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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ELECTION Guide 2012 Marvin Lucas We must revise the tax code to avoid further damage to education. I will continue to reach out to those on the other side. We can find common ground. Elmer Floyd North Carolina House, District 42 We have already cut our revenues drastically! approximately 12 million by the year 2030. We cannot continue to cut our level of services in order to take care of this growth. When we look nationally and globally to attract new businesses, our ability to provide quality education and training will be the two key elements. Cuts in education have moved North Carolina near the bottom on the national education levels. I believe every child has the right to a sound basic education in order to dream about achieving their future. We must also move toward maintaining a skilled workforce. We must look towards creating a vocational education program such as BOCE — Board of Cooperative Educational Studies — where students can learn skills to enter the workforce such as cosmetology, automotives, carpentry, electronics, real estate, etc. North Carolina House, District 43 N.C. is projected to grow to a population of prosperity. We must seek new revenues to move North Carolina forward. This can be accomplished through a reduction in our corporate tax laws, as well as a review of our These needs must be addressed immediately. We cannot cut our state into economic tax codes and gaming laws, etc. This will allow us to put more money into education. I do not believe in cuts in education, therefore I have no suggestions for cuts in the area of education. Education is the backbone of our society. During my two terms in office, I have shown my willingness to work across party lines for the good of my district and this great state. When I first ran for office, I promised the people in my district that I would show a new kind of attitude-one that represented all the people; one that would listen to all views and make informed decisions. I've upheld my promise. George Tatum suffered over 31 million dollars in funding cuts under my opponent's watch. FSU and FTCC have lost millions in funding during this period of slash and burn tactics. These cuts occurred at the same time that N.C. Senate, District 19 Cumberland County Public schools have Wesley Meredith voted to create a loophole giving him and out state's millionaires income tax breaks. One of the first things I will do as your Senator will be to introduce an amendment to HB 983 capping the income tax incentive at $100,000 of earned income. This will result in an additional $363 million dollars that can be spent on education to hire 5,500 teachers or buy six million new textbooks for our children. The demands on our teachers have never been greater as classrooms swell and teachers assistants are sent home because of budget cuts. Wesley Meredith now wants to base our County Commissioners Candidates for the Cumberland County School Board were asked the following three questions: • State and federal cuts to public education have left the Cumberland County Schools millions of dollars short. Should the county help address that deficit? allows the classroom teacher to focus on students rather than "teaching the test" or renegotiating their contract annually. I will work to treat our teachers with the respect and loyalty that we all expect in the work place. Two years ago the Senate race in Cumberland County was recognized as one of the dirtiest campaigns in our country's history. Our citizens deserve leaders who will focus on the issues facing our community rather than distorting the truth and engaging in negative personal attacks. We have once again been subjected to hundreds of thousands of dollars from Super PACS of unknown origins diverting attention from the real issues that face our community. The result of selling out to the Super PACS is elected representation which is bought and paid for. This win-at-any-cost mentality has polarized our elected officials and is creating an environment in which it is difficult to form a collaborative spirit. I have already taken the first step in reaching out across the aisle by refusing to lower our standards to negativity and personal attacks. I am running a grassroots campaign addressing the needs of our community and striving to earn your vote by focusing on the issues, IF you agree that it is time to stop the negativity and personal attacks, I ask for your vote for the N.C. Senate. Help me send a message to Raleigh that Cumberland County will not succumb to the antic of a party and a candidate desperate to maintain control at any cost. My door will always be open to all citizens of Cumberland County regardless of party affiliation. teacher's pay on test score results, forcing each teacher to sign a new contract each year. I will work to help our public schools become the employer of choice for educators by creating an environment that • What are the three top issues facing Cumberland county over the next two years? How do you plan to address them? Marshall Faircloth No, the county should not help address the deficit in the Cumberland County Schools' budget. The county does not have the ability to make up cuts in federal and state funds to education or any other services. Cumberland County Board of Commissioners 24 UCW OCT. 31 - NOV. 6, 2012 • What is your position on extending Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) bus service into Cumberland County neighborhoods? Which neighborhoods should be served and how much are you willing to invest in such service? It should be pointed out that Cumberland was one of a handful of North Carolina counties that didn't cut local school funding in recent years. My general position is that the county should not attempt to provide costly municipal services; that should be left to cities and towns. It can, however, provide matching funds for any transportation grants that may be available. The honest answer is that nobody will know the top three issues until the state legislature meets next year. If there are new state mandates, either funded or unfunded, the county will have to deal with them. Otherwise, I believe that public safety (jail funding and law enforcement), public health (uninsured population and contaminated water) and mental health (state mandated changes in funding and delivery of services) will occupy considerable time and resources of the Cumberland County government. Jimmy Keefe The Cumberland County Board of Education and the Cumberlan County Board of Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Commissioners have worked very well together on funding requirements in the public school system. Because of good financial management on the county level and solid financial practices at the board of education, our county has been able to better endure this period of reduced funding at the state and federal level. When other surrounding counties have drastically cut budgets to their school systems, our board of commissioners have maintained the budget to our public schools. Historically, urban transit and bus service is reserved for citizens who live and work in urban areas. Countywide transit is neither financially possible and would not properly serve the citizens that it is intended to help. Because of the rural footprint of areas outside the city limits, we could find ourselves driving miles to pick up one or two passengers. This is not efficient use of taxpayer money and does not achieve the goal. Currently, we are attempting a pilot program with a shuttle service that runs two times per day to the Cedar Creek area. There are a number of challenges with this program but I felt like there was a lot of community support and may find that this pilot program fits the WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM