By Josh Bergeron
josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Rowan voters ensured continuity not seen in decades when they picked county commissioners Mike Caskey and Craig Pierce for another four-year term.

The current crop of commissioners has already served two years together. With the election of Caskey and Pierce, who will be sworn in to a second term on Monday at 3 p.m., the current group of commissioners will serve at least two more years together. The terms for three of the five expire in 2018.

The last time the county board saw that kind of continuity was in the early 1970s, when legendary public servant Eugene McCombs was county commissioners chairman. The other four county commissioners at the time included: Lewis Sowers, Charlie Walters, Richard Messinger and Rufus Honeycutt. Oddly enough, that crop of county commissioners also proposed installing a county-wide water and sewer system — a prominent county project in modern-day Rowan.

In interviews with the Salisbury Post, county commissioners expressed confidence that the previous two years have improved local relationships and quality of life. Commissioners also expressed optimism that the next two years will see further positive improvement for quality of life.

“We have completely changed the tone of our politics and focused instead on bringing hope and encouragement to the folks of this county,” said Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds. “We believe people want to be inspired, and that there is hope for a better future through our school improvements, economic development efforts and relationships across the region.”

Commissioner Craig Pierce, first elected in 2012, said it usually takes time for newly elected commissioners to acclimate to incumbents. That won’t need to occur following the 2016 election. Each commissioner has found his or her niche on the commission, said Vice Chairman Jim Greene.

“I think all of the county commissioners have their different interests and they all help to make a balanced commission,” Greene said. “If you’ve got too many people who think the same way, maybe we’re not getting enough diverse ideas … I think we have been effective and have a good rapport.”

Commissioner Judy Klusman expressed identical sentiments to Greene, saying commissioners have developed a good relationship.

The first action commissioners will take during Pierce’s and Caskey’s second term will be selecting a chairman and vice chairman. If all goes as expected, Edds will stay chairman and Greene will stay vice chairman. Klusman and Greene both said they believe the current leadership has done a good job. Pierce said he doesn’t think there are any issues with the current leadership. Caskey couldn’t be reached to comment on the county commission’s leadership positions.

Edds said he doesn’t like to talk about who will be chairman and vice chairman. However, if he and Greene are reappointed to chair and vice chair, respectively, they’ll reach another, rare mark for continuity. It would be the third-straight year that the same two people have served as chair and vice chair. A review of meeting minutes, shows that hasn’t occurred since the early 1980s, when former county commissioners Hall Steele and Jamima DeMarcus served as chairman and vice chair, respectively. The pair served as chair and vice chair for four-straight years.

When asked about the chairman position, Edds said it’s not his decision whether he’d be appointed again.

“It’s up to the full board to decide the direction of leadership,” Edds said. “If the board is happy with the current direction, I’ll continue to do as I’m doing.”

Edds may not want to talk about whether he’ll be chairman for a third-straight year, but he received a ringing endorsement from Klusman.

“If this were two years ago, we would have never gone forward with our branding program and there are a lot of other things that wouldn’t be where they are now,” Klusman said. “I think the culture of the county has really been changed. We are, I think, on the way to wonderful prosperity.”

During the previous two years, commissioners often approved items by unanimous margins. There’s rarely been polarizing disagreements. Initial decisions about West End Plaza, the former Salisbury Mall, split commissioners. Another recent disagreement focused around the development of speculative buildings on county-owned land in Granite Quarry. Pierce called the deal illegal, in part, because job figures weren’t directly tied to incentives granted with the project. Instead, a company would benefit from incentives after meeting certain performance measures related to development.

Pierce spoke about his opposition to the speculative buildings deal during commissioners’ meetings, but he also fired off an email on Feb. 29 opposing the idea.

“Commissioners, I will offer full disclosure of the totally illegal offer at the time it is up for a vote,” Pierce said in an email obtained through a public records request. “I took it easy last time and that will not be the case this time. Just keeping you aware.”

Two days later, Edds would compose a lengthy email proposing to delay consideration in an attempt to make Pierce comfortable with the deal.

“It is also a strongly held goal of the other commissioners and myself to maintain a positive (Board of Commissioners) public meeting atmosphere, especially in view of those potential outside developers and investors who will be watching to see how we handle our county’s economic development business,” Edds wrote in the email. “Like you, we want what is best for the taxpayers of this county and we want to make sure that we have all relevant information available so that we can make informed decisions.”

Months later, Pierce would vote in favor of an updated version of the speculative buildings deal.

When asked about Pierce’s thoughts, Edds said disagreement is healthy.

“I’d be suspicious of a board that is always single minded,” he said.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.