Elect: Four people running for two open board seats in Landis
Published 12:45 am Tuesday, October 31, 2017
By Jessica Coates
jessica.coates@salisburypost.com
LANDIS — With Dennis Brown choosing not to run for reelection, only one incumbent — Dorland Abernathy — and three challengers are running for the Landis Board of Alderman.
Voters will be able to choose two of the four candidates to vote for.
The challengers — Roger Safrit, Bobby Brown and Tony Corriher — have all served on the board at some point.
Roger Safrit served for nearly two full terms, beginning in 2007.
Bobby Brown served three terms in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Tony Corriher served two terms.
The incumbent, Dorland Abernathy, has served one term. He is the Mayor Pro Tem of the board.
Safrit said that, in the years since he’s been off the board, he’s heard people in Landis say there’s “no hope for this town.”
“I don’t believe that,” he said.
Safrit said he wants to keep the small-town feel while also attracting new businesses and new residents.
He said that the Lake Corriher Wilderness project is something that will attract new, younger residents. It’s a project that he said he worked “vigorously” on when he was on the board.
“Some people are against it, but it draws younger people, especially with the trails. And you can compare it to Dan Nicholas (Park), and that wasn’t born overnight,” Safrit said.
Tony Corriher said that he wasn’t fond of the wilderness project, but that the town has committed itself to matching a $402,000 grant from the state to finish the project.
“It will be a nice park,” Corriher said.
Bobby Brown said that the town’s top priority should be repaving the secondary roads in Landis, which he said are “horrible, honestly.”
Brown also said that “good old-fashioned common sense” would be key to keeping the town’s finances in check.
Dorland Abernathy said that, during his term, he worked hard to make sure that the board’s travel funds were reduced.
In the past two years, the money budgeted for board travel has been reduced from $30,000 in 2015-16 to $7,000 in 2016-17.
Abernathy also said that he wanted to make citizens feel welcome sharing their thoughts at meetings.
“I have sought to make certain that I understood whatever matters have come before the board before rushing to a vote on any issue,” Abernathy said.
The two candidates that are elected will be serving with Mayor Mike Mahaley, Tommy Garver and Seth Moore.
Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.
