GOVERNMENT

Become efficient, responsive to its citizens, and become fiscally responsible

I believe the citizens of Person County want a commissioner who dives into an issue, does the necessary homework, studies the situation and then makes an informed decision that is best for the county as a whole.  Person County wants elected officials to be informed and make logical decisions and tell the people the truth.  I will be this type of commissioner who believes the people come first – always!

Every decision that I make as your county commissioner will be evaluated on:

• Cause and effect of the decision
• Cost verses benefit to the entire county and not special interest

When our next budget season comes, as your county commissioner, I will insist that our finance department benchmark (compare) the proposed budget with other county budgets in North Carolina for its major components.  I don’t think anyone minds paying for services that they receive but they want to know that they are getting a good deal and that county departments are operating efficiently.  One way to do this is to compare cost for each service to others and find the lowest cost that provides the same service i.e. recreation, PATS, social services, administration, sheriff, tax office, maintenance, schools, etc.  Citizens need to know:

• What percent of our budget goes for theses department?
• How much of your tax dollar goes to each department?
• What are other counties doing these services for compared to Person County?
• If other counties are doing it for less, found out why and if we can do it for less and still provide the services.

Businesses, industries and households have to compare cost of labor, cost of services, cost of materials, etc. to their competitors, so why not do it in our largest business in the County – Person County Government?

I do not want Person County to get in a “tax and spend” mindset but I am afraid we are headed in that direction unless we have new leadership on the county commissioners.  When elected, I will be your county commissioner that will watch out for the taxpayer.  I will look after the needs of the taxpayer since they foot the bills.  Person County commissioners cannot take the easy way out and continue to increase taxes or rely on the fund balance or they will break the taxpayer and drive more of our industry away due to the tax burdens.

Let’s cost compare to other efficient counties to insure our citizens are getting the best use of its tax dollars.   But remember, this is not an effort to cut services but an effort to ensure we use every penny wisely.  We cannot have anyone say that we want to cut services because that is a scare tactic.  Taxpayers deserve a county commissioner that will compare cost of services and return on investments by using benchmark data.

As your county commissioner, I want to create an environment for prosperity in Person County.  We have a lot of talent in this county that can be better utilized.  These talented people need to step up their work to make our county better.  We, as county citizens, need to support their efforts.  We need these talented people to serve on the lay boards that help direct the future of Person County.  As your county commissioner, I am going to ask you to stand up for Person County, give your time and effort to make it better for today and tomorrow.  We cannot prevent planned growth from taking place, stick our heads in the sand or be CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) or we will become a county that is uneducated, have a low quality of life and be left out of the mainstream for our future.

As your County Commissioner, I will oppose any proposals that would increase the property tax rate as a first choice because I realize that our government has gone to the well one too many times for our tax dollars. I will work hard to keep the county’s priorities in check and stay focused on what needs to be accomplished to make us a more prosperous county.

Remember - jobs, a strong economy, low taxes, a strong education for all our children, a well run and efficient county government and a safe environment that is crime free and healthy for all equals Prosperity for Person!

If this is your Vision also, LET'S GET IT DONE!

On November 4^th, I need your vote to be your next County Commissioner.