What inspired you to run for town council?

I came to realize that most folks really don't know what makes OKI tick. People complain about the traffic, crowds at Lowes and Publics, parking and even crowds on the beach. OKI is a Beach Town. A vacation destination for people to bring their families and friends to enjoy the sand, sun, and surf, visit our shops and Restaurants...and guess what? Spent their money. By the time a group of people book a week in one of our ocean front vacation properties they have spent a ton of money a lot of which will end up in the Towns coffers. You multiply that by the hundreds and hundreds of vacation properties per week and you have the economic engine that is the heart of our town. I want to help to continue offering this industry to keep our town financially sound. I agree with throttling growth. We have a height limit that can only be changed by the vote of the citizens not the Town Council. We have a size limit that has been trimmed by removing the SUP. The number of buildable lots diminishes each year. We are controlling growth in a natural way. I intend to run on the platform that OKI has been on track, and we can stay on track without changes to drastic to soon. Sure there is a lot we could with our so called downtown...first of all were is it? Is from the foot of the Barbee bridge to ne79st...or is it from Jones Seafood to Town Hall? Moving too much to fast can cause more problems than it solves. 

How long have you lived in this town, and what does it mean to you to call it home?

I first came to Long Beach in the early 80's on offshore fishing trips. By the mid 90's I seriously considering buying a place. I liked the Town and the people. In 1998 I bought my first property on NE 72nd St. Long Beach. I was going to retire in a couple of years and I thought of leaving Alamance Co. and moving here. I started commuting in 1998 so I could change residencies In 1998 the merger was taking shape and I was on one of the committees. By the time the merger took place I moved ne 43 ST. after a slight remodel I bought a house on ne49th St. In 2000 I bought what I thought to be my forever home. A brick 3 &3 with attached garage on 2 1/2 lots on the corner of 37th and Holly ( Holly wasn't paved yet...very dusty). Lived there for 23 years until I took advantage of the equity I had built up and sold and moved across the bridge. But I couldn't leave OKI. I also bought the commercial property next to Jones Seafood 2002. About a year  later the new town of OKI had sewer system (Yaupons) and decided to run a line down OI DR. to serve the new Ocean Walk Condos and anyone else along the way My building had 6 offices each with a 1/2 bath. I had 1 water meter and 1 septic tank. When they came by I had my plumber disconnect my building from my septic tank and connect to the towns one sewer tap. When I got the bill it was 6 sewer taps @ $2600 each and 6 impact fees @ $600 each. Needless to say I went to my first of many OKI Council meetings. I Said you only put in 1 sewer tap and charged me for 6. We charge by the number of units. Dose the motel across the street get charged per unit? No that's different. That didn't set well with me. In less than a year and a half I was elected to the OKI Town Council.

Can you share a story about a time when this community really impacted your life?

From 2000 to present day we have seen our town mature in several ways. We have our overhead utilities underground now helping us avoid power outages during storms, we've installed new and replaced old water lines throughout our utility grid, we have paved miles of streets, (in 2000 only Oak Island Dr. and Beach Dr. were paved) we have a second bridge to aid in evacuation in case of a storm....and many more advancements. As the citizens requested these upgrades the leadership will have to carefully and thoroughly study the financial impact with full transparence so the people will know exactly what is happening in THIER town. This was critical issue in the early 2000's with the new sewer system. 

What unique experiences or skills do you bring that make you ready to serve?

I've always said "If you agree with everybody then you are lying to somebody". There will be times when someone or even a group will not agree with my position on an issue. It's not the obligation of an elected official to heal to all whims and wishes but to stick with his or her best judgment. If do the right for thing for 51% of the people you've done your job hard as it might have been. I have found that you gain more respect if you stick to your convictions and not waver on issues. This can cause some friction in some cases but it will reinforce your character. I have years of experience and service to Oak Island, which can be seen on my bio here.

If elected, what are the top three things you want to accomplish?

If I had to list 3 priorities for the Town:

1. Beach renourishment. Remember, the only reason people vacation in our town is the beach....no other reason and vacationers are the lifeblood of our town. What happens when you run out of blood?           

2. Work with Town Hall and make sure town staff are customer friendly. They need to remember that the citizens are ultimately their employer. We need to work on making the permitting process more streamline and less time consuming.

3. As more development progresses, we need to be mindful of balancing our tree loss due to construction.