Editor’s note: This is the 11th in a series of candidate profiles for council and mayoral candidates in Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Leland, Belville and Navassa. Candidates’ responses have not been edited. Click here or visit our “2013 Municipal Elections” tab for more information about candidates and the upcoming municipal elections on Nov. 5.
Please describe any previous elected or appointed office in which you have served that is relevant to your candidacy.
Previous elected or appointed offices – Former chairman of both New Hanover County and Wrightsville Beach Planning Boards. New Hanover County Commissioner (1992-1996). Wrightsville Beach Alderman (2009-present). Wrightsville Beach representative to the Wilmington MPO Transportation Advisory Committee.
Wrightsville Beach has a renourishment project coming up, and it appears adequate funds are in place for it. But federal participation in beach projects is not assured; by that token neither is the state’s. Hypothetically, what would Wrightsville Beach need to do to generate the funds needed for these routine but pricey beach nourishment projects?
Local funding for renourishment – First we should never give up putting pressure on the State and Federal Governments to contribute their share of the renourishment funds. Second Wrightsville Beach has included $50,000.00 in its yearly budget over the last several years for renourishment precisely in case we are faced with a shortfall. The new board should continue this policy and, depending on other capital needs, consider increasing it. We can explore the possibility of changing the State’s policy governing expenditures of the second 3% of the Room Occupancy Tax to provide more money for sand. We should also seek authority from the State to allow local jurisdictions to add an additional 1/4 cent to the ROT and specifically designate the money derived from it for sand. Wrightsville Beach should remain a part of the interlocal agreement signed with New Hanover County and the other beach communities to pool our funds toward helping maintain the integrity of all of our beaches and to provide a fair and equitable formula for expending those funds.
Wrightsville Beach, through a referendum in 2012, became North Carolina’s first beach town to enact a beach-strand smoking ban, but questions continue to rise about its fairness. What’s your view on this?
Smoking Ban – The smoking ban on Wrightsville Beach’s beach strand was passed by referendum with 65% of the vote. Under these circumstances I hardly see how a question of fairness comes into play. I was an early supporter of the ban and continue to be. The ban was not intended to be a strictly punitive measure. It was designed to raise the awareness of the harm that cigarettes cause in the environment and to educate the public . It should be enforced but not until warnings have been issued and ignored. It has been successful. We have seen more families on the strand since it was enacted and the number of cigarette butts on the beach has substantially decreased.
What is the biggest issue facing Wrightsville Beach right now, and what do you propose to do about it?
Biggest issue on Wrightsville Beach – Without question the biggest issue facing not only Wrightsville Beach but also our county and region is the impact of the Biggert-Waters Federal Flood Insurance Act. The rate increases it proposes and the removal of many land uses from the Flood Insurance Program will have a devastating economic impact on us. The huge increases due to the elimination of subsidies and grandfathering for those structures that conformed to the building codes at the time of construction but which do not conform to the new codes will depress the value of properties, the real estate market and new construction.
I have acted to oppose this bill since June when I first became aware of it. I proposed the resolution Wrightsville Beach passed opposing the legislation. I then reached out through my local contacts and through our town’s connections with other jurisdictions to ask them to sponsor similar resolutions and this effort has been very successful. I have worked with the local Home Builders’ Association and the Realtors’ Association to coordinate lobbying efforts in Washington. I have been in constant contact with Rep. McIntyre’s legislative assistant in charge of this effort since the summer to keep abreast of the most recent developments in Washington and to plan future strategies. I have launched an e-mail campaign on Wrightsville Beach to recruit citizens to email Senator Hagan, Senator Burr and Rep. McIntyre to keep the pressure on to delay the implementation of this bill until a proper economic impact analysis has been done and the legislation can be changed to minimize its impacts while preserving the Flood Insurance Program. I have reached out to the elected officials in our other beach communities and the City of Wilmington to ask them to do the same with their citizens. I have reached out to the N.C. League of Municipalities to urge them to contact jurisdictions in other parts of the state that have been affected by flooding to make them aware that this is not only a coastal issue. The next step is to move beyond North Carolina to make direct contact with cities and towns in other states to raise this issue with them, elected official to elected official, so that they will also pressure their representatives in Washington to delay implementation of this bill.
