesses in our towns. It is my sincere belief we must do better. We have the basic infrastructure in place but that has been neglected. We also have the teachers, principals and former TAs in place. But because of terrible pay and even poorer willingness to supply them with good textbooks, mentoring and failure to reward indi- vidual growth, we are losing our competitive edge. Finally, we must em- power the average citizen. This can only be done when we get the large sums of money out of elections. It certainly flies in the face of one man one vote. Also, political parties must not draw the very districts they are to run in. Rather than 70-90 percent of legislature having fair and close elections only 10 percent do. The result is extremism. Now more than ever we need a moderate, willing to put his constituents ahead of his party. I pledge I will do just that! Board of Commissioners Jimmy Keefe District 2 Your Board of Commissioners is respon- sible for the health, education and wel- fare of each and every person that calls Cumberland County home. Cumberland County is continuing to grow into a great place to work, play and raise our families. We also have had our struggles recently on how to best service the citizens of our community while being fiscally respon- sible. I will never forget that every penny of tax money that I have been given the responsibility to spend on government services has been earned by someone. Cumberland County has always been my home and I have been blessed to serve our nation as a soldier, as a Fayetteville City Council person and now, as a County Commissioner. I believe that I can bring a unique perspective to local govern- ment because of my background as a local business person, former soldier and elected official. The spirit of a community is the people that live here and the opportunities that are available to each of us. I believe the purpose of government is to encourage opportunities for every person, regardless of their education or skills. For a com- munity to be healthy, balanced and continue to grow, an unskilled worker must be able to find opportunity, just as a technician, ad- ministrator or professional. Jobs and opportunities fix many of the issues that we face today. I have yet to see a community with low unemployment have high crime. I feel it is a responsibility of every elected official to focus on job creation and holding government agencies accountable for the services they provide. Over the past few years, I was proud that our Board of Com- missioners worked on a number of projects that have saved this county millions of dollars while continuing to provide the services that are expected and services that are required. As Chairman, we successfully transitioned to private management at the Crown Coliseum saving our community over $1 million annually. We also moved to a new program that provided better mental health services at lower costs with more oversight, saving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars every year while providing better services. I am very proud that our Board of Commissioners looks for opportunities every year to continue to provide quality ser- vices while being fiscally responsible. Before being elected as a county commissioner in 2008, Cumberland County had one of the five highest property tax rates in the state. Since then, through good management and budget oversight, we are currently the 31st highest. During this time, we were able to build a expansion to our detention center, expand our Veterans Services Center and have no increase in property taxes. I was very honored to be named as, "Cumberland County's Most Responsive Elected Official." As your representative on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, I will continue to work hard and be responsible with your money, listen and under- stand your concerns, and grow and invest in our community. N.C. HOUSE