NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Travis Robinson joins a crowded field of 15 total candidates running for a seat on the Board of Commissioners in 2020.
Three seats are up for election in 2020, two of the seats are uncontested as current commissioners Woody White and Patricia Kusek have both announced they will not seek reelection; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield has filed to run for reelection. In March, the primary election will whittle the field down to three Republican and three Democrat candidates.
Robinson is a former New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO) deputy who recently retired with the rank of Lieutenant; Robinson served over three decades in law enforcement, most of it with NHCSO. He lives in Wilmington
Robinson has lived in the Wilmington area since 1977; his wife, two children, brother, and sister also live in the area.
Robinson said he believes his law enforcement experience means he’s not beholden to any special interests and can focus on representing the public, something he says citizens often feel is lacking.
“There’s nothing I’m beholden to — I’ve always enjoyed public service. After I retired, I wanted to see what I can do, to serve on the board and represent the citizens,” Robinson said. “With what’s going on across our country, and how divisive things can be, people can feel like nothing is getting done — and that they don’t have a voice.”
The collaboration over the last year of current commissioners Woody White and Julia Olson-Boseman, despite their acrimonious past, gave Robinson hope for bi-partisan — or even non-partisan progress — at the county level.
“When I saw that, you know, in spite of their past, I thought, ‘that’s new — but good,” Robinson said. “I’m hopeful to see what we can collectively do, and not be just the Democratic or Republican representative but the people’s representative.”
Robinson said his biggest issue was continuing the region’s economic growth, but in a balanced way.
“We want to develop land — but appropriately. We want industry and good-paying jobs, but you can’t just take all the green space away,” Robinson said.
Robinson pointed at targeted land development for industrial use along Highway 421 in the northeast of the county as a good example. He also pointed to the need for training for skilled laborer training, noting that the Cape Fear Community College has good programs like lineman training and commercial driving instruction that could be expanded, or supported in the private sector.
“We’re going to have issues getting trained plumbing and electrical work, for example,” Robinson said. “You’re going to need to train the people who will have to take the place of the people who have been doing it for a long time.”
Another issue Robinson said he hoped to address was continuing to support funding for mental health care; he said he had seen first hand the strain on law enforcement, including the county’s jail, caused by putting those who need mental health treatment into the criminal justice system instead.
When it comes to the contentious process of exploring a potential sale for the New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Robinson said the most important thing was transparency. Robinson said it remained to be seen what kind of responses the county would get from an RFP, but that his main hope was that the public was fully informed and involved in the process before any decisions were made.
