Gastonia Township Republican Candidates for County Commissioner

7/24/2019 Gastonia Township Republican Candidates for County Commissioner

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Gastonia Township Republican Candidates for County Commissioner

Information Sources from Gaston Gazette 3-1-2016

Candidate Jerry Woods

Donnie Loftis

Don Grant

Dave Wofford

Age 70 59 56 44

1. Why are youpursuing thiselected office?

Leon McClain, a brotherin Christ Jesus,convinced me if he and I

would run and win, wecould look and change a

lot of things that need

changing.

I care deeply about ourcounty and its future. Icare about our future

generations and whatquality of life they will

have. Will we have

long-term, high payingjobs in our county? Will

our education systemprepare our youth for

the job market and

allow them to providefor their families? Will

our tax base grow and

allow reductions inproperty taxes paid by

its citizens. Will therebe opportunities forour seniors to enjoy agreat quality of life in

their golden years?

I believe our Board ofCommissioners hasgotten off track from its

ultimate goal ofaccountability to the

citizens they were

elected to serve, and thevery role of elected

government. An obviousseparation has

developed between

public servant and part-time employee. Weve

seen far too many

examples, from thequestionable vote of

lifetime benefits after ashort term of service, adubious adoptionbenefits plan, and other

Gaston County is my home.I grew up here, went toschool here, and have

worked in my familysbusiness here. This county

has given me the

opportunity to partake ofthe American Dream. I

want to give back to acommunity that has given

so much to me and ensure

the generations to comehave even better

opportunities. I am seeking

to be a true public servant.I will not take a salary or

partake in insurance orother benefits if elected tothis office. Its a privilege toserve our citizens.


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Thats a tremendous

amount ofresponsibility for

anyone to take on.

However, someone hasto be the point person

who can bring people

together, openly andrealistically discuss our

vision with availableoptions. Develop a

plan and move forward

relentlessly inimplementing it

regardless of the

political fallout. I willcontinue to put Gaston

Countys interest

ahead of my own andonly by all of us givingback will we see thefruits of our laborharvested in the

future.

ambiguous salary

benefits.

Im pursuing this office

to ensure that thepeople of Gaston County

have leadership that is in

support of our citizensand reflective of new

visions and ideas.Leadership is about

turning visions into

reality. We needleadership that will

better engage with and

respond to the concernsof our residents and

work with business and

community leaders indeveloping a unifiedvision that will serve toinstill confidence in ourBoard of Commissioners

once again. Thisrenewed confidence willbe initiated in the solid

conservative decisionsIll make, infused with

my experience as a local

business owner andlifelong resident. Wecurrently have the sixthhighest tax rate in North

Carolina and we must

never create a tax ratewhere our senior citizens

can no longer afford to

live here. My actions asa commissioner will

strengthen and act uponthe collective resolve of

our citizens and business


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leaders throughout the

county.

2. Briefly describe

your top priority as

an elected official.

Change busing in our

schools, look for ways to

provide better forteachers, give them

more power in class, put

God in our schools,workplaces and

government. Better than80 percent of the peoplesay they are Christians,so that should be easy todo.

Grow our tax base. We

will develop a utility

and infrastructure planincluding private

business partners to

provide common senseeconomic incentives to

locate in GastonCounty. Only byworking together canwe expand oureconomic opportunities

to rebuild our job basethroughout the county.In the future, GastonCounty administration

must view its economicprograms and ask, will

this help grow the tax

base, will this moveour county forward

toward our sharedeconomic vision? That

should be their single

purpose for coming towork every day.

We need to once again

instill confidence in our

elected commissionersand make sure that the

decisions that are made

have the benefit andinterest of our citizens at

its core. Today isyesterdays future. Weneed to focus on thetomorrow of GastonCounty. We need to look

ahead and make long-range decisions that willbenefit Gaston Countyfavorably in the near and

distant future. I want todo that by structuring

attainable goals and

objectives that preservethe quality of life we

enjoy in Gaston Countytogether with an

emphasis on the

proactive growth of ourcounty through job

creation, economic

expansion, improvedschools for our children,

veteran services andcitizen safety.

When elected, I will push to

see much more emphasis

placed upon economicdevelopment. We need a

broader, more aggressive

approach for recruiting newindustry to our county,

particularly small- tomedium-size businesses.We also need to ensure thatcompanies already herehave the tools necessary to

prosper.

On the other side of thatequation, we need to havethe best schools possible(public schools, charter

schools, private schools,community colleges,

technical schools andcolleges) to ensure both ourchildren and our adults who

are in and out of theworkforce have the

opportunity to learn the

skills necessary to work andsucceed in the modern job

market. Our citizens cannotprosper and we cannotattract the types of

businesses we want toGaston County, if we do not

have a highly skilled

workforce.


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3. What is the most

important issuefacing Gaston

County today?

Our zoning needs a lot

of work. It causesbusiness not to come

because of the burden it

puts on them.

Apathy, the lack of

interest, enthusiasm,concern or indifference

is one of the most

important issues facingour county. The sheer

hectic pace of life

makes it hard to keepup at times. People

now work multiple jobsto make ends meet, so

they focus on the vital

few versus the trivialmany things every

day. Apathy has also

affected the educationof potentially our best

and brightest students.

The lack of thatinvolvement, becauseit takes too much time,will continue to hauntus in the future

through our localnewspaper headlines.Students must be

reading on grade levelby the third grade or

they fall further and

further behind. It can

also be evident whenour graduates go awayto college and dont

return to start their

careers. Our future istoo bright for it to be

tarnished or darkened

by apathy. Only bybeing laser focused on

the future andidentifying where we

want to be as a

Its my belief that our

failure to capitalize oneconomic growth sectors

around us and the need

to divest ourselves of thenegative image others

have of us is the most

important issue we facetoday. We need to make

Gaston County adestination, a place that

comes to mind first

when business,industries, and families

are looking to relocate.

We need to make themost of the growth and

expansion of areas

around us and do all wecan to maximize ourpotential to furtherbenefit the great citizensof Gaston County.

Our economy isnt where it

should be. Gaston County isnot participating in the

economic growth of the

Charlotte metro region atthe same rate as the rest of

the ring counties that sit

just outside Interstate 485.We need to step up our

game and get creative tomake sure we dont get left

behind. Its time to think

outside the box and getsome positive momentum

going for the county and

our hard-working citizens.Its time for Gaston County

to thrive not just survive.


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community through

our health, education,jobs, and quality of life

can we overcome our

image in the region.Our strong work ethic

should enable us to

refocus on thosecritical things that will

pay back to ourcommunities many

times over in the

future.

Documents

Gastonia Township Republican Candidates for County Commissioner