The First Amendment Guarantees ALL Freedoms, including a Truthful Press
Commissioner candidates build their platforms at forum
Beaufort County commissioner candidates went under public scrutiny at the Washington Daily News Candidates Forum, held Tuesday night in the auditorium at Beaufort County Community College in Washington.
Republican, Democratic or unaffiliated, all candidates were given equal time and identical prompts in which to express their political philosophies and, sometimes, promises. These candidates will face off with their partisan counterparts in the May 4 primary election. The winners of the primary election will compete for three seats on the board in the Nov. 2 general election.
The forum opened with a succession of two-minute monologues delivered by the candidates to the audience; the essence of which is captured here, structured by party and alphabetically, rather than chronologically, for purposes of mental organization. Focusing on the party affiliation of the candidates is necessary in the primary election, which has party-exclusive ballots. The candidates’ opening statements were as diverse as their authors:
Democratic candidate Ed Booth, of Washington, who is running for his third term, reminded the audience of an accomplishment the county was able to achieve during his time on the board. But rather than taking all the credit, he spread the wealth.
“Beaufort County commissioners have not raised your taxes, not one time; we have absorbed it,” said Booth, referring to debt from $33 million in school bonds. “I didn’t say ‘I’; ‘we’ have absorbed it and have worked diligently not to raise your taxes one bit.”
Booth said he would appreciate being granted another two-year term to sit alongside his colleagues and continue working toward establishing Beaufort County as “the county it can be.”
Democratic candidate Jerry Evans, of Washington, who is running for his first term, identified himself, first and foremost, as a small-business owner who is involved in the local community.
“I’m here tonight not as a politician; I’m one of you,” said Evans. “I’m just frustrated. I just feel like this county has so much to offer.”
Evans, who manages Century 21 offices in Beaufort and Pitt counties, said his experience dealing with property appraisals would help in the aftermath of the recent property reevaluation.
He also said he’s interested in bringing new jobs to the county, but is “more concerned with keeping what we’ve got.”
Democratic candidate Sonya Shamseldin, of Pinetown, who is running for her first term, empathized with the struggles of Beaufort County residents.
“I’m a mom,” she said, indicating her husband and four children cheering her on from the audience. “I know how much a gallon of milk costs, because I do go to the grocery store. I’m just like you.”
Along with managing a household budget, Shamseldin also manages a public budget as chairwoman of the Beaufort County Department of Social Services.
“I’ve learned a lot in the past four years being there—from how the system works to the money that’s expended from there,” she said.
Democratic candidate Darwin Woolard, of Washington, who is running for his first term on the board, served on the Washington City Council for three terms, but lost his bid to be re-elected in last year’s municipal election.
“I think I was kind of burned by the City due to my voting record,” Woolard said. “I have to stand here and tell you that I would do it again because of the information at the time.”
Woolard said he was willing to answer questions, but was unwilling to define the specifics of his platform.
“I’m not going to stand up here and make any promises, because it takes four people to vote,” he said.
Republican candidate Cindy Baldwin, of Bath, who is running for her first term, echoed Shamseldin’s sentiments of working motherhood and acknowledged her husband and three of her five children who were in attendance. A business counselor at ECU, Baldwin and her husband are currently under fire from some for trying to build businesses and homes in Bath that would increase commerce and population there.
“I’m out there every day trying to help businesses keep the doors open, and they’re pretty frustrated, and that’s exactly why I’m running today,” she said, “because someone needs to be a voice for small business and say we’ve had enough.”
Baldwin held up business-related requests and bills from the state, which, she said, complicated and hindered development past the point of frustration, to failure.
Republican candidate Stan Deatherage, of Washington, who is running for his fifth term, localized many hot-button national issues such as public spending, health-care reform and immigration.
“Our federal government is spending 25-percent more than it is projected to collect in revenues,” he said. “And that does not include the burgeoning debt service, which, at present, is incalculable.”
Deatherage said that Beaufort County will feel the runoff of what he called ‘socialist’ economics, because “it all flows downhill, and we are the catch basin.”
As a commissioner, Deatherage has been vocal in opposition to the federal health-care reform bill and to the current condition of national border security. At the forum, in his opening remarks, Deatherage promised to continue helping “form a line of defense” against the ‘socialization’ of America. Such federal policies, he said, will further cost the county taxpayer, who is already paying for the ownership of the Beaufort County Medical Center, certain mental-health services and the management of Medicaid, as well as providing $2 million a year in services to undocumented immigrants.
Republican candidate Buddy Harrell, who is running for his first term, lives in Edward, which, he said, “is part of Beaufort County, even though it’s not recognized.”
Never before having run for office, at 80 years of age Harrell was roused to run for public office by the exponential increase in public spending.
“I’m running for commissioner because something has got to be done about all this giveaway taxes,” he said. “We have two types of people in this country today: One is called the producers, and the other is called the moochers. And the moochers are outnumbering the producers every day.”
At the Beaufort County Republican Convention, Harrell complained about what he called the excessive teaching of black history in Beaufort County schools, a comment which provoked some controversy. At the forum, in his opening remarks, Harrell explained his perspective on race in the context of the American identity.
“Everybody wants to be classified,” said Harrell. “If you’re born in America, you’re an American. I don’t care what color you are or what nationality you are. You are American.”
Republican candidate Tony Keech, of Washington, who is running for his first term, was represented at the forum by his wife, Catherine Keech, so he could attend “mandatory, work-related training out of town.”
Catherine said that she and Tony have one young child that they plan to raise in Beaufort County. She said that Tony is concerned with improving the county’s ability to provide paying jobs for its young people after they graduate, “so that Beaufort County can stop being a training ground for people to leave and go other places.”
“Ultimately, he believes we need to invest in our children,” she said. “He certainly wants to make sure that if our family and future generations are going to survive here that we go beyond—move our community forward and triumph over global competition.”
Republican candidate Al Klemm, of Washington, who is running for his second term, identified himself as a 65-year-old Air Force veteran, community volunteer and retired corporate executive, who has a knack for “applying common sense business principles to government.”
Klemm said he wants to pay his blessings forward by working as a county commissioner to help better his community. In his opinion, the best way to give back to the community is by promoting “strong families, strong education and low taxes."
Unaffiliated candidate-hopeful Bertie Arnhols, of Aurora, said she will be officially in the running for county commissioner as soon as she acquires signatures from 1,250 Beaufort County voters. At the forum, Arnhols reported that she had half the required signatures.
In 2008, Arnhols ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for county commissioner. Disillusioned with partisan politics, Arnhols said she chose to run in 2010 as an unaffiliated candidate “because I’m not too happy with the way this country is going, from the Democrats or the Republicans.”
Go Back
Republican, Democratic or unaffiliated, all candidates were given equal time and identical prompts in which to express their political philosophies and, sometimes, promises. These candidates will face off with their partisan counterparts in the May 4 primary election. The winners of the primary election will compete for three seats on the board in the Nov. 2 general election.
The forum opened with a succession of two-minute monologues delivered by the candidates to the audience; the essence of which is captured here, structured by party and alphabetically, rather than chronologically, for purposes of mental organization. Focusing on the party affiliation of the candidates is necessary in the primary election, which has party-exclusive ballots. The candidates’ opening statements were as diverse as their authors:
Democratic candidate Ed Booth, of Washington, who is running for his third term, reminded the audience of an accomplishment the county was able to achieve during his time on the board. But rather than taking all the credit, he spread the wealth.
“Beaufort County commissioners have not raised your taxes, not one time; we have absorbed it,” said Booth, referring to debt from $33 million in school bonds. “I didn’t say ‘I’; ‘we’ have absorbed it and have worked diligently not to raise your taxes one bit.”
Booth said he would appreciate being granted another two-year term to sit alongside his colleagues and continue working toward establishing Beaufort County as “the county it can be.”
Democratic candidate Jerry Evans, of Washington, who is running for his first term, identified himself, first and foremost, as a small-business owner who is involved in the local community.
“I’m here tonight not as a politician; I’m one of you,” said Evans. “I’m just frustrated. I just feel like this county has so much to offer.”
Evans, who manages Century 21 offices in Beaufort and Pitt counties, said his experience dealing with property appraisals would help in the aftermath of the recent property reevaluation.
He also said he’s interested in bringing new jobs to the county, but is “more concerned with keeping what we’ve got.”
Democratic candidate Sonya Shamseldin, of Pinetown, who is running for her first term, empathized with the struggles of Beaufort County residents.
“I’m a mom,” she said, indicating her husband and four children cheering her on from the audience. “I know how much a gallon of milk costs, because I do go to the grocery store. I’m just like you.”
Along with managing a household budget, Shamseldin also manages a public budget as chairwoman of the Beaufort County Department of Social Services.
“I’ve learned a lot in the past four years being there—from how the system works to the money that’s expended from there,” she said.
Democratic candidate Darwin Woolard, of Washington, who is running for his first term on the board, served on the Washington City Council for three terms, but lost his bid to be re-elected in last year’s municipal election.
“I think I was kind of burned by the City due to my voting record,” Woolard said. “I have to stand here and tell you that I would do it again because of the information at the time.”
Woolard said he was willing to answer questions, but was unwilling to define the specifics of his platform.
“I’m not going to stand up here and make any promises, because it takes four people to vote,” he said.
Republican candidate Cindy Baldwin, of Bath, who is running for her first term, echoed Shamseldin’s sentiments of working motherhood and acknowledged her husband and three of her five children who were in attendance. A business counselor at ECU, Baldwin and her husband are currently under fire from some for trying to build businesses and homes in Bath that would increase commerce and population there.
“I’m out there every day trying to help businesses keep the doors open, and they’re pretty frustrated, and that’s exactly why I’m running today,” she said, “because someone needs to be a voice for small business and say we’ve had enough.”
Baldwin held up business-related requests and bills from the state, which, she said, complicated and hindered development past the point of frustration, to failure.
Republican candidate Stan Deatherage, of Washington, who is running for his fifth term, localized many hot-button national issues such as public spending, health-care reform and immigration.
“Our federal government is spending 25-percent more than it is projected to collect in revenues,” he said. “And that does not include the burgeoning debt service, which, at present, is incalculable.”
Deatherage said that Beaufort County will feel the runoff of what he called ‘socialist’ economics, because “it all flows downhill, and we are the catch basin.”
As a commissioner, Deatherage has been vocal in opposition to the federal health-care reform bill and to the current condition of national border security. At the forum, in his opening remarks, Deatherage promised to continue helping “form a line of defense” against the ‘socialization’ of America. Such federal policies, he said, will further cost the county taxpayer, who is already paying for the ownership of the Beaufort County Medical Center, certain mental-health services and the management of Medicaid, as well as providing $2 million a year in services to undocumented immigrants.
Republican candidate Buddy Harrell, who is running for his first term, lives in Edward, which, he said, “is part of Beaufort County, even though it’s not recognized.”
Never before having run for office, at 80 years of age Harrell was roused to run for public office by the exponential increase in public spending.
“I’m running for commissioner because something has got to be done about all this giveaway taxes,” he said. “We have two types of people in this country today: One is called the producers, and the other is called the moochers. And the moochers are outnumbering the producers every day.”
At the Beaufort County Republican Convention, Harrell complained about what he called the excessive teaching of black history in Beaufort County schools, a comment which provoked some controversy. At the forum, in his opening remarks, Harrell explained his perspective on race in the context of the American identity.
“Everybody wants to be classified,” said Harrell. “If you’re born in America, you’re an American. I don’t care what color you are or what nationality you are. You are American.”
Republican candidate Tony Keech, of Washington, who is running for his first term, was represented at the forum by his wife, Catherine Keech, so he could attend “mandatory, work-related training out of town.”
Catherine said that she and Tony have one young child that they plan to raise in Beaufort County. She said that Tony is concerned with improving the county’s ability to provide paying jobs for its young people after they graduate, “so that Beaufort County can stop being a training ground for people to leave and go other places.”
“Ultimately, he believes we need to invest in our children,” she said. “He certainly wants to make sure that if our family and future generations are going to survive here that we go beyond—move our community forward and triumph over global competition.”
Republican candidate Al Klemm, of Washington, who is running for his second term, identified himself as a 65-year-old Air Force veteran, community volunteer and retired corporate executive, who has a knack for “applying common sense business principles to government.”
Klemm said he wants to pay his blessings forward by working as a county commissioner to help better his community. In his opinion, the best way to give back to the community is by promoting “strong families, strong education and low taxes."
Unaffiliated candidate-hopeful Bertie Arnhols, of Aurora, said she will be officially in the running for county commissioner as soon as she acquires signatures from 1,250 Beaufort County voters. At the forum, Arnhols reported that she had half the required signatures.
In 2008, Arnhols ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for county commissioner. Disillusioned with partisan politics, Arnhols said she chose to run in 2010 as an unaffiliated candidate “because I’m not too happy with the way this country is going, from the Democrats or the Republicans.”
| Elections director notes elevated participation level at candidates' forum | Bloodless Warfare: Politics, Op-Ed & Politics | County commissioner candidates release unfiltered statements |
Home
Contact
About
Service Rates
Privacy Policy
Follow on Facebook
Subscribe to Newsletters
Rss Feed
Keywords
Eastern NC Now & ENC NOW © Copyright 1998-2024 All Rights Reserved.
