Category: Elections

Don’t tell me you’re not voting in our municipal election this year. That won’t do.

All elections are important, but county and municipal elections are, in my opinion, the most important elections we have in this country because they affect us here, where we live. In communities as small as Ramseur, every vote really does count, more than any other elections. I’ve seen elections here turn on less than three votes more than once.

Early voting in Randolph County began yesterday at the county Board of Elections office located at 1457 North Fayetteville Street in Asheboro, and as of tonight, 140 people have voted across the county in all elections combined.

Voting opportunities will resume Monday, October 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or later each business day of the week for two weeks, ending with Saturday hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., on November 4 . Click the calendar above for more details.

If you don’t find a convenient time to vote early, you will have one more opportunity on election day, November 7 at SE Middle School on Foushee Road.

You will need a photo ID to vote this year, so be sure to take that with you, and if you aren’t already registered you can still do so at the Board of Elections office during the early voting period, but in addition to your driver’s license or other photo ID you will also need to have some other proof of residency such as a utility bill or paycheck stub.

Of course, I hope you’ll cast your votes for me, Jay Hubbard, for commissioner, and Vicki Caudle for mayor because backward is never the way forward, but no matter what choices you make in the booth, please vote!

If you haven’t already you’ll probably be hearing a lot of things from several of the commissioners, about both me and Mayor Caudle. Please, hear them out, but also keep in mind that two of them – Commissioners Brower and Kearns, have been caught making false statements, and all of the board members knew they were false at the time of each incident. You should be skeptical of anything they have to say about any candidate for either office, good or bad. When someone tells you who they are, you should believe them the first time.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 21, our fall festival, A Day On Main Street, will celebrate 35 years. Mayor Caudle will not be able to attend because her granddaughter had the audacity to be born the same day, or close enough, and live far enough away that her grandma has to travel several hours to be with her to celebrate.

My own granddaughters and their parents are coming to visit us tomorrow afternoon as well, so I will likely be spending a little time on Main Street tomorrow morning. I’ll be the man with dark hair and a grey beard wearing a black Ramseur Watchdog t-shirt. I’ll hang around as long as I can, and I look forward to visiting with anyone who would like to chat.

After that, I may come back to my house on Church Street and hang out in the yard. I’ll have signs available there, and who knows, I might even haul some of my artwork out of the attic. No promises on that.

There’s been a free shuttle bus that travels between the festival and First Christian Church for the past few years. If that’s happening again this year it’s a convenient walk from the shuttle parking lot down Church Street to my house.

See you in the streets.

Here’s what I hope to bring to the Board of Commissioners. If you agree please vote for me.

MODERNIZATION

Town Manager/Corporate Charter –  We need to fix the broken, misinterpreted parts of our town’s corporate charter, such as the board of adjustment problems, and consider several possible updates, but above all, we must adopt the council-manager form of government and hire a Town Manager!

Commissioner Duties – Commissioners are elected at large and should serve at large. Limiting commissioners to involvement in just one or two departments is a foolish way to operate a town. Until such time as a town manager takes over, all department heads should feel free to discuss their work and the needs of their departments with any commissioner interested enough to take the time.

Parks & Recreation – I believe Ramseur needs to study the possibility of developing a full-time parks & recreation position.  We have a number of valuable facilities to maintain and manage with more likely to be added in the coming years. One goal we should also be striving toward is making our town and its streets safe for families to walk around our community.

Water Resources – Ramseur and the surrounding area will be part of many important decisions affecting our water and sewer departments in the coming years. Whether we keep the system we have, become part of a larger regional solution, or do something in between, I want to be part of that process and help protect Ramseur’s greatest asset while seeing it used for the greatest good of everyone.

TRANSPARENCY

No More Illegal Meetings – North Carolina has many statutes governing how, when, and why a majority of a governing board may meet, either in person, online, or even on messaging platforms. Whether by email, text, or verbally, town commissioners ought not to be talking with each other about governing issues other than in one-on-one conversations. Hire a manager and this whole problem goes away.

Transparency is vitally important to earning the people’s trust and in their understanding of how local government works. All meeting minutes, with or without links to supplemental audio or video recordings, should be published or linked to the town’s official website. 

STABILITY

A well-regulated municipality with a competent administration on the job (manager, clerk, department leaders) makes for a more stable work environment. I want all the people who do the work that operates our town to have all the resources they need to do a good job today, tomorrow, and long into the future.

None of these ideas will get a fair hearing anytime soon unless you send a clear message to the Board of Commissioners by voting for me, Jay Hubbard, for commissioner.

Mayor Caudle will have my vote to continue as our mayor on November 7th. With you at our backs, maybe the other commissioners will agree to have an adult conversation about these and other important issues.

Yard signs are available at 1391 Church Street whenever I’m at home.

Or you can send an email to RamseurWatchdog@yahooDOTcom

I stay pretty busy throughout the week, but I’m happy to bring you a sign for your yard and/or set up a time to speak with you about any of the ideas I’ve expressed on these pages and to hear any thoughts you have that I may not have considered.

Thanks for your support.