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Chatham goes
to the polls
By Randall Rigsbee
With two incumbent county commissioners trying to fend off several
Democratic challengers and with a fiercely-fought contest between
Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
on the ballot, local voter turnout was strong Tuesday.
Of 39,414 registered voters in the county, 18,616 – or 47.23 percent
– voted in Tuesday’s primary election.
One incumbent county commissioner seeking to keep his post into the
November election prevailed Tuesday; the other met defeat.
For the District 1 seat on the county Board of Commissioners,
incumbent Patrick Barnes was defeated by challenger Sally Kost.
Kost, chair of the county Planning Board, had 8,074 votes (59.63
percent) to Barnes’ 5,466 (40.37 percent), according to unofficial
tallies. She will face lone Republican candidate Jeanna Bock on
Election Day, Nov. 4.
District 2’s incumbent commissioner Mike Cross fared better,
defeating a pair of Democratic challengers: Jeffrey Starkweather, a
well-known political activist and Arementha Davis, a past vice-chair
of the Chatham County Democratic Party.
Cross received 5,780 votes (43.27 percent) to Starkweather’s 4,377
(32.77 percent) and Davis’ 3,200 (23.96 percent).
Cross’ primary win means he will face Republican contender Andy
Wilkie and independent candidate Bob Knight in November.
Chatham County Democrats, strongly favored Barack Obama over Hillary
Clinton in the much-anticipated presidential primary. Obama, with
8,712 votes, received 56.88 percent of the vote; Clinton had 6,175
votes, or 40.32 percent. A third Democratic candidate, Mike Gravel,
received 0.98 percent of the vote (150 votes) in Chatham’s primary.
more- See Thursday,
May 8,
2008 paper:
Vol 88, No.22
County budget
proposal plans 5.5-cent increase in tax rate
By Randall Rigsbee
Chatham
County property owners are likely to pay a higher tax rate in the
upcoming fiscal year.
The
recommended budget presented to county commissioners Monday calls
for a 5.5-cent increase in the property tax rate for the Fiscal Year
2008/09 budget.
The proposed
tax rate is 67.2 cents per $100 of property, up from the current tax
rate of 61.7 cents. One penny is anticipated to generate $722,266.
"This
increase is necessary to address the most pressing demands resulting
from population growth, even though we are painfully aware of the
need to keep any tax increase as low as possible for residents,"
said County Manager Charlie Horne.
"We worked
hard to limit the property tax burden, but the economic downturn is
affecting county government as well. While this region of the state
is faring better than most, the economy has impacted our revenue
sources when the need for county services and facilities is on the
increase," Horne said.
Commissioners
had asked county staff earlier this year to try to keep any tax hike
at no more than four cents. County staff, however, said that was not
possible due to lower revenues (building permits, register of deeds
and sales tax) and increased needs, particularly in public safety.
The proposed
budget "keeps pace with the changes we are seeing in our service
needs, but does not over stimulate the strong appetite for revenue
that growth sometimes spawns," county manager Charlie Horne noted in
his introduction to the 222-page budget document.
The
recommended budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July
1, is $83.4 million for the county’s general fund. The total
property valuation for the proposed budget is $7.4 billion.
The county’s water fund is
proposed at $5.1 million, a 3.9 percent increase over the current
year; waste management’s budget is proposed at $3.9 million, a 38.8
percent increase.
more- See Thursday,
May 8,
2008 paper:
Vol 88, No.22
Residents want change on dangerous roadway
By Bill Willcox
Many Siler
City residents are urging town officials to do something about what
they believe is a dangerous road.
Because a
Jordan-Matthews High School student was killed last month in a
collision at the intersection of North Dogwood Avenue and West
Eighth Street, and because of a history of accidents at the
location, a number of residents are concerned about the road.
Dee Dee
Brown, 907 North Dogwood, Siler City, said in an interview Monday
that she has long been concerned with the "dangerous road."
Brown lives
near what is commonly referred to as "Thrill Hill," a popular spot
on the road in which drivers attempt to jump the dip in the road at
the bottom of the hill.
"I’d like to
see the design of the road changed so the temptation is gone," Brown
said. "The road is not safe and something needs to be done about
it."
She added
that the road needs to be straightened as well.
"There is a
line painted on the road but the line is straight while the road is
not," she said. "This throws people off. There are also no
reflectors on the road, so the line is impossible to see at night."
Brown also
said steep ditches line the road near the hill.
"There are no buffers between
the road and ditches," she said. "The road is difficult to maneuver
even when the weather is ideal."
more- See Thursday,
May 8,
2008 paper:
Vol 88, No.22
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Jeff Davis photo
At the polls . . .
Tuesday’s
Primary was greeted with sunshine and warm weather, not the usual
rain that comes with voting day. Workers were busy as the flow of
folks voting were steady all day.
In the top photo, Margie
Ellison hands out literature to voters outside the Earl B. Fitts
Community Center Tuesday in Siler City. In the center photo, Jean
Millsaps sits and relaxes during a short lull at the polls where she
was campaigning. In the left photo Mike Fox stands watching for
pollsters to walk up in Siler City. Fox was campaigning for Mike
Cross sporting a red, white and blue shirt.
Pilgrim’s Pride plant sale not final
By Randall Rigsbee
Last week, an
Atlanta-based company was negotiating with Pilgrim’s Pride to
possibly buy the poultry producer’s Siler City plant, which is
scheduled to discontinue operations soon, but there have apparently
been no new developments since.
If the
negotiations are successful, Siler City officials said it would mean
the 840 local jobs in jeopardy because of the imminent Pilgrim’s
Pride plant closing would be saved, as would the jobs of the 230
area poultry producers who have depended on Pilgrim’s Pride for at
least a portion of their income.
Last week,
Siler City officials said IIG Management Inc., a private equity
company based in Atlanta, was in talks with Pilgrim’s Pride to buy
the local facilities.
For several
weeks, IIG officials have been talking with local officials about
the potential purchase.
Among those
who have worked to find a buyer for the plant is former Chatham
County commissioner Tommy Emerson, who has for the past several
weeks served as a volunteer liaison between IIG and Pilgrim’s Pride
at the request of Siler City Mayor Turner and Siler City Town
Manager Joel Brower.
Emerson said
on Tuesday that he hasn’t had any additional contact with IIG since
last week.
Public hearing
is May 19 on moratorium
By Angela Delp
Chatham
County commissioners are considering extending the year-long
moratorium on large-scale residential development in Chatham County,
enacted by the Board of Commissioners last June.
Commissioners
will conduct a public hearing on extending the moratorium up to six
more months on May 19. The hearing will be held in the Superior
Courtroom in Pittsboro at 6 p.m.
The current
moratorium, which will expire on June 3, applies to any new
residential subdivisions containing more than 25 lots or units. It
does not apply to commercial developments or to any developments in
Pittsboro, Siler City or Cary.
Commissioners
enacted the year-long moratorium to take a closer look at the
county’s land use ordinances.
On Monday, commissioners
approved a resolution calling for the May 19 hearing. In it, they
noted that Chatham County "has experienced explosive residential and
commercial growth in recent years as the eastern part of the county
has rapidly changed from rural to urban," creating overcrowding in
schools and strain on the county’s financial resources.
.more- See Thursday,
May 8,
2008 paper:
Vol 88, No.21
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