Brunswick County candidates discuss tolls, PFAS and development ahead of early voting

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — With in-person early voting beginning Thursday, Oct. 15, Brunswick County voters had an opportunity to hear directly from candidates running for county commissioner and state legislative seats during two forums Wednesday night in Leland.

The forums covered two Brunswick County Board of Commissioners races and several state legislative contests, with discussions focusing on tolls, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement, PFAS contamination, public safety and development.

County commissioner candidates discuss bridge tolls, PFAS

The first forum featured just two of the four candidates running for Brunswick County commissioner.

Republican Randy Thompson, running in District 1, and Republican Patti Hewett, running in District 2, did not attend.

Thompson was attending an emergency management conference in Greenville, while attempts to reach Hewett went unanswered.

Their Democratic opponents, Gary Woods in District 1 and Sara Singer in District 2, participated in the forum.

Both candidates expressed opposition to tolls as a way to fund the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

Woods pointed to the state’s reserve funds as a potential source of funding for the project.

“We don’t have to worry about that, we have a $7 billion reserve fund. Well if you got a $7 billion reserve fund, why can’t you just use a billion dollars and put in the bridge and let’s build it and not have any tolls,” Woods said.

Singer also opposed tolling and proposed changes to corporate taxes as another way to generate state revenue.

“I do not support tolls, I do support putting the corporate sales tax at 5% which would bring in an additional 1 to 2 billion into the state tax,” Singer said.

Woods also addressed PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River and discussed how he believes settlement money from Chemours should be used to help residents.

“The 24 million we’re going to get the first year I believe should be research and development, what’s going on and we definitely need to look at the Hanover situation because they are destroying that PFAS. Our system is supposed to, they collect it in these big things and then they dump it back in the river, so what good does that do?” Woods said.

Singer addressed the county’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras following criminal charges against a former Brunswick County deputy accused of misusing the system.

“There’s too much misuse and unfortunately human nature does not seem to be able to use technology like this in the best way possible. So I don’t support it, I don’t feel like the majority of the citizens support it,” Singer said.

Both candidates also expressed support for Brunswick County’s school bond referendum, which will appear on the November ballot.

State legislative candidates address environmental and development concerns

A second forum Wednesday night focused on several races for the North Carolina General Assembly.

Republican incumbent Frank Iler and Democratic challenger Dennis Breen, who are running for North Carolina House District 17, both participated.

In House District 19, Democratic candidate Scott Nasiff attended, while Republican incumbent Charlie Miller was absent.

The forum also included Democratic candidate Richard Combes and Libertarian candidate Tim White, who are running for North Carolina Senate District 8. Republican incumbent Bill Rabon did not attend.

Candidates discussed several issues affecting Brunswick County and the surrounding region, including access to clean drinking water, PFAS pollution in local waterways, environmental accountability, data centers, open burning regulations and continued development.

Early voting begins Thursday

The forums took place one day before the start of in-person early voting in North Carolina.

Beginning Thursday, Oct. 15, voters can cast their ballots at any early voting location within their county.

That differs from Election Day, when registered voters must cast their ballots at their assigned polling place.

The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3.