A look at the GOP primary for the Alamance County Board of Commissioners

April 30--GRAHAM -- Early one-stop voters have six Republican candidates to consider for two available four-year seats on the Alamance County Board of Commissioners.

Early voting continues through Saturday for the May 6 primary election. The two candidates receiving the most votes in the primary will move on to the general election in November, when they will face a Democratic challenger to determine who serves on the board. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Dan Ingle

Home: Burlington

Years in county: 40

Education: Elon University bachelor of arts in political science

Occupation: Retired law enforcement

Political experience: Served on Alamance County Board of Commissioners from 2005 to 2009. State legislator representing District 64 in the House from 2009 to 2012.

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: "I am keen on communication," Ingle said. There needs to be better communication among the commissioners, the public and the school system, he says, and that respecting others is also important whether you agree or disagree with their positions.

Education funding: Ingle said he believes the county's funding of education "is about right." He said he believes once the Alamance-Burlington School System completes and implements its new strategic plan, it will have a better handle on future fiscal impacts. Ingle said the system should work to educate the public better on how it spends the money it receives.

Taxes: Ingle says the county's current property tax rate of 54 cents per $100 of assessed value is at the right rate.

Handling of the county's finances: Ingle says the county's depletion and recovery of its fund balance can be attributed to the recession and recovery. He said he would work to continue to strengthen the county's financial condition. Ingle also said the most recent revaluation created a revenue shortfall that forced the county to tighten its finances.

County buildings: Ingle says the county needs to develop a long-range plan on how to maintain its buildings. He said it's costing the county a sizeable amount to continue to repair and maintain its buildings, including several aging high school buildings. Ingle says he doesn't support building any new buildings to consolidate county government. "We need to stay with the buildings we have," he said.

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: Ingle says he believes it would be more expensive for the county to comply with the DOJ's demands of reform than it would be to fight the lawsuit in federal court. He said he believes Sherriff Terry Johnson will win the case, and doesn't believe the Sheriff's Office has unlawfully profiled Latinos. Ingle said he doesn't believe Johnson should agree to any proposed settlement before the case goes to trial in July, and he hoped the case would be dismissed before going to trial.

Barry Joyce

Home: Burlington

Years in county: 61

Education: Alamance Community College associate degree business/bachelor of science in business from Elon University, master's degree in business from the UNC system

Occupation: Retired from Somers Pardue Agency

Political experience: Never held political office

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: "A candidate with business experience needs to be on the board," Joyce said. "There needs to be folks on the board with business experience."

Education funding: Joyce says he believes there is "money in the county to increase education funding." Joyce said the county government needs to cut wasteful spending to "free up" more funds for education. He said the county should strive to make sure that the Alamance-Burlington School System is a top system in the state.

Taxes: Joyce says it was hard for him to assess whether the current property tax rate of 54 cents per $100 is the best rate since he wasn't in office and didn't have access to the county's financial information. Joyce said the issue of raising taxes should first be considered by voters in a referendum.

Handling the county's finances: Joyce says the county should seek input from its employees on where to cut wasteful spending. "We should make them part of the solution and not part of the problem," he said. The county also should work harder toward eliminating its debt. Eliminating county debt would free up more money for education, Joyce said.

County building needs: "The county should not be in the real estate business," Joyce said. Current economic conditions don't allow the county to consider building a new county government administration building, he said. He said also he believed the county should accept an offer from Peak Resources to purchase property in Graham to build a new care facility.

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: "I stand by Terry; he is telling the truth," Joyce said. Joyce doesn't see where the DOJ has a case against Sheriff Terry Johnson. He says implementing the DOJ's suggested reforms would cost more than it would to defend the lawsuit. "It's a lose-lose situation," he said. "The best thing would be for it to be dismissed."

Bill Lashley

Home: Burlington

Years in county: 65

Education: Alamance Community College associate degree in police law and drafting and design. Attended classes at the University of Tennessee.

Occupation: Retired from Lorillard Tobacco

Political experience: First elected to the Alamance County Board of Commissioners in 1996. He lost a bid for re-election in 2008, but was reappointed by the county Republican Party after Dan Ingle left to take a seat in the state House. Lashley later won re-election in 2010.

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: "If the wrong people are elected, there will be a property tax rate increase," Lashley said.

Education funding: Lashley says the county should provide what it can afford for education spending. He says education funding is important, and for those who don't believe the county is spending enough, they should set up a special fund to provide money to the school system.

Taxes: Lashley says the county's property tax rate is too high at 54 cents and didn't believe the latest revaluation fairly represented the market value of homes.

Handling of the county's finances: Lashley says he was "very pleased with the job Tom Manning is doing" as county finance officer. Requiring the county finance officer to report directly to the commissioners instead of to the county manager was the right move to make by the board last year, he said.

County building needs: Lashley says the county should consider selling some its property, including sites near Interstate 85/40. He says the county doesn't have the finances to construct a new county government building.

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: "The DOJ doesn't have a case," Lashley says. He will continue to support Sheriff Terry Johnson in the lawsuit and supports the county's spending in the case.

Eddie Shoe

Home: Mebane

Years in county: 52

Education: GED plus two years college credit from the Armed Forces Institute while in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Occupation: Disabled

Political experience: No elected office experience. Community activism.

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: Shoe says this election is going to determine the future property tax rate and the future direction of the county's policies.

Education funding: "Funding schools is a top priority of mine," he said. "It needs to be done, and hopefully it can be done. I see no way to increase funding until the economy recovers more. I would oppose any deeper cuts, barring any deepening of our present poor economic picture. I would like to see cuts restored as soon as it can be responsibly done."

Taxes: Shoe says he is against any tax increases.

Handling of the county's finances: "I feel that the present Board of Commissioners has grown too entangled with administrative staff to see a place to cut," Shoe said.

County building needs: "All we can do until the economy improves is maintain what we have and hope we have the funds to do even that," Shoe said.

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: "DOJ has made its case, in my opinion. We should have paid only what it took for insurance/bond deductible to have kicked in, if that. Not really an option for the Board of Commissioners as any sane insurance/bond company would have required a settlement in face of all the evidence."

Tim Sutton

Home: Burlington

Years in county: 36 years

Education: Campbell University degree in philosophy

Occupation: N.C. Driving School instructor at a high school in Guilford County.

Political experience: Held a seat on the Alamance County Board of Commissioners since he was first elected in November 1994.

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: Sutton says the race will determine whether the new board leans conservative, moderate or liberal politically.

Education funding: Sutton says he believes the school system is funded adequately. Among its peer counties, he says, Alamance County, given its ability to provide funding, uses its funding wisely to position the school system favorably. Sutton said the county is not responsible for setting salaries for Alamance-Burlington school system employees.

Taxes: Sutton opposed the property tax rate increase approved by the county commissioners in 2013. "I think we are overtaxed in Alamance County," he said.

Handling of county's finances: Sutton says he believes the county's finances are in good shape. He said the county should have a "pay-as-you-go mindset" when it comes to spending. Sutton said he doesn't believe the county's finances were handled poorly despite the county receiving a letter from the Local Government Commission regarding its low fund balance. He also said the county's bond rating remains financially sound.

County building needs: Sutton says he doesn't believe the county should consolidate its government agencies into a central location under one roof. He says he doesn't have a "mindset of bulldoze and build" when it comes to building new infrastructure.

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: Sutton says it would have cost the county more to settle with the DOJ than to pay for Sheriff Terry Johnson's defense. He says he wants Johnson to have his day in court.

Jerry Wagner

Home: Burlington

Years in county: 50

Education: Alamance Community College fire protection program graduate

Occupation: Fire marshal for the town of Hillsborough

Political experience: Never held political office. Ran for Mebane City Council in 2001.

The most important thing voters need to know about this race is: "We need board members that are concerned about county employees and schools," Wagner said.

Education funding: Wagner says he wants to increase the county supplement for teachers. He says he believes the county is losing teachers to surrounding school districts because of low pay.

Taxes: The county continues to have one of the lowest property tax rates in the region. Wagner said the property tax rate should be evaluated each year to determine the optimal rate.

Handling of the county's finances: Wagner says she opposes providing business incentives to lure companies to the county. The county commissioners who have approved incentives have their priorities in the wrong place, he says.

County building needs: Wagner says there are "definite needs" when it comes to buildings. He says for example the Alamance County fire marshal's resources are "spread all over the place."

Legal fees for the sheriff's case with the Department of Justice: Wagner says the DOJ lawsuit against Sheriff Terry Johnson is an "attack against Alamance County." Wagner said he supports Johnson in the lawsuit and didn't believe his department has done anything illegal.

___

(c)2014 Times-News (Burlington, N.C.)

Visit Times-News (Burlington, N.C.) at www.thetimesnews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services