Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce’s candidate forum drew a small but attentive crowd to Beaufort County Community College on Tuesday night.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 11 and postponed due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Matthew, several candidates were unable to attend the forum because of previous obligations.

Neither North Carolina Senate District 1 candidate, incumbent Republican Bill Cook nor Democratic challenger Brownie Futrell, was able to attend. Senate District 1 includes Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Gates counties — Cook lives in Chocowinity; Futrell in Washington.

N.C. House District 3 Democratic candidate Marva Fisher Baldwin, from Pamlico County, was in attendance; incumbent Republican Michael Speciale did not. House District 3 includes parts of Beaufort and Craven counties and all of Pamlico County. House District 6 Democratic candidate Warren Judge, from Dare County, also spoke at the forum. Running against him is Republican Beverly Boswell, who could not attend. House District 6 includes part of Beaufort County and all of Dare, Hyde and Washington counties. Judge and Boswell are running for the seat Independent Paul Tine gave up.

Several Beaufort County Board of Commissioners candidates made an appearance onstage: incumbent Democrat Robert Belcher; incumbent Republican Gary Brinn; and Republican challengers Derik Davis and Jerry Evans. Democrats Jerry Langley, the board’s current chairman, and Greg Satterthwaite, of Belhaven, were unable to attend. Commissioner Hood Richardson was in the audience, but declined to participate, saying that “the rules are not fair.”

Though candidates for Beaufort County Board of Education were invited to the Oct. 11 forum, a Board of Education meeting conflicted with the event on Tuesday, so no candidates attended.

Moderated by Stuart O’Neal, a member of the Chamber’s Young Professionals group, candidates for each office were given time to introduce themselves and speak about their platform: their cares and concerns and what they hope to achieve while in office.

This moved on to specific questions about issues, most centering around economic development, a critical issue in Tier-1 status Beaufort County.

Baldwin drew on her past — growing up on a farm and becoming an educator — to form the basis of her responses, while Judge spoke about the economic development work he did for 16 years on Dare County Board of Commissioners, while managing to keep one of the lowest tax rates in the state. On the issue of House Bill 2, the controversial so-called “Bathroom Bill” passed by the General Assembly in a short, special-called session earlier this year, both spoke against it: Baldwin, calling it “state government overreach” and the opposite of what she hopes to do in returning control back to local government; Judge, saying the bill is “very poor public policy,” and also pointing out a trend at the state level to leave local government with “all the responsibility, none of the power.”

Board of Commissioners candidates’ questions also revolved around economic development and employment: each candidate referenced the need to boost education and develop a trained workforce. Davis spoke out about the need for long-range planning as a focus should he be elected; Brinn agreed, especially when it comes to county buildings that have suffered over time from neglected maintenance. Evans said he would modify the direction of Beaufort County EMS in letting capable squads continue functioning on their own, while Belcher, who serves on the county EMS Committee, rebutted with reasons why the county has made the choices it has in taking paramedic-level service countywide.

The final question for commissioner candidates came from the audience: “Do you feel Beaufort County taxes are too high, too low or just right?”

Each pointed out concerns about a variety of issues affecting the tax rate: the coming property tax revaluation; a slowdown in business of the county’s largest taxpayer, PotashCorp-Aurora; and how North Carolina’s economic recovery does not include eastern North Carolina.

Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals group organized the candidate forum in partnership with The Washington Daily News.