By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@Salisburypost
Taxes, education, incentives, land use and the future of the fairground are all talking points for the three candidates actively seeking two seats on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.
Republicans Jim Sides, the only incumbent, and Carl Ford have joined Democrat Raymond Coltrain in campaigning for the two seats available.
Laura Lyerly, a 29-year-old political newcomer, is the other Democratic candidate for commission, but she has not responded to calls or appeared publicly for weeks.
Education/ Schools
Coltrain: Says a new central administrative office is the top priority for the Rowan-Salisbury School System, and he supports the plan to buy and revamp the former Winn-Dixie building on Jake Alexander Boulevard. Overall, he believes the school system is moving in the right direction.
Ford: “The No. 1 need is to make sure students get a good education. ” Ford says the redistricting process under way in the school system should be done publicly to allow everyone to know what is going on.
He supports a central administrative office. “When you’ve got four or five buildings, it takes away time.” He says the county should take on the project only if it is economically feasible.
The county is in the process of expanding and renovating the former mental health area of the Health Services Building on Faith Road to put all Social Services programs at one site.
Sides: “We need somebody in the school administration that understands the problems, somebody who believes the No. 1 priority is to educate our children. All we ever hear is buildings, buildings, buildings. Stop screaming about buildings. We’ve got buildings that are under utilized.”
He cites the example of North Rowan High School, which could accommodate another 400 students.
While not opposed to a central office for the schools, Sides dislikes what he sees as a rush to get a deal done before Dec. 1, when current Commission Chairman Arnold Chamberlain leaves the board.
Sides would like to look at other options beyond the Winn-Dixie building, including a new building on school-owned property.
Sides favors the county taking over school building projects, which he says will save money.
Fairground
The candidates all favor changes in the county fairground on Julian Road.
Coltrain: Is pleased with a new arrangement in which the Tourism Development Authority handles the leasing and the county maintains the grounds. He favors renewed talks with Salisbury about developing a multi-use facility.
Nearly a decade ago, Coltrain served on the committee which examined the future of the fairground and recommended a new complex to draw a variety of groups and events. At that time, the city was pursuing a downtown conference/convention center and wasn’t interested.
Commissioners have said the Julian Road fairground has much more value for retail or industrial development.
Sides: Is willing to sell other county property to the Fair Association, but he wants to separate the county from the fair and its operation. He says a vendor who was evicted by the fair management because her prices were too low should ask the Attorney General’s office for a price-fixing investigation. Sides is willing to help the Fair Association buy property.
Ford: Views the Julian Road property as a future key economic development site. He agrees the Fair Association should own the property for the fair.
Land-use plan
Ford: Supports approval of a plan for west Rowan but not the plan developed by the Land Use Steering Commit-tee.
A member of the Rowan County Planning Board, he joined in the majority vote to send a modified version to the commissioners.
“You have to have a land-use plan to get federal and state grants,” he says, adding the county still needs to review its zoning and conditional use permit process to deal with growth issues.
Coltrain: Also supports having a plan for west Rowan but not the one developed by the Steering Committee. He hopes commissioners will move to middle ground and adopt a modified plan.
Sides: “We’ve wasted a lot of good people’s time and effort,” he says. He opposes the land-use planning process, saying individual property owners have the right to determine how their property is used.
Farmland preservation
Coltrain: Spent his career in agriculture and comes closest to supporting using tax money to preserve farmland. But he is cautious and would bring in private organizations and limit use of tax monies for matching grants, not propose a “wholesale” program.
Sides: Opposes taxpayer-funded farmland preservation programs. “We have the best farmland preservation program now,” Sides said, pointing to $700 million in value that is deferred each year under the present-use value program. Farmers pay taxes based on the use of the land ó crops or timberland ó much less than the “market value,” which means a much lower tax bill.
Ford: Also opposes spending property tax dollars to preserve farmland. His family owns a farm, and he said he’s willing to help get grants and do fundraisers.Employee benefits
Coltrain: Wants to make sure employees are evaluated and paid based on their performance.
He wants to better educate the public about the costs of services.
Ford: Describes the pay problem as people being at the top or the bottom, with few in between. “We need to close the big gap in between,” Ford says, and he says it can be done without raising taxes.
He also suggests new hires may need to pay a share of their health insurance.
Sides: Says the county can’t afford to continue fully funding health insurance. He says many county employees are reaching retirement and will be eligible for free health insurance until they reach 65.
When the program was set up, officials did not set aside funding, and now the county could find itself obligated to pay millions of dollars as more employees retire, Sides said.