Democrats also have a primary to decide a two-candidate slate for county commissioner.
Facing off for the two Democratic nominations are Mebane city councilman Sean C. Ewing, Burlington pastor and activist Ramona Allen, and Warren L. Parks, Jr.
Parks does not appear to be conducting an active campaign. As with all candidates in both parties, The Alamance News asked Parks to respond to an issues questionnaire and provide biographical information on his background.
When he did not respond to several emailed requests, the publisher ultimately was able to find a phone number (since it wasn’t listed on the original information from the Board of Elections), and called him, offering to extend the deadline (which had passed) in order to accommodate his responses to be included in this week’s edition.
While Parks told the publisher on Wednesday morning that he would do so, he subsequently emailed the following addendum an hour later: “Unfortunately, I am unable to participate in this questionnaire at this time.”
All candidates had been told that a failure to respond to the issues questionnaire would result in a listing as “refused to answer,” and his column on the candidate questionnaire includes that designation for each of the requested issues.
In other cases, candidates in both parties apparently chose to skip certain questions. A bracketed explanation of “no response” is included in such cases.
Ewing, who is a former official with the county Democratic Party, serves on the Mebane city council, which like all Alamance County municipalities has an ostensibly nonpartisan board.
Like most of his Republican counterparts, Ewing says he believes the county’s current property tax rate of 49.4 cents per $100 valuation is “about right.”
Also like most of them, he pledges to seek a “revenue neutral” tax rate after the county’s next revaluation, set for next year.
Democrat Ramona Allen (not to be confused with Republican commissioner candidate and current county commissioner chairman with the same surname, Kelly Allen), didn’t commit to a position on seeking a “revenue neutral” tax rate after revaluation. Instead, she emphasized her experience adhering to her own agency’s budget, “I work in subsidized housing on yearly budget, help set that budget. I have to abide by HUD rules plus getting residents what they need.”
Ewing also believes county spending is “about right,” although he cites three areas that he believes warrant more spending: education, specifically ABSS, public libraries, and the Rescue Squad.
Ramona Allen’s list of underfunded areas were: “monies allocated for schools, monies for teachers, monies for first responders.”
While Ewing didn’t identify any areas where spending was too high, Ramona Allen listed, “taxes, wasteful spending, lack of transparency.”
In several of his responses, Ewing cites his background and occupation as an engineer who will seek “data-driven” information in making decisions on the board of commissioners. “As an engineer,” Ewing says, “I prioritize data over rhetoric. My record proves I value fiscal discipline; I’ll demand efficiency-first budgeting before any tax-rate adjustments.”
Both Democrats say they want to add Juneteenth as an additional paid holiday for county employees, with Ewing adding that he would “propose offset efficiencies to ensure a revenue-neutral implementation” of the additional holiday.
Both Democrats who responded to the newspaper’s questionnaire say they consider high priorities for funding to be increasing the local supplement for ABSS teachers and other, unspecified increases in spending for ABSS.
Ewing adds providing additional pay for county employees, while Ramona Allen added “affordable housing” as a third area for additional attention.
The two candidates’ responses can be found HERE, and can also be compared to the Republican candidates’ responses on the same pages.
Candidates of both parties were given word limits of 15 words each on their elaboration to “yes-no,” “support-oppose” questions. Other questions elicited answers with as many as 25 or even 50 words.
In the case of candidates of both parties who exceeded the word limits, the newspaper was forced to edit the responses to stay within the stated limits.
Biographical information on the Democratic candidates for county commissioner can be viewed here: https://alamancenews.com/meet-the-democratic-candidates-for-county-commissioner/
