news-record.com

Anne Kearns Hice will fight to keep her seat as mayor of Pleasant Garden during the Nov. 3 election.

She received 154 votes, or 17.4 percent of the vote, during the Oct. 6 primary. Her contender, newcomer Bill Greene received 580 votes, or 65.5 percent of the vote.

This is the first year residents get to select who’ll lead the town. In years past, the mayor was selected by the town council from its own members.
Greene said changes he’d like to oversee as mayor include returning the soccer program to the supervision of the recreation board and removing $15,000 for a future town library from the budget. He said surveys about the library represented a small portion of the community and did not verify whether respondents were residents.

Hice, the current mayor, believes the board’s progress has been good and the council should continue to protect the residential and agricultural nature of the town.

Hice wants to keep property taxes to a minimum and said she has helped lower the tax rate 50 percent.

Alan Marshall and Carla Strickland are vying for a town council seat.

Marshall had 263 votes, or 29.8 percent of the vote during the primary, according to complete but unofficial returns. Strickland won 246 votes, or 27.9 percent.

Marshall would like the council to be required to consider expenditure requests that exceed $5,000 at two consecutive meetings before voting. Those votes also would require a super majority vote, or four council members supporting the amendment.

Marshall would like to see the recreation board regain oversight of the soccer program and similar future programs. He wants committees to be open to both residents and nonresidents.

Strickland wants to see a council that works together and doesn’t manage the daily affairs of the town’s staff and appointed boards.

Strickland said the $15,000 allocated for a future library should be spent elsewhere. She said the money would be better spent hosting concerts at Town Hall and expanding the farmers’ market.

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 883-4422, Ext. 241, or elizabeth.seagraves@news-record.com