Union County Primary 2008

The issues were familiar: Union County needs better planning, more open, honest government, solutions for inadequate sewer capacity, more schools and more commercial development to stanch escalating taxes.

But the messages were clear: Union County needs to get its act together. Unrestricted residential growth has put an undue burden on sewer capacity and schools. Lack of sewer capacity means businesses will have a tough time moving to Union County. The county now has the highest debt load in the state, and it’s growing. And candidates are casting a jaundiced eye on a county board they say needs to stop bickering and find ways to work together.

The seven Republican candidates running in the May 6 primary for two Union County Board of County Commissioners seats discussed their positions on issues ranging from how to solve the county’s sewer capacity problems and ways to ensure more open, accountable government to where they stand on the adequate public funding ordinance. The candidates forum last month was co-sponsored by Union County Weekly, the Monroe Enquirer Journal, the Charlotte Observer, The County Edge, the Home News and the League of Women Voters of Union County at the county government center in Monroe.

The seven candidates are Jim Boatner, Marvin, a retired FedEx project manager; Jeff Gerber, Unionville, a propane technician; Tracey Kuehler, Waxhaw, a legal researcher; Scott Melin, Waxhaw real estate investor; Kim Rogers, Waxhaw, a Union County Public Schools board member; Kevin Pressley, Hemby Bridge, a construction company owner and Christmas tree farmer; and Jonathan Thomas, Monroe, a health care administrator.

Eight questions were posed to the candidates; Union County Weekly readers can review candidates answers below. In addition, the candidates forum is being broadcast every day until the primary at 2 and 6 p.m on the county’s cable access Channel 16.

Following are excerpts from the candidates’ statements about eight important Union County issues. The answers have been edited for length and clarity.

 What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

Boatner: Bring confidence back to county government. I’d like to see integrity restored, I’d like to see honesty restored and confidence restored. The second thing I’d like to do is reorganize county government. With the technology we have available now, we can do a lot of things to make the cost of operations cheaper.

Gerber: Fiscal responsibility. There’s a lot of fat in the budget. Nearly 65% of our schoolbudget is going to school construction. We have got to work together and find ways to lower the cost of school construction…. A lot of folks aren’t aware that we have serious problems with drugs and crime in Union County. As growth increases, so does crime. Eventually we’re going to have to build a bigger jail. We have other areas to focus on and (one) is public safety.

Kuehler: The first thing I think needs to be addressed … is planning. I spent a couple hours last night at a school redistricting hearing and spoke to over 300 people who are concerned about their children. The absence of a master plan for development, forcing the schools to react to unplanned growth that we’ve experienced, was very obvious. We’ve got to get a handle on that because … the absence of an infrastructure ultimately hurts the taxpayer.

Melin: Planning is the most important issue. Right now we’re behind on our water and sewer … it could have been planned better in the previous decade. They ignored the fact that growth was coming to the community. It’s already leading to the highest debt in the state. It’s going to lead to the highest taxes someday. We just got our revaluations; our property tax values are going up. It’s the lack of planning that’s put us in this situation.

Pressley: When I became a commissioner in 2004, we liked to say we were pregnant with growth and this baby is coming. It’s here and we’ve got to deal with it. … We have to be responsible for our infrastructure, for the natural resources we have. I’m proud to say in the last few years we’ve really made a change … securing our natural resources, taking what’s here and what’s left and trying to allocate it. … That’s not the issue here, it’s what we do with the resources and our highways and our school construction; it’s how we handle that. Taking what we’ve got and being good stewards of what we’ve been entrusted with.

Rogers: Defining leadership, defining planning, and giving you representation. Lack of planning is the root of a lot of our problems right now. We need people up here who will lead by example. Everything that I promised in my (school board) campaign four years ago, I accomplished and then some. We need more people up here who are going to live up to what they say they’re going to do. … From the people, the comment I hear … the commissioners are inaccessible to them, they’re not listening. … We need to get in touch with the people and represent them.

Thomas: One of the things I would bring is a positive approach, a proactive approach. You deserve someone who’s going to represent you whether you live in Marshville or Marvin. It doesn’t matter what segment you live in. … I live in Unionville, I work in Marshville. The issues are the same. … However, they affect the county differently depending on where you live. I understand the decisions I’m going to make as a county commissioner, me and my family are going to have to live with.

Should appointees to county boards be required to disclose business interests?

Boatner: I go along with the majority of the (rest in favor of disclosure) with the provision that whatever disclosure we require doesn’t go overboard into every individual thing with a candidate. Nobody in a position like this should object to revealing enough financial information to make sure they don’t have any financial conflicts of interest.

Gerber: Yes. A lot of private deals are going on in Union County that perhaps these problems would go away or be eliminated totally if we did disclose 5 percent (ownership) in any business or corporation. I feel like it’s something that with the problems we have faced in Union County, we’re going to have to require this.

Kuehler: I think a lot of the problems we’re facing now are due to special interests on committees or at least the appearance of that. There are some questions about people on the planning board and even on the commission. And the perfect way to get rid of that is just put it out there in the open and restore that trust in leadership. I’d like to see that extend to the campaigns. As people are running to get your support, the people should know who are backing the candidates and where their money is coming from as well. If we can all be on the same page and be honest about what we’re doing, then … we can all get about the business of what’s important to this county and that’s planning and … quality of life.

Melin: It does need to be disclosed. When you elect someone to office, you need to know the reasons behind their decisions, their votes, whether there’s a conflict of interest, whether they’re looking out for themselves or for the betterment of the community.

Pressley: I’ve always kind of been back and forth on this thing. As far as county commissioners, we fully disclose each year. That’s public record. I’m a little concerned about the disclosure with people on our boards … (but) now I have a different attitude towards that. I do believe we need to be fully disclosed. People are going to make something out of something that’s not there or something that is there. … But in good faith to the citizens, I think we need to go ahead and fully disclose every aspect of any kind of business deal or land holdings.

Rogers: This is a public entity. This is your tax dollars. You all have every right to know that the people we are appointing to boards and the people that are running for office are running for the right reasons. If anybody has a problem with disclosing to the board, then I believe that’s a red flag…. So absolutely, I would support that.

Thomas: I’m going to differ with the panel so far. I don’t believe that it’s necessary to (disclose). I believe if someone has a conflict of interest, they should recuse themselves from that situation. Now, if it takes us putting that policy in place to make someone unethical be ethical, I see a problem with that. We’ve got to be sure we’re putting ethical, above-board people on these boards that we can trust and be sure will act in the best interests of the people of Union County. If that trust is violated or there’s any illegal activity, I demand that we prosecute them to the extent of the law. We make an example of them. So I don’t think it should be a requirement to expose your special interests.

What can Union County do to improve open government and ensure a higher standard of ethics? How can the county dispel the impression that it’s currently run by developers?

Boatner: I have a little bit different take on the openness of government. One thing that would help is if the county commission would move around the county to hold its meetings…so the local population could come in and participate and be part of it. … People have to evaluate people. If they don’t do their job, vote them out. One problem is, if you look at the campaign contributions from the last election, you find a lot of developers contributing an awful lot of money. My campaign is totally funded by myself.

Gerber: We have the technology to have every citizen view the commissioners meetings. I also want to include the planning board, the board of adjustment and the board of education. That’s open government. We have the technology to simply access the meetings on your home computer. … I’m not anti-developer. The reason there’s so much animosity against the builders association is that in the past (it) has put a tremendous amount of funds behind their candidates of choice. If the builders association … would put their money behind … those in Union County who have commons sense and the ability to fix the problems … That’s why I will not accept special interest money.

Kuehler: All the boards that meet, let’s … put them on television so people can see what’s going on. What we need to be careful of … is making sure that only proper information is being discussed in closed session. … Items that aren’t confidential materials need to be brought out and discussed in front of taxpayers and not behind closed doors.

Melin: You’re going to have to pay more attention to your right to vote. You’re going to have to elect people that are ethical. … We need sewer capacity in this county to get commercial growth. I don’t agree that the county is being run by developers.

Pressley: This county is so tied up in “it’s developer run, it’s a developer community” that you’re basically labeled when you come on board. You’re either growth or anti-growth. I say do your research. I say anybody who (thinks we’re pro-developer), prove it. Show us where we’re doing something wrong.

Rogers: You need to get involved. You need to get educated. You need to get out and vote. You need to make your voices heard. That’s the only way we’re gong to demand more open government. As far as what the commission can do, deliberate in open. Don’t do it behind closed doors. Don’t come to a meeting with a predetermined answer. The public deserves to hear those deliberations. They deserve to hear in detail why you’re voting the way you’re voting. Get out in the community. We can do it through the schools … We can do it through our (recreation) leagues. We can do it through our social clubs. …. I think the truth comes out with the (commissioners’) votes. If you plan and you deliberate in the open, the public’s not dumb. They’ll see who’s exactly running the county; if it’s the special interest groups or the people they elected to represent them.

Thomas: On March 19, I made the proposal that the …committees move in here so the public can see what’s going on. … I’d like to see in Union County (is) what our friends down in Indian Trail have done on their Web site. You can click on that portion of the (town council) agenda and … go to exactly (what) you want to know. I think it would be money well spent. … I think we need to elect people such as myself who are dedicated to the values of the county. I don’t have any interest in developers. I’m not a large landowner. Nor is my wife, nor is (her) family or my family. So any decisions I make … are not going to impact me positively or negatively.

Describe your view of the proper relationship between county commissioners, the county manager and county staff.

Boatner: (The manager) serves at (the county commission’s) due pleasure. He has the responsibility for all the departments in the county. I’d like to see the county put out a citizens’ survey every time they put out a tax bill … citizens (would) rate how good the county is doing their job and let the salary of some of the mangers be based on the quality of that survey that comes back. We did that at Federal Express and, believe me, it got people’s attention.

Gerber: We are indeed micromanaging the various departments. That’s got to stop. You’ve got to put competent people in every department. But what’s happening is the commissioner’s job is turning into a full-time job. And it really doesn’t have to be that difficult a job. A Union County commissioner is only as good as the people they surround themselves with. Find a county manager that is honest. A county manger must know state government. (He) must know county government. The county manager must be a conservative, fiscally responsible individual who has the ability to go out and find the fat.

Kuehler: I think that the lack of trust and leadership has developed a culture of fear among county employees. We’ve actually inhibited them from doing their jobs… because they’re afraid to do what they need to do. As a result, we need to set out very specific expectations, job performance criteria, the proper protocol to follow so everyone knows what’s expected of them and everyone knows what the repercussions are (if they’re not followed). (A) board of directors is expected to set policy, much like the board of commissioners. But the board of directors doesn’t tell their CEO what to do. That’s the CEO’s job and that should be the county manager’s job.

Melin: I think currently there’s too much micromanagement going on. We haven’t had a county manager for over a year now and the relationship is bad. The county needs to hire good people, they need to hire a county manger and let that manager run the county. They don’t need to micromanage the daily operations of this county.

Pressley: A county commissioner can only (make) as good a decision as the information he gets from the county manager. (When) those situations and (that) information (has) been violated, it’s time to do something different. … I like to compare it to a marriage, especially with the chairman. They should work together. It’s the county manager’s job to manage the county. It’s his job to report to the county commissioners. It’s also the county manger’s job to manage his staff with truth and honesty. When you lose that confidence and know that you’ve made the right decision based on the information you’ve got and that trust has been betrayed, it’s time to make a change.

Rogers: I think that this relationship is gong to be defined and changed by who’s in office and the level of respect between who’s in office and who they’re working with in the county. … We don’t need yes people working in the county. We need people who are going to tell the commissioners that I’ve stepped over the line, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, with these facts … to back it up. We need to know what’s going on … that’s being well informed. We need to know what every department’s doing, the challenges they’re facing. … We don’t tell them how to address them. Let them carry out their jobs, respect them for the work they do.

Thomas: This is what I deal with on a daily basis. I set the bar for what I expect compliance to be. I expect that same level of accountability as a county commissioner. I see the relationship between the county commission and the county manager essentially as the county manger being (an) arm (of) the county staff. We’ve got to rely on the expertise of the staff. If they give us sound advice, we should follow it. However, it’s a two-way street. They should challenge us and we should challenge them. I will set the bar where I expect and it will be very clear.

What should the county do about its lack of sewer capacity? Should it build a new treatment plant? How should our limited capacity be allocated for new construction? Commercial? Residential?

Boatner: I’m going to use my engineering mind to solve this problem. Teaming with Monroe is a great idea and I think eventually a plant is going to have to be built on Rocky River. As far as allocation is concerned, if we don’t start maintaining some of our sales taxes in Union County, our property taxes are going to be sky high. They already are. Second thing would be schools and hospitals. Also, I’d like to take a look at age-restricted housing. We’re going to need more and more of that around here. … it makes no impact on the schools.

Gerber: We’ve got to maintain accessible public utilities to accommodate future growth. I’m very supportive of the Monroe partnership, starting off by expanding their public facility on that site. With one provision, we must have a sewer allocation policy in place. We’ve got to know how we’re going to distribute this … sewer capacity before it becomes available. The biggest problem that created this in the first place is the imbalance of residential vs. non-residential usage. Eighty percent residential versus 20 percent non-residential has created a tremendous strain on the sewer system. The beauty of the non-residential is not only does it use a lot less (sewer) than a 1,000-house community, but (it creates) jobs for Union County.

Kuehler: I have to go back to the planning. It’s obvious we have some problems that need to be fixed before anything new needs to start coming in. How are we going to allocate if we don’t know what the (per house) usage is? We need to get our ducks in a row so that when (capacity) becomes available, we know what we’re doing and we do it responsibly. Water reclamation - we need to look into some systems that free up sewer capacity. Developer agreements and user-pay policies need to be looked at to help fund these projects. They’re expensive, expensive projects. And right now current users are going to be paying for that infrastructure. And I just believe the last thing we want to do is charge our users more.

Melin: I do think we need to build a plant as quickly as we can or enter into a Monroe partnership as fast as we can. We’re looking seven years out on an average to plan for more sewer capacity. The county needs sewer capacity for commercial growth … for more tax revenue to come into the county. But right now we’re talking about allocating something we don’t have. Once we get that allocation, I think that certain parts of the community are going to get it first. Commercial’s number one, school’s number one. And then residential.

Pressley: I think the key word we need to look at is partnership and regionalism. Unfortunately, Union County hasn’t been blessed with a water supply, which we need for the running of the … sewer facility. We have a lot of positive things in place at this time … partnerships with the city of Monroe, with Anson County. We’re working on those regionalism approaches. We must have a plan. We must control the growth. We must place the sewer lines where we want growth, and don’t put growth where the sewer lines are. We must plan industrial parks for where we want them to go in Union County.

Rogers: We have to get a firm grasp of where we do stand on sewer permits. I know there have been letters issued requesting if you have a permit, let us know. That eliminates my confidence in where we stand right now. Once we get that plan in place, hopefully using some kind of tracking database, then we need to look at what are some of our options. The joint venture with Monroe … that has a lot of promise. The Catawba River side of the county, we can look at expanding the plant that we use over there. We can look at getting more from Charlotte-Mecklenburg utilities. All of these things are going to be costly. So we need to be weighing the costs of what we’re currently doing and be eyes wide open in understanding we have limited resources. We need to have a good reserve set aside for schools and commercial. Commercial’s going to balance out the tax base better than residential is doing right now. Then we need to come up with a fair and equitable plan that takes input from the municipalities … and the taxpayers.

Thomas: I think it’s two-fold. The board needs to work with municipalities like Monroe. But that’s a Band-Aid to a bigger problem. We have to be proactive about where we want to be in 50 years with our water and sewer. Second, we need to get the politics of water and sewer out of the county commission. We need to begin the research for a (private) water and sewer authority. It’s working well in other counties in North Carolina. That way the county commission does not have control of water allocation. It (would be) led by an expert engineer who would determine the best use (for) how that’s going to be allocated.

The commissioners … received a report that said debt is reaching a point where (the county’s) bond rating may be compromised. The finance director talked about all the capital debt the county will have in the next few years. Jails, schools, libraries, parks. water and sewer infrastructure. I know that some of you are running on a platform of not raising taxes, but what is your plan to pay for all this?

Boatner: We need to do like we do in our households. We should start to live on a little bit tighter budget for a while. Until we can do the second phase of this. Get an expanded commercial base here and obviously our tax base will grow. I think it’s going to be hard for a while, just like it is at home. If everybody put their minds together and worked as a team, we can reduce operating expenses at least 9 percent. It can be done; it hurts but it can be done

Gerber: I will not sit here and make you a bunch of broken promises. I will not sit here and promise I can lower your property taxes. I do not see that as a possibility. … I would love to see property taxes lower. I will do everything in my power to keep property taxes from escalating. It all boils down to the county budget. A zero-based budget is the way to go. It takes all the guessing out of the budget. You take the previous budget and you take into consideration your available revenues, your expenditures, and you base your budget upon that. Yet, student enrollment has outpaced the overall population. That’s why it’s terribly imperative that we become a fiscally responsible government body. We’ve got to work together and lower the construction costs of schools to make best use of available funds.

Kuehler: The truth is there are bigger bonds already approved. … We need to get a handle on this. Because the disparity in the revaluations is going to hit every taxpayer in this room. I also think the county needs to set the example in fiscal responsibility, weighing the pros and cons of decisions. We’re currently in some very costly litigation for that very reason. I think there have been some solutions brought to the county board that were ignored, (such as) smaller libraries that we can grow into. We put off the jail. Those things are going up. Are we going to pay now or are we going to pay later? The problem is, you’ve got to pay more later.

Melin: Bonds are approved, debt’s already been acquired. If we don’t grow our tax base, the people who are sitting here (will pay the taxes). The only way that’s going to happen is with higher tax rates. I want to be able to control growth. I think we need to go out and (increase) the commercial sector. We need to grow our tax base to pay this debt; otherwise we’re going to see a very large tax increase.

Pressley: Inherited problems, that’s exactly what we have here. It’s been years of irresponsible and out-of-control growth that’s got us where we’re at today and is going to continue if we don’t get a handle on it. We’ve got to get these municipalities on board with us. We’ve got to get a plan to say that we’re going to control this thing and we’re going to grow a certain amount every year and let’s stick with the plan. We deferred that. We need a budget that the county commissioners give the manager. We don’t need the manager to give us the budget. We need to say what kind of money we have.

Rogers: Anyone who is running for this office is going to have to go through a quagmire of issues that are inherited. As I understand it … we can’t spend more than $66 million a year in order to retain our double A rating on our bonds. How are we going to pay for this? They’re saying (the tax revaluations) are revenue neutral. I don’t know that we’re going to see any more revenue from that. The growth is here. We’re paying for it. I wish we could say we’re not going to pay for it through taxes. I will look hard at other ways to pay for it, but I don’t know how we’re going to do that. The kids need to have seats. We’ve got other areas of (this county to) govern. Like the police and fire that we’re neglecting.

Thomas: I think … we certainly have a spending problem in this county. We’ve had tremendous growth, the economy has slowed down tremendously. That’s why I’m asking for a 2 percent cut in spending across the board. I’ve talked with the sheriff, I’ve talked with the fire company to make sure (there would be no reduction in our) protection. We’re in the business of government and not giving money to non-profits. We’ve got make sure we’re not wasteful. It’s proof there’s fat in our budget.

What’s your position on the county’s adequate public facilities ordinance?

Boatner: Based on the restraint we have in state law, I’m in favor of it and I think the fee should be paid at the moment of purchase … for any development that isn’t tax neutral. Nothing is perfect.

Gerber: I do not support the APFO. There are many loopholes in the ordinance. The loopholes are going to create huge litigation fees on Union County taxpayers with the municipalities and it all boils down to the way the APFO is written. And I foresee challenges in the judicial system. If a judge finds that the APFO is illegal, that judge has every right to make the county pay back that money with interest. That will cost us a fortune we can’t afford. I support impact fees. We must receive legislator approval for impact fees. Impact fees make total sense. Everyone who moves into Union County is leaving an impact. I truly believe we can work with those associations and come up with a reasonable fee that is adequate and is fair and is distributed among every citizen in Union County.

Kuehler: Our state statutes support funding ordinances for infrastructure. They do it for sewer and water and the county has chosen to use that APFO here for the funding of schools. The statutes are there. I think the APFO is a fair way to shift some of the cost of this growth from the taxpayers.

Melin: I do not support it. I think there are a lot of legal issues that will cost the county. I believe it does discriminate against some lower income and whether (it’s) senior citizens or not it makes it very difficult. I don’t think we need to be in court over this all the time. I think we need to distribute these impacts across the whole community.

Pressley: You’ve got to be a professor to understand the APFO. It’s a document that takes a really long time to understand how it’s structured. I asked how can this be effective if we have one municipality drop out? We have four, maybe five, municipalities that have joined in on this thing. If I’m going out and buy a piece of property and the APFO says I have to pay $14,000 … I paid a fee just to be able to build and put more children in trailers. And our trailers cost $47,000 apiece. I didn’t’ help the problem, I added to the problem. With the APFO, we’re buying something that’s not there. I support an education foundation. If we don’t have sewer, we have to learn to say no. It’s very simple. Just say no.

Rogers: Is it without error? Absolutely not. It has errors in it. It’s not as effective a tool as it could be, but it is a first step. It doesn’t address other infrastructures, such as water … it’s just for schools. It’s not a financial tool. It’s a timing and sequencing tool. Basically it says we’re building this development in a particular area where that school is over capacity, (so) you have to pay a mitigation fee in order to build. It’s only for those areas that have limited capacity in their schools. This is for future. This is a first step to grab the attention of people and make sure that something is done.

Thomas: I have several issues with that ordinance. There’s nobody sitting up here more passionate about our seniors. I’ve dedicated my life to working with our seniors. I’d like to see an (aging care) facility center here in Union County. With an aging population, we need that desperately. APFO doesn’t allow for that. A developer would have to pay for that. They’re not going to bring a lot of kids to our schools. They’re not going to be doing a lot of driving on out roads. Those are the kinds of communities we want because they add to our tax base. I don’t know that something that’s so desperately needed has been adopted by all our municipalities and that needs to happen. It shows there are some issues and flaws with that. I think the APFO should be paid at the time the certificate of occupancy is acquired … when the family moves in that has an impact on our schools, not when the tract is recorded. I have a difficult time supporting an ordinance that has as many fallacies as this.

Name any Union County partnership or corporation in which you have an interest. Name your largest contributor to date.

Boatner: That’s an easy one. I don’t have any partnerships and I’m the largest and only contributor to my campaign.

Gerber: I have no businesses, nor does my wife. My largest contributor to date would be a good friend of mine in the (Republican Party) … Darryl Mabe, a $500 contribution. I will not accept special interest money.

Kuehler: My husband and I are small business owners. My husband is my biggest contributor.

Melin: I’m self-employed. Mainly I’m a stay-at-home dad. I have real estate investment; I build a home or two a year. As far as who’s paying for my (political campaign), it’s all self-funded right now.

Pressley: I’m a small developer. I have a retirement community in Monroe - St. James. I have a construction company, we do our own construction on these sites. It’s called DK Pressley Development. I have part of a family business called Mountain Greens Incorporated. I’m my biggest contributor … in addition to a barbecue. (At) his time I have no contributions whatsoever.

Rogers: Any Union County partnerships? No, I do not. My husband owns a small business in Charlotte. It does not do any business in Union County, however. (My) largest contributor to date is myself.

Thomas: My wife and I have no ownership in any type of entity. My largest contributor to date is myself. My second largest is Mr.Gerald Cox, and he is the owner of Autumn Corporation (his employer) - $1,000.