By Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

With just a few months left in its current term, The Rowan County Board of Elections on Tuesday welcomed its newest member.

Dave Collins, the co-owner of a local landscaping business, on Tuesday was sworn in as a member of the county’s Board of Elections. He replaces Elaine Hewitt, who resigned from the board to take a position in the county’s Republican Party. Collins will serve out the remainder of Hewitt’s two-year term, which runs out this year.

Collins, 62, said he was approached in early March by Rowan County Republican Party leadership and asked if he’d be interested in filling Hewitt’s spot. Collins’ nomination was then forwarded to the N.C. Board of Elections for final approval. The board will consider registered voters in Rowan for the next two-year term in June.

“I’ve always enjoyed being able to have some input on things,” Collins said. “As far as elections are concerned, I’m not a highly political person, but I’m extremely interested in the election process. My interest in it is primarily just to make sure the election process is done fairly and efficiently.”

He was picked to fill Hewitt’s spot at the same time as the Republican Party picked its new county leadership.

“When they asked, if it was something I was interested in and I said ‘sure,'” Collins recalled.

Collins has also recently served on the North Carolina Irrigation Contractors Licensing Board and as the chairman of First United Methodist Church’s Building Committee.

Collins and his family have lived in Salisbury for more than 20 years, which he joked still classifies him as a newcomer.

His father served in the Air Force. Collins is a self-described military brat as a result, but graduated from high school in Morristown, Tenn. His college degree is in logistics and marketing from the University of Tennessee. He worked in the trucking industry prior to partnering with a friend to open a landscaping business — Distinctive Naturescapes.

“Because I had moved a lot and had a family, we decided that Salisbury was where we wanted to stay,” Collins said.

After being sworn in on Tuesday to the Board of Elections, Collins was also picked to fill the secretary position. Jonnette Powell serves as the chairperson of the Board of Elections. John Hudson serves as a member.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246