I got the opportunity to ask questions of incumbent NC Sen. Katie Dorsett and challenger Bruce Davis, a Guilford County commissioner, at a debate sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro at the Greensboro Historical Museum last night.
At-large candidates for Guilford County School Board and Republican candidates for at-large Guilford County Commission seats (the Democratic primary isn't competitive) were also invited. Among the at-large school board candidates, Sandra Alexander, Alan Hawkes and Michael McKinney were present; EC Huey and David Crawford were not. Inexplicably, only one county commission candidate, Joseph Rahenkamp, showed up. Rudy Binder, EH Hennis, Larry Proctor and Wendell Sawyer were missing in action.
I'll be posting excerpts of the candidate's responses, along with School Board Chaiman Alan Duncan's call for support for the school bond referenda, over the weekend. Our print edition comes out after the election, so time is of the essence.
4 comments:
Jordan:
If you have any questions about my candidacy, please advise and I will be glad to respond.
Wendell Sawyer
Thanks, Wendell. I'll send my three questions as quickly as possible and publish your responses here. I also received a message from EC Huey noting that he was unable to attend the forum because of an emergency. He will also get a chance to respond in writing.
Wendell, here are the three questions for at-large county commissioner candidates:
Questions for county commission candidates
1. Demands for services continue to grow in Guilford County, but several factors including the housing slump, depressed wages and rising household costs make it more difficult for taxpayers to pay for local government. As a means of raising revenue, do you favor raising taxes on property or on consumer purchases?
2. Our jails are overcrowded with many people who are addicted to drugs, while drug and alcohol treatment options have been historically limited, although we do have a new county residential drug treatment facility opening. Do you support the new $114.6 million bond to allow the county to build a new detention center and do you think the county is doing enough to develop alternatives to incarceration?
3. Sheriff BJ Barnes has expressed interest in having the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office participate in the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s 287(g) program, which allows sheriff’s deputies to enforce federal immigration law. Proponents say that the program allows sheriff’s offices to quickly deport repeat offenders who are not in this country legally, while people who are against it say it ties up limited local law enforcement resources. Where do you stand on this federal and local law enforcement partnership?
Jordan:
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to respond to your questions.
1. The factors that you mentioned are the result of the slumping national economy and the resulting credit crunch, not to mention soaring gasoline prices. At this point in time, many folks feel compelled to tighten their belts and make sacrifices. As the home mortgage crisis unfolds, some people are going to have difficulty in making their mortgage payments. When the county property tax increases, it merely aggravates the severity of the problem since the county bills the escrow accounts of the mortgage companies with the increased taxes and the mortgage companies simply increase the monthly mortgage payments of their customers to make up the shortfall.
It is my belief that the county government should engage in this belt-tightening as well. Therefore, I think that the county board should decrease the property tax rate, NOT increase it or merely “hold the line.” This could be accomplished by re-examining the budget from top to bottom and eliminating certain unnecessary expenditures including some administration costs
2. I am opposed to the $114 million jail bond for several reasons. First of all, we simply cannot afford such a massive expenditure. Even though I do believe that we need to increase the bed space at the jail in Greensboro, there are less expensive ways of accomplishing this goal. By simply renovating the existing jail and making additions to the structure, we can save the taxpayers millions of dollars and prevent the eventual massive increases in property taxes.
Second, I have a problem with the excessive construction fees that are forecast. For example, in Des Moines, Iowa, they are completing the construction of a new jail this year with a 1,500 bed capacity (that can be expanded to 2,500) for $68 million. Why does the proposed new jail in Guilford County with just a 1,000 bed capacity cost $114 million?
3. For the most part, I don’t have a problem with such a partnership. However, I would want more information as to the costs involved and how much such involvement may affect the local law enforcement responsibilities of the Sheriff’s Office.
Wendell Sawyer
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