The best way to bring jobs to Rockingham County is through the community college. That was something all six county commission candidates agreed on during their Thursday, Sept. 20 debate. Rockingham Community College hosted the event, which also included candidates for N.C. House, Senate, Lt. Gov and Superintendent of Public Schools.
?My number one goal is to make this county business friendly,? county commission candidate Zane Cardwell said. ?The way we?re gonna have to do that is through our community college system, creating the environment that will bring businesses in here.?
Pointing out that he works in the private sector as operations manager for Service Logistics in Stone, Cardwell highlighted his business experience. He also said he would work with state leaders to cut some of the regulations that in his view prevents companies from being able to start or grow their business. Cardwell added that he would rather offer a trained workforce to companies rather than a tax break.
?I don?t believe in paying a corporation to come in here,? Cardwell said. ?If they take money from you, guess what, they?ll take money from someone else to move out.?
Other candidates echoed support for more jobs, with differences in how they would go about it.
Current county commissioner James Kallam focused on taxes.
?We cut $5.2 million from the budget this past year and believe me, I wore a calculator out trying to do that,? Kallam said, adding that he would make it a goal to cut the tax rate further, by bringing in more jobs and expanding the tax base.
?My property taxes are too high and yours are too,? he told the audience.
Former county commissioner Keith Duncan, who served on the board from 1995 to 2006, said he wanted to work with local businesses to identify what the county needs to do differently to help them succeed. The owner of Shiloh Utilities, Duncan mentioned that when he previously served, the county had an advisory group of business owners and he would like to go back to that idea.
Candidate Leanna Lawson, a retired professor of nursing at Rockingham Community College, also highlighted the need for a trained workforce. She pointed out that Rockingham County has an abundance of water and sewer, supplies needed by other surrounding counties in both North Carolina and Virginia. Lawson said the county needs to explore partnerships with these other areas.
Former Bethany Middle School principal Mark Richardson said the county needs to focus on long term planning, rather than just a quick fix.
?The main thing to do is look farther down the road than just tomorrow,? Richardson said.
Finally, Eric Smith, a partner with Amos Welding and Rockingham Community College adjunct instructor, said the county needs to focus on more than just big corporations.
?They haven?t actively pursued small or medium sized businesses,? Smith said, adding that he believed the county needs to reign in spending and cut taxes. Smith told the story of meeting another Rockingham County resident and business owner, who said he pays a month?s salary in taxes.? Nobody should have to pay one twelfth of their salary to the government, Smith said.
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State candidates talk taxes, revenue
In discussions with the candidates for state office, the question of revenue kept coming up. Specifically, they were asked how they would fund projects.
?We need to be looking out for our taxpayers,? current State House District 65 Rep. Bert Jones said. ?Our government is on an unsustainable path. We don?t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. We?ve got to learn to manage our limited resources just like you do in your household or in your business.?
William Osborne, who?s challenging Jones for the district seat, argued the current ideas aren?t working.
?In 2001, we passed the first tax cuts going to the job creators,? Osborne said. ?In 2003, we passed additional tax cuts to send money to the job creators. In 2010, we passed tax cuts to send money to the job creators. It?s time to fire the job creators.?
Osborne argued that officials need to identify a demand and focus on building jobs that way, rather than what he saw as throwing money at everyone.
?I don?t care how many cookie factories you put out on the street, until somebody wants to buy a cookie, you?re not gonna sell cookies,? Osborne said.
When asked specifically if each candidate would have supported the sales tax increase proposed by Gov. Perdue, the responses were mixed.
?I don?t know whether I would have or not,? Bobby Stanley, a candidate for Phil Berger?s District 26 seat, said. ?I believe in efficiency too. Long term we need to fix this thing so we can be competitive. I was not there, so I do not know what I would have done if I had been there.?
Osborne said before supporting a tax increase, he wanted to look for places to cut spending.
I think we have to look for efficiencies,? Osborne said. ?I can?t tell you what I would have done until I have a chance to look at the entire budget.?
Former state representative Nelson Cole, who is competing against current District 91 Rep. Bryan Holloway, said there was money available, it was just a question of knowing where to look.
?There are plenty of places we could go to get that money to balance the budget (without taxing),? Cole said.
Jones asked the other candidates where these efficiencies and extra pots of money were.
?We hear about all these other pots of money, well the pots of money are depleted,? Jones said. ?We?re talking about the Highway Trust Fund, the Rainy Day Fund, all these dedicated funds in Raleigh that have been depleted.?
Holloway followed that up by asking why people talk about pots of money but don?t ever give examples.
Source: http://www2.rockinghamnow.com/news/2012/sep/23/candidates-talk-education-jobs-ar-2228152/
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