Most incumbents appear to be running unopposed in this year’s election, but a handful of challengers have stepped forward in races relevant to Forsyth County voters. They include a former Air Force inspector general auditor, a former elementary school principal, a UNCG business professor and a retired sheriff’s office major.
Gardenia Mae Henley is a Democratic candidate running for the NC House District 72 seat currently held by Rep. Earline Parmon. Henley, a Winston-Salem native and Air Force veteran, served as campaign manager for Winston-Salem Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Burke’s re-election campaign last fall. Henley canvassed neighborhoods in the city’s Northeast Ward during the run up to Election Day, and said she decided to run because of level of dissatisfaction among the citizens of those neighborhoods.
“People were telling me things that needed to be done at the state level,” Henley, a former inspector general auditor with the US Diplomatic Corps, said.
“I wanted to do something very positive and support the people as well as I can. There is a need for adequate representation at the state level.”
Parmon is currently seeking her fifth term as a state representative. Parmon sponsored or co-sponsored 54 pieces of legislation during the 2009 legislative session, including a bill that would compensate eugenics sterilization survivors and the NC Racial Justice Act. Parmon is a former member of the US Army Reserves.
Henley said her background as an auditor and civil servant has prepared her to serve the people of District 72.
“I fought waste, abuse and fraud,” Henley said. “I’m known for saving the US government hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s what I know best, and I think we need this at the state level. We need to make sure our tax dollars are being spent responsibly and effectively. That’s what the people are asking for.”
If elected, Henley said she will focus her efforts on careful oversight of the disbursement of funds from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, especially as it relates to District 72.
Henley also cited improving schools, enhancing public safety, and support for persons with disabilities and veterans as key components of her campaign platform.
Building a more responsive state government is the key to restoring the public’s faith in our institutions, Henley said, as well as the cornerstone of her campaign.
“People have lost their faith in government,” she said. “People in this area don’t vote because they don’t think it’s going to help anybody. If you keep voting for the same representative, you’re going to get the same results.”
BEITLER MOUNTS US SENATE CAMPAIGNMichael Beitler is a Libertarian candidate running for the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Richard Burr. On the Democratic side, Marcus W. Williams, Ken Lewis and Cal Cunningham have also filed to run for US Senate. NC Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has announced her intention to run but had not filed as of Monday afternoon. Republican candidates Eddie Burks and Brad Jones will challenge Burr for the Republican nomination in the May 4 primary. Beitler, a professor in the Bryan School of Business at UNCG, said the key issues in the campaign will likely be jobs and the economy. Beitler, a former banker, said he would propose the federal government rely on independent auditors to prevent another catastrophe like the financial meltdown of 2008. “I don’t think we need more regulations; we need more competent regulators,” Beitler said. The Libertarian philosophy of government could best be summed up as: “Government should be small enough to fit inside the Constitution,” Beitler said. Beitler said he objects to President Obama’s health care reform plan in the face of a $12.5 trillion national debt. “We have to take a really serious look at an overextended federal government,” he said. “We should look at privatizing some functions.”
SHERRILL’S SCHOOL BOARD CAMPAIGN CENTERED ON EARLY EDUCATION
Nancy Sherrill is one of two challengers who have filed for one of three at-large seats on the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County School Board. Stanford R. Hill will also challenge incumbents Elisabeth Motsinger, Jeannie Metcalf, and Donny Lambeth in the at-large school board race. Last year, the NC General Assembly passed a law making school board elections in Forsyth nonpartisan. A former principal at Brunson Elementary, Sherrill said she will focus on improving early childhood education and reducing classroom sizes in the school system. “I really believe we’ve got to focus more on children when they are in elementary school,” Sherrill said.
“There are volunteer programs and mentor programs, but there are not enough of those people to go around.” Sherrill said she had mixed feelings about the No Child Left Behind federal legislation with regard to its effectiveness, adding the school board should explore programs that help children perform better on standardized tests. “No Child Left Behind, has forced us to look at children as individual groups and individual students, but having all that testing in place has affected children particularly at the high school level,” Sherrill said. “They don’t think they can do the testing so they drop out. That’s critical because they have to finish high school to have a chance at life after public education.”
Sherrill said parental involvement is another tool with which to combat the dropout rate, and the school system could do a better job reaching out to parents. With regard to attracting and retaining the best teachers, Sherrill said the school board should offer additional support for the mentor teacher program, which offers guidance to first-year teachers. Sherrill, a 23-year veteran teacher and administrator, has experience at the elementary, middle and high school levels. She said the school system faces an array of challenges in the coming years, and if elected, she would advocate a progressive, proactive approach as well as a simple philosophy. “As a board, we have to be interested in the well-being for all children in Forsyth County,” she said.
CHALLENGER SAYS FORSYTH SHERIFF’S OFFICE NEED PRIDE, ACCESSIBILITY
Jerry Wayne Herron has filed as a Democratic candidate for Forsyth County Sheriff. Incumbent Bill Schatzman, a Republican, filed for reelection last week. Herron, who retired from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in 2005, described his platform as straightforward — restoring pride and accessibility to the sheriff’s office. “I feel it’s time for a change,” Herron, a graduate of the FBI Academy, said. If elected, Herron said he would reinstitute the position of chief dDeputy, to allow him more time to connect with citizens and listen carefully to their concerns. “The biggest thing in my opinion is the partnership with the community and accessibility to the citizens,” Herron said.
Seeking additional funding to add more school resource officers while adding manpower to the department’s domestic violence, gangs, and sex offenders units would also be a key component of Herron’s platform.
Herron said he would work closely with city officials in Winston-Salem and Kernersville to ensure the sheriff’s department got its fair share of federal economic stimulus funds designated for the area’s law enforcement agencies.
“The most important thing in this election is the citizens of Forsyth County,” Herron said. “It’s really what they want in a sheriff that’s going to make a difference.”
