LANDIS — Bobby G. Brown says “all you need to do is go and ride around” to see that Landis’ roads need improvement.

“The roads are horrible, honestly,” Brown said. “And that’s not including town roads. … I’m talking about the secondary roads, the ones in secondary neighborhoods.”

He said that in recent years, he hasn’t seen members of the Board of Aldermen introducing projects to repave those secondary roads.

That’s one of the reasons he said he’s running for a seat on the board.

“I want to give people a choice on who to elect and help govern,” Brown said.

Brown served three terms on the board  in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He said that when it comes to governing, “good old-fashioned common sense” is key, especially when spending taxpayers’ money.

“You should be very aware of that, but (the town) buys things that simply don’t need to be necessary,” Brown said.

He said there’s been a lot of spending in several town departments for new equipment, particularly for the public works and police departments.

“I’m not saying they didn’t need it, but it used a lot of money. And I’m not talking about money that was spent out; that’s money that’s got to be paid back,” Brown said.

Brown, 63, was a volunteer firefighter with the Landis Fire Department for 22 years.

He was also a sergeant for the N.C. Department of Corrections in Cabarrus County and for Piedmont Correctional Institution in Salisbury.

He retired from Piedmont Correctional Institution in 2014. 

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.