Questions for the Dare County Commissioner Candidates: District 3, House and Zaenger

As a service to voters during the 2024 general election, the Island Free Press asked each of the candidates running in the three competitive Dare County Commissioner races to answer questions on various issues affecting Hatteras Islanders.

The General Election is November 5, 2024, although early voting is available at the Fessenden Annex in Buxton as of Thursday, October 17.

Below are answers from the two candidates running for the District 3 race – incumbent Steve House and Dennis Zaenger.

The District 3 commissioner represents Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, and Duck, but commissioners for all races are elected at-large and appear on all ballots in Dare County.

Answers to the eight Hatteras Island-centric questions are listed below. The answers are published in full and have not been edited for length or content.

Question 1: What skills, assets, etc. will you bring to the table as part of the seven-member Board of Commissioners?

Steve House:  Experience….As I have been in the political arena for most of my life. I have learned the art of building relationships. These skills have helped in many ways in the 8 years I have been on the Commission. Discussions with the Army Corps take a different approach than discussions with NC Marine Fisheries, or our State Representatives, and even a different approach in local issues. Having the knowledge to understand these different aspects can help in many ways to get issues moving forward and to some common ground approaches.

Compassion… Our residence and our way of life is at the forefront in my mind on any given issue facing us. Being in the county for over 30 years I understand the heritage of our home. Serving many of those years in Emergency Services. I have seen the harsh truths of Dare County and the beauty of caring people working together.

Research… As a trained Investigator from the National Fire Academy, I have the skills to research deep into many issues that face us today. To be able to combine those facts with Compassion and Experience to decisively conclude to a solution or a vote on the Board of Commissioners.

Dennis Zaenger: I have over 30 years of experience as a project manager and a specialist in healthcare quality and performance improvement.  My experience includes reaching out to and gathering input and ideas from a wide range of stakeholders.  These are the skills a Commissioner needs to ensure that everyone in our Dare communities has a voice in how decisions are made for spending our tax dollars.  We need to leverage the tools that are now commonplace to get community input, like online surveys and social media feedback.  But there is no replacement for face-to-face discussions with the residents we represent, and my professional experience includes using methods to gather feedback from varied audiences to determine priorities and best ways forward.  The BOC needs to get out of Manteo and come to Hatteras and other Dare communities to hear from the residents and see firsthand what kinds of issues and problems they are facing.

Question 2: What will be your top priorities for improving Dare County and specifically Hatteras Island as a County Commissioner, and how will you tackle these missions?

Steve House: The most pressing issue is that of the old Naval Station in Buxton. I applaud the newly formed Buxton Civic Association for their efforts. Their support helps the Board move forward in discussions with the Army Corps and our Federal Representatives to get this site cleaned up as it should have been many years ago. These types of issues are where those relationship skills discussed earlier come into play with the National Park Service, the Army Corps, different State agencies, and the local people of Dare County. We are now seeing an active cleanup project happening now.

Our Commercial Fisheries on Hatteras Island has been a very top priority though out my 8 years on the Board. As Chairman of the Dare County Working Watermans Commision, we presented 37 Resolutions to the Board opposing the adverse regulations placed on our watermen. All were passed unanimously by the Board of Commissioners. I personally handed each one of those Resolutions to the NC Marine Fisheries Commision. Sometimes driving round trip for 9 hours just to get a 3-minute public comment into the records. There are different approaches to this issue which we are looking into at this time.

Let’s keep Hatteras Inlet open and safe. The dredge Miss Katie is designated for use in Oregon and Hatteras Inlets. She could do so much more in Hatteras Inlet, however permitting seems to be more of a complex issue than at Oregon Inlet. Miss Katie was there and did some great work. I would like for her to do more and will work to get that done.

Dennis Zaenger: We must increase the number of healthcare providers per resident in Dare County. I’m concerned that in the short term we won’t have the number of doctors, nurses, technicians and other clinicians needed to best meet the healthcare needs of both our growing population as well as our aging population.   Our demographics are shifting, Dare (including Hatteras) are becoming more attractive to retirees as well as young families of professionals that support out local economy.  We need to ensure we have enough healthcare to support this development.  This County Board of Commissioners needs to take the lessons learned from the Manteo Healthcare Task Force and immediately expand it to include all of Dare County, especially for those areas where residents drive great distances for just the most basic healthcare needs.

Protecting our environment as well as the way of life here in OBX is an important priority for me.  Our natural beauty is what draws our visitors and keeps our local economy strong.  At the same time, tourism needs to be balanced and not endanger those same natural resources, and not overrun the sense of community in Hatteras and other Dare locations.  The best way to do this is to listen to the community, explore solutions to problems that work for similar coastal communities, and implement those solutions with input from residents so they are included in the best ways forward.

Question 3: What is the best way forward for cleaning up the petroleum, contaminants AND infrastructure on Buxton Beach, and how will you facilitate this plan as County Commissioner?

Steve House:  As this has been covered in many of the Commissioner meetings and in the media, what we can do at the County level is stay on top of the Army Corps and press for continued updates on the progress.  As we spoke of before, those relationships that have been built with the Savanna office of the Army Corps, The National Park Service, The U S Dept of the Interior, along with our Federal Representatives, come into play. Just last week two of US Senator Budds senior staff were Dare County checking on the Buxton site and on the situation in Rodanthe.

Dennis Zaenger: My biggest concern with the existing clean-up operation is that the contractors and agencies will artificially say “job done”, leave and not come back if the problem is not fixed.  The Dare BOC must keep monitoring and pressing on all contractors and agencies to permanently clean up the site.  That means the BOC needs to regularly visit the site, discuss progress with the local residents, host open discussions with the residents and the agencies responsible for cleanup, and stick to the timeline. I understand project management and government contracting, and I know that the BOC will have to stay vigilant to be sure issues are addressed as they arise.  This is just Project Management 101.

Question 4: How can Dare County help protect N.C. Highway 12 from flooding, and particularly in areas prone to ocean overwash such as Pea Island, northern Buxton, and northern Hatteras Village, as well as areas prone to soundside/rainwater flooding, such as the Tri-Villages, Frisco, and Hatteras Village?

Steve House:  This is a complex issued question as each part has separate components. In which many of these components are areas in which the County can only apply pressure to the issues to the relative agencies involved.

The Hwy 12 Task Force has done a great deal of work on this issue with the agencies involved such as National Park Service, and NC DOT.  As many of the citizens know, Hwy 12 is and can only be maintained by NCDOT. Now at the County level along with the permitting from National Park Service can do beach nourishment projects to help protect infrastructure like Hwy12 but those funds have limited resources.

Flooding in the villages is another issue where we can and have applied pressure to NC DOT and they also maintain a great deal of the ditches and swells on Hatteras Island. I will continue to look at other ways to help in this situation and can even call on the Board to have NC DOT to do an updated storm water management assessment of Hatteras Island.

Dennis Zaenger: In August of this year, an Interagency Work Group analyzed potential solutions to beach erosion and the problem of homes collapsing into the ocean.  I want to see a similar approach to this issue of flooding and overwash of roadways that are vital to connecting Hatteras to the rest of Dare.   See my response to Question 5 for the short- and long-term recommendations that group developed for that issue.  The BOC needs to convene a similar group with a similar mandate to develop a set of recommendations for resolving this issue.

Question 5: Is there a solution for homes collapsing into the ocean in Rodanthe, (and possibly Buxton at some point in the future?) If so, what can Dare County do to help?

Steve House: I do support the Bill sponsored by US Rep Greg Murphy and US Rep Chellie Pingree, Prevent Environmental Hazards Act. This act would allow for the National Flood Insurance Program to include shoreline erosion as a condition to pay out the homeowners policy and to demolish the home before it falls into the ocean.

In the meantime, we at the County level can only do beach nourishment as funds allow and as permitted by the National Park Service.

Dennis Zaenger: The BOC needs to push our state and national representatives to put into place recommendations that came from the August 2024 Interagency Work Group. Their short- and long-term recommendations are based on the input of multiple experts and divided into 3 major groupings, (1) financial assistance opportunities, (2) public and private insurance actions, (3) legal and regulatory interventions.  The BOC needs to pull together an action plan based on these recommendations with realistic target dates and the mandate to monitor and report on progress.

Question 6: As commissioner, how will you move forward in addressing the affordable housing issues in Dare County, and especially in unincorporated areas with a high volume of vacation rental homes like Hatteras Island?

Steve House:  Hatteras Island is unique in the fact that any tax credit for workforce housing cannot be obtained simply by the infrastructure of the island. (I.e. proximity to groceries, drug store, gas stations etc.) The Dare County Housing Task Force is looking at areas on Hatteras to possibly do a workforce housing project. The planning Dept. of the County is looking at ways to improve zoning requirements that could enhance housing but more importantly not to disturb the community feel of the area. These recommendations would be intensely scrutinized by myself and the Board of Commissioners.

Dennis Zaenger: I’m very supportive of the Dare Community Housing Task Force’s work.  I know several of the members and have been observing how they are proceeding with tackling this issue.  I believe the approach being used—breaking the issues into more manageable pieces—can be a blueprint to address how we grow the number of doctors and specialists as well.  These are not necessarily unrelated problems.  I do believe the current Task Force will have a positive influence on this problem and I regret this approach was not used earlier.  This is a critical issue for our community and we need to make meaningful efforts to provide affordable housing options for those people who support our community (e.g., teachers, healthcare workers, public safety employees, and others).  I am fully supportive of the BOC implementing the recommendations that come out of the Task Force, but with the input and consensus of the local communities.  Hatteras should not be expected to implement some solution that just does not work or is not acceptable to the community.

Question 7: What can be done to address fishing regulations that many Hatteras Island commercial fishermen see as a growing and increasingly insurmountable challenge?

Steve House: Our Commercial Fisheries on Hatteras Island has been a very top priority though out my 8 years on the Board. As Chairman of the Dare County Working Watermans Commision, we presented 37 Resolutions to the Board opposing the adverse regulations placed on our watermen. All were passed unanimously by the Board of Commissioners. I personally handed each one of those Resolutions to the NC Marine Fisheries Commision. Sometimes driving round trip for 9 hours just to get a 3-minute public comment into the records. There are different approaches to this issue which we are looking into at this time.

Dennis Zaenger: The rules over commercial and recreational fishing are overly complicated and burdensome.  And they put our fishing industry at risk from competitive neighboring states.  As Commissioner, I will continue the BOC’s work to lobby with state regulatory bodies and represent the best interests of our fisherman.

Question 8: What is one thing you that want voters to know about yourself that makes you stand out from your opponent?

Steve House: I have been an active part of our community for over 30 years and 8 of those on the Board of Commissioners. I have not only seen the changes in the community throughout the years but have, like many of you, lived through them. I have fond memories of conversations with Mac Midget and Sharon Peele Kennedy discussing Hatteras Island issues. I understand the uniqueness and beauty of the Island and not just the environment, but the most important thing is the people of Hatteras Island.

Dennis Zaenger: I want to see our BOC more involved in in the Hatteras community and be seen as their advocate.  This requires understanding the perspectives of the residents and business owners.  The best way to garner information and trust is through regular face-to-face meetings and information gathering.  This is what I do in my professional life, it is what I have done for over 30 years and it is how I operate.