The North Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House of Representatives consists of 120 members who serve a term of two years. Each member represents an average of 87,116 residents *, as of the 2020 Census . The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the Senate President pro-tem. The Speaker is elected by the members from their membership for a two-year term. The Speaker’s duties include maintaining order in the House and appointing members to the House standing committees.The North Carolina General Assembly, of which the House is a part, is to convene a new regular session every two years, and the dates for these sessions are set by law. The NC legislature makes decisions on the budget: taxes, tax credits, economic development, education funding, Pre-K, the courts, Medicaid, etc. It also passes laws that set environmental standards such as water and air quality, tax rates, tax credits, criminal justice. Legislators in both chambers serve two-year terms without term limits. Sessions begin at noon on the third Wednesday after the second Monday in January.* https://ballotpedia.org/Population_represented_by_state_legislators
Position/philosophy statement
North Carolina
Current Occupation
Orthopedic surgeon
Campaign Phone
9102776508
I have served this district for over 36 years, living and raising my family here. I watched the devastating impact of the bipartisan offshoring of our jobs, first to Latin America and more recently, China. A life-long North Carolinian, I came here to serve, after my time in the US Air Force, in a rural community - emergency room, office, and surgery. I know and love the people here, and will have the relationships to help meet their needs, to obtain our share of funding for development. My expertise in health care, and my advocacy for making our district and our state healthy again, are resources that will be best applied at the state level to the benefit citizens throughout our state, as well as here in Hoke and Scotland counties.
Making lives better here is the priority. Our disadvantaged district must persuade the state to invest here to make it more affordable for our overtaxed citizens. We must control property taxes and utility bills. We must fight to keep upstream communities from taking our water. We must build better roads and infrastructure for industrial and residential development. We must improve local education, including vocational education. And we must take up arms against the existential threat, to not only our district but our nation - the crisis of chronic disease - which takes a disproportionate toll in our district. Supporting efforts to make us healthy can work in North Carolina, and especially in Hoke and Scotland counties.
It is very unfortunate that we do not have a budget and thus our public school teachers do not have their raises. I would support a $50,000 starting pay for classroom teachers, and a more accelerated advancement of salary than that proposed. In educational policy we need as much local parental control as possible. Education policy at the federal and state level has been seized by a minority who often force values inconsistent with those of most parents on to all of our children. Competition between public schools and between public and private should continue and be enhanced, including allowing open enrollment in public schools, where North Carolina lags. I support Opportunity Scholarships, and oppose state regulation of private schools.
In a perfect North Carolina there would be no income tax or property tax. A consumption tax with some allowance for not taxing subsistence expense, either through a "prebate" or by not taxing necessities, would be best. Getting there over a transition period by continued reduction of personal income tax to zero and placing caps on property tax increases, eliminating them for retired citizens and others on fixed incomes, would be reasonable first steps. Distribution of state revenues should be more equitable perhaps on a per capita basis to counties rather than through the tier system that has been in place for too long. I do believe large projects should require transparent review and be funded on their merits, fairly.
Deterrence of crime through stiff but appropriate and consistent punishment works. Inconsistency of punishment and deterrence is counterproductive. Mental health issues, some of which derive from some of the factors behind the rise in chronic disease, as well as lax illegal drug enforcement, must be addressed. Over-medicalization particularly of our youth contributes negatively as well, and curtailing it will help. Economic prosperity will also help. But, a moral and spiritual revival is needed. Some of these things obviously cannot be accomplished through legislation. Ensuring our law enforcement personnel are supported, their numbers increased proportionate to their challenges, and equipping them with the best technology are required.
This is a serious job, representing the citizens of two counties who have been not only stripped of good paying jobs, but also left out of prosperous development our state has seen recently. Fighting for them is the number one duty of person they duly elect as their representative. Serving them in a statewide body that oversees and legislates, bringing subject matter expertise to bear on their disproportionate suffering in this crisis of chronic disease is something I am called and I am qualified to do. At this time in my life, I have no ambition beyond serving the same community I have served with integrity for over three decades. I seek to do this to make their lives better, as best as I can, by making it easier for them to proper, to be safe, to be healthy, to pursue their happiness and to serve their families and their God.
Position/philosophy statement
A new direction for District 48
Current Occupation
At&t Telecommunications
Age (optional)
54
I have been working in my community for last 10 years serving on various boards. I am very familiar with the needs, values, and concerns of my community. I serve on the Lumbee River Electric Membership Board of Directors, Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce, Hoke County Board of Adjustment, Hoke Native American Scholarship Association, and the CTE Advisory Board for Hoke County High School.
The number one priority if elected is to secure more funding and resources for our district. Our district needs more funding for infrastructure, drug rehab, drug education, DOT improvements ,first responder funding and education.
Hoke and Scotland are rural counties with a limited tax base to adequately fund our schools. As stated in the Leandro Case, rural counties don't get the funded needed for teachers and students. The state needs to develop policies to increase spending in rural counties like Hoke and Scotland.
Keeping taxes low creates favorable conditions for companies to move to our state and also stay thus creating jobs. Keeping our state taxes low on residents creates more local spending which is very favorable for small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and I am very dedicated to helping them prosper. My daughter owns the local bakery in Raeford and I see first hand how taxes affect her business.
I support making changes to our bail and sentencing laws. To many crimes are committed by repeat offenders. Our law enforcement does a great job arresting criminals but the system fails after that. I support laws that ensure our law enforcement agencies follow guidelines concerning immigration.
Candidate has not yet responded.
