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Roughly 50 commissioners saying goodbye to county boards Roughly 50 sitting commissioners decided not to seek re-election in 2008. Several are seeking higher office, including NCACC President and Buncombe County Commissioner David Young, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for State Treasurer. Former Onslow County Commissioner Joe McLaughlin resigned his seat during the winter to run for U.S. Congress. In addition, Commissioners Renee Sisk (Craven), Ronnie Smith (Martin), Efton Sager (Wayne), Linda Shook (Lee), Martin Aragona (Onslow), Greg Taylor (Bladen), Nalin Mehta (Stanly), Pearl Burris-Floyd (Gaston) and David Guice (Transylvania) are running for seats in the N.C. House. Commissioners Cindy Morgan (Moore), Moses Carey (Orange), Betty Blue Gholston (Scotland), Bruce Davis (Guilford) and Kitty Barnes (Catawba) are seeking Senate seats. Of the commissioners seeking a seat in the N.C. General Assembly, all but Sager, Burris-Floyd and Guice are running against incumbents. While several commissioners are attempting to move up the political ranks, others have decided to hang up the spikes for good, including Wayne County Commissioner Atlas Price, who was named the Outstanding County Commissioner of the Year by the NCACC in 2005 and has served several terms on the NCACC Board of Directors. Price said that 18 years as a county commissioner and 10 years as a member of the Wayne County Board of Education was enough. Alamance County Commissioner Larry Sharpe, who served three years on the NCACC Board of Directors, also decided he had reached his limit after 20 years of service. “I decided a few years ago that if I was fortunate enough to get re-elected (in 2004), I would retire at 62 from politics and banking,” he said. “However, three years ago I got involved in the start-up of a new community bank, so I’m not going to make the goal of retiring from banking, but I will keep half the bargain and retire from politics. “Twenty years is enough for one individual. It’s good to have turnover and a fresh face and fresh ideas come on the board. I appreciate the fact that people have kept me around for 20 years. I just felt like it was time for a new face.” Sharpe said he would miss the relationships he developed as a commissioner through the years, both with his fellow commissioners and the constituents he served. “The satisfaction of being able to help people solve their problems – I think that’s what I’ll miss the most, closely followed by all the people I got to meet as a county commissioner,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize what all goes on in their county, but being a county commissioner afforded me the opportunity to see a lot and to meet a lot of people.” When Sharpe was first elected to the Alamance County Board in 1988, the county had a population of slightly more than 100,000. The U.S. Census Bureau pegged Alamance County’s population at 142,661 in July 2006. Dealing with that growth was becoming increasingly difficult, Sharpe said. “It seems to get tougher every year,” he said. “We are a growing county, and the larger you grow, the more issues arise. Alamance is one of the few counties that don’t have countywide zoning. Over the years I’ve seen more and more complaints caused by the lack of planning and lack of zoning. We are also constantly dealing with money issues because of the growth. The general pressures on the county budget seem to grow every year.” Besides Young, who is giving up his seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, and Carey, who is relinquishing his seat on the Orange County Board of Commissioners, one other current NCACC Board of Directors member – Joni Juba of Cabarrus County – decided not to seek re-election. Commissioners not seeking re-election in 2008 Alamance – Larry Sharpe |