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News: Primary Election 2008 Preview
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Primary 2008Return to the list of candidates. Wilbur (Andy) AndersonAge: 72 Residence: Pikeville Occupation: Wayne County Commissioners, retired Air Force colonel Q: Your opponent believes a change is needed and that basically you've been in office too long. Why is that not true? What advantage do you have as the incumbent? A: I do not see his point in needed change. I am always working on long-range projects that will bring about change. Should he win, I hope his idea of change is not just putting out today’s fires. Q: Do you support the sales tax referendum? A: Yes, the sales tax is the fairest tax and brings in the greatest income for the amount a single individual spends. The property tax is based on the value of the property as has to be paid regardless of your current income. Q: What would you like to see included in a future bond referendum? A: This is a difficult question. The schools and jail are the largest budget-buster items. We as a board and county manager try to fund our smaller items from our reserves, often having to do a project in pieces or phases. Q: Would you be willing to raise property taxes? What about after reval? A: No. I will not raise property taxes unless I have no other choice. We know right now we must maintain our facilities. In order to do that we do need the sales tax to do those projects. Unfortunately we often do not have choices, we are told by Washington and Raleigh what to do. Q: Should the commissioners encourage the school board to look at redistricting/catchment area policies? A: Yes. Q: Do the commissioners need to be more involved in classroom education if the school board is going to keep asking for money? A: Yes, but a qualified yes. The commissioners are accountable to the taxpayers for spending their money and they must insure that we are getting value for our money. On the other had, the commissioners do not need to try and get into the direct education process. Q: Should the commission keep such a large fund balance? A: First, let me state clearly, the commissions do not have a large fund balance. We hope we have managed our funds well enough so we can weather a downturn and still get things done such as fund major school projects. Q: What role should the county play in providing water? A: The commissioners should be involved in water, but it will take community input and their resources. Q: Should the county be in the business of building shell buildings and providing economic incentives? A: While I do not like the way things are done in the U.S. and in North Carolina, we have no choice to compete and it take strong competition to get new businesses and keep our current businesses and help them in any legal way we can to grow and expand. |
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