Tag Archives: Municipal elections

And They’re Off!…. Candidates Jockey For Lead In Non-Partisan City Council Debate

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In a refreshing candidate forum held tonight at St. Augustus AME Zion Church in Kinston, eight(8) candidates for City Council gave their views on how to lead this town of around 20,000. With three(3) seats up for grabs and two incumbents trying to hold onto their seats the forum exposed each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.  Like any candidate forum, there were varying degrees of preparedness and understanding of exactly how a municipality functions.

This was the Second Non-Partisan Municipal election in Kinston since Attorney General Eric Holder pre-cleared Kinston for non-partisan elections after an extensive lawsuit for the reversal of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  See SCOTUS lawsuit Nix v. Holder.  It was pleasing to see a shift in thinking and public consensus.  This debate was hosted by the Kinston-Lenoir County NAACP, a non-partisan group.  The NAACP will not endorse any candidate(s).  It is also reported the Democratic Party will follow suit in not endorsing.  

The same three(3) questions asked of each candidate.  The candidates were:

1) Michael Davis  a Vietnam Veteran   2) Sammy Aiken  incumbent (retired Navy)  3)Gordon Vermillion  business owner & past two term City Councilman  4) Tharol Branch  native Kinstononian  5) Felicia Solomon  former Lenoir County Schools principal  6)  Kelly Jarman  Lenoir County Schools administrator and incumbent  7)  Steve Ragan   Weyerhauser employee and Planning Board member 8)  Lennie Peterson  US Army veteran & Ex School Bus driver

Queston #1 – City Council recently voted to allow family members of Council members and the Mayor to be hired.  Will you vote to reinstate the Nepotism Policy?  If Yes, why.  If No, why.

Six candidates stated they were opposed to this recent action except Kelly Jarman and Michael Davis.  Michael Davis stated he was concerned his children wouldn’t be able to work for the City.  Jarman defended and justified her unpopular voting record on this issue by stating the School System and Military have similar policies, only 30% of the population in Kinston have college degrees so we need to keep jobs opportunities available, and nepotism will increase our tax base.  (This reasoning both confounds and contradicts)

Question #2 – Public Safety Chief Johnson is retiring. What should be done with Public Safety?  (Admittedly the question was misleading and vague.  There has been talk of hiring a Police Chief and a Fire Chief in lieu of one Public Safety Director)

All candidates gave a clear and concise answer and agreed City Council should seek out and hire separate department heads and hire a well qualified Police Chief due to the serious crime problems Kinston is experiencing  except incumbent Kelly Jarman.  She touted the excellent job our current police are doing and public education programs but stated separating the departments would depend on “who we find” to replace Johnson.

Question #3 – What do you foresee for change in Kinston to make it a better place to live and work?  (This was a vague open-ended question.  But there was some common ground with the answers)

Peterson struggled initially but eventually stated we needed jobs and address crime. Ragan connected the fact that our crime issues have a negative effect on our business climate and the desire for industry, businesses, and families to come to Kinston and stay in Kinston.  He stated the only way for us to solve this issue will be a Unifed Effort putting partisan politics aside.   Incumbent Jarman stated our lower utility rates, the promise of baseball coming back to town, the coming Land Use Plan, Queen Street revitalization and enforcing the Unified Development Ordinance will make us better.  Solomon wants us to work together and invoke community responsibility.   She stated we have the “right people at the right time” to solve Kinston’s woes.  Branch stated we need a change in leadership, claimed current leadership has destroyed much African-American historical structures and built an entrance to a Confederate Cemetery after tearing down a popular pool hall.  He charged the Board of Elections with continuing racism and  Jim Crow laws.  Vermillion spoke of his two term experience, the fact that we were the only two time All American City in the country, downtown revitalization and the increase in tourism.  He sees a bright future for Kinston.  Aiken spoke solely of eliminating crime.  Davis wants to change the way we think, educate everyone on gangs, change our entire leadership and stated we are failing as a City and as a people.

After viewing this debate and how these candidates fielded the questions, there is no doubt the “Nepotism issue” could be a deciding factor.  See “One Issue Could Decide Council Race”.   You need to decide for yourself.  Please continue to follow future debates and look for the traditional PodCasts on www.Kinston.com this Thursday with Bryan Hanks and his crew.  We’ll continue to bring you up to date news on the www.dailynewsfix.org.  Use the Subscribe feature to have the “Fix” delivered to your inbox when published.

 

 

One Issue Could Decide Council Race

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October 22, 2015 begins One Stop or “early voting” for municipal elections in Lenoir County, NC.  There’s one race that peaks my interest, maybe because it’s so close to home and the outcome will  continue to affect my wallet, my business, my investments, my family, and my way of life as a taxpaying resident of Kinston.  Eight(8) candidates will vie for three(3) seats on the Kinston City Council.  This race has my full attention and for good reason.

Several weeks ago Councilman Wynn Whittington brought an issue to the council floor. He made HIS problem OUR problem.  His brother had applied for a job and was turned down due to his the City’s  nepotism policy.  He wanted to examine the policy for fairness, and through a series of motions and votes the policy was amended three weeks later to the public’s dismay.  I exposed these shenanigans in earlier blog(s) BLOG #1  BLOG#2 and Kinston Free Press column.

Even with over 300 citizens signatures on a petition calling for a NO vote on the amendment, Whittington, Kelly Jarman, and Joe Tyson pushed it through.  Joe Tyson will not run again, Whittington will continue in his elected role for at least two more years, but Kelly Jarman is the lone incumbent in this three seat race to be decided on November 3rd.

Jarman is the wife of Lenoir County Manager, Mike Jarman.  She also serves on the Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Commission, a City/County funded board.  This conflict of interest and form of nepotism was pointed out in a news column a few weeks ago in which she was asked to resign from that commission – Read HERE.

Cast an educated vote!  Tuesday, October 13th, the NAACP will be holding a debate at St. Augustus Church, 318 E. North St., Kinston, NC from 6:30PM – 8:00 PM.  Reportedly all candidates will attend.  I feel certain one of the questions will focus on the “Nepotism Policy Amendment”.  If not, they will have missed the mark. Within this one issue lies the key to effective leadership by an elected official ~ Listening to the Will of the People and acting accordingly. 

Each candidate will also have an opportunity to sign a  pledge introduced by resident Logan Thurman at the October 2nd City Council meeting.  The Pledge states that if elected the first order of business will be to reverse this misguided policy change.   We’ll report an eyewitness account of this debate and where these candidates stand on this most important single issue and!  Stay tuned….

 

Local Politics Affect Us The Most

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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