Conservatives triumph in primary voting

Burke County’s reputation as a conservative county just got turned up a notch.

If Tuesday’s Republican primary election results are a prime indicator – and we believe they are – Burke County is now a very conservative county.

In that vote, four incumbents – two school board members and two county commissioners – were booted from office by more conservative candidates.

Let’s look first at the county commission race:

It should be noted that defeated county commissioners Scott Mulwee and Johnnie Carswell can hardly be defined as flaming liberals. Both men have a long history of activism in the Republican Party.

They have, however, followed a more moderate course over the last few years, giving approval to an ambitious capital improvement plan and providing more funding to the public schools.

We suspect that two other issues contributed more to their defeat – the setting of the county property tax rate last May and their support for the development of a large industrial site in western Burke County.

The county’s property revaluation, the results of which were revealed in January tax bills, pushed residential property values up in Burke County by an average of 47 percent.

That was quite the increase.

As a result – even though the commission reduced the tax rate from 69.5 cents per 100 dollars of value to 56 cents – most residents still saw an increase in their property tax bills.

Tax increases are never popular, but they are especially unpopular in election years.

Great Meadows Megasite

As to the development of the “megasite” in western Burke near Lake James:

Neither commissioners nor county staff have been nearly as proactive as they need to be in telling western Burke residents exactly what kind of industry is being courted and what benefits that industry might bring.

Into that vacuum has flowed a steady stream of rumors and misinformation that left many people opposing the site development even if they did not know exactly what they were opposing.

The men who defeated the incumbents – Brian Barrier and Mike Stroud – both pledged to work to lower taxes and to oppose development of the megasite.

Those appeals resonated with Republican voters. 

The Burke County school board race:

Incumbents Seth Hunt and Wendi Craven were upset by challengers Jeffrey Reid Beck and Jamey Wycoff. It should be noted that Hunt is chairman of the board and Craven the immediate past chair.

Here, the reasons for the incumbents’ defeats are not so clear.

The most high profile issue the board has dealt with over the past year is its policy relating to “explicit” books on library shelves.

After administrators consulted with the N.C. Values Commission, however, the policy was modified by the board to give parents more control, prompting Wycoff to say, “I like the new policy they’ve put in.”

Beck, Wycoff, and Brad Camp, who defeated Susan Jones, ran as a team and all three spoke about the need for more transparency on the board’s part, a discipline policy that is more supportive for teachers, and taking actions to improve student test scores.

Final thoughts:

Although the primary was decisive in most races, one Democrat will be on the ballot for county commissioner in November – Wesley Hendrix.

Jamey Wycoff will be opposed in his bid for an at-large seat on the school board by Democrat Sharon Ivester Everhart.

And, while Sonya Rockett did not face opposition in the Republican primary, she will be opposed on the November ballot by Dr. Don Hemstreet, who is running for reelection to the central district seat as an unaffiliated candidate.

Our hope is that more Burke registered voters will go to the polls in November than did this week when only a paltry 25 percent exercised their full rights and responsibilities as American citizens.