SALISBURY — Karla Foster Leonard, the chairperson of the Rowan County Planning Board and a local real estate agent, announced her candidacy for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday in front of a small crowd of family and close friends.

“I have done the work, I have served in many roles and actively engaged in each of these areas. I have spent my adult life listening, learning… That is why I am proud to announce my candidacy for the Rowan County Commission. I look forward to spending the next year meeting many more citizens of Rowan County, hearing their concerns, listening to their plans and their dreams and working alongside them to be good stewards of our home,” said Foster Leonard, a Republican.

Foster Leonard is in her second term as the chairperson of the planning board and has previously served with the East Spencer Housing Authority and with the Chamber of Commerce as well as currently serving on the Rowan EDC Board of Directors.

One of the main issues that Foster Leonard said she wanted to work towards was ensuring that the county’s growth was being handled responsibly.

“But, before I served in those roles, before I bought my own home, before I got married, before I started my own business (New Pointe Realty), even before I went to school, I was the granddaughter of a farmer. So, my commitment to growth is and will always be balanced with a commitment to our land,” said Foster Leonard.

Foster Leonard said that a recent study showed the county being confronted with a deficit of 5,000 housing units over the next few years. She said that the county’s location, being in close proximity to Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, meant that change was inevitable, so her main priority would be to manage it.

“While we can’t control what happens in Raleigh or D.C. or on the worldwide stage, we can control how we choose to grow here at home, being intentional about encouraging development within our municipalities or even in our county in close proximity to our major thoroughfares like Interstate 85 where there’s already significant development,” said Foster Leonard.

The other top priority she mentioned during her announcement was continuing to boost the county and local business partnerships with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and the Rowan-Salisbury Schools to help the county have a “workforce ready to meet demands.”

“Working with our school system to continue to encourage them to create pathways for our students in Career and Technical Education is one of the best ways we can ensure that the jobs that we have here are filled by the people that we have here,” said Foster Leonard.

The next election for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners will be held in 2026, with Chairman Greg Edds, Vice-Chairman Jim Greene and Commissioner Judy Klusman’s seats being up for election. The primaries for the election will be in March.