Running for Davidson County Board of Commissioners

Charles “Chuck” Slipetsky Jr.

Davidson County Democratic Candidate for County Commissioner

Hello,

My name is Charles Slipetsky Jr. but I go by Chuck.  I did not expect to be running for any office any time in the future, but life sometimes opens some doors unexpectedly and this is one door that opened for me.

As some of you already know, we lost a member of the Davidson County Commissioners recently.  Mr. Fred McClure has passed away leaving his seat open on the commission for the next two years.  After conferring with my wife, I have decided to run for this position.

Let me introduce myself.  I am a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps and after being stationed here in North Carolina decided to make this state my home.  Different employment opportunities found me living in other counties where I held numerous positions to include being a public-school teacher.  My wife and I were enchanted with this green and friendly county, so we moved here and bought our home.

Since moving to Davidson County, we have experienced so many nice things and nice people.  Our neighbors are great people, and Lexington BBQ is the best.  To be honest though, I never met a BBQ I did not like.

Also, since moving here, we have become concerned about the future here.  First, they are installing a gas pipeline a block from our house which concerns us because of the fire and pollution hazards it may cause as well as reducing the value of our house we just recently bought.  Then there was the talk about the sports complex nobody seemed to want.  Then there are on-going talks about building a Duke Energy power plant here.  his is now being followed by a data center or two being built.  Both the power plant and the data centers require cooling water from our Yakin River as well as other resources.

My wife and I started attending the County Commissioners’ meetings as well as the Board of Elections meetings and we have learned some distressful things that have disturbed us.  We became politically active as a way of combating some of these projects I have already listed.  At these meetings, the commissioners displayed little concern for the desires of us citizens and the majority seemed to be in favor of every project without reservations or concerns voiced by the people.

It appears that some have signed letters of non-disclosure (NDAs) with Duke Energy which greatly concern us because those that did cannot even tell us what incentives the board gave Duke Energy to build a plant here that is opposed by so many citizens.

In addition, the infrastructure is not up to the current level needed. Many of the fire departments in the county were represented in a meeting a few months ago and described their individual inadequate funding.  Some of the departments needed tires for their vehicles and oil changes that were overdue.  A fire truck tire costs roughly $1200.00 before our present tariff wars.  Fire houses need roofs, and so on.  The days of the volunteer firemen seems to be over.  Even if a person wanted to be a volunteer, he or she may have to work a second job or be available to work overtime at their first job.  Who has the time?  The paid firemen may have it worse since they must get certifications as an EMT as well as a fireman out of their own pockets just so they can get paid a rate less than many fast-food workers.  These highly qualified and dedicated citizens then get offers from neighboring counties who pay them more.

I brought this up at the last commissioners’ meeting offering that the board had no plan for the future, with no vision of what they were trying to accomplish.  One commissioner stated that the board had no control over the funds available to the fire departments since those funds came from the fire district.  My reply was that the board had recently spent $85,000 on the FLACK security cameras nobody wanted and they could have given the firemen that!  This would have fixed a lot of roofs and bought a lot of fire truck tires.

So here we are.  I believe I have a good understanding of what is needed in this county and the most important need is for the commission to do what the majority of the citizens want.  I have my own ideas, but if the people want high tech manufacturing, I will work towards that goal. If it is to help the local farmers, which I hope is the case, I will do that.  If we recruit a business of any kind to the county, I will report what that incentive is to get them here as well as the benefits they will provide.  I will talk to any individual or group about any concerns and will try to help in any legal and ethical way I can.

I am also willing to disclose my personal tax returns for every year I serve.

Please vote for me as your commissioner to fill the seat of the late Mr. Fred McClure for the next two years.

Sincerely,

Charles “Chuck” Slipetsky Jr.