I had the pleasure to have attended the Candidate Forum on Monday evening. I want to say “thank you” to the organizers and candidates for their work and participation. It was very refreshing to have the audience be respectful and considerate to each candidate and their representatives. Scotland County residents showed that candidates can have different views and they will be treated in a courteous manner. The questions to the candidates by the media were very good and seemed impartial.
Here is my opinion and observations of the presentations:
Mr. McCready’s representative failed to mention that he has received hundreds of thousand dollars from Nancy Pelosi. This indebtness to Nancy Pelosi is a game-changer for me. I do not want higher taxes and slow economic growth that we had while Nancy was Speaker of the House. Mark Harris will better represent our N.C. values and ethics.
Ms. Mills attended the Forum while Sen. McInnis was in Raleigh working for our county. I heard Ms. Mills in her legalese say she would raise taxes to North Carolinians. I do not want Illinois taxes in N.C. Sen. McInnis has represented and served Scotland County very well.
The discussion by the county commissioners was most interesting. The comments made it clear to me, it is time for a change in the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Frizzell and Mr. Ivey made some very refreshing comments of needed change. Commissioner McCall said there are over 400 job openings in Scotland County. Why do we have such a high unemployment with so many job openings? I would have enjoyed hearing a discussion on the root causes and solutions, but time was limited.
Sheriff Kersey has turned around the sheriff’s department with many improvements. It seems one barrier he cannot control is the low wages his deputies are paid. I was surprised the city of Laurinburg police make much more than the sheriff’s deputies. This does not seem right — the county commissioners need to address this issue. Sheriff Kersey said his department is under budget, yet has to get approval to spend any unspent money in his budget. It was not said, but where does this money go and who controls the expenditures? This is something that should be addressed by the new Board of Commissioners and corrected.
Thank you again to all that were involved in presenting the Candidates Forum. A thank you to all the candidates for wanting to serve our county.
Jim Johnston
Laurinburg