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Newton Cohen, the incumbent chairman of the Rowan County Commissioners, may be the main issue in Campaign 2000.
The 73-year-old Cohen smiles and is a bit embarrassed that he is now on the front burner. In his four previous runs, no one has directly targeted him.
Democrat Leda Belk, who came close to winning two years ago, dropped her emphasis on the county’s strategic plan. Her plan for the election features a relentless attack theme “On Newt’s Watch,” citing what she considers mistakes.
Belk is the first to admit that Cohen has done a lot of good things for the county, but she says he is slipping, and is being distracted from doing what is best for Rowan by some “who have his ear.”
Cohen, acknowledged as the best vote counter in the county, admits he has a difficult race ahead, and may have created some of his own problems. He isn’t apologizing for wading into school issues — or micromanaging.
He appears to be second-guessing his decision to serve on the school redistricting committee.
He didn’t volunteer to serve on the committee, but reluctantly agreed to be on it.
“If there’s any place I’ve committed political suicide, it’s by serving on that redistricting committee.”
Cohen figures he is well qualified to represent all areas of the county. He grew up across the street from Boyden High School (now Salisbury High School) and graduated from there. For nearly 40 years he lived in the west district where all of his children graduated from school. Now he lives in the north district.
He figures folks may hold him responsible for the committee’s action whether he agrees with them or not. “I could have stayed on the outside and not lost a vote.”
Cohen admits this is a strange election in other respects.
In past elections, candidates have squared off as teams, Democrats against Republicans, campaigning together and singing from the same hymn book.
In 1996, Cohen teamed up with fellow conservative and newcomer Dave Rowland. For four years the two have been closely aligned on the board, rarely voting different ways.
In May, county Republicans dumped Rowland and replaced him with Gus Andrews, a retired coach and teacher.
While both Cohen and Andrews see themselves as conservatives, they are clearly not singing from the same page.
Andrews and Democrat Belk view many county issues almost identically, from I-85 corridor zoning to commissioners battling with assorted boards.
In a bit of twist, Democrat Butch Rumple’s views on issues are almost identical to Cohen’s. Rumple, operator of Atwell One Stop, joins Cohen in being skeptical of proposed I-85 zoning, while contending commissioners have an obligation to deal with moral issues and set a moral tone for the county.
Andrews doesn’t directly criticize the current all-Republican board, but joins Belk in saying commissioners are wasting a lot of time and energy on issues of birth control, abortion, strippers at the fairgrounds.
“They are putting a lot of time and effort into some things that aren’t truly the business of the commissioners,” said Andrews.
“Moral leadership should be through modeling.As a commissioner your duties are to allocate funds,” said Belk. “The commissioners job is not to legislate morals. They should lead by example.”
Cohen and Rumple contend that commissioners have a responsibility to express their feeling. Rumple suggests the board should go further, not only ban strippers on the county fairgrounds, but end beer sales at the county-owned Fieldcrest Cannon stadium.
Rumple joins Belk and Andrews in their view of the continuous bickering between commissioners and other county boards.
Over the past year, commissioners have publicly squabbled with boards including elections, health, social services, ABC and planning.
The three say enough is enough — that the public is tried of all the squabbling.
“Choose the best, appoint the best, and trust their judgment. Stop micromanaging,” said Belk. She adds that members of appointed boards are now afraid to use their own judgment, fearful that the commissioners won’t like it.
“They’ve spent the year involved in turmoil,” said Andrews. “There’s definitely too much distraction. There’s too much time and energy taken away from dealing with issues.”
“If a commissioner picks somebody to sit on a board, the commissioners should let the man do the job, and let him alone,” said Rumple.
Cohen, sounding a bit tired of all the squabbling, said the process of appointment needs to be changed.
He acknowledges that the board may have appointed people with criminal convictions. Sometimes appointments are made with little more than a name and someone saying they’ve heard he’s a good guy.
“We need to start asking for a resume and giving applicants a questionnaire,” said Cohen.
The veteran commissioner admits they’ve made some mistakes. “We’ve got people on boards we appointed that given the opportunity, we wouldn’t reappoint.”
Cohen believes the appointments should reflect the same political philosophy of the commissioner making the appointment. “I’m very conservative. Anybody I appoint should be conservative.”
On some major issues, there is almost total agreement.
All four candidates support the county commitment to fund schools at the state average per pupil. They agree that improved education and achievement is crucial to the county’s future.
They also agree that future dollars for schools should be linked to the Rowan-Salisbury Schools meeting the performance standards, reaching average or above-average academic standards.
Where races have traditionally featured candidates vowing they will not raise taxes, Campaign 2000 has four candidates who say they will raise taxes if necessary for education, and possibly some other programs.
All four agreed that new schools will have to be constructed and are willing to let voters decide on a school bond.
All are also in agreement that the emergency services must be improved, through more personnel, equipment and more stations. Belk andRumple are the most adamant in supporting large funding increases for these areas.
All agreed that that the southern and western ends of the county need water and sewer. Belk feels Salisbury should have a role, if the city wants to.
The four candidates bring varying experience and ideas and commitments to the table.
Here’s a look at each candidate:
Leda Belk
Belk came in fourth in a race for three seats in the 1998 election. She was just a few hundred votes shy of winning a seat.
She contends she is a good listener and is able to focus.
Belk supports the current county incentive package to big industries, saying that is a key to broadening the tax base. While supporting industrial development, she is concerned that the current board is overlooking farmers across the county.
The major thrust of her campaign is at Cohen, over his involvement in school issues. “He has been ineffective. He went too far with the school board.”
She believes Cohen and other commissioners should pay more attention to county business, particularly at budget time. “There’s too much filtering going on. Commissioners should hear from the department heads, not filtered though the county manager.”
She wants to see more deputies patrolling on county roads.
Belk contends that the county needs more employees and needs to increase the salaries. “Rowan has way less employees and pays less than neighboring counties.”
She would also like to see the commissioner’s annual retreat held in the county, instead of Pinehurst. “They don’t need to go to Pinehurst to work as a group.”
Butch Rumple
Helping senior citizens is Rumple’s top priority, along with trying to assist farmers.
With an aging population, Rumple said the county must provide more services and help for seniors living on fixed income. “They really need help.”
He’s never run for public office before, and may consider that a plus.
Rumple thinks the county government has gotten away from the county, that decisions are made in Salisbury, for Salisbury.
Rumple opposes the current incentive package, saying it’s not right for the county to rebate large amounts of taxes to big companies, and not offer the same deal to other companies.
Although not targeting Cohen directly, Rumple believes it is time for a change. “The county need different ideas.”
Gus Andrews
A smiling Andrews was a fixture at nearly every meeting and gathering before the May election.
And then Andrews virtually disappeared.
In the last week or so, he’s reappeared, looking a bit beaten and battered.
In July, Andrews and his wife went on their dream vacation to a dude ranch in Montana.
“I found out I’m not a cowboy,” said Andrews, trying to stifle a laugh.
The horse went one one way and Andrews went the other — at about the same speed. He was hospitalized for four days with injuries including eight broken ribs.
Never seriously injured in a career of playing and coaching football, Andrews is back to campaigning, still dealing with a lot of pain.
He vows to spend as much time as needed to look out for Rowan County. Andrews says the leadership abilities he picked up from coaching, working as an assistant athletic director and in land sales will be an asset to the county.
He’s enthusiastic about a recent decision by the University of North Carolina system to make the Charlotte campus a research institution.
Because of Rowan’s proximity to the UNCC campus, Andrews sees a direct impact. “That’s the greatest thing that’s happened. It’s a major boost to the region. We’re 30 minutes away.”
Andrews says he believes changes at the university will bring more technology and research-oriented businesses and industries to the area.
He stresses the need for the county to be selective when recruiting and accepting industries. “Selectivity is the critical aspect. In the next four or five years, the decisions will determine our total future for decades.”
Andrews favors the county working more with municipalities across the county on issues of water, sewer and other critical issues.
Newton Cohen
Voters may see less of Cohen this campaign year than ever before.
Cohen is dividing his time between being a commissioner and his wife, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.
He firmly believes that he is the best deal available for voters — 16 years of experience, knowledge and commitment.
When Cohen was first elected to the board, he was the odd man out, a Republican on a board controlled by Democrats.
“It was at least two years before the chairman told me where the bathroom was,” Cohen recalls with a laugh.
Finishing his fourth term, he is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about the county, county government, buildings and people.
Cohen admits that over the years he’s changed some, like the county. He grew to accept zoning, though the still is reluctant to impose any other restrictions on owner’s property rights.
Under his leadership, Rowan has committed to increased funding for schools. Rowan is now in the top ranks of counties across the state in per pupil funding.
Cohen scoffs at the theme of Belk’s campaign.
“Mrs. Belk and I are reading from the same page on the baseball stadium. I never voted to spend one penny on the ball park,” said Cohen.
Belk has publicly criticized the spending of tax dollars to build Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis as part of her “On Newt’s Watch” theme.
Cohen also points out that he has a long record of improving ambulance service. He notes that when he was first elected, the county was paying $90,000 a year for one Cadillac ambulance to provide service county wide. Now there is a fleet of ambulances, trained staff and several substations.
Cohen makes it clear he is running on his record of 16 years, and the other three are running on intent.
“It’s easier to make promises than to keep promises,” he said.
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