By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
CLEVELAND ó Having twice as many candidates as available seats is unusual for this town.
In the 2007 election, two incumbents and one first-time candidate vied for the two available seats on the Cleveland Town Board of Commissioners, both of which will come open again in 2011. (Cleveland’s commissioners are elected to four-year terms.)
The previous election in 2005, three incumbents ó including the two present incumbents and Commissioner John I. Steele Jr., who is now running for mayor (see related story) ó ran unopposed.
This year’s candidates include incumbents Danny Gabriel and Pat Phifer, both with several years of experience. Gabriel is running for his fourth elected term, and Phifer, his fifth, both having been appointed to the board earlier to fill unexpired terms.
Challengers include John Brown, who is following in the political footsteps of his father, present Mayor Jim Brown. It’s the younger Brown’s first bid for political office. Other challengers are Travis Summit and Max West, both of whom lost in their first bids as candidates, and Preston Young, who is running for the first time.
Two of the challengers say their leadership experience ó both accrued while in the military ó would make them an asset to the board. John Brown, who retired from the Army in 2008, worked for the Corps of Engineers in Little Rock, Ark., as a deputy commander and interacted with the community and corps on infrastructure issues. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from N.C. State University.
West earned a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was a deputy finance officer for the 82nd Airborne Division, and served as the dispersing officer overseeing about $100 million a year in Korea and the defense accounting officer in Fort Dix, N.J., where he oversaw the dispersement of close to $200 million annually.
Young is running on his belief that taxpayer money should only be spent on what is necessary, not for niceties that he said should be financed with individual contributions.
Summit has served on the town’s planning and zoning committee for the past five years and said he would bring a younger perspective to the board.
All six candidates share a deep love for Cleveland. All except for West grew up in the town, and he was raised a few miles away in Mount Ulla. He and Brown both decided on Cleveland as the place they wanted to live after retiring from the military.
The anticipated growth from the widening of U.S. 70 once the economy improves is one of the issues that may face the board in the coming years.
Incumbents Gabriel and Phifer helped to implement a land use plan establishing guidelines for managing anticipated growth. “As badly as we need jobs,” Gabriel said, “we still need the good jobs and the people need to know what’s going on and I think the land use plan will help with that.”
Phifer said, “We have to be able to support that growth and make it positive growth.”
Development is coming to Cleveland, he said. “People are moving to the area, and we can’t stop people from moving here. All we can do is prepare the town and be proactive.”
Brown said the town board needs to honor the wishes of residents when it comes to future growth. “We’re the arm of the citizens,” he said, “so the bottom line there is we need to seek their input on anything that happens.”
Summitt said town commissioners can also regulate growth through its zoning and planning ordinances.
If elected, West said he would work to keep the small-town atmosphere in Cleveland if and when industrialization comes with the widening of U.S. 70.
Young said Cleveland commissioners need to look at each opportunity for growth as it arises.
“Generally speaking, I like a small town,” he said. “But at the same time, if that’s not in the best interest of the town, I’m not necessarily focused on keeping it a small town.”
All six candidates say they will be accessible to town residents if elected to the board.
Gabriel said there has been more involvement in town government since this year’s candidates filed in the spring. “It’s still good that people are involved,” he said, “and I hope they will stay involved after the election.”
Regardless of whether he’s re-elected, Gabriel said he’s confident the town will be fine. “I think there are some good people running to help the town.”
Phifer said he has no agenda in his service on the board and believes the present board has worked well together. “We try to be good stewards of our money and try to do different things,” he said, “clean up our town and make it as attractive as possible.”
If elected, Brown said he will make sure that he is accessible to “anybody in the town of Cleveland on any issue and not be one to not answer the phone or anything of that nature. I think we need to listen to what the citizens want.”
As for attendance at the town board meetings, Brown said he knows people are busy in the evenings. “The Yard of the Month (Award) gets citizens involved in the beautification of Cleveland,” he said, and hopefully that in itself is not all-inclusive, but is a good starting point.”
While there’s always room for improvement, Summit said he thinks the board’s communication with town residents is pretty good. The Web site is very informative, he said.
“In my opinion, if people were too concerned that they weren’t doing a pretty good job,” he said of the present board, “a lot more people would have started showing up for the meetings.”
If elected to the board, West said he would like to see the meetings be more informative. “I noticed at the last meeting that Mayor Brown started doing exactly what I’ve been recommending,” he said. “There was more explanation of the issues.”
Young said he would like to see more people attend the board meetings and for the board to be more responsive to citizens’ concerns.
“When they make complaints, I don’t think they get heard or they don’t feel like they get heard,” he said. “If there are people out that that want somebody to have a firm hand when it comes to that type of thing, I’ll stand up for the citizens and make sure the citizens’ voices will be heard.
“Of course, that’s what voting is all about.”
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.