Candidates for Chatham County Commission - District 2

Posted Friday, May 2, 2008

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Pittsboro, NC - The primary elections take place on Tuesday, May 6th. The Chatham Journal does not endorse candidates. We provide our readers with candidates’ answers to a questionnaire we sent out in March. These questions were based on input from our readers and the Chatham County Online Chatlist. Below are the responses from the candidates for district 2.

Mike Cross

DEMOCRAT

PO Box 173, Moncure, NC 27559

Email: duckdogcross@aol.com

Web Site: www.cross4chatham.com

Education: BA, University of North Carolina, Pembroke

Marital status: Married

Spouse: Nancy Faber Cross

Children: four

Community activities:

· Chatham County Commissioner

· Member Buckhorn United Methodist Church, Corinth

Political offices you have held: Chatham County Commissioner 2004 - present

1. What do you consider the three most pressing issues in this county? What are your plans for addressing them?

1) Planning for our future – we are actively developing ordinances that implement our Land Development Plan to encourage growth that is responsible, well done, and provides clear direction to developers and businesses.

2) Water. I have worked to implement the county water districts, and seek our fair share of Jordan Lake water by obtaining the last of two water treatment plants owned by Chatham County and possible regional partners.

3) Bringing new business to Chatham. I worked closely with Commissioner Barnes to restructure our Economic Development Board, and have worked to develop a county-owned industrial site within the Siler City ETJ bringing a new hospital and a new campus for the Carolina Community College system to this location.

2. What specific types of businesses do you want to attract to Chatham? What measures will you take to attract these employers to Chatham County?

Clearly every county wants new businesses that are clean and offer good jobs. Chatham is uniquely positioned to take advantage of growth in high technology manufacturing jobs with our location, availability of land, our solid capital improvement plan, Jordan Lake water source and position close to major cities. It’s also important to have water and sewer. Without water and sewer business will not give Chatham a serious look. I have worked with commissioner Barnes to get Chatham access to sewer discharge capacity in the Cape Fear, as well as my water work described above. This work is still ongoing. These are the kind of businesses I hope to attract to Chatham.

3. How do you propose Chatham County meet the increasing need for safe drinking water for a growing population? What is your opinion of private water and wastewater systems?

Water has been one of my priorities from the beginning, because I have experienced failing wells. I supported the creation of the water districts and also worked to negotiate a water contract with Harnett County. Some opponents have criticized me for my support of buying water from Harnett County but the fact is that was a great deal for Chatham and by canceling that contract the county missed a great opportunity that we are still recovering from. If we had gone through with that contract, we would already have water for the southeast and southwest districts. Instead of the sure thing that would have been, we are now working to try to get an allocation and a treatment plant on Jordan Lake, neither of which are sure things. However, that spilt milk will not stop me. I will continue to work diligently to improve Chatham’s water capacity with whatever interested regional partners we can get to work with us, which is required because Chatham cannot afford to do this alone. The recent drought has brought partners to the table who previously weren’t interested and I will work with them to try to increase our capacity.

4. Can growth be managed? Explain.

Growth can be planned for in a responsible manner and can be managed somewhat to ensure high quality growth that benefits the county, We cannot and should not stop growth, but need to make it work for us instead of the other way around. We need to plan for the growth that is coming to Chatham. As a Chatham Commissioner, I have worked to develop a comprehensive, fiscally responsible capital improvement plan to meet the needs of our county. Examples of the results of this plan include:

· a new elementary school this year

· plans for a new middle and high school in NE Chatham

· improvements to county buildings

· established plans for a new judicial building

· plans for a new public library at the Community College site in Pittsboro.

· New staff hired in the county planning and utility departments to handle the increased need for review and standards

· Erosion control officer hired

· One year moratorium on large development while we developed and revamped our ordinances and plans. That effort has involved citizens from all over the county and is nearly complete and I expect to see the moratorium lifted this summer when the work is complete.

5. Do you support the Major Corridor Ordinance proposal as it currently stands? Explain.

I promised in 2004 to work to implement our Land Conservation and Development Plan. The Major Corridor Ordinance is a part of that plan and we have a group of dedicated citizens who have prepared a draft and will soon be under consideration by our planning board. Let me make clear that one provision, the 1500 foot corridor in the current draft is not a set-back that prevents land owners from using their land, rather it is a zoned corridor that provides significant protection to these land owners. The final draft is not yet completed; I reserve my decision until I see the document the planning board produces.

6. Were you for or against the land transfer tax? Do you favor putting the LTT back on the ballot for another vote? Explain.

Yes, I was very much in favor of this option as a way to avoid property tax increases and to reduce or eliminate the impact fee. I personally worked very hard with our state legislature to obtain permission to put this option in front of the voters. For my efforts, I was given the North Carolina Association of County Commissioner’s 2007 Legislative Advocacy Award. Counties that have a LTT have fully funded capital improvement programs and low property taxes. For this to pass, the town boards of Pittsboro, Siler City and Goldston, along with a wide range of county leaders need to understand this option and support it for me to be interested in putting it back on the ballot.

7. What are the best ways to fund and handle the county's growing school construction needs?

We have to raise the needed funds to support our significant, and growing need for new schools. We have several ways to raise money: property taxes, sales taxes, and impact fees. I worked hard to give the voters another option, the land transfer tax, as I believe it is more fair than the impact fee and would have allowed us to reduce or remove the regressive impact fee. I believe that the land transfer tax would have had little to no impact on most county residents. The voters rejected this option, so that left us with no option but to increase the impact fee and consider property tax increases to meet our mandated school needs.

8. What two things would you like to see changed in Chatham County over the next four years and why? What, if anything, would your election do to bring about these changes?

1. I would like to see improved water and sewer availability to our towns and businesses, which I believe is critical to economic development. I am not advocating countywide sewer for residential development, but water and sewer capacity that allows us to grow responsibility in our towns and business areas. I have already been working on this and will continue to do so in a second term.

2. I would like to see a more balanced mix of business vs. residential development in the county. My work on water and sewer and the Chatham business campus is a start in this direction and I will continue to work in this area in a second term.

9. Please describe how you have worked effectively with team members who are very different from yourself in political or ideological perspective.

Even though Patrick and I were in the minority on the county board in our first two years, we were able to work with the majority to drive the development of the Chatham Business Campus. This project was dead when we arrived and we worked with the other three board members to get it off the ground.

10. Why should I, as a Chatham County resident vote for you?

In 2004, I ran for office on a platform of Honesty and Integrity. I swore in my Oath of Office to conduct the business of my office “without fear or favor”. I have kept that promise and been a bridge builder between regions as I represented the whole county I have worked very hard in service to Chatham County, giving 50+ hours a week in service to the people of Chatham. I have kept my campaign pledges and delivered results:

· Placed a moratorium on residential development to allow us time to review and update our ordinances and procedures.

· We have added staff to the planning department, hired Chatham’s first erosion control officer, restructured the Planning Board, and passed key ordnance updates to lighting design and stream buffers

· Built new schools and developed a long range capital improvement plan

· Providing affordable housing. I established the Affordable Housing Task Force and worked with the development community to take the Affordable Housing Fund from zero dollars to 3.7 million. Chatham Habitat for Humanity built only 5 homes in 2005 and with this effort we were able to build 14 homes in 2006 and 10 homes in 2007.

· A full time county attorney was hired as promised.

Chatham County is in a better position now than it was three years ago to face our challenges. I want to build on our successes from the last three years.

Armentha Davis

DEMOCRAT

176 Lees Point Moncure, N C 27559

1. What do you consider the three most pressing issues in this county? What are your plans for addressing them?

I feel water, sewage and industry are the most pressing needs in our county. To address them if I am elected I would work closely with the other commissioners and the other town boards in Chatham County.

2. What specific types of businesses do you want to attract to Chatham? What measures will you take to attract these

employers to Chatham County?

I would like to attract health facilities, more organic farms and a school for horticulture science to the county. Working closely with our economic developer would be the way to accomplish this.

3. How do you propose Chatham County meet the increasing need for safe drinking water for a growing population? What is your opinion of private water and wastewater systems?

I think our county could meet the increasing need for safe drinking water for our population by upgrading our present intake system. If private water and wastewater systems meet all of the regulations at the state and federal level, I have no problem with them.

4. Can growth be managed? Explain.

I think growth can be managed by providing water and sewage.

5. Do you support the Major Corridor Ordinance proposal as it currently stands? Explain.

I do not support the Major Corridor Ordinance proposal. I think the regulations are too harsh on the land owner and on the farmers. I think the ordinance is unfair to all property owners.

6. Were you for or against the land transfer tax? Do you favor putting the LTT back on the ballot for another vote? Explain.

I was against the Land Transfer Tax. I would not favor it ever going back on the ballot. I think we pay enough taxes now on property.

7. What are the best ways to fund and handle the county's growing school construction needs?

I think we could handle the county’s growing school construction needs by building schools that are two stories and take up less land space. We could use the same building plan for all schools and therefore save money.

8. What two things would you like to see changed in Chatham County over the next four years and why? What, if anything, would your election do to bring about these changes?

I would like to see in the next fours these changes. I would like the impact fee that we have at present to be put on a sliding scale according to the size of the home. I would like our county government to get along with the other governing boards in the county. Keeping open dialogue with elected officials and town boards is the way to do this.

9. Please describe how you have worked effectively with team members who are very different from yourself in political or ideological perspective.

I would work with team members who have different political or ideological perspective by trying to always keep an open mind to their thoughts and opinions.

10. Why should I, as a Chatham County resident vote for you?

I believe the people of Chatham County should vote for me because I feel many of our citizens in the county have lost faith in our local government and I would try to restore this by making myself available to speak to them about their concerns. I would try to be a good listener. I would work to always spend their tax dollars wisely and see that others do the same.

Jeffrey Starkweather

DEMOCRAT

590 Old Goldston Rd., Pittsboro, NC 27312

Email: jeffreystarkweather@earthlink.net

Website: www.jeffreystarkweather.org

Age: 60

Education: BA Political Science, Economics; JD, Two years of graduate education in city and regional planning.

Spouse: Dee Reid, Director of Communications, College of Arts and Sciences, UNC-Chapel Hill

Children: Sampson Starkweather, ’94, Northwood grad, editor and poet in New York; Emily Tinervin, ’96 Northwood grad, resides in Northern Chatham, realtor, raising my two granddaughters, Ryan, two years, Emory, five months, with her husband Scott.

Community activities: Secretary, Chatham Economic Development Corporation; Co-Chair, Chatham Housing Coalition; Chatham County Affordable Housing Task Force; Mid-Carolina Work Force Development Board, ChathamArts Board, 2001-2008; Chatham Citizens for Effective Communities, Board, 2004-2008; Chatham Coalition Chair 2004-2007;Chatham County Planning Board, 1986-1992; Orange County Disability Awareness Council, Volunteer Attorney/Advisor, 1992-2004; Orange County Mental Health Board, 1996-997; Chatham and Orange County Dispute Settlement Center Volunteer Mediator, 1984-994; Chatham Soccer League co-founder and coach, 1983- 1986. Sierra Club, the NAACP, Smart Growth America, Friends of the Rocky River and Haw River Assembly member.

1. What do you consider the three most pressing issues in this county? What are your plans for addressing them?

My three top priorities are: (1) sustainable economic development based on quality education; 2) responsible land-use planning; and 3) open government and meaningful citizen participation from all areas and segments of the county.

1)Sustainable “place-based” economic development based: Chatham must develop new economic development strategies to create good jobs for people who live here. Global economic realities are having a devastating effect on our local economy the most recent examples are plant closings in Siler City and Moncure that will affect hundreds of workers who are losing their jobs as well as the farmers, businesses and infrastructure that rely on these plants. There are no silver bullet solutions to these short-term problems. The County Commissioners and Economic Development Corporation (EDC) should do whatever they can to work with state and federal agencies and lenders to alleviate the short-term pain. But they also must develop new strategies to help Chatham attract new clean industries that can provide good jobs for the long-term.

I have been working for the last year as co-chair of the strategic economic development strategy subcommittee of the EDC. This subcommittee has been working directly with the UNC Center for Competitive Enterprises in developing a “placed-based” strategy that is based on improving the education, skills and training of our workforce and protecting and enhancing our small towns and communities, rural character and natural resources. While we plan to do all we can to preserve and enhance our existing industries and business, we can no longer rely solely on low-wage industries. Nor can we continue to allow our tax base to rely solely on residential development accompanied by high out commuting for jobs. We need to give people the opportunity to have good paying jobs in Chatham, which will attract commercial development to our towns and economic development centers and will ease the burden of financing needed county and city services from regressive property taxes. We need to attract and grow entrepreneurs and small-to-medium sized business in emerging clean industries, including sustainable agriculture, alternative fuels and energy conservation and tourism.

The Triangle is a world leader in attracting high-tech creative workers and business. The Triad is a leader in attracting companies working class employers. This makes Chatham an attractive area for the location of knowledge-based spin-off companies from RTP, but also spin-off jobs from the Triad for skilled workers in production and distribution centers, as well as tourism.

Among the initiative I would push to implement this placed-based strategy are the following:

· Quality education for all children is the most important infrastructure requirement for developing good-paying jobs. Chatham must recruit and retain quality educators, through higher teacher supplements and more professional working conditions that are equal to our neighboring RTP communities. We need to build and upgrade our schools to quality 21st century learning requirements and to keep up with our population growth. We cannot allow school construction to lag behind as happened at the North Chatham School where students go to classes in 19 trailers. We should not approve future residential developments before we have the ability to finance, upgrade and build new schools. We also need to look closely at our county finances, including our enormous fund balance, to determine if we have resources available to speed up the construction of needed school facilities, such as the Briar Chapel Middle School and Northeastern High School. I am also a strong believer that smaller schools are more effective than larger schools, both educationally, socially and to reduce transportation time and costs. I believe we should try to cap the size of a school at around 800 students.

· High speed internet, is needed to attract high-tech businesses and to facilitate tele-commuting.

· Develop programs to revitalize our municipal downtowns and small community centers and to utilize greenways, trials and bike path to connect them to residential areas.

· We need more support for small businesses and entrepreneurs through the development of a county entrepreneurship council, small business incubator, mentor programs, regulatory assistance and accessible business loan and grant programs.

2) Responsible land-use planning: Chatham County is facing unprecedented growth pressures and the local impact of global economic and environmental realities that crowd our schools and roadways, threaten our air, water, farmlands and natural areas, make housing increasingly unaffordable for working people and require them to travel longer distances to jobs; and force the county to rely too heavily on regressive property taxes on residences to pay for needed services. In addition we face climate change and long-term drought, soaring fuel prices, and dramatic job losses.

Ÿ To avoid sprawl and pollution, we should not extend infrastructure randomly or without land-use planning. Rather we should promote and focus expansion and improvement of water and sewer infrastructure strategically in our municipalities and designated economic development centers or nodes, in conjunction with our comprehensive land-use plan.

Ÿ We must complete our land use plan, zoning and subdivision ordinances for responsible growth management, encourage: development in towns and designated economic nodes, low impact design, conservation easements, walkable, mixed-use development, infill and building re-use; tree protection; and public transportation. The public hearing process must allow more time for citizens to respond to development proposals and planning decisions. But equally important, we must have county leadership with the courage to stick to the plan.

Ÿ Chatham should make a commitment to reduce carbon omissions by two percent a year to address climate change and to make Chatham more attractive to “green” clean industry. We should also develop a comprehensive alternative energy and energy conservation strategy. .

Ÿ We should develop watershed land use plans designed specifically for the Rocky River and Haw River watershed to protect these resources for use as drinking water, recreation and economic development assets.

Ÿ We need a strategy to protect farmland and open spaces.

Ÿ Develop an affordable and effective regional public transportation system between our municipalities and the county and Triangle and Triad job centers.

Ÿ Implement an affordable housing strategy, including minimum developer incentives and consider inclusionary zoning requirements if it is determined that incentives alone are incapable of providing affordable housing for firemen, teachers, police officers and working class jobs required by our new and expanding businesses.

3) Open government and meaningful citizen participation: The bedrock of true democracy is government openness and transparency and citizen participation. Our new board majority has made dramatic improvements in open but more can be done.

Ÿ Develop citizen advisory board in each geographic section of the county that would encourage citizens to bring problems and proposals to the county’s attention and would be a sounding board for county proposals long before they are finalized and air at an official public hearing.

Ÿ Expand the board of county commissioners to seven members as part of a citizen driven process to study alternative methods for electing county commissioners to provide direct representation to all parts of the county while still maintaining a board that is accountable to the long-term interests of the majority of residents. I currently favor a seven member board where four are elected solely from districts and three elected at- large.

Ÿ Hold all deliberations and votes on major policy proposals during night meetings when citizens can attend.

Ÿ Public hearing and night-time meeting deliberations on all major capital facility/improvement expenditures and plans..

2. What specific types of businesses do you want to attract to Chatham? What measures will you take to attract these employers to Chatham County?

See above concerning economic development strategy. As part of our economic development strategy that I have been working on for the last year with our UNC consultants, we have targeted growing industries that are tied to the Triad and Research Triangle cluster of industries that have some of the following characteristics: single locations and small headquarters, small or medium sized business in growth sectors of the economy, firms poised for expansion with high revenues per employee. See strategic plan on county website for those specific industry clusters.

Of course, we want to do what we practically can to retain our existing industry clusters of packaged good products, concrete and brick building products, nonresidential building products and wood process. In addition we want to promote locally-based entrepreneurships businesses, including retail, and our tourist potential.

3. How do you propose Chatham County meet the increasing need for safe drinking water for a growing population? What is your opinion of private water and wastewater systems?

As I stated in question two, we need to develop Rocky River and Haw River watershed protection strategies and implementation tools, including river and stream buffer protections, low impact design, conservation subdivisions, limit utility extensions into the rural areas, promote industrial and business pre-treatment of sewage and water and sewage re-use, limit impervious surfaces. We need to fully implement or smart growth land use plan that calls for growth in our municipalities and economic development centers and discourages sprawl into rural areas..

We should collaborate with OWASA, Durham County, and the Cary to obtain the last allocation of water from Jordan Lake and to build a regional water treatment plant on the western side of Jordan Lake. This opportunity would not have been possible if the current majority had not rescinded the costly contract proposed by Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross to purchase water from Harnett. A new regional plant on the western side of Jordan will provide the county two huge benefits: possibly eliminate millions of dollars needed to run a water line across Jordan Lake and provide a similar high quality treatment at this new plant that we cannot currently afford to utilize at our small water treatment plant on the east side of the lake (e.g. Cary uses expensive ozone pre-treatment).

I am not a proponent of private water and sewer systems. That state is responsible for monitoring these systems and it does not have a strong track of providing sufficient staff to effectively protect residents from faulty systems.

4. Can growth be managed? Explain.

Yes, to a great degree. See smart growth strategy outlined in my answers to question number on by growing from out towns outward. This will take collaboration with our municipalities and cooperation with our neighboring towns and counties. Land-use planning actually enhances the rights of property owners, as well as the value of their land, by providing both predictability and prediction from noxious uses that decrease land value.

5. Do you support the Major Corridor Ordinance proposal as it currently stands? Explain.

I applaud the new board majority for setting up the diverse and representative Major Corridor Task Force to implement the land use plan. It does not take away anyone’s right to sell or develop their property, but rather enhances the value of property by designating it for its most effective use for economic development and protecting rural character. .

I have some concerns about the commercial node designated between Siler City and Bear Creek and prefer seeing growth focused within those two municipalities rather than between them, to prevent sprawl and environmental degradation. I would also like to see industrial sites linked to public transportation/ transit access.

As we seek additional zoning and land use controls across the county we will need to launch a public outreach campaign to involve citizens more in the plan’s development and implementation and to explain the advantages of having development concentrated in towns and designated areas.

6. Were you for or against the land transfer tax? Do you favor putting the LTT back on the ballot for another vote? Explain.

I supported the concept of a 1% transfer tax as a fairer form of tax since it would be incurred only when the property is sold and it would have meant the elimination of the more regressive flat impact fee. Thanks to the real estate and development lobby, that proposal was reduced to a 0.4% LTT, which meant Chatham had to maintain part of its impact fee. I also objected to my incumbent opponent’s proposal to use some of the LTT revenues for financing water in a water district that is supposed to be self-financing, instead of dedicating all of the LTT revenues for school construction where it is most needed.

The best way to keep our property taxes at a reasonable rate is to expand our tax base, rather than levying new kinds of taxes. Our property tax base is substantially out of balance because it relies too much on residential property, which does not generate sufficient tax revenues to support the services needed (schools, utilities, law enforcement).

This is why we need to recruit clean industry and businesses. Of course, we also need to make sure new developments pay for themselves by being more assertive in demanding more public amenities from developments, including public parks, recreation, sidewalks, and schools.

Some have argued for a graduated impact fee, but is unconstitutional.

7. What are the best ways to fund and handle the county's growing school construction needs?

See answer to number one above. Clearly, we should control the pace of new residential development with our ability to build new schools. I answered this question above also in terms of balancing our tax base with jobs, industries and retail, utilizing a 1% LTT as an alternative to impact fees, and requiring large development to provide not only school sites, but the cost of constructing a school on that site. To control the pace of residential development in order to provide for their resulting school construction needs, we need to consider developing and implementing land use tools such as an Adequate Public Facilities Ordnance that would tie approval of developments to the availability of needed school classrooms.

8. What two things would you like to see changed in Chatham County over the next four years and why? What, if anything, would your election do to bring about these changes?

I would like to see our county develop a citizen-driven comprehensive long range plan and strategy for implementing that plan. The plan should integrate land use planning, economic development, energy, transportation, infrastructure, capital improvement, education, environmental protection, law enforcement, health, etc. This should be a joint county-municipal plan. The goal of this plan would be to develop an economically and environmentally sustainable community. By that I mean a community where everyone has an equal opportunity to live, work, recreate and prosper without breaking the bank for our children’s future or destroying our natural resources. We need to collaborate and partner with neighboring municipalities and counties.

I would like to get away from the type of unilateral, ad hoc, non-strategic decision making that the two incumbents seeking re-election have often utilized. My election would bring to the board much greater knowledge, experience and commitment to this type of long-range planning than my opponents.

My second proposed major change would be greatly expanding on the effort of the current board majority toward more open government and citizen participation. (See my answer to question one.) This is best strategy for bringing the county together.

9. Please describe how you have worked effectively with team members who are very different from yourself in political or ideological perspective.

The most important aspect of working with a diverse team is to find out what your teammates have in common, seek agreement on the facts of the problem to be addressed and the possibilities and constraints related to that problem, and work to move toward a problem-solving mode as opposed to debating or arguing. Of course, you have to treat everyone’s views and backgrounds with respect. This is the approach I used as a trained mediator working in Chatham and Orange counties for ten years, and in negotiations as an attorney.

As a newspaper editor and publisher of a countywide weekly in Chatham for eleven years, I manage a diverse team of reporters, advertising sales and other employees and I came into contact with all kinds of people while I covered the news.

As a member of the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation, the Chatham Housing Coalition, Chatham County Affordable Housing Task Force, and the Mid-Carolina Workforce Development Board, the County Planning Board and the ChathamArts Board, I have worked collaboratively with all kinds of people on a range of issues and challenges.

10. Why should I, as a Chatham County resident vote for you?

Chatham faces increasingly complicated issues involving job losses, recession, drought, climate change, growth, crowded schools and threatened natural resources. We have to expand and balance our tax base or we will be faced with increasing property taxes in order to finance new schools and other needs. We need leaders who are interested in working openly, collaboratively and inclusively with their colleagues, with citizens, and with partners in Chatham and neighboring towns and counties.

I have been a community advocate and leader in Chatham for 36 years and have demonstrated that I have the knowledge, professional and community experience, and vision to address these complicated challenges. I have extensive experience in land-use and civil rights law, land-use planning, and economic development. As a newspaper editor I reported on every aspect of county and local government and all parts of the county.

I already have a close working relationship with the current majority on the County Board of Commissioners, as well as with members of the School Board and local town councils, and with public and business leaders countywide who are engaged in economic development planning, and in affordable housing issues.

Finally, I will work to serve as “delegate” of the voters, working to understand and represent their interests, rather than a “trustee” who thinks he already has all of the answers and should simply be trusted to make the right decision.

I am deeply committed to working for sustainable economic development, quality schools for all children, responsible land use planning and infrastructure development, energy-efficient and healthy communities and open government. And I want and expect the voters to hold me accountable for my commitments and promises and my record in office.

Andy Wilkie

REPUBLICAN

P. O. Box 364 Goldston, NC 27252

There is no Republican primary for the BOC District 2. Andy will run against the Democratic primary winner in the November general elections.