Two weeks ago, my wife, Michele was elected to Vice-Chairman of the NC Republican Party. That was on Saturday.  On Monday, I was elected as Lenoir County Republican Party Chairman.  This means that I will focus almost totally on County issues when I blog on the Daily News Fix.  And be assured the focus will be on factual news, perhaps some items you won’t see in the local newspaper, televised or radio media.

I’ve stressed repetitively in the Daily News Fix the significance local activism plays.  The building blocks for liberty and freedom are right here in our own backyard.  If you don’t stay informed, you lose and so do our kids.  All the more reason to attend your Lenoir County Commissioner meetings.  These public servants meet the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month at 9am and 5pm respectively.  The 5pm meeting was recently moved for accessibility.  Recently, there was a peaked interest in how our Commissioners were allocating money to the local school system.  People were fired up!  Why does it take someone messing with your kids to spark this kind of reaction?  Attend a few meetings and witness exactly how your dollars are allocated.

City Council meets the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month at 7pm and 5:30pm respectively.  Honestly, once you read it in the newspaper, it’s too late.  You have to get ahead of the game and be involved to make a real impact.  Recent decisions regarding 3% pay raises and $1000 bonuses on the back of a 3% garbage service rate increase confuse and frustrate many.  There are questions that should be asked but who will confront a Council that may at times seem to have little regard for the taxpayer…..especially with a dying tax base.  So inform yourselves and ask the questions.  I’ll give you all the facts and figures I can muster.

This is a municipal election year and a very important one.  Three (3) City Council seats are up for grabs.  Kinston has made progress in many areas.  Our downtown has made remarkable progress due in part to a few big investors, the historic preservation tax credit program, the opening of the CSS Neuse Interpretive Center and of course, the replica CSS Neuse II.  But we have many hurdles to cross and we won’t do it until our tax base increases.

You’ll see some eager candidates emerging in the next few months.  I encourage you to be open-minded, listen to their ideas, and remember that fiscal conservatism is the key element in turning this town and county around.   Lenoir County is a Tier 1 county wherein over half the residents qualify for federal subsidies of some type.  We must realize that services cost money and money comes from the taxpayer.  We must also elect three(3) new City Council representatives with the integrity, backbone, and foresight to apply time honored fiscal principles.

John C. Nix ~ Chairman, Lenoir County GOP Chairman