Politics

Dct. 4 candidates oppose parkway, Saluda firing range

Rebecca McCall and Don Ward shake hands following a debate.

By Bill Moss, Published: April 26, 2018

Rebecca McCall recalled that in 1974 “a 17-year-old high school was invited to be part of a planning committee to develop what we now know as Jackson Park.” The new park was named for three-term Henderson County Commissioner Clyde Jackson, McCall’s grandfather, a primary supporter of the park. “That girl was me. It was that year that I set a goal for myself to one day hold the office of county commissioner,” she said during a candidate forum. “That was very forward thinking as no woman had ever held that office.”

She touts her background in budgeting, operations and construction in a variety of manufacturing positions.
Her opponent, Don Ward, served as commissioner from 1992 to 2000. A tractor parts dealer and apple farmer, Ward said his goals are to resurrect a joint county commission-school board capital construction committee, roll back the tax rate after next year’s revaluation and fund school security. He got the biggest laugh of the night when a questioner incorrectly quoted him as saying “the reason (he) left the county commission was to play softball.”
“I never left the county commissioners to play softball,” Ward said. “The reason I left the county commissioners is because I got beat in the election.”
“I pick apples,” he said in closing. “Today I sprayed apple trees. I’ve got time to devote to Henderson County anytime it’s needed. I set my own schedule. … My door will be open. I’ve worked with three of the commissioners sitting on the board at the present time. I can work with them again.”
McCall quoted an editorial published in 1995 upon her grandfather’s death. “Jackson watched every dollar spent in the county to make sure that it went to the right purpose,” it said. “He wasn’t afraid to spend public money but he made sure the public got its money’s worth.”
“I want to continue the vision that was set in the past but expand it toward the future,” she said. “We can’t stop growth but we can manage it. You the taxpayers of Henderson County are the stockholders. … A vote for me is a vote for professionalism, integrity and passion.”
Both candidates are graduates of East Henderson High School — Ward in 1970 and McCall in 1974. Ward, like McCall, has a grandfather who served on the Board of Commissioners.

Here are questions and answers from an April 12 forum.

Do you support the law enforcement training center?

“I support the current proposal (for an outdoor facility). I did not support the $20 million previous proposal. There is still controversy on where to put the facility just because the neighbors not wanting the noise in their backyard. So I hope that’s able to work out. It’s my understanding that the Justice Academy is not a sufficient training facility for what they need to do. They need to have scenario training … to be able to mimic what is going to happen in schools or any area they have to be able to set up these scenarios. … There is money to pay for that. Part of it came from the sale of the sale of the Bent Creek property.”

Ward: “I too support law enforcement officers in our county. they do a job that risks their life every day and training is very important to them. But the law enforcement center I cannot support at this time. my priority is school safety — the officers, the social workers and the needs that’s in the schools. With $6 million, if I choose between a law enforcement center that’s a year off and the immediate need that’s in the schools, I will pick the school and teachers.”

What are your views on barring the sale of military-style weapons in Henderson County?

Ward: “I think that’s more of a state issue. I can’t support selling a military repeated rifle. I can support anybody that wants to hunt. As far as military-style weapon, if the county had an ordinance come up, I’d have to vote for it. … I’m not a weapons expert. I’m a farmer. You ask me about a tractor I’ll tell you.”

McCall: “I would have to do the same. I’m for the Second Amendment but the guns we should provide are for hunting, for self-defense and I don’t see the need for military-type guns to be sold.”

What is your position on the Balfour Parkway?

McCall: “The Balfour Parkway is another name for the Clear Creek Connector, which has been going around for about 20 years. Everyone knows we have a traffic problem on Four Seasons Boulevard. It’s a nightmare, sometimes. Either we learn to live with that problem or we find a solution. But the Balfour Parkway is not it. I’ve seen it. It doesn’t make the connection all the way through. I feel that we can probably sit down with (NCDOT officials) and come up with a solution, which I think we need to do instead of depending on them to do it.”

Ward: “I agree with Mrs. McCall 100 percent. I don’t think the Balfour Parkway is good for Henderson County. It’s going to cause more traffic to Four Seasons Boulevard if it comes out next to Walmart. Besides, what that land will do to our tax base (when it’s no longer taxable).”

What’s your position on arming schoolteachers?

Ward: “I cannot justify arming a teacher. I was in Vietnam. And I saw a young man come in, he was fully trained by the military, he had his rifle, we were attacked on patrol. He could not pull the trigger. He was shot dead. It’s a whole different thing being armed and pulling the trigger and killing somebody. If you hesitate for a second, you’re dead and might be somebody dead besides you.”

McCall: “My daughter-in-law is a teacher. She teaches fifth grade. She’s very strong-willed. I asked her that question and she said she would not want to carry a gun. She has enough to do as a teacher to deal with that.”

Should construction design be bid individually rather than assigned to the county architect-of-record without bidding?

McCall: “Yes, I think they should be individually bid. I dealt with a lot of construction in my past life and we would take a minimum of three bids and I think that should be standard practice.”

Ward: “The way I understand an addendum is added without doing the bids. It’s a simple process for the staff to do it that way. But I’m like Mrs. McCall, if we’re going to bid on contractors we need to bid on architects also.”

McCall: “I think the city and the county got into a tug of war over the situation. Right now Hendersonville High School is decided. How I would have approached it really doesn’t matter.”

Ward: “I would have done it different. I would have done a workshop with the joint school committee. I would have had the two boards work together and come out with a plan, and then come back with boards see if it they could work together. I was disheartened the way that action was taken.”

Do you agree that Republican candidates should urge Democrats to switch to unaffiliated so they can vote for them in the Republican primary?

McCall: “I think selecting the party that you are part of is your right and I wouldn’t want to urge anybody to change over just for that purpose. My mother’s side of the family was Democrat and my father’s side was Republican. I chose to be Republican.”

Ward: “I’ve had a lot of friends come to me that are Democrats. I live in Edneyville. It’s a Democratic community. I say the only way you can vote for me is to change your party affiliation, either to unaffiliated or Republican. I got beat by 14 votes. They know it. They say, ‘We’d like for you to be in there.’ I said, it’s your right by the Constitution to change your party affiliation. I’ve been a Republican all my life. If you want to join the right side, go change your affiliation, and some of them did. I have in my past voted for a Democrat. I’m going to vote for the person.”