By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
Carl Ford has been running for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners for almost two years.
On Monday, the first day of filing for this year’s elections, he was one of the first candidates at the Board of Elections. A Republican, he filed for one of two board seats up for election this year.
Ford, 50, president of Ford Broadcasting, announced plans to run following his loss by 205 votes in the 2006 general election.
Since that time, Ford has served on the county’s Social Services and Planning boards and said he has invested a lot of time in learning about the issues and talking with the people involved.
“The main issues are growth, land use, jobs, education. They all go hand in hand,” Ford said.
A resident of Ketchie Estate Road in China Grove, Ford graduated from A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis. He completed additional studies at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and the N.C. College of Textile Technology in Belmont.
After a stint at Cannon Mills, he got into the broadcasting business.
Ford has long held an interest in county government and politics. He’s run for county offices a half dozen times.
He recalled that Rowan County Sheriff George Wilhelm told him “it took him four times to get elected.
“I haven’t stopped campaigning. Maybe I won’t have to spend as much this time,” Ford said, adding that he managed to save about 75 percent of his signs from the last election.
He’s a member of the Rowan Republican Executive Committee, the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Rowan Historical Society, the Community Child Protection Team and the Village Fest Committee in Kannapolis.
Ford and his wife, Angela, have four children and two grandchildren. He is a member of Truth Temple Church on Moose Road in Kannapolis.