By Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Everyone wants to see growth in Rowan County — that was the theme of Tuesday’s luncheon hosted by the Salisbury Rowan Association of Realtors. The association invited candidates running for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners and the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education to speak briefly. Many made appeals to the housing market.

“The needs are for this community and this county to look positive in a light that you can sell it,” Democratic county commissioner candidate Valeria Levy said.

Candidates from both races emphasized the need to improve the local school system and boost economic development to attract more homeowners. During the luncheon each candidate was given approximately four minutes to introduce themselves and speak about their plans if elected.

Incumbent County Commissioner Mike Caskey spoke first. Caskey, a Republican, has served one term on the board.

“It’s been an interesting time on the board of commissioners,” he said.

Caskey said his term was characterized by “ups and downs,” with the country just coming out of the recession when he was first elected. In that time, he said, the county has increased economic development with the expansion of Gildan, the arrival of Agility Fuel Systems and the sale of the Summit property and increased school spending.

“I think overall as a board, we’ve done a good job,” he said.

Republican incumbent Commissioner Craig Pierce spoke next. Pierce highlighted projects such as the de-annexation of the county airport, the construction of the school system’s central office and the extension of the airport’s runway.

“It’s putting us in a position to bring corporate America here,” he said.

If elected, Pierce said he would like to work on providing water and sewer services to the county.

Levy said her key points were improving economic development, education and public safety. She appealed to the realtor’s association by adding that it was difficult to sell houses if local education and economic development weren’t quite up to snuff.

Levy said she would like to see Rowan County mirror or complement the biotechnology industry currently booming in Kannapolis in order to attract businesses and families.

Libertarian Mark Lyerly, running against Caskey, said that the race was “our chance to improve quality of life for Rowan County.” Lyerly read from a prepared statement and said he’d like to see a parking deck to serve the court system and downtown Salisbury, a potential partnership with Davidson county for an outdoor arena and safe drinking water for county residents. He also said he’d like to see a seven-member, more diverse, board of commissioners.

“We need to attempt to make the board reflect the county,” he said.

Next up were the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education candidates. Gene Miller and Alisha Byrd did not attend.

Incumbent and Chair Josh Wagner said that in the past four years the school system has seen a lot of improvement but still has “a ways to go.” Wagner used his allotted time to speak about the board’s long-range plan for capital needs — a compilation of all the future needs of the system so that the board can allocate funding accordingly.

His challenger, Michael Julian explained that he declared his intent to run after the board in April heard a presentation that recommended the closure of six area elementary schools. Julian said that while there are some needs in the school system, he is against closures.

“I believe our outlying elementary schools are the heart and soul of our community and our county,” he said.

Julian said he has no real agenda for running for the board — he simply wants to see the school system move forward.

Incumbent Chuck Hughes spoke about the strides the current board has made in updating school security, building the central office and moving toward constructing a combined elementary school in Cleveland. All were “items of discussion” for years before they were made a reality by the current board, he said.

If re-elected, Hughes said his first priority is to build a new Knox Middle School.

Susan Cox, running for re-election for the board’s southeastern seat, said that she would like to continue serving the district.

“There are things that have been started that I would like to see through to completion,” she said.

One of her opponents, Dr. William “Rob” Robertson, said that the key issue for him is hiring good, solid teachers, “or it’s a moot point.”

Andrew Poston, also running for the southeastern seat, appealed to the association, as well. Poston said he would like to start up a vocational school that would allow the county to “pump out” quality workers. This would help improve the county and help it look like a lucrative place to start a business and increase the tax base, he said.

While the association opened the floor for questions to all candidates, none were asked.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.