What's Happening?
Newspaper Appearances, New Releases, Radio Interviews, Happy Times
Before He Filed for NC Senate. He was on WPTF with Bill LuMaye.
Chuck Stires responds to the news about plummeting reading scores: "Our children's education deserves better than political lip-service. Our families are call for solutions, not more empty promises."
Stires says the news about lower
school test scores in reading is yet another wake-up call for parents,
legislators and education administrators. The General Assembly refuses to demand results and accountability. The
education leadership continues to just make excuses.
News Release
Youngsville, NC, October 3, 2008:
“Over the last few years North Carolina’s parents have been told that massive unaccountable spending programs with clever rhyming titles will answer all our education needs,” said Chuck Stires, candidate for the NC Senate representing Franklin, Warren, Granville and Vance Counties. “But again and again our parents are blind sided by scholastic achievement results that don’t confirm the cleverness of the rhymes and leave our kids another semester or another year short of expectations.”
A report due on November 1, 2008 will show that reading test scores will drop radically compared to a year ago. Statewide, the report indicates reading test scores for 3rd through 8th grade dropped from a low of 23% to over 36% from just last year. The State Department of Public Instruction actually has a “Director of Accountability Services”. He told the press that the reading tests reflect changes the school board made a few years ago in what they wanted North Carolina’s children to learn. The director said “the bar has gone up considerably”. The same shock was felt by parents two years ago as the math score results were delivered. Then another report stunned parents when they learned our state dropout rate was more than three times higher than what had been previously reported. Nearly a third of our students are dropping out.
“In every instance we are told our children are doing just fine,” Stires continued. “The problems are in the way the tests are administered or scored, or there’s not enough money, or the classrooms are too crowded. My opponent, Doug Berger, has consistently blamed the scoring system. He has defended his votes for more spending with no rational explanation other than we need more. He blames the General Assembly Republicans, who don’t even have the votes to block or defeat anything. He has blamed the scoring process. He must have run out of people to blame because he has even, laughably, pointed the blame at George Bush.
“Year after year many of our schools struggle to meet basic achievement levels,” Stires said. “School administrators attempt to shift the blame, but rarely discuss that while the “bar has gone up” for our students, the bar is also being raised in other states and other countries. North Carolina’s children will be expected to compete in a global environment in comparison to students all over the world. Their scholastic achievement will not be compared to last year’s results in our state. Their growth as individuals and our economic growth as a state are dependent on an ongoing flow of North Carolina high school graduates who are ready to take on the educational and vocational challenges of next year and the years after.
“As our children apply to colleges, tech schools and employers they will not be able to blame test scores or George Bush. They won’t have a “Director of Lame Excuses” to come to their assistance when pressed for reasons why their education did not adequately prepare them.
“There are examples of successful creative education efforts around the country. Many of them involve giving parents options when they find their children struggling in a continually failing traditional public school. Too many of our state legislators, like Doug Berger, beholden to the endorsement and support of the education bureaucracy in Raleigh, refuse to support allowing parents to choose the education that will best meet the needs of the students and their families. These optional school environments need high quality teachers, and they seem to thrive without an overloaded bureaucracy mandating directives and social engineering which divert energy and effort from what our teachers want to do and what we need them to do….TEACH!
“Doug Berger has even played the
race card in his efforts to protect votes from his special interests,” Stires
continued. “Completely disregarding the success of so many successful charter
schools with minority enrollment majorities, Doug Berger has claimed that ‘white
flight’ is inspiring parents to seek options for their kids. He is so
politically motivated that he ignores the fact that his opposition to education
options is having a severe impact on rural African-American families who need
alternatives to the struggling schools in their districts. His pandering to the education bureaucrats in
Raleigh and
excuse-making to families at home is shameful.
“We can no longer allow politics and
vote-buying special interests to limit the education opportunities that could be
made available to all of North
Carolina’s families regardless of income or
location. All options should be on the
table for review and consideration. We
must be ready to fully fund the options that are selected. We cannot allow
career politicians like Doug Berger to defame, arbitrarily limit and restrict
education options as he has done in the case of charter
schools.
“The evidence is clear. The results are
irrefutable. Just writing checks for programs with no accountability to parents
and communities is not acceptable. We
can no longer tolerate a bureaucracy that finds it necessary to hire a “Director
of Accountability” to make excuses to our parents and families.We can no longer tolerate politicians who
serve special interests instead of the People who elected
them.
“If given the honor of representing this district in the North Carolina senate, I will apply my experience as a business owner, former educator and member of a family which has hands-on experience in alternative schools to evaluate and consider new and creative ideas that are showing positive results in other states,” Stires concluded. “We cannot dismiss ideas out of hand just because they may threaten political power or put education bureaucrat jobs in jeopardy. We cannot continue to fail so many students and families who depend on legislative action, not political lip-service."
Chuck Stires: “We must empower our citizens and businesses to drive the North Carolina economy.”
Stires says the increased tax burden proposed to fix the federal government’s fiscal mismanagement will further slow our state’s economy unless we empower our citizens
News Release
Youngsville, NC, October 1,
2008:
“There is little doubt that the “rescue plan” in Washington will impose new economic burdens on every family in North Carolina,” said Chuck Stires, candidate for the NC Senate representing Franklin, Warren, Granville and Vance Counties." The greatest boost we can give our state economy will come from empowering the finances of our families and businesses. It is time to take a very serious look at the explosive growth of state spending, and demand accountability from the programs currently being funded. We must empower our citizens and businesses to drive the North Carolina economy.
”Cost increases in food and fuel are having a significant impact on our families,” Stires said. “Couple that with billions in increased state spending, and the hundreds of millions in new and increased state taxes and fees to pay for that spending, and we have the burden of an unnecessarily high cost of government being forced on our citizens.
“Governor Easley and former state senator Robert Pittenger have both reported that there is more than a billion dollars that can be cut from state spending”, Stires continued. “Huge savings can be found in uncovering waste, abuse, mismanagement and fraud. Duplication and redundancy in departments and in reporting systems can save hundreds of millions alone. These savings can go back to our families and businesses to spend on their priorities, not political priorities and special interests. The growth in consumer spending, business expansion and hiring will be dynamic and better prepare us for difficult economic times to come.
“My opponent, state Senator Doug Berger, has been a very willing participant in growing the size of our state government well beyond any rational measurement against population growth and inflation. His lack of private business experience and his many years of being on the state government payroll apparently guide him to seek only big-government solutions. He seems to ignore the inescapable fact that big inefficient and onerous government is the root cause of the problem.
“Doug Berger supported enormous increases in tax and fee burdens on families and business, and then bragged about how much he voted to spend. He promoted growing North Carolina’s grant system which spends hundreds of millions of our tax dollars with little monitoring and accountability. But many of these special interest grants bring huge special interest political clout. Cutting the funding of the many politically motivated, vote-buying grants will go to much better use by our families and small businesses than it will any of the political influence and votes that money buys.
“If given the honor of representing this district in the North Carolina senate, I will support legislation and budgetary action that uses the savings from cutting waste, inefficiencies, fraud and abuse to reduce the personal state income tax rate. This will also reduce the tax burden on the many thousands of small business owners. I will support a cut in the state corporate tax rate which will minimize the pressing need to provide millions in corporate tax incentives; a device too frequently abused by too many in the General Assembly. And I will support reducing the state sales tax to help every North Carolina family on every purchase and make us more competitive with our neighbors.
“Our elected General Assembly is empowered to act of behalf of our citizens. There is no better way to energize a stagnant economy than to empower our citizens and businesses by loosening the state’s grip on their finances and demand accountability for the billions spent on their behalf.”
“We cannot sit back and blame Washington or wait for them to act,” Stires concluded. “Nor can we depend on those elected officials, like Doug Berger, who taxed and spent us into this situation to actually fix this situation. This requires solutions, not more empty promises.”
Chuck Stires admonishes Doug Berger for not speaking out against paternity fraud
News Release
“Doug Berger sees no problem in allowing convicted felons to have their criminal records erased, and he supports DNA tests as evidence to release convicted killers decades after the crime. But if a man is defrauded in a paternity case he believes we should simply ignore the DNA evidence,” said Chuck Stires, candidate for the NC Senate representing Franklin, Warren, Granville and Vance Counties. “We must all be concerned about the welfare of a baby born out of wedlock, but we cannot turn our backs on a man who, for more than 15 years, has been paying support for a child he didn’t father.”
Recent news articles reported that when Franklin County native, Avon Alston, was told in1992 that he was the father of a baby born out of wedlock, he took the woman at her word and did the right thing by paying $600 a month in support. Years later a DNA test proved Alston was not the father. He took his case to court and was told that North Carolina law requires that paternity must be disproved within a year of birth. He has faithfully paid for more than 15 years and is asking the court to be allowed to discontinue payments. Alston and his wife appealed to State Senator Doug Berger to help get the law changed. Sen. Berger said he didn’t believe it mattered if Alston was proven not to be responsible. Berger said, “…I think in and of itself, establishing paternity years later does not justify not being responsible (for support).”
“Mr. Alston’s state senator, Doug Berger, believes it is okay to ignore DNA evidence and force him, an innocent man, to continue to pay for a deed he didn’t commit,” Stires continued. ”If Mr. Alston had been convicted of murder and DNA evidence proved him innocent years later, Doug Berger would have held the cell door open for him to leave. Why is there no consistency in Doug Berger’s thinking when it comes to policy that impacts the people he says he represents?”
“After getting no help from Sen. Berger the Alston’s are now appealing to State Senator Vernon Malone from Wake County,” Stires concluded. “The Alston’s and Sen. Malone are African-American. I would hope there wasn’t a racial motive behind Sen. Berger’s apparent lack of interest in helping the Alston’s. As their state senator, I would support a change in our statutes to ensure DNA evidence is considered in paternity cases regardless of the time frame.”
Doug Berger’s “noose bill” is tossed aside in favor of position championed by Chuck Stires
News Release
Raleigh,
NC July 17,
2008, 5:18PM:
Moments ago, the North Carolina state senate tossed aside Doug Berger’s “noose bill” SB-1988, in favor of a revised senate bill, SB-685, which includes provisions championed by Doug Berger’s opponent, Republican state senate candidate, Chuck Stires.
“All along, I have spoken out saying that there needn’t be any radical changes to existing statutes, said Chuck Stires, candidate for the NC senate representing Franklin, Warren, Vance, and Granville Counties. “All that was necessary was to increase the penalties associated with current statutes to add real teeth to our existing laws.”
State Senator Doug Berger attempted to make headlines with his senate bill 1988. His bill would have so narrowly defined the horrific crimes of racial intimidation that it would have been nearly impossible to enforce. His efforts were rebuked by his senate colleagues in favor of legislation that has been enthusiastically supported by Doug Berger’s opponent, Chuck Stires.
“So often politicians try to pander for votes through capturing headlines that sound good,” Chuck Stires continued. “But this time, Doug Berger’s colleagues saw through what he was trying to do and stopped his race-pandering in its tracks by passing legislation that I have fully supported; giving law enforcement the real tools they need to put a stop to this kind of racial intimidation in North Carolina.”
“I want to thank the North Carolina senate, both parties, for demonstrating that we can look past headlines and pandering and pass legislation on which our law enforcement and courts can act with diligence and real consequence.”
State Auditor, Les
Merritt, “The Taxpayers’ Watchdog”, endorses Chuck Stires for the NC Senate
News Release
Raleigh, NC July 16, 2008:
In his endorsement of Chuck Stires, State Auditor Merritt noted their common belief that government must not compete with private investment and development. They both understand that government performs best when focused and running efficiently. Merritt noted that he and Stires share the knowledge that government’s role should be “limited to one that creates and environment of individual accomplishment and competition.”
“Raleigh needs new thinking,” Merritt remarked. “And Chuck Stires has committed to bring that much-needed perspective to our state capitol.”
“Integrity, Priority, efficiency, effectiveness and accountability have been the foundation of my business career, and those qualities are the anchors of my campaign to become district seven’s state senator,” Stires concluded. “The endorsement of our state auditor, who has demonstrated these same qualities in the in his remarkable service to the people of North Carolina, is humbling and most appreciated.”
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:14 AM EDT - Warren Record
He has sponsored three bills (SB677, SB1081 and SB1336) to hide serious felonies of convicted criminals -- serious adult, premeditated felonies like extortion, larceny, forgery, breaking and entering, intimidation, smuggling, embezzlement, writing over $2,000 in bad checks, looting, credit card theft over $500, and so on. Berger's claim is that these felonies are youthful indiscretions. Hardly.
Then perhaps to bolster his position, he counsels with a set of parents who are trying to get their son's felony record hidden. These parents, living in Wake County, appeared on a radio show and at county commission both in Franklin County.
During a local call-in radio program on May 17, the host patiently listened as these parents from Wake County (outside Berger's district) said they had enlisted Sen. Berger in support of hiding the felony conviction of their son. On the radio program, the parents' original claim was that their son was a victim of a cruel system that punishes, eternally, the one-time stupid action of a teenager. The parents' claim was that their son can't go to school, he can't get a job above minimum wage, and he can't join the military to protect our country. If there was a radio show preparation conversation with Sen. Berger, he was remiss in not having the parents clarify that their son's court record shows that, while the son was convicted for one felony, he got away with two felonies but was caught after the third alleged breaking, entering and larceny. Without being counseled to disclose the full facts, it could be said the parents were hiding an essential part of the story. Shame on lawyer Doug Berger.
These same parents from Wake County made the same presentation to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners on June 17. Again, the full facts were not presented. The story was presented of a son as victim when in fact he was caught after three times allegedly breaking in and stealing. Again, shame on lawyer Doug Berger for not encouraging full disclosure.
Doug Berger's attempt to hide serious criminal felonies is not in keeping with a sitting senator who promised to represent the citizens. Chuck Stires, Berger's opponent in the next election, believes state government's responsibility is to protect the citizen before it makes accommodation to a criminal. That's the way it should be. Chuck will get my vote.
ARLENE DE JONG
Youngsville
United States Senator
Elizabeth Dole declares her support in NC Senate race:
“I am proud to endorse
Chuck Stires”
News Release
Youngsville, NC, May
23, 2008:
“Chuck Stires is a good Christian man who will stand up for the values that North Carolinians hold dear,” said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole in a letter endorsing Chuck Stires’ candidacy for the NC Senate. “Chuck believes, as I do, that we should keep taxes low, secure our border and enforce our Immigration laws. That’s why I am proud to endorse Chuck Stires for NC Senate.”
Chuck Stires is a candidate for the NC senate representing Franklin, Vance, Warren and Granville Counties. Like Senator Dole, Chuck Stires understands that state and national resources are being undermined by the influx of illegal immigrants and the strain this illegal population is putting on all aspects of public services. Dole and Stires also agree on the role of government in creating an environment that encourages, not competes with, private investment, economic development, and the jobs that investment creates. They both understand that a universal, socialized system will introduce unnecessary costs and weaken the finest healthcare in the world. Chuck Stires and Senator Dole also share an understanding that parents and families are uniquely qualified to choose the education that best fits the needs of their children. They both support the right of families to have broad educational options, regardless of the family income.
“Senator Dole was elected to the United States Senate by a wide majority of North Carolina voters across party lines. She is routinely listed among the most respected women in our country. We share a set of values that is critical at this time in the history of our country and our state.” Chuck Stires said in response to Dole’s statement of support. “I am honored and flattered to have Senator Elizabeth Dole’s endorsement to represent my district in the North Carolina Senate.”
Chuck's Recommendation on the Certificate of Need
The Franklin Times 6-11-08
We are facing this issue for at least two reasons. First, a General Assembly and a Senator, who believe the government knows best have clung to the Certificate of Need (CON) program...power and control are hard to give up. Lawyers, bureaucrats and consultants also like the extended process of the CON because it provides good income for them. Now we have a Senator threatening to rip a license off the Hospital’s wall! This micro-managing approach to this problem and his tenacious hold to the CON are not contributing to better healthcare.
The second reason is competition, denied by the CON. When people have more choices, generally they choose the better care and at a better price. Healthcare providers, to keep customers, make changes to accommodate customers needs and perceptions.
Fourteen states (and the number is growing) have abandoned the outdated and antiquated CON process for determining where medical facilities are placed and what equipment is to be used. It was initially implemented by the Federal government to regulate and control the placement of beds and the same or similar expensive, taxpayer funded medical equipment to proximate communities. For example, in earlier times, the Federal government controlled placement because it did not want to pay equipment manufacturers to sell twenty MRI’s in Raleigh, or separate MRI’s in Bunn, Youngsville, Louisburg, Epsom, Centerville, Pilot, Gold Sand, and Justice.
However, the Federal government was concerned that releasing control would bring chaos and unfair pricing. Just the opposite was found to be true. In 2004 it was reported (Dept of Justice and Federal Trade Commission joint report) that CON programs push up the cost of health care and elimination of CON programs improve the quality and access to medical services. In another Federal study (Mark J. Botti, US DOJ, February 23, 2007), in those states where the market is the primary factor in placement of medical facilities, health care is more available, more affordable and is of better quality. Makes sense.
We need to remember that the “market” is us, the people, the users and purchases of goods and services. A vibrant marketplace sparks innovation and product development. It provides fertile ground for people to enter fields of study. Our open healthcare marketplace is what has encouraged the development of the most extraordinary medical technologies in the world and enticed many of our brightest young people to enter the medical and healthcare fields.
It is the grip of a few that prevents many citizens of North Carolina from having the advantage of the market placement of medical facilities. A major factor in this mess is the CON. In North Carolina, lawyers, consultants, bureaucrats, and politicians determine if, when, and where you get a modern or expanded medical facility. When the government gets out of the process, the market fills in quite nicely and citizens benefit. We can have this in North Carolina.
Chuck Stires
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:45 PM EDT - Warren Record
As an African-American, I was offended by state Sen. Doug Berger's theatrical pandering during the Henderson-Vance County Black Leadership Caucus Candidate Forum. Instead of talking about things that we face in this district, he went after his opponent, Chuck Stires, using examples which Berger hoped would make him look good to the Black Caucus. Instead, it made him look insincere to many, many others. He tried to tie Mr. Stires to the controversial Republican TV ad. Berger said the ad was race baiting and said something about the 1898 Wilmington race riots. That was a horrible thing that happened in N.C. But in his attempts to pander to the African-American audience, Berger must have "forgotten" that it was the Democrat Party who used violence against blacks.
He used some very mean words, but he revised history to fit the show he was putting on. Did Doug Berger assume we don't know the truth? I think he was just pandering for votes. He insulted our intelligence and put another wedge into our community. Mr. Berger must not think we know real race baiting when we see it.
Mr. Stires treated the Black Caucus audience with respect, properly addressed the issues and made a thoughtful presentation. Mr. Berger's theatrics were inappropriate, and his performance and pandering were not in keeping for a state senator. Mr. Stires would make a better senator.
BUD HOLDEN
Youngsville
Berger, Stires Butt Heads Over GOP’s Jeremiah Wright Ad
4-27-08 - Henderson Daily Dispatch
BY REGGIE PONDER
During the Henderson-Vance County Black Leadership Caucus Candidate Forum Saturday, N.C. Sen. Doug Berger challenged his opponent, Chuck Stires, to “repudiate” the “horrible ad” the state Republican Party plans to air this week linking gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Bev Perdue to Barack Obama’s controversial pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Stires, a Republican who is challenging Democrat Berger for the District Seven seat in the N.C. Senate, sought to avoid the issue, saying he wouldn’t let Berger “set my agenda.” Pressed about the ad later by a Daily Dispatch reporter, he stood by his party’s plans to air the aid.
The national Republican Party and its standard-bearer in the upcoming presidential election, Arizona Sen. John McCain, have asked the N.C. Republican Party not to air the ad, which includes a (censored) obscene sound bite by Wright from a sermon at his United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago.
Obama has tried to distance his presidential campaign from Wright’s more inflammatory remarks while continuing to acknowledge his appreciation for the pastor. Wright is by Obama’s account his closest spiritual advisor and the man who led him to Christianity.
The ad seeks to connect Perdue and Moore to the Wright controversy through the two Tar Heel Democrats’ endorsement of Obama’s presidential candidacy.
At Saturday’s forum, Berger compared the Wright ad to the Willie Horton spot from the 1988 presidential race, the race-baiting tactics used against U.S. Sen. Frank Porter Graham in North Carolina more than half a century ago, and even the Wilmington Race Riots of 1898.
Berger said Vance County voters had rejected unfair, mean-spirited politics in electing Peter White as the county’s first black sheriff in 2006. When he called the proposed Wright ad “as horrible as the Wilmington race riots” and asked Stires to join McCain in calling on the state party to stop the ad, Berger received a thunderous standing ovation from the crowd of 50 or so at the Elks Lodge on Rockspring Street. Stires said he would not allow Berger to set his agenda.
Terry Garrison, president of the Henderson-Vance County Black Leadership Caucus, referenced an earlier complaint by Vance Commissioner Deborah Jefferson Brown that the building was cold. “I can’t control the thermostat but it looks like it just got a little warmer,” Garrison said after Berger laid down the gauntlet.
Stires basically ignored Berger’s challenge during his remarks at the forum, instead talking about his experience as a businessman and teacher. He said schools in Vance County lag behind other areas even as schools across the country are excelling regardless of economic conditions or “what color you are.” Doing better in economic development requires an understanding of business, he said. The state’s reputation for good roads is deteriorating and he wants to change that, he said. Stires complained that government had “imposed itself on health care,” making it more expensive, and he said what’s needed is a market- driven system to allow citizens to get the health care they need.
The “old way of doing business” impedes progress , he said. “We don’t have to take what we’re given,” Stires said. The county needs to embrace “new solutions” and to “reject the old leadership.”
Asked after the forum about Berger’s challenge and the controversial ad, Stires said things come and go, including the ad, but vital issues will remain: Education, economic development, health care and roads. He dismissed Berger’s challenge as “theatrics.” Contrasting Berger’s speech and challenge with his own presentation, Stires said Berger ignored core issues like education and economic development and “chose to make a lot of theatrics about an ad.”
He said the ad in question was “absolutely not” racist or playing to racial fears, but rather has a message of “accountability and judgement.” Obama’s judgment — and by extension the judgment of Moore and Perdue, who have endorsed Obama — is called into question by Obama’s long and close association with the controversial preacher, Stires said. He said he and Berger should be talking about education, economic development and other important issues, not an ad.
Berger agreed the campaign should be issue-oriented. “That’s what we all should be talking about and that’s why disgusting ads like this should not be run,” Berger said. The senator acknowledged there was an element of theatrics in the challenge. “You’ve got to remember I was a prosecutor, and that’s just my style,” Berger said. “But I gave him a chance to hit a home run and he turned it down.” Stires rejected the opportunity because he’s “wedded to extremist politics,” Berger said. He said his challenge to Stires was rooted in a sincere, passionate belief that the ad is unfair and deeply divisive.
With all the issues facing us in North Carolina, particularly those issues that have a disproportionate impact on this region's African-American families, state Sen. Doug Berger chose to use the Henderson-Vance County Black Leadership Caucus Candidate Forum to defame his Republican rival, Chuck Stires. The issue was the NCGOP ad that features the controversial comments made by Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
Not only did Chuck Stires have nothing to do with the creation of the ad or the decision to run it, the ad was about the governor's race, a race in which neither Chuck Stires nor Doug Berger has any role. So rather than address the real issues facing Vance County and the rest of the district, Sen. Berger chose, by his own admission, to use "theatrics" in an attempt to derail the forum away from the issues and try to embarrass Chuck Stires. It didn't work.
Sen. Berger chose to not even show up at two earlier forums, and when he does decide to participate, he chooses to ignore the critical issues entirely and stoop to the lowest form of race pandering. Embarrassingly, and laughingly, he even tried to tie the TV ad, and in inference, Chuck Stires, to the Wilmington race riots of 1898. Doug Berger's performance at the forum was an insult to the intelligence of all those attending who wanted to hear about education, healthcare, jobs and economic development. It's interesting (and pitiful) that in a campaign season dominated by the desire for change, Doug Berger stays hopelessly mired in the old, stale politics of race-baiting and pandering.
Doug Berger wanted to hold Chuck Stires accountable for an ad he had no part of, and yet Doug Berger has never taken accountability for his votes in support of raising taxes and fees that impact every single family in the district, regardless of income. Or his refusal to support parents of children with special education needs or those families with children trapped in continually failing schools who must have more options in the education their kids receive.
Under his watch, as a leader on the HHS committee, Doug Berger sat quietly while our state mental health system not only failed in its responsibilities to the most needy in our state, $400 million of our hard-earned tax money was squandered in waste, incompetence and fraud. But rather than discuss his own role in that debacle, Doug Berger attempted to tie Chuck Stires to a TV ad about the governor's race. Is it any wonder Doug Berger was recently rated, once again, as one of the least effective members of the state senate? Is it any wonder he wanted to divert attention away from his own job performance?
I trust the good people who attended that forum will refuse to continue to be used by Doug Berger. I trust they will see through his embarrassing pandering and demand that he address the issues that face our families. I trust those in attendance, and future attendees, will demand that Doug Berger leave his "theatrics" and his smokescreens in the parking lot. He owes the attendees of Saturday's forum an apology.
MIKE WILBURT, Chairman
Warren County Republican Party
NC Agriculture
Commissioner Endorses Chuck Stires for NC Senate
News Release
"I am honored to receive the endorsement of Steve Troxler, North Carolina’s Commissioner of Agriculture,” said Chuck Stires, candidate for the NC Senate representing Vance, Warren, Granville and Franklin Counties. “I appreciate Commissioner Troxler’s confidence in me and my vision for our agriculture industry in rural North Carolina.
“Chuck has the technological understanding and vision to see a bright future ahead for North Carolina’s agriculture,” Commissioner Troxler said in his letter of endorsement. “Chuck Stires represents the contemporary legislative leadership we need in Raleigh to move our agriculture economy forward. I believe we need to elect public officials with the vision to recognize and appreciate the impact of this development on our economy.”
Commissioner Troxler’s comments referred to Chuck Stires’ broad base of experience. Chuck Stires is a trained engineer and a Franklin County businessman. He has the experience to understand the emerging economic and technological complexities. As an educator, Chuck Stires understands the need to leverage our powerful university system to keep North Carolina at the leading edge of bioagriculture growth. Chuck Stires’ roots were formed by his farming ancestors in 18th century Rockingham County. And to this day, Chuck maintains a small farm at his home in Franklin County.
“Agriculture’s impact on our economy, our food supply and our energy security can not be minimized,” Stires said. “We will not realize our agriculture potential with old, tired bureaucratic thinking and processes; we will only see this vital industry go the way of the North Carolina textiles and furniture.
“I am genuinely honored to have the confidence and support of our Agriculture Commissioner, Steve Troxler.’ Stires concluded. “I look forward to working with him when the 2008 – 2009 NC Senate convenes in January.”
Today Chuck Stires, NC Senate candidate, District 7, representing Granville, Franklin, Warren, and Vance Counties released the following statement regarding the possible construction of the National Bio & Agri-Defense Facility (NBAF).
“Over the decades, Butner has been the depository for necessary but distasteful facilities because folks in the Triangle screamed “Not in My Back Yard”. Butner, like other towns and counties immediately outside of the Triangle has the potential to see real residential and commercial growth.
“The growth of the Triangle encourages new residents, and the businesses that cater to them to look for commuting neighborhoods that offer quieter, less congested, more economical places to live. This is the kind of growth that residents and the economy of Granville County and Butner need.
“Prisons, mental hospitals, sewage treatment plants and bio-disease labs are necessary facilities, but pose serious concerns for the community and those who are looking to move to the community. Those concerns translate into lower property values and stifled economic growth. At what point does Butner and Granville County get to share in the economic rewards of the growing Triangle instead of being looked at and used as the place to build the undesirable but necessary facilities that no one else wants “In Their Backyard”.
“State Senator Doug Berger claims that “Rural North Carolina Matters”. Yet he is supporting and promoting a bio-disease facility that may have some short-term economic benefit during its construction, but would no doubt be an obstacle to the long-term economic development of a rural county that is so desperately in need. More importantly, why isn’t he listening to the people of the district he purportedly represents in Raleigh?
“Why is Doug Berger’s agenda so often different than the citizens’ agenda?”