Several hundred Republicans gathered in Summerfield on Saturday, Feb. 19 and Republican candidates for Guilford County Commissioner were given the opportunity to say a few words about themselves and why they were running.
The event was the annual Guilford County Republican Party precinct meeting held in the gym of the Revolution Academy Rhinos in Summerfield and each Republican county commissioner candidate was given four minutes.
Three of the candidates Dan Suter, Oak Ridge Town Councilmember George McClellan and Guilford County Board of Education member Pat Tillman are running for the District 3 Guilford County Commissioner seat currently held by County Commissioner Justin Conrad who is not running for reelection.
Dan Suter, who said he had lived in Summerfield for 21 years, spent most of his four minutes talking about national issues. But he did say that the Democrats on the Board of Commissioners are on a “spending spree” and noted that they just approved $46 million in two-thirds bonds which are bonds that don’t have to be approved by the voters.
McClellan said, “I am the only proven conservative in the race.”
He noted that he had voted for 10 budgets as an Oak Ridge Town Councilmember without raising taxes and “one of those we actually lowered the tax rate.”
McClellan said that in funding the Guilford County Schools, “I will vote for reasonable budget requests, however the money must follow the kids.”
Tillman said that some key areas he wanted to concentrate on as a county commissioner included work force development and law enforcement. He noted that in the 1980s Greensboro was home to more corporate headquarters than any city in the state and we needed to get back to that.
He noted that he was a former Marine and combat veteran and saw being in elected office as a way to continue to serve his community.
Former District 4 County Commissioner Alan Branson is running for the at large seat on the board. He said, “I support teachers but I do not support the wasteful spending and the bond money.”
He said that as a commissioner he supported the $300 million bond in 2020 and added “I’m not certain that any of that money has been spent.”
District 2 Guilford County Commissioner Alan Perdue is running for a third term on the Board of Commissioners.
He said, “We need to hold people accountable. The government should be a glass house. Everything should be visible to the public.”
He said, “I believe in education but it should be done the right way. The focus should be on the students first.”
District 7 County Commissioner candidate Karen Albright noted that she was running in a blue district but that it was time for a change. She said, “We should be giving our senior citizens and disabled folks funding instead of people illegally crossing our border.”
Filing to run in the May 17 primary is scheduled to reopen on Thursday, Feb. 24, if the NC Supreme Court meets its deadline and new Congressional and state legislative redistricting maps are approved by Wednesday, Feb. 23. The districts for the Guilford County Commissioners are unaffected by the court case.
Be very diligent in your research of these people. Look at past voting records and ignore the double talk coming out of at least 1 of their mouths (I won’t say who). Look at their past performance records. If they’ve held office for 10 years that may say something in itself. Be careful who you vote for but please get out and vote.