Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / Oct. 27, 1999, edition 1 / Page 18
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St James Councilman Dennis Becker 3193 Wexford Way A retired attorney, Becker, 64, is a founding member of council and a two year St. James resident He served on the town’s incorpora tion committee and is a member of the St James Fire Department board of directors. Harry Comer 4162 Sheffield Place Another founding member of council, Comer, 64, has lived at St. James for 4 1/2 years and is retired from IBM. In 1996, he chaired the St. James pond committee. Earl E. Dye ; 3144 Beaver Creek Drive A retired research and development plant manager for a Fortune 500 company. Dye, 63, currently serves as St James’ mayor. He was bom in Wilmington and has family in Southport He spent 35 years in Virginia before retiring. His activities include being a member of the Southport Area Light Tackle Fishing Club and Saint Peter Lutheran Church. Joan Madsen 4402 Polly Gully Court Executive Director of the Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, Ms. Madsen, 61, is a founding councilor. She is a member of the St James Service Club, the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce and the cham ber’s Christmas-By-The-Sea committee. Muzette Steck 2927 Trailwood Drive A St James resident for the last two years, Ms. Stock, 62, has spent 60 years in North Carolina. She is a member of Sea Notes Choral Society and the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce business develop ment committee. She chairs the steering committee to reinstate the Brunswick County Council of Women. Henry Ulrichs 2865 Trailwood Drive SE A three year resident of St James and a founding member of council, Ulrichs, 59, is a member of Sea Notes Choral Society and St Peter Lutheran Church, where he is a member of the choir and serves church coun cil and outreach committee. He has worked as a volunteer in the St James firehouse con struction effort Polling place: Sunset Harbor VFD To be elected: five council members If you are elected, what will be your top three goals as a member of the town’s governing board? Our town of St James must first de velop a strong infrastructure and a sense of direction. Toward that end, three goals must be attained: To establish an efficient town government that will be prepared to assume functions of the property owner's associa tion when it is both timely and cost-effective to do so; to prioritize and take action on St. James' most serious current concerns; and, to establish open channels for effective communication between the town council, the property owner's association and developer and the residents, so that St James can choose its future course wisely. (1) Continue the ongoing effort to establish the new Town of St James, including setting up town offices, hiring key employeefs), creating necessary ordinances, resolutions, etc. (2) Come to grips with the drainage problem in St James, working with the St James Property Owners Association and St James Development (3) Interact with other local governments and agencies to help Brunswick County and our local area deal with major issues such as highways, wastewater, education, etc. My goals are: (1) To get the new Town of St James up and running in a cost-effective manner; (2) to optimize our surrounding infrastructure by establishing a good working relationship with neighboring municipalities and county manage ment; (3) to encourage citizen involvement in our town so die challenges of growth can be addressed in a productive manner. (1) To establish the government of our new town in an orderly, efficient and cost-effective manner by adopting necessary policies and procedures. This requires planning so we can act, rather than react We should not rush into decisions. (2) To maintain an on-going dialogue with the residents of St James, the PO A and the developers to assure ade quate planning for the eventual transition of the POA to the residents. (3) To be an advocate for the residents of St. James as we work with die county government to serve our overlapping populations in land use planning, traffic issues, etc. i; St James must be positioned for a smooth transi tion from developer to town management within a decade. I'd ask the town council to establish the means by which a mutually agreeable plan of trans fer is designed. The plan would include a time frame for each transferred responsibility and its projected cost Floyd was a wake up call. St James citizens recognize the need for more than one evac uation route. It will be incumbent upon the council to identify and secure several evacuation routes. My third goal is to lessen the frustrations with our telephone system. Til start at N.C. Utilities Commission. My top three goals will be: (1) To establish an effective and efficient administrative function. This would include establishing policies and procedures for conducting the town's fiscal affairs and possibly hiring a permanent employee to maintain the bud get and accounting records and to perform other administrative duties. (2) To develop an effective working relationship with the property owners association (POA) and the developer. Each has a role in meeting the needs of the town's residents. (3) TO identify and clearly define the responsibili ties of the town, the POA and the developer. What is your opinion of your town’s current year budget? Does it offer ser vices you want to offer in the most affordable manner? The current budget is reasonable for a fledgling town. The budget enables the council to establish the municipal government and its offices in order to pursue its goals. The budget also funds the fire department so that our residents will have the bene fit of an emergency service of utmost importance, as well as a reduction in home insurance costs. The current budget should increase when, and only when, an analysis reveals that the provision of addi tional services is both necessary and cost-effective. Since this is our first year as a town, we have no history by which to judge our budget. I believe it will be adequate for getting started, and that it will support the St. James Fire Department and emer gency services which were key elements in our determination to become a town. When we better understand the drainage issue, we may have to make budgetary additions in fiscal 2000-2001.1 expect our town council to use our financial resources in a responsible manner. Considering that we are a new town with no finan cial history, and after many budget iterations, I feel our budget will adequately support our present level of services. Through effective management and citi zen involvement, our volunteer fire department has redefined cost-effectiveness and that will give our town the best value for the dollar spent. We are a new town. Therefore, we have no budget history to guide us. After much discussion and com sideration, I believe the interim town council has adopted the cunrent budget with the best interests of the residents in mind. At present, St. James doesn't provide any municipal services with it's $391,000 budget, so I think it unwise to allocate even $13,000 for travel and train ing. Conventions are for people providing services. The council can tap the wealth of training resources in N C. universities and training institutes. The Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro has tr ained top generals, admirals, Fortune 500 execu tives, politicians, and me. I would definitely decrease the $196,640 proposed for administrative costs. There are more efficient ways to use our tax dollars. In contrast, our Property Owner's Association presented a budget of $1,000,000 yet only allowed $78,000 for administrative costs. The town's current year budget is its first and, as such, is based on many assumptions with no history to support it Having worked on it personally, I believe it is workable and will provide the services, particularly fire protection and rescue capability, needed at this time by the town in an affordable manner. In addition to the increased protection, hav ing a fire department within the town will have the positive impact of reductions in future homeowner insurance costs. . \ ’ Why should the voter select you over your opponent^)? I am on the ballot because I would like to finish die job I started and put the St James town cornerstone solidly in place before I engage in other volunteer service. In working toward incorporation and the establishment of a government for the past year, I have accumulated a reservoir of knowledge con cerning state, local, and town laws and issues. That knowledge should continue to prove useful on die council at St James as we go through the initial, critical stages of gearing up our governmental process, while at the same time addressing our immediate problems. Since I have been a member of the interim council for a year, I have some experience working in this area. I believe I understand some of the major con cerns of many of our citizens, and have initiated preliminary action to address them. I hope the vot ers see me for what I am: One of them, trying to help make St James an even better place to live. 7 ' .'S" . it ■■■' ' ' - - 77";' ■ .. : ; . .7 ;7.'v 7 Participating in the incorporation process of our town for the past 2 1/2 years in a leadership role, I have developed an understanding of state statutes and the political process as it relates to a municipal ity. In addition, a relationship with state, county and adjacent municipality officials has been developed. My leadership, planning and financial accountabili ty skills were developed as a member of manage ment in a fortune 500 company for ova- 20 years. Sitting on an industry technical committee in a , leadership role in Washington enabled me to work with most federal government departments on sen sitive projects as it related to our business. As a current member of the interim town council, I was involved in foe year-long process of steering the incorporation bill through foe N.C. General Assembly. The task of creating a town has given me foe knowledge to govern a town. My years of public involvement in NC have given me a wealth of knowledge arid an extensive net work which other candidates must acquire. For rally four months, the appointed council has known St James the seedling. For 40 years, I've known die forest in which the seedling must grow. The discerning voter will realize that my experiences will compliment those of the council and give it a dimension that has been lacking. .’While all candidates for the council of the Town of St James, in my opinion* are well qualified to serve effectively, I believe that my professional financial background distinguishes me from most if not all, of them. As a new town with no experi enced staff in place, my background in finance and accounting will be of benefit to the town and its governing council. Editor’s note: Candidate George H. Gunter declined to participate in the candidate review Coastal — DOCKWORKS Inc. 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State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
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Oct. 27, 1999, edition 1
18
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