The county commissioner’s seats are divided into districts, but each district race, which features two candidates, is county-wide. Thus, Wake citizens will have the opportunity to vote in all four county commissioner races. As candidate Jack Nichols pointed out, “Wake County is bigger than a congressional district and seven different states.”

Currently, the board is controlled by a 4-3 Democratic majority. And with all three Republican seats up for grabs, the potential for a fully Democratic board is real, something which Democratic incumbent Lindy Brown worries about.

The main issues in this year’s election are stimulating job growth, education, transportation planning, infrastructure and mental health care. As the interviews testify, education and stimulating job growth are issues with thick partisan disagreements, while mental health care is an issue that seems to baffle all alike.

Last year’s municipal and board of education election saw an 11-percent voter turn-out. The board of education’s directional crisis over the past year could bring more people to the polls this time around, despite the fact that the board of commissioners only controls about a quarter of the education budget. These interviews examine the candidate’s positions on critical issues and in some cases attempt to shed a little light on their personalities.

District 1

Challenger Democrat Don Mial

Incumbent Republican Joe Bryan

District 2

Incumbent Democrat Lindy Brown

Challenger Republican Phil Matthews

District 3

Incumbent Republican Tony Gurley

Challenger Democrat Steve Rao

District 7

Challenger Democrat Jack Nichols

Incumbent Republican Paul Coble

Do you remember having a moment where you wanted to get involved in politics?

Rao: I was on a trip in India and I saw a region that had once been in absolute poverty transformed into a hub of innovation.  They were bringing in businesses from all over the world. Kids would ride their bikes 20 miles to go to school in a school half the size of those we have in Wake County, learning at 3 times the rate in math, science, and technology. That was a life-changing moment for me because my parents came from India 42 years ago. Three days later I was on a plane back to America and I asked myself, “Are my kids going to have the same opportunities I had growing up?”  How ironic is it that my parents sacrificed to leave their home in India to come here and now look at how much India has transformed?

Do you think that kind of thirst for learning can be replicated here in the US?

Rao: We need a better national strategy for learning. Here we’ve spent the past year arguing about where our kids are going to go to school. In India they know where they are going to school. Let’s get our eye on the game here. At the national level, at the state level, at the local level the most important issue with our competitiveness globally is education, the tools that we’re going to give our children to compete.

You’ve said that you believe we need to move to a more globally based education model.  How do you see that playing out?

Rao: We need to start teaching more awareness of current events in other countries.  Every school child should know the capitals of foreign countries and what those countries make. This will give them a more global-based understanding so that they’re not just seeing the United States, but that this is a global, interconnected world.

You’ve said that one of the keys to innovation is making sure that “government brings all its cards to the table” or, in other words, owns up to what it can do better.  What did you mean?

Rao: We have to have people in government who are willing to look at new solutions.  That’s one of the greatest aspects of my candidacy. Tony Gurley and I have a fundamental difference. Every time I bring up impact fees- even though we’re running a positive campaign- he calls me a “tax and spend” liberal Democrat. The question I ask the voters is, “What would you rather have? A 70-cent property tax or impact fees to fund new school construction?” I’m an open-minded guy. I’m not going to go in there and charge developers too much. We’ve got to be fair. Do I have the answer on what the impact fees will be? No. Maybe they will be on a sliding scale. But if there’s a Wal-Mart and Food Lion and two other shopping plazas in a 5-mile radius, why can’t some of that growth fund the local schools.

How do we encourage more growth but at the same time play catch up on our infrastructure and government services?

Rao: We do need a new transit plan with light rail and expanded busing to take congestion off the roads and manage that growth. We’ve got to really think about school construction and where the revenue is going to come from to build these new schools. We’ve got to think about year-round schools and how that factors into full classroom capacity. If we don’t make tough decisions now, this will be a much harder place to live in 10 years. It’s a very crucial time for us. We have to get back to the basics. We need to manage our growth. In order to do that we make investments in our infrastructure. We have to come up with a comprehensive plan for our school system that everybody is comfortable with. We have to be able to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.  We may need to look at tax incentive policies at the county level.

How do we balance giving companies incentives to come here and at the same time get them to invest in Wake County so we can have better schools and better infrastructure?

Rao: The best incentives for bringing new businesses here are always going to be a strong education system and a good environment rather than tax incentives. But, it’s unrealistic to assume we can’t have tax incentives. We’re going to need tax incentives to play the game. We also need to look at the way we give incentives to companies that are expanding and also the way that we value software. Right now, we value software the way we value a piece of lumber and it’s not right.

Are you feeling nervous about the campaign?

It would be a game-changing event for me to win this election.  I think it would be really good for the county. The Indian community is getting very emotional because I’m the first Indian on the ballot in state history, at least in Wake County.  It would be big if that community got mobilized and got more involved in politics.

Do you think we are at a crucial point in Wake County’s history?

Nichols: Well I don’t think that it’s just technology that’s important. I do think we’re at a crossroads both from a technology standpoint and from an economic development standpoint. Really in a lot of ways, we’re at this crossroads. I grew up in Charlotte and I’ve seen what’s happened to their school system and I think that Wake County is on the brink of having Charlotte’s same problems.

Nobody wants to stop growth in Wake County, but do you think we’ve got some ground to make up in terms of how we have kept up with growth over the past 10 years?

Nichols: Yeah we do. Some of our water and sewer problems and some of the maintenance for our treatment plants and the locations of our roads are things that should have already been taken care of. We need to have both a comprehensive and a coordinated plan for all the components. The county doesn’t do all the planning.  You’ve got 13 municipalities that do the planning. But, you need to coordinate those plans.

Do you see that as the county commissioner’s role?

I actually was working on that when I was on the board of commissioners before and I had in place a plan to do that and then I didn’t run for re-election and the new commissioners that got elected in ’94 undid all the stuff that we started. So, that to me is unfinished business.

How much do you think you will be able to effect the direction of the school board as a county commissioner?

Most of it is job owning. So I’m not going to pretend that we have all this power that we don’t. We only fund a fourth of their budget. We’re not going to beat them over the head with a pocketbook. In terms of practical effect- and I hate to put this as a partisan matter- but if the Democrats win, there is going to be a mandate to work with the school board for change. If the Republicans win, they’re going to have a mandate to support the school board with what it wants. In a peculiar way, this county commission race has become a county wide referendum on the direction of our schools.

You have said, “All people who work full time should be able to support a family.” What do you think you can do as a county commissioner to make it easier for someone who works full-time on a minimum wage job to be able to support their families and have access to health care?

Nichols: Most people don’t realize that a lot of what we think of as state services are county administered, so we can control where the money goes. The county can’t pretend it has any more money than the state does. But what we can do is come up with public/private partnerships to help focus where things are going to go. Smart Start, which I helped start, is a good example of that. Across the county we improved the quality of child care.

Someone who is in a low-income situation needs childcare and transportation in order to get a job, not just the job. If you don’t coordinate all that together- which I believe is the county’s role- then even if someone had a job, they might not be able to get that job, either because they have to stay with their kids or because they literally can’t get there. Creating all those interstitial type things at the local level and making them work is what the county does best.

What are some examples of how you made a difference as a Garner city council member?

Matthews: One thing I was able to help influence was property values. We had problems with what I call absentee landlords. These people would live somewhere else and have rental homes around town that they were not taking care of, which was devaluing other people’s properties. I spearheaded a committee which put together a new set of ordinances to hold landlords accountable. First, landlords had to register their properties. Then if they didn’t take care of their property, we would send public works over and they would take care of it. Then we would bill the individual and issue a small fine. If it happened again, the fine got bigger. That worked well because we were able to clean up the rental properties in the town.

I’ve also worked closely with Police, Fire, and Rescue. We had an issue once with what I call death-by-cop on Highway 70 near my church one Sunday. If our cops had Tazers at that time then that person would probably be alive right now, and that cop would have had to go through what he did. After that I asked the police force how many Tazers it needed and I pushed to get them the Tazers, because nobody should have to go through that who doesn’t have to.

The Independent Weekly reported that you present yourself as a tea-party “type of guy.” Would you say that’s true?

Matthews: I have no problem with that. If you listen to someone on the far left, he will tell you that a tea-partier is a racist, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been to a few of their events and a tea-partier is someone who believes in less government, less taxes, the constitution, and someone who wants government out of their business. I stand for those same things, so I have no problem being called a tea-partier.

What do you think is more important for jobs and economic growth in Wake County, tax cuts or the standard of living we provide through government services like education and mental health care?

Matthews: From the business side of things, we have to make our county an easy county to do business with. We want new businesses to come in, obviously- especially large businesses- but we don’t want to give away the farm just to get them to come in. Small, independent businessmen are the backbone of our county and our nation. We need to make it easier for them, not bog them down with regulations and fees. They employ people and those people spend money and pay taxes. If we get that free economy opened up and make people believe that this is a good county to do business in, then job growth and the revenue we need to run our county will take care of themselves.

Do you support the neighborhood schools plan and why or why not?

Matthews: That’s an easy one to answer. I do support neighborhood schools. The other day, I was up at about six checking my emails and all of a sudden I see this bus come by outside- in the dark- to bus these kids all the way across the county. If you look right down the road there’s a school that they could ride their bikes or even walk to. It would allow them to sleep more and spend more time with their families. The most important thing that we have to do with the neighborhood schools program is make sure- and we can do this- that all the schools, no matter where they are, are equal in the quality of facility and the quality of teachers and staff. It shouldn’t make a difference where the children go to school as long as they get the same quality of facilities and education. Now there may be some areas that need extra attention, shall we say, and we need to be alert to that and make adjustments. If we need to bring in more teachers or better programs in that area, then let’s do that.

Do you see the board of commissioner’s role as basically funding the school board with what they ask for?

Gurley: No. Two years ago, at my urging, we started the year with budgeting by purpose and function. Instead of just giving the school board a check for one-twelfth of its budget every month as we did in the past, we gave it 16 checks, each based on a purpose and function. Then if the school board deviates, within 25 percent on the high or low side of what it asked for on a particular function, it has to tell us. That way we can know if we need to limit or expand funding based on how well the school board works within its budget. The middle of that school year was an election year and that is when Democrats took control of the board. The first thing Democrats did was repeal purpose and function, so we never even got the first report back from the school board.

You’ve said that growth was paying for itself a few years ago, but it seems like we have some catching up to do in some services like mental health care and education, where teachers are having to buy their own paper.

Gurley: Mental health care and education. What do those two services have in common? They are both state responsibilities. The county is only responsible for facilities and even though, that is all we are responsible for, we still supplement the state budget. We gave the schools $315 million and only about $80 million of that went to maintaining the facilities. The rest of that money went to supplementing our school’s operating budget.

What the state can’t pay for?

Gurley: What the state won’t pay for. They could pay for it. Our taxpayers in Wake County fund schools better than the minimum, which is all the state is willing to fund.

Were you expecting such a challenge from Steve Rao at the outset of this campaign?

Gurley: When you get an opponent like Steve Rao, you know it’s going to be tough. I knew from the beginning that it would be tough. Even if he didn’t say a word, if he just raised money, ran ads, and was a Democrat, I knew it’d be close.

Are there any politicians who have inspired you?

Gurley: Well, I remember I liked Bobby Kennedy and I remember when he and Martin Luther King were assassinated. Those were really crazy times. The first time I really thought a politician could make a difference, though, was watching Ronald Reagan.

Do you mean in the economy?

Gurley: Even in the mood of the country. At that time Jimmy Carter said, “This is the first time in our history that people are scared the next five years are going to be worst than the last five.” And then Reagan came in there and proved that wrong. The Iran hostages were released, the Berlin wall came down, taxes were reduced from 70 percent to 25 percent. He even got more money into the government than when tax rates were up, because people were free to do more for themselves.

Do you think that could happen again because of government or do you think that was just a watershed period in history?

Gurley: Yes. I think it could happen again. The problem is… once a majority of people realize that they can vote themselves money, than you’ve reached a tipping point where it’s going to be difficult to go back. We’re at that point right now. We’re at the point where half of the population doesn’t pay income tax and they can vote themselves money from the other half, by electing people who are willing to take it from the half that do pay income taxes. Last year was the tipping point where we passed that 50 percent mark.

Who are those people who you are saying don’t pay income tax, the bottom 50 percent of earners?

Gurley: Yes.

Do you think that anyone who works a forty-hour per week job should be able to afford health care?

Gurley: I don’t think they could.

But do you think they should be able to?

Gurley: Yeah. There ought to be something that they can afford to pay for.

Like a government option?

Gurley: Well there’s all sorts of different kinds of health care. I really like the catastrophic health care plans, where you buy a cheap plan that pays for everything over $5,000.

Do you support the concept of neighborhood schools?

Gurley: Yes. I support the concept of children going to school in their community. When the schools are part of the community then parents are able to participate.

Do you think that whatever plan develops, we should try to avoid having high poverty schools?

Gurley: We already have high poverty schools.

We have some that are around the 70 percent mark. Redistricting could easily create some that reach 90 percent and above.

Gurley: You could use the magnet program for schools that might reach that level. You could create special programs in those schools which would draw children from around the county. I like that consultant’s approach. He doesn’t go by poverty in trying to determine zones. He’s basing it on academic performance. So, you don’t talk about high-poverty schools, but schools with high concentrations of poor performing students.

But, there is a high correlation between socio-economic status and grades, right?

Gurley: Oh, yeah. Exactly. But, you’re not allowed to talk about race and yet that’s what it all boils down to. That’s what we’re doing.

Do you think we’re at a crucial juncture in Wake County’s history?

Gurley: Yes. We’re at the peak of people thinking that government is the answer to everything. This election in two weeks can either be the turning point where we start emphasizing personal responsibility and government that helps individuals reach their potential and gives them support to open their own businesses or we can continue that path of people expecting government to do everything for them.

Don’t you think that part of the reason for the rise in sentiment on the Left and Obama’s sweeping victory, is people simply wanting government do the things it is supposed to do right, rather than do everything?

Gurley: No. I think they want government to do everything. We’re getting to the point that more people want to shift responsibility to the government than accept responsibility themselves. It’s not that they think government can do it more efficiently or effectively. They would rather not deal with it, just let government deal with it.

Let’s talk about your appointment to county commissioner, which happened while one Democrat was home sick and another was in the bathroom. Some people saw it as dirty politics. Do you consider it smart politics?

Gurley: It was stupid politics on their part. If they really wanted to reconsider the vote, when she [Commissioner Betty Lou Ward] came back in from the bathroom, the first thing she could’ve done was make a motion to reconsider that vote, since she wasn’t there. That would’ve been in order and I would’ve had to honor it.

Why do think they didn’t do that?

Gurley: Two reasons. They would rather try to be the victim and build on sympathy. They would rather play the politics of it. The other reason is, there isn’t a single one of them capable of being chairman and doing the work that needs to be done. They would rather be a victim and have a political item for their candidates, period.

Was there a particular moment you realized you wanted to serve as a politician or was it more gradual?

Bryan: I look at it as public service, rather than politics. It started out in the days of clubs in high school and then it was serving in the Navy. It just kind of evolved into being on a planning board in Knightdale in ’85 and then finally running for office- I think there were about 800 people living in Knightdale when I ran. I saw it as public service and being right there with my neighbors and trying to make things better.

What do you think you can do as a county commissioner to bring the most jobs to Wake County?

Bryan: A distinct difference between the Republicans and the Democrats on this issue is that we believe the private sector creates jobs, not the government. What government can do is make sure that there is certainty out there, that the rules and regulations are streamlined, that businesses know what to expect, that we have a low tax burden that we’re placing on the public, that we have invested in the basic core infrastructure that is so important for them to be successful, like good schools, good transportation, an adequate water supply, even our jails. Basically, we’ve got to have the infrastructure in place so that the private sector can create good high paying jobs.

What would you say is the best service we provide in Wake County and which service needs the most work?

Bryan: I don’t know that there is one best service. From what I’ve seen when I’ve been on these inner-city visits with the Raleigh chamber of commerce, we’ve got the total package. We are a safe community. People have police and firefighters to respond to their homes. We also have high-paying jobs and a good education system.

If we have such good schools as you say we do, do you think a major policy change, like the neighborhood schools policy, is a good idea?

Bryan: I would say we have a good school system, but I don’t think anywhere in America has a great school system. We need to look to places like Singapore, Finland, other places that have a great school system. The last election shows that the public wants neighborhood schools. Polling data that I’ve seen and have done says that 80 percent of the public want to have neighborhood schools. I do support a neighborhood schools approach and I would like to add that even with doing that, I’m the only Republican who has been endorsed by the North Carolina Association of Educators.

You’ve said that mental health care reform has been a disaster and that we simply do not have enough beds for people with mental illnesses. Do you think there is anything we can do about fixing our mental health care issues in these tough economic times, or is that issue going to sit on the back burner until Wake County is more prosperous?

Bryan: Let me put things in perspective. If we talk to the sheriff, he could use more money. If we talk to educators, they could use more resources. These are issues that you just have to continue to work on and set your priorities and do the best that you can. It is hard to strike that balance of knowing how much money people will pay in property taxes. I think we are going to have a period of years where we will have to just prioritize and do the best that we can with what we have.

You have a very impressive military service record. You’ve participated in both Gulf Wars. How old were you this last time, when you got called up from the National Guard?

Mial: Well a lot of people say I was too old. It was in 2005, so I was 53 years old. I decided to retire after that, but the actual age limit is 62 years old, so believe it or not I still could be over there… I went in the military when I was 18 years old, straight out of high school. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Then after four years in the Air Force, I went straight into college. The military motivated me to do something else.

In reference to the school board crisis, you have often pointed to the fact that you are a product of Wake County schools. Did you attend a segregated school?

Mial: I started out in segregated schools. But, then my parents moved me to Daniels and that’s when I had my first taste of integrated school.

What was that like?

Mial: It was an adjustment. It truly was an adjustment. But the great thing about that was the people that I met didn’t treat me badly. It wasn’t like I had problems or anything like that. It was a different experience, but it wasn’t bad. There were only about 25 minority kids at Daniels at that time and my brother, my sister and I were three of them.

How has it made you feel to watch the school board’s actions unfold over the past year?

Mial: It has been disturbing. We don’t need to change anything about the direction of our schools if what we truly want to work on is student achievement and that’s the premise of what the opposition is saying, with all the talk about the graduation rate. Did the previous school board make some mistakes? Probably. Does the school system need improving? Yes. But, do we need to tear it completely up in order to make the necessary changes? No. And that’s what I see this new school board trying to do, trying to destroy the whole concept.

Do you think that is part of the sacrifice we have to make as a community to have good schools?

Mial: Absolutely. Everybody is going to have to sacrifice. But one thing we could improve, that is driving parents nutty, is getting every kid who is in the same household on the same track. If you have siblings on different tracks then when it comes time for the parents to try to set up a family vacation, it’s almost impossible.

You are in favor of a gang task force. How do we actually break the cycle of children turning to gangs in our communities?

Mial: So many of these kids are caught up in gangs, because that’s where they believe they need to be, they believe the gang is what’s going to take care of them. Unlike adult offenders, all of the juvenile offenders will return to the streets. From that perspective, it is in society’s best interest to do everything we can with those individuals while they are in our system, to provide them an education, and deter them from being in gangs once they get out. We need to try to redirect them. We’ve got a task force now, which local law enforcement is involved in. But, it’s going to take more of a community effort. This is a community problem. You can put all the police on the streets you want. But, there are limits to how close they are going to be able to get to the different people who are part of a gang.

Do you think they will be able to strike at the root of the problem?

Mial: I think the community along with law enforcement can do it. There are some things law enforcement can address. But there are more things which people from the community are going to have to start dealing with. Community, family, schools, and peer groups are the most crucial components of a young person’s development. If those four variables are working strong then you won’t have anything to worry about. But, if there is a problem with two or three of those variables then you can predict that that kid is going to have an education problem, like he’s not going to graduate or he’s going to end up in jail.

Do you think you’re opponent Commissioner Bryan has done a good job as county commissioner?

Mial: I think he has missed some opportunities. Look at mental health, for instance. Why are we just now building this facility that’s about to open. That’s something we needed to be sorting out a long time ago.

Everybody seems to agree that mental health care is a disaster.  Where do we go from here on solving our mental health problems?

Mial: Everybody agrees it’s a disaster, but nobody’s willing to make the sacrifice it takes to fix things. Everyone is pointing fingers at one another, saying “it’s his fault” or “it’s her fault.” We all need to come together at the table and draw up a plan that will work towards solving this issue. If we don’t take an active role in this now, it’s only going to get worse. Same with gangs. It’s not going to go away. We can’t stick our head in the sand, like an ostrich. All these issues are going to remain on the table until we come together as a community and say, “We are going to solve this problem.”

It seems like legislators can only do so much when they are not backed by the community. Is part of the problem that our community is not willing to sacrifice and take ownership of these problems?

Mial: Well, I think that plays into it. One thing that we- the county commissioners- can do is to help bring the community together.

Would you support a referendum on the half-cent sales tax for public transit in 2011?

Mial: Absolutely. There are three things that play into our economic development: education, transportation, and health and human services. If we don’t have a strong education system, we won’t be able to supply the workforce that it takes to attract employers. If we don’t have a strong transportation system, no company is going to want to locate here.

How do we continue to attract growth but at the same time play catch up on infrastructure needs like water and transportation which come from past growth?

Mial: There’s an old saying: “We’ve got to grow better, not bigger.” We’ve got to plan and we’ve got to be strategic in our planning. That’s going to require all our municipalities sitting down at the table and coordinating. What takes place in Knightdale, will affect Raleigh. What takes place in Cary, will affect Holly Springs.

Would you support impact fees or transfer taxes?

Mial: No. The builder would just pass that cost on to the consumer and that would price some people out of being able to afford their own house.

Then, how do we get builders and developers to help pay for sustainable growth?

Mial: That’s an age-old problem. They are going to have to step up to the plate. How we get that done? I don’t know. So many individuals are taking contributions from the builders. For instance, my opponent has taken quite a bit. If you go back and look at his disclosure from 2006, you will see that a vast amount of his money is coming from builders.

We talk about sustainable growth a lot, but where was that concept a couple of years ago? It seems like our building economy was a bonfire, which brought lots of families in, but hasn’t necessarily brought in the long-term money for the services that those families need.

Mial: Growth happened because we do have a good thing going here. We had a strong, vibrant school system. We don’t want to cut into the builder’s profits but we have to figure out a way to get them to realize that if we don’t work together here, we’re going to kill the golden goose.

Do you remember having a moment when you realized you wanted to serve Wake County in the public arena?

Brown: I do. Before I was elected county commissioner, I worked in developmental disability services. My department mainstreamed people with developmental disabilities, whether it be mental illness or substance abuse problems out in the community. I started seeing the mental health reform cut backs that were being trickled down to the county level. I could not believe the reduction in funds and how they wouldn’t be enough to support high-maintenance patients. I asked myself, “How in the world can you do with less funding and continue to provide a quality of life for people who have high-maintenance disabilities?” That was when I realized I wanted to do something. It comes natural for me to advocate for people who don’t normally have a voice

Where do you stand on impact fees?

Brown: Impact fees are something I will not support. I don’t think that we need to hold the developers and homebuilders responsible for people wanting to relocate here. We can’t promote Wake County as the best place to live, work, and raise a family and then penalize developers with a tax that they will only pass on to the buyer. Sometimes when that tax is passed on it may put some buyers just out of the range of purchasing a home.  It also impacts senior citizens who have been in their home for 40 or 50 years and then want to downsize.

If that money will allow us to have better schools and offer better services for the community, shouldn’t we be searching for that money in the community somewhere?

Brown: Yes, I agree with you. But only if the money can be mandated specifically for that. This is the piece- we as county commissioners would have to have an interlocal agreement with the school board that this pot of money will be designated for x, y, and z.

Do you think Wake County is ready for a referendum on the half-cent sales tax increase to fund public transit?

Brown: No, I don’t. Not now. People aren’t pleased with the congestion on the roads. But, I can’t support it because of the economy- and tell you the truth it doesn’t feel like we’re out of a recession, even though the economists say we are.

When do you think Wake County will be ready? 2012?

Brown: That would be the earliest in my opinion. I’m only going to put that referendum on the ballot, when I believe the majority of the citizens are saying go for it.

What do you think the chances are that Wake County ends up with a fully Democratic board of commissioners?

Brown: Well I’ve been in politics 29 years and it surprises me about every ten or twelve years on the national and local level. I have mixed views about a Democratic majority, because we need to hold tight to spending and not just haphazardly spend the funds and erode our AAA rating, which is based on how well we follow our budget. As Tony Gurley said at the UPHA forum, only about 20 counties in the country have that AAA rating and I want to protect that.

Are you worried that a heavily weighted board will…

Brown: …come in and start spending without looking at it from a long-range standpoint?  Yes I am.

Do you remember being inspired to be an elected official?

Coble: Yes. I was a new father and small businessman. Having grown up in Raleigh, I had watched Raleigh politics somewhat over the years and became very frustrated with the city’s tax increases, increased fees and increased cost of doing business. It’s very hard to watch money go out of your pocket, especially when you know you have two small mouths to feed. That’s when I realized I needed to be involved in how these decisions were being made.

What do you think of Wake County’s current tax policy? Is it better or do we need more tax cuts for small businesses?

Coble: We need to be more efficient with how we spend our money. Our processes have to be predictable, fair, and not too burdensome. The more I talk to businessmen throughout the county, the more I find that people are frustrated by the cost of doing business with government and the regulations involved. Most people do not deal with government everyday. So when they come to government and have to interact with it, well, that’s not something they’re used to. It becomes a governmental maze and I can see why they become frustrated. So any time we’re making changes or adding regulations, I try to look at it say, “How will the average person view this? How will the average business owner deal with this?”

Did your uncle, Senator Jesse Helms, inspire you in your political career?

Coble: It’s interesting. For a long time, I never could understand why he wanted to be in Washington, given the abuse he took from people. The man that was portrayed in the media was certainly not the man I ever knew. I certainly appreciated his service and his ability to put up with, what I thought, were unfair characterizations of him. The way he affected me the most was by telling me that “You have to be fair and honest and you have to be direct with the voting public.” And he said, “You’ve got to do what’s right.” He was always on the look-out for the taxpayer. In that regard, I learned a lot from him. He was always a gentlemen and he was a very gracious individual. I always admired that in him.

Everyone in Wake County is worried about job growth, but they are also worried about government services, like education and mental health care. How can Wake County manage to attract jobs and fund public services?

Coble: You’ve got to live with in your means. We’re in the middle of a recession and government cannot expect to spend beyond its means, when the people who pay taxes cannot expect to do that. Government has to learn to live within its means in order not to be too much of a burden on the taxpayers themselves. Government has to identify the most important services and fund those appropriately. But quite simply, there may have to be things you don’t do, things that are beyond the scope of what county government is supposed to do. But, the thing that government does do, it has to do well. In a year when every other county in the state cut funding to education, we fully funded education. At a time when the state is cutting back on the services at Dix, we negotiated a contract with Holly Hill and are opening two new mental health continuum of care facilities.

Do you think the county commissioners have done the best they can with what the state has given them, in regards to education and mental health care, two things which you’ve said need pretty major changes?

Coble: In my opinion, there is not an area of government that can not try to be more efficient and more effective with how it spends its money. We always have to be looking for ways to be more effective. One of our biggest problems is that we’ve got a Democratic governor and Democratic legislature that is passing $3 billion on to the cities and counties in this next year budgetary year, because they didn’t balance the budget. They used federal stimulus money to balance the budget, which many people think is unconstitutional.

Will you consider things like impact fees or transfer taxes?

Coble: Those are very narrow taxes, which are not effective. The only thing they will do is kick the industries that are hurting the most in the teeth in a time when they least need it. We need the economy to pick up. We need home market and the real estate market and the commercial market to make a comeback. They are not going to make a comeback if you are holding them back with additional fees and taxes, which will only get passed on to the consumer.

Do you think we could ever see another boom in development in Wake County like we did three or four years ago?

Coble: Absolutely. I think what we’re going through now is a course correction. I think what we’re seeing now is the result of a lot of bad decisions government made.

Do you mean state government or the federal government during the Bush years?

Coble: Oh no, it wasn’t under Bush. If you want to know the root of the problem, you have to go back to the Clinton years and decisions that were made related to banking in the mid- to late-nineties and the push to give people opportunities to be in debt that did not need to be in debt.

What do you think about Jack Nichols recent press release which said that you are unreachable online and chided you for not having a campaign website?

Coble: I think Jack’s grabbing at straws and I’m not surprised. Anyone who has run a campaign knows that you have limited dollars and you spend those dollars in the most efficient way possible. I chose to put my money into areas I thought would be more effective, into other types of advertising- a website is only a form of advertising- like TV.

In the press release Nichols says you’ve spent $70,000 in TV advertising. Would you say that’s about right?

Coble: I don’t remember appointing Jack my treasurer.

But is that the amount of money you’ve spent on advertising?

Coble: Gosh, I don’t remember. I’ll have to ask my real treasurer. Here’s the real difference between Jack and I. Go back and look at the campaign reports and see how much debt his campaigns are in, from his previous campaign and from this one. Then look at mine. I don’t have any debt. I don’t spend money that I don’t have. He obviously does. What that shows me is the difference between a conservative and a liberal.

Do you think Wake County will be ready for a referendum on the half-cent sales increase to fund public transportation in 2011?

Coble: The question is not “Will Wake County be ready?” I don’t think the transportation people are going to be ready. The legislation says that they have to present a plan that is financially responsible and feasible. I don’t think they can present that kind of a plan to us by that time.

So, it’s not the tax increase that is the problem, but the lack of a responsible plan?

Coble: Oh no, I got a real problem raising taxes on people when we’re in the middle of a recession.

But, as Tony Gurley has said, couldn’t light rail lead to high-density growth along its corridors?

Coble: One of the problems is that Wake County has been developed in a way that is not conducive to a fixed rail system. You don’t have a region like Mecklenburg where everything is feeding in to one central location. You’ve got a county with 12 different municipalities that are spread out all over and trying to bring an efficient transportation system to that is difficult.

Mayor

Mark Enloe

Larry Hudson

Gregg Kunz

Charles Meeker (incumbent)

At-large

Mary-Ann Baldwin (incumbent)

Champ Claris

Lee Sartain

Bill Shakespeare

Russ Stephenson (incumbent)

District A

Nancy McFarlane (incumbent)

District B

Rodger Koopman (incumbent)

John Odom

District C

Chuck Reisinger

James West (incumbent)

District D

Thomas Crowder (incumbent)

Jerome Goldberg

Ted Van Dyk

District E

Bonner Gaylord

Waheed Haq