CANDIDATE PROFILE: Neil Anderson wants to expand community policing

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – Neil Anderson would like to serve another four years on the Wilmington City Council.

He said when he started on the council four years ago, he felt like a freshman and it took a while to get comfortable. Now, that he feels more comfortable, he said he thinks he can be more effective and carry that on into another term.

Anderson said to continue being effective, he’d like to work with Wilmington Police to help expand community policing beyond downtown Wilmington to around New Centre Drive and Market Street.

“I think the police chief has a nice plan that he’s proposed to us,” Anderson said.

Anderson said they had to put that proposal on hold, however, after lawmakers repealed the privilege license, a tax businesses paid up and above property taxes, in 2014.

“Whether you believe there should be a privilege license or not, that was a $1.6 million, $1.8 million that suddenly was gone from our budget,” Anderson said.

It’s a budget Anderson said he thinks will grow once Wilmington’s tax base does the same.

“As resources become available, if I’m weighing where I want them to go, in my mind, that’s certainly a top priority,” Anderson said.

Another priority for Anderson is making sure Wilmington City Council uses and raises taxes for the necessities.

“If we were raising it for a luxury item that we may or may not need, that’s a very different thing than streets, sidewalks,” Anderson said.

Now, comes the continued challenge of making sure money goes where it’s supposed to go, and projects keep moving along, according to Anderson.

“You avoid that, well, we could use that money over here, no we promised the voters that we were going to spend it here,” Anderson said.

Early voting begins on October 22. Election Day is November 3.

Click here to learn more about candidates running in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.