Candidates for county commissioner debate the issues

pressreporter@thefranklinpress.com

Candidates for the county commissioner District III seat, Democrat Bobby Kuppers and Republican Jimmy Goodman discussed their positions on key issues facing the county during a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Oct. 10 at Tartan Hall in Franklin.

The District III seat came open after Goodman defeated incumbent republican and current commissioner chairman Charlie Leatherman in the May 6 primary.

In addition to explaining their interests and qualifications for the position, and what they seek to accomplish if elected county commissioner, candidates were asked a series of questions submitted by the audience related to current events in the county. The questions, along with candidate responses (edited for length) appear below:

Q: Please explain your views on taxation for education purposes and also highlight a few of your priorities for public schools that commissioners can afford.

Goodman: "It says in the North Carolina Constitution the state must provide equal education to every student in the state. So the majority of this falls on the state system. Now they are trying to push a lot of that onto counties, non-funded stuff that they want you to do. I'd like to see that pushed back to them."

While he said he supported public schools, Goodman said he is "100 percent adamantly against" building mega schools and advocated for retaining community schools.

"I think our community schools - you keep the kids in their communities-where their parents can be involved in their education - you're going to get better students," Goodman said.

He said he had recently taken the time to visit every school in the county with the exception of Highlands and Nantahala.

"And we do have some problems out there we need to solve. I have a plan, it's complicated and I can't take the time to tell you about it right now - I do believe we can keep those small schools.

"The Cullasaja School should stay - it needs to be upgraded. The Iotla School needs to stay right where it's at. That school is in good shape right now. Cowee is one of the best schools in this county. It needs some upgrades, but I believe we can do that.

"I would like to take it to the citizens of this county and ask them do they agree with me. And I believe in the good, hard-working, honest people of this county. And if you go to them truthfully and tell them what you want to do I think they'll do the right thing."

Kuppers: "Gas is almost $4 a gallon if you can get it, the price of everything is going up. It's hard for me to stand up here and tell you I support a tax increase right now for anything until I see something at the national level that shows me that people are going to be able to survive."

"I'm not saying that taxes won't be raised, and I'm not saying that education isn't my number one priority, because clearly it is," said Kuppers, who teaches civics at Franklin High School. "What I am saying is, people are hurting."

Kuppers said that he had visited schools in the county as well, and while he would like to, he is not convinced they can keep community schools.

He commented that Cullasaja School has run out of property and there is nowhere to go unless they start tearing down the playground.

'Cowee is a magnificent building, and I don't want to see anything happen to it," Kuppers said. "But the simple fact of the matter is for cost effectiveness you might have to go that way."

While qualifying that he is not a fan of mega schools, Kuppers said that 500-600 students does not constitute creating a mega school.

Due to the tax burden, Kuppers said we could not afford to hold onto these community schools. "I wish that we could,' Kuppers said. "My wife went to Iotla, my best friend's wife went to Cowee. I love Cowee."

He said while community schools are valuable, they are not realistic at this point. "It's not where we are," Kuppers said. "I know I stand in a classroom every day with 25 kids in it, and every one of my classes has 25 kids in it usually. That's the real world."

Kuppers said what is important is to ensure that kids don't go to school in trailers and don't go to school in buildings that don't meet current code. The priority should be to get kids a place where they can learn, he added.

"And we've got to make sure that we have the facilities and technology available to get them to the next level of education, whether that level is Southwestern Community College or UNC," Kuppers said.

Q: Would you support making the planning department a stand-alone department again, as is common practice among other counties and towns in N.C.? What task you would assign the planning board next after they finish the Junk Ordinance?

Editor's Note: In September, the county restructured the planning department so it is no longer a stand-alone department but has been incorporated into a new department called "Permitting, Planning and Development."

Goodman: Goodman said he supported keeping the planning department as a part of the new "Planning, Permitting and Development," department because it provides a one-stop shop for information concerning regulations. "I think the planning board being under one roof is a good idea," Goodman said.

As far as what's next for the planning board, Goodman who served on the planning board for three years before being voted down for another term by county commissioners in a 3-2 vote, commented, "In my opinion, it's time to take a hiatus. I mean we have passed regulations in this county the last four years and done a fairly decent job, and the building industry has almost slowed to a halt.

"We need to step back and see what these things are doing to our economy, because I know a lot of people in my business that are out of work. And we need to see what they are doing to our economy and make sure we are enforcing them correctly. There are a lot of things in here that's not being enforced that needs to be enforced.

'We need to step back and take a look at personnel, to see what we need to do to enforce all this stuff we passed in the past two or three years correctly. And then step back in and see what's going on."

While he would like to see the Junk Ordinance finished, Goodman said "after that I think we just need to go on hiatus."

Kuppers: "I'm not sure that it needs to be a separate department, but I am sure I don't want it to take a hiatus," said Kuppers of the planning board.

"I think the problem, it's not the planning board's fault-is that we have tried a shotgun approach to planning and land use management by putting band aids on something we thought might become arterial bleeding, Kuppers said. "We've taken the low-hanging fruit.

"I'd like to see the planning board be a planning board."

He said he would be in favor of giving the planning board the leeway to develop a long-range plan for the county.

"We need the planning board to give us a long-range view, a long-range plan, so that then we can start to go back and put the tasks in order that we need to do to get to the long-range plan.

"But If we don't know what the goal is, how do we get there?" Kuppers said.

"We need to know where we want to be 20 years from now, 30 years from now. That's the planning board's job. The task has to be a long-range plan.

"That's what I ask-don't task them, liberate them. Free them up to be a planning board again, instead of a first aid kit. Let them plan. And then let's look at the future and see what we can do to execute that plan.

Q: Are you familiar with the provisions of the newly passed floodplain ordinance? Would you continue to defend the provisions of that ordinance as the current commissioners have?

Goodman: "Any law that's on the books right now the current commissioners have passed, we have to - we have to do what they say," Goodman said. "And I think there's things that will have to be looked at in the future.

'So if something comes up that we need to be looking at these things , I will definitely take a look at it."

Goodman emphasized that he would look at every side of every issue before he makes a decision.

"Let me assure you that I will go to every avenue that I have to get the entire information, not just from one side," Goodman said.

"When I'm elected county commissioner, I'm not there to represent me, I'm not there to represent the Republican Party, I'm here to represent the people of this county. So I need to talk to every side of every issue before I make any kind of decision."

Kuppers: "I agree that we are obligated to follow the ordinances as they are written," Kuppers said.

He emphasized the need for county commissioners to get out and talk to people in their communities outside of commissioner meetings. .

"I think the people of the Macon County, they don't want county commissioners to talk to them, they want to talk to county commissioners,"

Using a sports analogy, Kuppers commented, "I'm a football coach, I'd much rather play at home than on somebody else's field. It's time that we, to solve problems like the floodplain ordinance, and the differences we may have, that we take ourselves where the people are and play on their field, in their stadium."

He added that there are five county commissioners and 15 precincts, meaning if a commissioner goes to a precinct once a month they can cover the county three times a year.

"To me, if we do that, we'll get their input on issues like the floodplain ordinance and we won't go back and second guess ourselves. We won't have to go back and reexplain bonds that people didn't understand perhaps when they cast their vote.

"We won't have to fight those battles. Because we'll be listening up front. If you want to talk to me, if you'll elect me county commissioner, I'll come see you. It's that important.

"It's also important to remember that I represent you whether you voted for me or whether you didn't and I'll be here for you."

Q: Would you personally support a Junkyard Ordinance? Assuming that you had talked to people in the community and heard both positions.

Kuppers: Kuppers said the document is a work in progress and he has not read the draft ordinance yet, so he could not definitively say whether he supported it or not.

"But what I will tell you are some general things that need to be balanced," Kuppers said.

"The rights of the people to reside in their home and be able to look out their own windows and open those windows and not have to deal with looking at a junkyard. But that needs to be balanced.

"Some people make their living off that junkyard. And you've got to strike a balance between the two. "We've got to drop the partisanship and say listen. It's time each of us gives up our own agenda just a little bit to get the best deal for the county.

"It's a tough one. I've got to see what the ordinance says and I've got to see if it strikes the proper balance between ownership of the junkyard and ownership of your house. We can't ignore one over the other."

Goodman: Goodman said if the planning board comes up with something that is palatable to all parties involved, he would support it.

"Do I support property rights?" Goodman said. "You bet your bottom dollar I support property rights. Property rights are one of the most important things to me. Do I support community? Yes I do."

Goodman said they would need to sit down at the table, do away with the partisanship as Kuppers had mentioned, and talk and work out the issues to come to a consensus.

He cited his experience with the planning board and some of the contentious issues they worked on, such as the High Impact Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance, where the board visited the county's various communities and tried to get more people involved.

" I have worked on these issues. I know how to come to common ground on all this stuff," Goodman said.

'This is what I'm talking about-the citizens of Macon County getting what they want, not what a county commissioner wants, but what the citizens of this county want.

"That's what I think has been lacking in government for the whole time I've been involved in it. The commissioners go up there and they forget who elected them. It's the people of this county.

"One of the things I will do as county commissioner is do everything possible I can to get citizens involved in their government and educate them anyway I can," Goodman said.

One of things he wants to do is develop an e-mail list where everyone gets a copy of the county commissioner meeting agenda so people know what's going on and when major issues are being discussed.

Closing remarks

Goodman: Goodman responded in his closing remarks to Kupper's comments on the planning board needing to engage in long-range planning.

He said that the county is currently in the process of hiring a planner (former planner Stacy Guffey resigned Oct. 7), and that the planner's job will be to plan 25 years into the future and plan for the county.

And if the planner says they need a planning board to work on ordinances and discuss some of these things he would go along with that.

Goodman cited his own planning board service and understanding of the laws that regulate county commissioners as helping prepare him for the position.

"And I promise you that I will serve every citizens of this county, and listen to all sides of every issue, before I make any decisions on anything," Goodman said.

"I appreciate your support. "You can elect a good man county commissioner-Jimmy Good-man."

Kuppers: Kuppers said to him the position of commissioner boils down to three main things: common sense, communication and community.

The common sense part involves identifying the source of problems, identifying possible solutions, then asking the people what they want to do and executing. "That's easy," Kuppers said.

He explained that communication means coming to meet with people where they live. "We need to go where you are and find out what you think," Kuppers said.

"Community is those kids out here, community is you. Community is the fact that if I get elected county commissioner, I'm just as much a representative of the people who voted against me as the people who voted for me.

"It's not about D's and R's, and don't let anyone in this election tell you it's about D's and R's. It's about M's - Maconians. "I'm battling for Maconians."

Candidate Background

Kuppers: Kuppers grew up in Macon County and graduated from Franklin High School. He then attended the Naval Academy and spent 25 years in the Navy in a variety of leadership positions

"I've been in a few leadership positions, I've handled a few government budgets on my own and in conjunction with other people," Kuppers said. "I feel like in the course of that 25 years what that brings to the table is that I've seen government at its best, and I've seen government at its worst. And I think after 25 years I have a pretty good idea of the difference between the two."

Kuppers returned to Macon County in 2000 and currently teaches Civics at Franklin High School and also coaches defensive backs and serves as co-defensive coordinator for the FHS football team.

"I will coach and teach nowhere else," Kuppers said. If I were offered a job anywhere else in the country other than Franklin High I would not accept it. This is my home and I'm indebted to this county."

Discussing his reason for running, Kuppers recalled that while growing up here there were five people here he didn't know looking after him and making sure he had a place to go to school, that he did not attend school in a trailer, that he had recreation fields on which to practice and play, etc. "The county commissioners took care of me," Kuppers said.

"They made me understand that they would look after me until I was able to look after myself. And I decided I'd like to be that advocate.

"And if I'm fortunate enough to get your vote, I will."

Goodman: Goodman has lived in the Burningtown community 17 years and has been running a cabinet shop for 14 years.

He said the experience of running his own small business and running budgets, managing sales, ordering and buying products, etc, and his three years spent on the planning board working on the High Impact Ordinance and the Subdivision Ordinance has prepared him for being a commissioner.

"My whole goal in Macon County government is to get the citizens involved in their government as much as I can possibly do it," Goodman said.

One way he hopes to achieve this is for the board to record all county commissioner meetings and post them on the website for the county to see.

"That's what I want to do as county commissioner, to work hard to get you as much information as I can-so you will be able to make educated decisions."

Referencing the failed 2007 bond referendum as an example, Goodman added, "I think it was very poorly presented to the county. And it appears they have actually went against the people of this county and voted for something the people voted against. I'll never do that."

For a complete list of candidates in the 2008 General Election, one stop early voting times, polling locations and more, visit the Macon Board of Elections website www.maconnc.org/elections.