Candidates share their vision for Anson County at “Politics After Dark”

WADESBORO — Young Professionals Anson hosted their third annual town hall styled forum, entitled “Politics After Dark”, on Tuesday, October 24, returning to the Lockhart-Taylor Center at South Piedmont Community College.

Candidates appearing on the November 7 ballot mingled with the community, shared their vision for Anson’s future, and answered questions from constituents. Succeeding in their effort to strike a neighborly vibe, Young Professionals Anson provided refreshments for all attendees.

The first candidate to address attendees, Angela Tina Caraway, who is running for Ansonville Mayor, led the way for the night.

Caraway began by introducing herself, “I am a native of Anson County… grew up in Wadesboro… and graduated from NC State.”

“I love the county… when the pandemic hit, I wanted to be home,” said Caraway, sharing personal insight into her decision to move back to Anson County.

Despite Caraway’s love for her home county, she still believes, “Ansonville needs a change and that change has come.”

“I want to be the mayor of Ansonville because that is where my home is, where my family is… sometimes you gotta crawl before you can walk, so I am starting there. I want to see a change happen… to bring about the change sometimes you have to be the change,” declared Caraway.

Running for Lilesville Commissioner, Christopher Harrington, spoke next. “I live in Lilesville, I have been working for Anson County Water for twenty-one, almost twenty-two years in the utility department,” he said.

Harrington served in the National Guard for 16 years, deployed twice. He credits his service with teaching him the value of listening to and respecting others, sharing, “It gave me a newfound learning for how to deal with people… you never learned about how to deal with people until your life is on the line.”

Part of working with people, Harrington believes is, “Listening to people. You got to listen to have a plan.”

Harrington believes he will bring change to Lilesville by. “Sitting down with the people… hearing what they have to say and letting them feel respected,” he said.

“When Morven grows, Anson grows,” declared Morven Town Council candidate, Tanya Chance, who addressed attendees next.

Chance, a mother of four and grandmother to four, employed by South Piedmont Community College, hopes to bring about a change, “In the political stereotype that my community is plagued with. Our community is on a downward spiral, even as I speak, we need change and we need that change to occur now,” she demanded.

Declaring to aggressively seek and go after funding, Chance seeks to develop mental health awareness programs and resources in the community, while also encouraging new funding avenues for town revitalization projects.

Addressing Anson County’s educational needs, Chance shared that it is her opinion that, “The town needs to hold the Board of Education and its representatives more accountable.”

Chance believes this can be accomplished through “Raising the educational expectation of both adults and youth.”

Incumbent member of Morven town council, Corinthia Lemon, shared some of the council’s accomplishments during her tenure that she is proudest of, “We have worked on a lot of things in regards to zoning, infrastructure and revitalization projects.”

“I have a heart to serve… a willingness to serve… I can promise you I eat, sleep, and drink Morven,” declared Lemon, before concluding, “My heart is here, I don’t know what else to say… my work is going to speak for me.”

Having stepped up as interim mayor for Peachland, Clinton Davis is now trying his hand at running for the position permanently. Davis had been serving as a town council member.

A native of Peachland, Davis graduated from Anson High School and Appalachian State, before beginning a very successful career as an educator.

“My wife and I have two boys, one of them, a freshmen, is right now a cheerleader for the powder puff game and we have a fourth grader,” said Davis, introducing himself.

“My vision is… that growing up we all remember what Anson County was like… having two boys now, I want to continue that for them… the joy of PeopleFest every October… what it meant to graduate from Anson County High School… to be proud to say I am an Ansonsian… I want to bring that vision back,” declared Davis.

Represented by Jeff Boothby, incumbent Wadesboro town council member, Lewis Evans, was unable to attend.

Boothby shared that Evans has lived in Anson for twenty years, though he is originally from Eastern Carolina.

Banning skilled games and gaming houses is one of the accomplishments that Boothby is particularly supportive of Evans over, saying, “He [Evans] was one of the elected officials that was influential in correcting that problem (skilled games and game houses). He made sure our community is the nice community that we want and that is safe for our kids… that we aren’t letting some of the challenges in that really hurt members of our community that are susceptible to that kind of stuff.”

In addition to legislation achievements, Evans has been an active volunteer in the community and long-time member and deacon of his church. He and his wife settled in Anson, raising their family and carving a life into the bedrock of the county, its community.

Another incumbent of Wadesboro town council, Russell Sikes, spoke before attendees, describing some of the exciting accomplishments he and other council members have achieved.

“I have really enjoyed serving on the board. We have gotten a lot of things done… you will notice a splash pad starting next year… we have also added a new fire truck this year… it sounds ridiculous but it takes five years to build a fire truck … so we are trying to be progressive, be one step ahead,” details Sikes.

Pro-law enforcement, Sikes is convinced that, “If you look at the problems we face here in Anson County… one of the highest crimes rates in the state, we got to keep working with law enforcement.”

Sikes went on to describe success seen from new cameras installed throughout Wadesboro, and announced the council’s plan to use the budget in a fiscally responsible way to install additional cameras in other crime prone areas of the county.

“I want to give back to the community that has done so much for me,” explains Garrett Snuggs, on why he is running for Wadesboro town council.

Snuggs has three main goals for seeing change in Anson; more options for children such as a YMCA, Boys or Girls Club, transportation services, and economical developments.

“Anson has no Uber, no Lyft… there has not been a taxi service in Wadesboro for over ten years,” decried Snuggs.

Snuggs would like to see further revitalization of Wadesboro and tightening of infrastructure, making Wadesboro more competitive and appealing to large industry.

“I promise to be assessable, transparent, and honest with you,” Snuggs assured in closing.

Commissioners JD Bricken and Jamie Caudle attended the event in a show of solidarity and support to the incumbent candidates and their challengers.