Latest / Voices of the Albemarle / Ep. 37: For Your Consideration, Carl Witten and Charles Jordan for County Commissioner At-Large

Transcript

Ep. 37: For Your Consideration, Carl Witten and Charles Jordan for County Commissioner At-Large · Voices of the Albemarle

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome back to Voices of the Album model.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_03: As usual, I'm your host, Izzy Kelly Goss, alongside my co-host David Prizer.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_04: Hello.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: And today we will be joined by the remaining two Pasquatink County Commissioner at Large candidates, Carl Witten and Charles Jordan.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: There are four candidates up for election, so be sure to check out our first episode with Commissioner candidates Timothy Stallings Jr.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: and Ernest Booty Cartwright.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: And for now, for your consideration, we have Carl Witten.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: Carl, thank you so much for sitting down with us.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm privileged to be here.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're privileged to have you here.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: Just to start us off, I'm hoping you can tell our audience about yourself and about why you decided to run for county commissioner.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, I'm not uh from Elizabeth City.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: My three um the other three candidates are all local, pretty much.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And but I was raised in Kentucky.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: My wife and I lived in Kentucky in a small town, Winchester, and we moved down to Virginia in 1984 for me to work at the Christian Broadcasting Network with Pat Robertson.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I worked in or and lived in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake for 26 years before we moved down to North Carolina.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I've had my fill of the big city.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And when it got time for me to consider retiring, I was looking to find a small rural town.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh God led us to Elizabeth City.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so we chose to move down here.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like I was raised here and stayed here, but we chose to move to Elizabeth City because we liked the rural feel, we liked the small town feel, we love the downtown atmosphere.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's how we wound up in Elizabeth City.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: We've been here 10 years now.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And why I chose to run, um, well, I guess I ought to back up.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: We moved first from Chesapeake to Mojac in 2017.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we thought we were going to retire in Mojawk because it was a small town about the size of the one I grew up in in Kentucky.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, we'd been there about four years and saw the town slowly, well, not so slowly, pretty rapidly growing to a point where I realized that it was not going to be a small, lazy town for much longer.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so then I still had three years before I retired, and I decided to move on down to Elizabeth City because it was more like what I wanted, rural, and it was not growing at the time.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now that we've been here for several years, we're starting to see all of the development and the growth and the building of the housing and everything.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't like that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I like Elizabeth City, I like Pasquatank County, and I'd like to see it remain rural and uh keep that small town feel.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're the harbor of hospitality, and the smaller, the easier it is to keep the hospitality going.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: The larger the city gets, uh, the harder it is to keep that hospitality and small town feel.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my main issue why I wanted to get on the commission was to help control the growth and help keep our area rural.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'm actually going to jump ahead a couple of questions because that is one of the topics that I want to touch on and have touched on.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um a lot of the developments have been specifically within the city limits, and the county does not have uh a say over that.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: But there is a really large emphasis in the community right now on protecting the rural farmland and the rural lifestyle.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: So, what is your obviously you have some strong opinions, you've already given those opinions a little bit, um, but what is your opinion on what the county can do in order to slow down that growth?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, we don't want to put roadblocks in anyone's way.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: If someone has a plot of agricultural land, they own it, they ought to have the right to do it at what they desire.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: If they want to sell it, I don't want to put anything, any kind of limit uh regulation in place that would prevent them from selling their land if they choose to.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: I would just want to encourage, if we're going to use up our agricultural land, I would much rather we use it for the betterment of the entire county.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And how we could do that is to bring in businesses rather than housing.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: If we bring in businesses, especially if we get a large corporate business, we could bring in 100, 200 jobs.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that would bring extra jobs and extra revenue into the county.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I would do whatever I can to encourage more businesses rather than more residential housing.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: The residential will require more resources as far as water, electricity, sewage, and all of that, but it will also put a greater um, it will also tax our school system more.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want to try to bring in jobs, bring in revenue that way, rather than put an extra burden on our school system.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Carol, Carl, you specifically, let me jump in here for a second.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: When you were describing uh your reasons for for running, you specifically used the word control.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't use the word prevent when you're talking about growth.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Is this what you're talking about?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're talking about controlling how it grows as and the and the pace, or exactly what the growth is defined as, as opposed to you're not anti-growth.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're you want to control it.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Is that is that what you're talking about?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's correct.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like for it to be more purposeful and more planned.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, maybe not planned because they have a good land use plan, but we've not been utilizing it.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: The the city has a nice land use plan, but I think that they've um they varied from that in that they have annexed other sections in order to create more housing growth.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, like you say, we don't have control over what the city does, but at least we can give input and encourage business rather than uh residential growth.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so kind of jumping back before I ask my other two topic, my issue questions.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um you do have do you work part-time for Twiford Funeral Homes?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: I work part-time for Twiford Funeral Home.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of people have other jobs on the Board of Commissioners.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: So something that I've been asking um is how do you anticipate juggling the Board of Commissioners if you're elected with your current responsibilities?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm really part-time, and JJ Twiford is my main employer, and he's the one that I usually interact with.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he realizes that um I'm part-time, and so he utilizes me when he really needs me.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's a very fair man, and he has several part-time employees, and so he tries to spread it out so that it's equal among all of us, that we all get our own turn, our our share, our turn.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he doesn't favor one over the other, that sort of thing.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: However, he I talked to him about this, and he did tell me that um if the time comes, and it has right now during the during the polling, in fact, uh during the early voting, there have been a couple of times where uh they've had funerals and he knew I was out at the polling station, so he did not schedule me.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: However, this Friday he has three funerals in the same day.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so he I just talked to him yesterday and he asked if I could possibly work one or one or two of those.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I said I would.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: So he is very uh accommodating to me if I have other commitments that um he tries to work around that.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And he really only, if he knows I'm I'm really booked or really have a lot going on, he will try not to schedule me.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: But um he's very accommodating of my work schedule of my other schedule so that he uh calls me to work only when he actually needs me or it's really necessary.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Necessary right.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: All righty.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so now moving on back to our other topics.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, another huge topic for the county commissioners is the old Al Marle Hospital building.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um they've been attempting to sell it for over a year now, and I'm just curious to know if you were to be put on the board, is there's anything you would do differently, or if you have any thoughts on how they could try and sell the building or what they could do with it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really sure what avenues, all the avenues they have attempted as far as selling it or um whatever.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: I was asked um several months back before they built the new hospital, what would I suggest for use with the old hospital?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I suggested then that they coordinate with the um College of the Albemarle, COA, and see if they could use that facility for any of their education.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: They built the brand new building for their nursing program.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but I think it would be wonderful if there were someone who could come in and renovate the building.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: I realize it's an old building, it does have a lot of issues, right?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: But if someone could come in and renovate the building and create apartment living for seniors, for um veterans, for whoever, and possibly create an environment with uh apartments there, but as well like a mall or something like that in the lower part on the first floor, create a um a mall type area where there would be facilities that the seniors or the veterans could have right there in their facility and wouldn't have to go elsewhere.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that would be a good idea.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: But again, that would be you'd have to find the right people that could do that and make it uh make it affordable for them.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then obviously a really important topic is all across the country right now is is the economy.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: And a lot of people are struggling right now to pay their bills um to afford things.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think that there's anything that could be done at the local level, at the county level, if you're elected to try and ease the financial burden on your constituents?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, being um being as I'm not really knowledgeable at this point of what the budget all entails and where there might be possibilities of cutting the budget or reallocating funds.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, I go back to the fact that if we could bring in more uh businesses, um, especially large businesses, like a Walmart, like a um an Amazon um distribution center, something like that, that would bring in a lot of jobs that a lot of people from this area could be employed and would bring in a lot of revenue.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: That would be an excellent um way to sustain and to increase the revenue here in the county.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: I did some research a little while back, and there are 43 percent of our working population in Pasquatank County has to go outside or they go outside the county for employment.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: 37% of those drive all the way to Virginia.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So if we could provide uh some large corporations with large uh employment opportunities, that would help a lot of our residents here in town not have to make that long drive.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it would decrease their fuel costs.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it would bring a lot of the revenue back into our county rather than going to Virginia or whatever.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be my best solution.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: But that would be a long-term thing.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh short-term um, I would just have to look at the budget and see what we have, see if there's any possibilities of where and how we could reallocate funds.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I hate to use the word waste and fraud.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's used all over the place.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that there's any of that happening in Pasquatank County.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would hope not, but that's something we do need to look at, whether there are services that are not being utilized properly or services that are being misused, that we could reallocate those funds.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: That's a great answer.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Can I ask a question?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: A couple of times you've mentioned um uh business growth and how that can help support the some of the things that you're talking about.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um are there any specific I we in a different discussion uh we we were talking about uh uh with uh other candidates, and I won't tell you what the answers were because it that's not not trying to take it on that direction, but we did have discussions about businesses and what businesses are coming in here and what businesses aren't.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um are there specific types of businesses that that you've seen that are probably more prone to want to come to a communities like like Elizabeth City and are the types of businesses that maybe would that would be benefiting the things that you're trying to do more so than others?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, not not that I can think of, not specifically.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't targeted any types of businesses.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that's uh come up, and I'm sure you've probably had discussions about this already, are data centers.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And someone asked me what my thoughts were on data centers.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: My thoughts on data centers are about the same as they are on business or anything else or housing development.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm for what is going to benefit the residents of the county the most.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: If there were some way, I was told that there is no way that they could build a data center within the city because they have no, they don't have enough land to accommodate.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you wouldn't want to put it in the city anyway, it'd be too disruptive.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: The county has land that could accommodate a large data center.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I would not want to build a data center if it was going to disrupt um the county in any way disrupt the individuals in the county.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it would bring in some revenue, that's true, but if it's going to create a health hazard or a noise hazard or a difficulty for any of our residents, I would not be for it.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not definitely against data centers, but I would want to make sure that it was beneficial for the residents of the county, not just for the government.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm all for looking out for the residents of the county.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I have another question at a slightly different subject, uh as a company, we sponsor a uh an event or an ongoing event where we celebrate first responders every single month.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's from various counties.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just Pasquatank, but Pasquatank is one of them.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: And last night we did celebrate one.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was from uh, I believe Camden County, but the members from Pasquatank County were there, the Mayor Rivers was there, um, and a number of the uh the business professionals uh from downtown here.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as we know that we're going to have some growth.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what what what managed growth, whatever whatever it is, that's going to increase the need for services like fire, uh, health, emergency services, police.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what are your top priorities in supporting that type of growth as the growth of the city does progress?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think the wise thing to do is make sure that we have the infrastructure in place before.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: If we create the create the growth and create the um housing development or whatever it is we bring in, and then we try to fix the or repair the infrastructure, it's going to be much harder, much more expensive to do after the fact.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we need to make sure we've got the infrastructure in place before we do any major growth.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know they are planning to build a new fire substation out in Newland.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that will be a benefit there.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're talking about uh reorganizing some of the schools, about creating a new combined junior and high school.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so there are some good ideas out there, but we need to make sure we've got the infrastructure in place.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Schools, fire, police, water, electric, sewer, all of those things have to be considered together.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we need to make sure we've got we've got sufficient resources to handle any new growth, no matter where it could be.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Which hand goes hand in hand with what you said before about managing the growth, making sure that you've got the right building blocks in place before you move forward.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: So my last question for you is the one, the one question our listeners, I'm sure, are sick of me hearing or of hearing me say this by now, but it's the one question I'm asking all the candidates.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that is if someone were to come to you and say, I'm on the fence about voting for you, but I'm considering it, what would you say to get them over that fence and win their vote?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, number one, I'm about making sure that everything I do is to benefit the residents and the um constituents, the residents of Pasquatank County.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I've heard last year I was the district governor for uh Ruraton.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're familiar with Ruraton organization, but I was the district governor for the Ruraton, the Alpemaro Ruraton district, and that covers Curatuck, Camden, Pasquatank, Perquimans, and Gates counties.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So five counties, and we have 22 clubs in those five counties.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as governor, I made sure that I visited every one of those 22 counties at least once, and several of them, two and three, and maybe even four times.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's because I wanted to make sure that the entire uh district was represented and I knew the entire district what the different clubs' problems were and how I could help them.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: The issues in Gates County are totally different than the issues in Kirtuck County.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to know and understand what the issues were with each club and how I could best help serve them.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's the same approach I would take to being a commissioner.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, during that my campaigning, I've talked to a lot of people.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I visited a lot of the fire volunteer fire stations, a lot of the Ruartin clubs, a couple of other organizations.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I've heard is that people out in the far-reaching portions of the county, mainly Newland, Weeksville, um, that we don't have much representation.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: We never have anybody come out and speak to us.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody ever asks us what our issues are.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure I am uh available and accessible to every resident of the county.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's a big job, but I'm at large.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm uh running for commissioner at large.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that means I represent everyone in the entire county, not just a specific group.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure I'm available and accessible to every resident of the county and that they feel that they have a voice on the board and someone who will listen to their needs.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I plan to go out to the various regions of the county on occasions and have a town hall or have a meet the commissioner, coffee with the commissioner, or something like that.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my plan to incorporate everybody.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the main thing that I want to stress that I will be a candidate, I will be a commissioner for you, that I will listen to.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: You and I will be aware of what your needs are and your community's needs and bring those to the board.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great answer.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: You just did you just gave a great answer to an even fantastic question I was going to ask you.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't have a question anymore.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was, I literally, my last question was going to be how are you going to make sure you're accessible to the people in the outreach the outskirts or the far-reaching areas as opposed to the people that are more dense.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: You write you just you went to it and I said, My God, he's been to go to the He's been looking my notes.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: You can read it through your brain.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very tranquil.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: Two birds with one stone.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I had intended to do during my campaign was I was going to have coffee with Carl and invite people to come and just sit down and ask questions like this.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's your uh thought on this idea, this subject?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I tried to do it.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: I tried to find a coffee location here in town that could accommodate something like that.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: I went to, I think, six different places, and they said, well, either corporately we can't do that because it's political and we don't get involved in political things, or we don't really have a facility that you could use easily for that.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, but I would like to once I'm on the commissioner board, I would like to create a coffee with the commissioner and go to different uh sections of the county on a very regular basis and just have a town hall.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: You answered the question about how you would do it, which is important because too often a question is asked and the answer isn't there.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_04: Nice.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, thank you so much for joining us.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: We really appreciate you coming on and sharing your platform um again to our listeners.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: Carl's name will be on the ballot for all members or all residents of Pasquatank County.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so will Timothy Stallings Jr., so will Ernest Booty Cartwright, and so will our next interviewee, who is sitting commissioner Charles Jordan.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: We will be swapping on over to his interview next.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: We are here now with Mr.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: Charles Jordan.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: We are really pleased to have you here.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's good to be here.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much for inviting me.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: Of course.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we've just heard from Mr.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: Carl Witten, um, and we're just gonna jump right in and and hear from you now.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: So um to start us off, I'm hoping you can just tell our audience a little bit about yourself.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: And you're already a county commissioner, but but let us know why you've decided to run for re-election.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I was born in North Carolina in Carator County.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: And uh then I attend after high school, I attended AT State University and I graduated there.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I went on to New Jersey and Pennsylvania uh for many years.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, that's where I met my wife there uh in Pennsylvania.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: And after that, uh I worked uh in accounting and finance because that was my background.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: From there, I moved on to become a nursing home administrator.
• 25:19
  unknown: Oh.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I was a nursing home administrator for the city of Philadelphia, and then I moved on to become a district uh nursing home administrator where I traveled throughout Pennsylvania to various nursing homes uh to check the operation and everything, see how they were doing.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: When was that?
• 25:39
  unknown: When?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how long ago was that?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: That was twenty about twenty-seven years ago.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, wow.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, twenty-seven years ago.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was twenty-seven years ago.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: After after retirement, we moved on, my wife and I, to North Carolina, and we ended up in Newland because we have roots in Newland.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Her parents were from Newland.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: But you met her in New Jersey?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: I met her in New Jersey.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: Her parents were in Philadelphia at the time.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Her father owned a business in Philadelphia.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: What a coincidence.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: And uh in fact, they knew my parents even before before we got married, and so that was really a a coincidence.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: But then uh after we retired, we decided that we were going to move back to North Carolina because her parents had owned land uh in Newland and had a small farm there.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that someone else was farming, but they had a farm there.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we moved back to North Carolina.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then when we got here, I mean, I started getting involved in community activities, and uh, some of the people convinced me to try to become a commissioner.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it took two uh times for me to become a commissioner, but I've been a Pasquatine County commissioner for about 10 years.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I have a service background.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: I love serving people, and so I was glad to become a commissioner so I can serve all of the residents of Pasquatine County.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what I do.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't deal with uh uh what uh party you're affiliated with, I deal with the people of Pasquatine County, and I'm concerned with all of them.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, uh anyone can come to me with any kind of problems that they might have, and I follow through and check it out and get and get back to them.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I really enjoy doing that.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I hope I can endure it a while long, but we'll see.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um so you are retired now.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I am retired.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: Did you say you're living on you're living on the farm still?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: Do you have anything to do with that or no?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's we have someone else doing the farming, the farming there.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: So is this kind of what you do primarily now, or do you have any other responsibilities that you juggle along with this?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, no, the uh Pascal County Commissioner, uh, that's the prime area that I do now.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and I'm, you know, there's a lot of boards and committees uh that I'm on, which takes up a lot of time, as you well know.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_03: At the end of every county commissioner meeting, for anyone who's not aware, they do an internal and external board report.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: And um Mr.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: Jordan and and Clifford Shaw, they always have the most.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: They sit there and and you hear about all of the things that they do in the community, and they go to just about both of you go to just about every event that you possibly can.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: All that we can.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: And because, you know, I that's why I became a commissioner to be involved with what was going on uh in this community.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I want the people to see me and know that I'm interested in the community too.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: I see you at every single event, every single one.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so a large topic for you guys recently is the old Albemarle Hospital building.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, at the meeting on Monday night, on the 19th, you actually voted to extend the contract with the real estate brokers for another three months.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, obviously, there's been a lot of discussions about, you know, there's a lot of financial things involved, renovations that have to be done before it can become something else.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that may be a deterrent as to why some people are hesitant to buy it.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think that there's anything else you guys could be doing?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: Do you have any ideas as to how the board could move forward?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we've really taken a serious look at the old hospital and what we what could be done with it.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: And you just mentioned that we have the uh real estate firm that's been uh working with us, and we've been talking to some other people also.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: But it's a very difficult task to get someone to really come in and do something uh with that facility.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: We be great.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: If we get some senior citizens' homes, uh not homes, but depar apartments in the I mean something like that uh would be great.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: We've had some ideas come through, but uh not nothing has come to fruition yet.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: So we we that's why we wanted to extend that contract so that it would give us more time.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: And again, we've had several discussions about what we need to do uh with that old hospital, but we just haven't come up with anything yet.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: We just have to be clear.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's a lot of waterway in the back of it, Pam.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: The public has made it clear that that we want to keep that available to the residents of Pasquatine County, no matter what we do with it.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it's tough.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean we all know that the hospital, the old hospital, is old.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: That it is very old.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: And for I guess to get companies to come in there uh and and to see what needs to be done and all the things that need to replace, that would concern them too.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because if they come in there, they want to make some money.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I understand.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because it's an investment for them.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: So they want to make some money.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's we're working on it.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: And and we we we're gonna have to do something eventually.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: But uh and the uh commissioners and with the uh staff coming together to talk about it, hopefully in the near future, we're going to come up with something that we can really do with that old hospital that will help help this community.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, another topic, and you have again seen firsthand, there's a lot of people coming to public comments and talking about how um there's a desire to keep the area rural.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of housing developments going in through the city, and that is all on the city.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: The county does not have control over what the city allows in terms of development.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: But what are your opinions on development in Pasquatank County and whether or not we should be doing more to preserve rural land?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think we need to be careful, first of all, as to how we make the decisions to do that.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: Because we got to take a look at the infrastructure one and make sure that if we're gonna change it to say several people come in and put homes in there, that you're gonna have the infrastructure in place to take care of that.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and as a person that uh has a small farm, you know, I I think farms are very important.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think they've been very important to this area.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that we need to think about trying to eliminate the farms and and just put homes in there.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't want to go that way.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: I live out in the country now in Newland, and I like being out in the country, and I like having the space.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think that so I think whatever we we decide to do and whatever requests come in for the use of the farmland in this area, that we need to take a serious look at it.
• 33:03
  unknown: Uh-huh.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: And we need our staff, uh the staff of Pasquat County, through the uh planning with the through the planning board take a serious look at it, see whether it makes any sense.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: But then we need to listen to the the public.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: We need to give them an opportunity to see what their uh thoughts and concerns are because it might not be a good idea.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm definitely not sold on getting rid of the farm.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Can I can I ask you something?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: We we've talked with with other people coming in about growth.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying growth or no growth, it's growth and how do you manage the growth.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, can I ask you what type of strategies you feel are important to actually manage that growth if as we see potential businesses potentially coming in andor homes uh to be built?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: How what types of things would you put in place?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think you can do to to look at how we can better manage that growth?
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think we we need to work together.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: When I say work together, I want to think the city of Elizabeth City and the Pasqua Tank County Commissioner, that we need to work together because you know the bottom line is much of the infrastructure is still tied in between what's in the city and what's in the county.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we need to make sure things like water and sewer.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: We we need to make sure that uh if we put the if this we allow this growth that we're going to be able to have the water and the sewer and other things that go along with it to make sure that we can do that.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I because I think probably the public one of the things the public is going to be concerned about, I like the fact that there's not a lot of traffic.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, I lived in Philadelphia where I know I've never seen any traffic like that in my life.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't want that to happen here.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Chicago, and so I keep my my joke is that coming from Chicago, I never thought I would have encountered this.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: But if I have to stand in traffic for five minutes right now, I start to get frustrated.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember what it was like.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we can go to North to Virginia, and my wife and I would go over there, and I I'll get frustrated because the traffic.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: I won't mention anything specific, but it's frustrating.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'll just say the traffic is frustrating.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know what you mean.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_03: I grew up here, so so I agree.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: Five minutes, if I'm sitting five minutes in traffic, I'm like, what is up?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_03: What is up with this?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: What are we doing here, guys?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: Let's let's get it going.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um but no, I I um I definitely think being careful with infrastructure is is a good idea, always in in any city, Philadelphia, Elizabeth City, Chicago.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um And that's why it's important for us to work together, city and county, city.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_02: Let's work together.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: And make sure that whatever we do, that is the best for because Elizabeth City is in the is in the county also.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: So we're just work making sure that all of our residents are are well taken care of.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we have, for instance, we have flooding situations in this area.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: And we've done all that we can at this point to take care of some of the some of these things that are happening as far as floods are concerned.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: But we need to be careful.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: Keep in mind if you put all these homes in there, you know, it's not going to help the drainage in the area.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: So that's going to be a good thing.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, uh we've all encountered that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_03: So another issue um that a lot of people are facing right now is the economy.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, money is tight for everyone across the county, across the country.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but people I've heard people talking about how they're struggling to pay their bills, they're having a hard time, um, especially with like the Medicaid cuts and um grocery bills.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: And obviously, there's not a whole lot of things that Pasquatank County can do um on a local level about the nationwide economy.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: But do you think that there's anything that you can do as a count county commissioner to help like lessen the financial burden on the people in the county?
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: Well well, we've tried to do that.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we have a lobbyist that works in in Raleigh, trying to there's a lot of we we can get a lot of things that can can bring something some relief uh to Pasquatank County.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: So we try to do that through grants and things like that.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: If the grants come in, then that's something that the county does not have to spend.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's it's difficult because keep in mind if there are cuts in Washington, right?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: They're passed down to Raleigh.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you know where Raleigh passes some of them down to.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: They pass them down to us.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it it's very difficult.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: But that's why we have a lobbyist.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: Pastor Tank County has a lobbyist that works with the legislators uh in uh Raleigh.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_02: So and so that we can rec for one recognize the grants, and we can also encourage the legislators there that might be able to help us so that we can relieve uh the cost to the residents of Pascal Tank County.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because we all know that it to operate this county, it costs it cost.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_02: And somehow we have to pay for it.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: So and the residents expect us to provide service to them.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: And this service becomes more and more expensive.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we gotta find other ways uh that we might be able to relieve Passer Tank County residents.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it has to do more with the dollars maybe you do control or you can impact.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when you're facing limited, tight budget constraints because no budget's bottomless.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: When you're facing that, how do you evaluate competing requests when they may come from education or emergency services or uh administrative costs?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how what types of thinking do you use in order to prioritize those things?
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things too, we we listen more first of all to the request that comes in and why there is a need.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: And we kind of have to uh kind of take the look at all the requests that come in and look at what the fun funds that are available and say now how are we going to support these items?
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, we can't support all of them.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: And even the ones that we support, sometimes we cannot support them at the level that we would like.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, but the county ha only has so much as far as funds that they that we can do things.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_02: So we do what we can.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we don't want to transfer some of the burden no more of the I should say no more of the burden than we have to to the residents.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: We had uh we had Dr.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: Parker in here yesterday, and I and I don't necessarily want to focus on just that, but it brings to mind um how how do you plan to collaborate with the school board to address things like the modernization of facilities?
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: We talked with him about he the facilities that possibly there's gonna be some, you know, they're gonna look at possibly either building buildings or remodeling them.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um how do you work with the school board in order to prioritize and take a look at those things?
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, first of all, we support the the Pat County school system and a large amount, probably it's about$12 million uh this coming year.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: So we support them and they come to us to keep uh us updated as to what's going on, and we work with them.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh I d uh I think it's public knowledge that uh they're looking at the schools and the capacity of the schools and what they can do and because the schools you probably heard this yesterday, this and we heard it this week also, that the schools in Pasquatang County are old.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, and that they're not going to last forever.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so they're taking a look at what we need to do with these schools, and uh they're gonna be coming back to us because they're gonna need our help also, no matter what happens, uh, so that they're gonna be coming back to us uh to uh encourage us to help them in any way that we can.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_02: But we we we we understand that the schools old and we know that they are not going to last forever, and we know that eventually they're gonna have to do something.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: And we know that uh at least a portion of the responsibility will be our responsibility.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: I I do have one one more question, if you don't mind.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it really harkens back to two things.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, your background in Philadelphia, you were involved in the administrator of a senior living, is that what it was?
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then you also mentioned that subject when you were talking early on.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um what role should county government play in strengthening services like that or mental health or for public or public health?
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: What role does county government play in in helping support those things?
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean uh it's a tough question for me, but I I think that uh the the Pasquatank County has to be concerned about all areas of Pasquatank County.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_02: And w if they come to us, if these facilities come to us, we we need to see what we can do.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: As I mentioned earlier, we know that we can't help everyone as far as funding is concerned.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: But anyone that comes to us with a need, we take a serious look at what we can do to help them.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't recall that we've had any direct contact with these facilities uh yet.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, we are there to help the residents.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I wouldn't s be surprised if somewhere down the line they don't come to us uh with the request of what we might be able to do to help them.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think at that at that point again, it comes to the staff.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: The staff presents it to us, uh, the commissioners, and then we decide uh what can be done, and the staff will decide whether uh to recommend to us the kinds of funds that might be available to assist them.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then my final question is the question every single candidate gets.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure everyone's here sick of me saying it now, but all of our listeners.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but my question is that if someone were to come to you and say, I'm thinking about voting for you, but I'm on the fence, what would you say to them in order to win over their vote?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what I would say to them, one, I'm especially right now, is that I've been a commissioner for 10 years, approximately 10 years, and that I've enjoyed working for the residents of Pasquatank County.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I am a I'm a Christian.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: I am a deacon at our at our church.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I said to you earlier that service throughout my life, service has been a part of my life.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so, and I do I serve, I honor the fact that I've been able to serve as a Pastorane County Commissioner for 10 years.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm interested in going for another term uh if possible.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: Because we need to, as a community, we need to work together.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_02: Because no matter what you say, we are in this together, it has nothing to do with party affiliation, as far as I'm concerned.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because when people call me for something, I don't ask them what party they belong to.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_02: I look at their need and I get out there and I check, check on it.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I believe I have the integrity.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: I believe I want to be honest with people, and I am honest with everyone that comes to me uh with a request.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I just take the time to go out and check it out myself in person because I am an own hands person.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: So again, I would say to the residents of Pasquatine County that we are all in this together, and I'm here to work with you.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that it depends on your decision as to whether I serve again.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_03: That was great.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us today.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: Really appreciate it.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, really, really appreciate it.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and thank you so much to all of our listeners for checking out all of these episodes.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we may or may not have one more surprise episode here for you soon.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: So check back to our page to see if that's up.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_03: It should be out on our regularly scheduled Friday.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and thank you so much to all of the candidates that we have had on during this series.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much to Mr.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_03: Jordan for joining us at this very moment.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_03: And we will catch you soon when you have considered all of your options.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, thank you for having me.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much, and see you all later.