My Intentions Remain the Same | Eastern NC Now

Apparently, people think I am getting soft and pulling a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Not So.  I have not changed my stance on anything and as far as I can remember not said anything contrary to past statements.  So let me restate things for you:

I will not vote for any increase in taxes.  This includes fees which are a tax. And I will not hide an increase in the budget in some other format or method.  The county has plenty of money in the rainy-day accounts and we should be using the excess for other things.

I will read all contracts before I vote on them. Have the time we don’t know what we are getting.  I remember reading a contract for electrical equipment (TVs, computers, etc.) disposal that said it was being done on Cherry Run Road.  It has never been done on Cherry Road nor is it now being done on Cherry Run Road.  But that is what the contract said

I will not waste our taxes on unneeded or unnecessary purchases. We spent 4.7 million on wi-fi water meters, bought palm trees that died, built a building for 2 million and sold it for 1 million.  Recent purchases include $190,000 for a COVID trailer when one for $50,000 would done the same thing.  And ain’t COVID over?

Along with the 4.7-million-dollar water meters they have now spent money so you can go look at your water usage online daily.  I think that is a waste of money too.  I thought the new meters would allow the County to be alerted if there was an excessive usage on an account so they could contact the customer.  We spent the money so where is that usage program?

Beaufort County was slated to get five million dollars ($5,000,000) from a lawsuit resulting in the national opioid settlement in May.  I hope we have a plan for that money.  I am sure that some of it will be in the realm of educational presentations.  Will we hire more people to do this?  Will First Responders get Narcan and training on how to use it?  Just what will the money be spent on?  What has happened to this money?

Money was appropriated for a tractor to plant seed plots.  My company does this too and all the farmers do the planting and harvesting and get the money for the harvest.  So, was this really necessary?  Is the tractor being used in other counties?

I will work to make us have a balanced budget.  I will request each department of the county find 10% of their budget that they can cut. When I worked for the State, we did this all the time.  But in Beaufort County if we want to spend more money, we just raise your taxes.

I would have supported the hospital in Belhaven and not voted to close it. We gave the Beaufort County Hospital away and wasted away what little money we were given for it.  One company owning all the hospitals in an area means we all pay more for services.

I oppose changing the solid waste program to include home pickup of household trash. If Mega sites are built, we need to keep the roll off sites open.  I even visited sites in different counties while on vacation to see what could be done.

I will represent ALL the county and not one or two elite areas. I have family that live all over the county.  I went to school in Chocowinity and Bath.  As Commissioner you have to serve the people, not special interests.

When you go to a forum you only get a certain amount of time to answer questions or make statements.  The one I was able to attend seemed to focus on more soft stuff to me and did not get into the realm of wasteful spending.  I did get in about the COVID trailer. I did not go to the one Monday because I was out of town on a previously scheduled business trip.

You can always contact me directly at tandydunn@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns.  I don’t see every Facebook post or blog comment out there.