Dare County Commissioner Candidates field questions on healthcare, fishing, dredging, and affordable housing at forum event
On Thursday evening, October 3, the Dare County League of Women Voters (LWV) hosted a debate-style forum for the candidates running in the 2024 Board of Commissioners elections.
The event attracted a large in-person crowd in Manteo, as well as a group of Hatteras Island residents who watched the candidate forum live at the Fessenden Annex in Buxton.
There are five Dare County Board of Commissioners seats up for election on November 5, 2024.
The participants in Thursday’s forum included the two candidates running unopposed for the two District 1 seats, as well as the six candidates running for three spots in the total seven-member Board. The participants included:
- District 1: Mike Burrus, Republican, running unopposed
- District 1: Carson Creef, Republican, running unopposed
- District 2: Incumbent Robert L. (Bob) Woodard, Sr. (REP) versus Katie Morgan (DEM) for one of the two District 2 seats.
- District 3: Incumbent Steve House (REP) versus Dennis Zaenger (DEM)
- District 4: Mary Ellon D. Ballance (REP) versus Aida Havel (DEM). District 4 represents Hatteras Island, and current Commissioner Danny Couch is retiring this year.
The roughly 90-minute forum included an opening statement segment where each of the eight candidates had three minutes to introduce themselves, (including the two candidates running unopposed.)
This was followed by questions from the voting public and the audience, which were answered by the six candidates in competitive races.
During the Q&A section, the six candidates explained their views on a total of five questions.
Note that the following overview of responses focuses on the Hatteras Island candidates’ answers, and all candidate responses can be viewed online at CurrentTV.org.
Question 1: How can the county commissioners ensure that the Miss Katie dredge remains operational and maintains safe waterways?
This question was a reference to recent headlines that the Miss Katie dredge had to temporarily suspend operations due to permit violations issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Incumbents House and Woodward stated that the Board was working with the Corps to ensure continued operations, which included a recent trip to Wilmington to resolve the issue. Candidate Havel noted that closer oversight by the Board was needed, while Candidate Ballance agreed that the Board needed to “stay on top of it” and maintain communications with the agencies and the dredge operators involved.
Question 2: If elected, what will you do to improve access to health care for the citizens of Dare County?
This question garnered a range of answers, with the majority of candidates pointing to the Manteo Healthcare Task Force as a blueprint for launching a similar county venture.
Hatteras Island candidate Ballance noted that there was a piece of property in Hatteras Village, granted by the National Park Service to use for a medical facility, that could be utilized to expand health care on the island. Havel noted that an Urgent Care Center was needed on Hatteras Island, as the closest Urgent Care Center was two hours away for Hatteras Village residents and islanders.
Question 3: Zoning and local authority [House Bill] 259, introduced in the fall of 2023, had affected local zoning authority for affordable housing projects in Dare County. How did you see the impact of this legislation on our community, and how do you plan to address these effects?
Candidates pointed out that that the issues stemming from HB259 were repealed and resolved in May 2024, so the impacts of HB259 were no longer a problem. It was also noted that the Dare County Housing Task Force was expected to put out a report by the end of the year, which would provide a guide for addressing housing needs in the future.
Question 4: Commercial fishing is a very important aspect of Dare County’s economy. The powers in Raleigh seem to be trying to regulate our fishermen out of business. How do you plan to help save this important aspect of our economy?
This was one of the few questions where all candidates seemed to be in varying levels of agreement. Addressing the complicated regulations that hinder commercial fishermen and having more input in Marine Fisheries Commission decisions were unifying answers by all six candidates.
Havel stated how this issue came onto her radar when she started running for Dare County Commissioner. “I quickly became aware of it… and I really dove in,” she said.
She touched on the very narrow window for certain species and how that needed to be extended, and also noted problems with the data collected by the state which dictated rulemaking. “If any of you have never looked at the fishing regulations in North Carolina, I really encourage you to just go and Google it, and just see how incredibly burdensome and numerous they are.”
“[According to the North Carolina Statue], They were supposed to do regular measurements of the fisheries, and they had not measured the mullet fisheries since 2019,” said Havel. “They are also supposed to study the economic impact of the regulations that they’re proposing, and I couldn’t find anywhere that they had studied the economic impacts.
“If I am a County Commissioner, I will go to those meetings and I will ask the questions, and ask why they are not considering these things.”
Ballance, who noted that she was the mother and a wife of commercial fishermen in her opening remarks, and “had seen what the commercial fishing and the regulations that are imposed upon us has done to our communities,” also echoed that regulations were out of control.
“There’s not going to be enough time for me to answer this one, but I served for North Carolina Waterman United and I served on the Flounder Advisory Panel… [and] the Division of Marine Fisheries overreach is so far beyond egregious, it’s not even funny,” she said.
“The Division of Marine Fisheries regulates us, and we haven’t had a representative on the Division of Marine Fisheries from Dare County for over 15 or 20 years… Dare County is one of the largest tax dollar [providers] to the state on fishing, and we have no representation. And if I’m commissioner, I’m going to Raleigh, and I’m going now.”
Question 5: What will you do in your position as a commissioner to ensure that contracts such as affordable housing or dredging are awarded to qualified companies with a history of successful projects?
Conversely, this last question during the forum led to the most varied answers and disagreements among the six candidates.
Ballance noted that the Request for Proposal [RFP] process was complex, and that there weren’t always qualified candidates lining up to bid and take on the job. She touched on her experience with the Dare County Board of Education where finding qualified companies to apply for proposals was a lengthy process. “If somebody doesn’t apply, then that [project] just stays open,” she said. “It’s not an easy issue. Government contracts are very difficult… you can have contracts out for months and not get anything.”
Havel stated that the process needed more questions early on, and more oversight for the duration of any awarded contracts for varying projects. “I think we really have to ask questions. That’s the first part, is to [make sure] to award it to someone who’s qualified,” said Havel. “The second part is to provide oversight from the very beginning of the contract, and to look at it on maybe a 30-day basis or a 60-day basis, and stay on top of it.”
The complete Dare County Candidate Forum is available to watch online at CurrentTV.org. It will also be available on the Dare County League of Women Voters YouTube Channel.
A similar candidate forum for the Dare County Board of Education was also held recently, and can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaO0UccEaq8.