To the Editor:

Regarding the recent primary election in Beaufort County, some will say the people have spoken. Really? I see it like this. A few people have spoken. With approximately 32,000 eligible voters in Beaufort County, approximately 8,600 considered voting important enough to make the effort to vote. There are good citizens in Beaufort County that thought it important to offer their services to Beaufort County and place their names on the primary ballots for County Commissioner and sheriff. There are many contentious issues facing this county. The county commissioners and the sheriff’s office are at the center of one of those issues. Whether or not Beaufort County needs a new jail and if so, where should it be located, and how a Tier 1 county can pay for a new jail is just such an issue.

Beaufort County was recently ranked as a Tier 2 county, but was reclassified by the North Carolina Commerce Department in 2013 to Tier 1 after the poverty rate increased from 17.2 percent to 19.1 percent.

The candidates and their campaign staffs worked many hours over many weeks to help the voters in Beaufort County understand their position on the jail, and to also understand their position on other issues of national and state importance. If you think these issues do not directly affect you, then you are mistaken. Elected officials represent your views, but failing to make those views known and failing to support a candidate that will represent your views often leads to good, honest, and hard-working candidates losing to those that are heavily invested in the status quo.

Fortunately, even though many failed to exercise the privilege to vote in the primary, you get a second bite at the apple with a run-off election for the sheriff’s office.

In the general election this fall there will be no second chances. If you looked at all the municipal election returns for eastern North Carolina, you saw many candidates seeking the office of Clerk of Court in eastern NC. Beaufort County was an exception. There were no primary candidates for this office in Beaufort County. In the general election in November you will have a choice to vote for one person to fill this office for the next four years. Please listen to the candidates, review their credentials, determine who will hold this office with integrity, who will handle all matters that come under the clerk’s jurisdiction according to the NC statues, respect all that seek help, and then show your support by voting for that candidate in November.

If the reason for not participating in the primary election is apathy or general disgust with the political processes, then failing to participate can only makes it worse, not better.

As noted earlier, Beaufort County is now classified as a Tier 1 county. It will hold this status for the foreseeable future until there is more participation and support for highly qualified leaders.

 

William R. Leary

Chocowinity, NC