Part two:

N.C. House candidates

discuss diverse issues
By Scott Nicholson

Candidates for the N.C. District 93 House of Representatives seat squared off at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center in Boone at a Tuesday debate hosted by the Boone Kiwanis Club.

What follows is part two of the debate highlights among incumbent Democrat Cullie Tarleton, Republican challenger Dan Soucek and Libertarian challenger Jeff Cannon.

Regarding vision of the legislator’s role, Cannon said he would reduce size of government and add more accountability in spending tax money. He said violent offenders should remain in jail.

Soucek said, “Governments don’t solve problems, people do.” He said he should communicate and know the people of the district’s needs and that government should be transparent.

Tarleton said his job was to be accessible to the people and make sure the district gets its fair share of transportation dollars and budgeting was done out in the open.

Asked about the state’s serving youth, Soucek said it was critically important to support families to enable them to raise functional, contributing children. He said some laws weren’t well thought out and created loopholes and society didn’t always protect young people.

Tarleton said a new law cracked down on sexual predators and that the state funded more preschool programs to create solid foundations, adding that education started at age four and continued through college.

Cannon said single parents should be supported since they had to work twice as hard, and he said child predators should remain in jail.

Regarding involuntary annexation, Tarleton said he supported the General Assembly’s proposed one-year moratorium on involuntary annexation and said it was currently headed for a study commission.

“We shouldn’t be forcing anybody to do anything with their property that they don’t want to do, especially if it’s to benefit somebody besides them,” Cannon said.

Soucek said people have more value in their land than just the economic value, and said people should have more say in how their land was used.

All the candidates supported offshore drilling if it was done in an environmentally responsible way and lessened dependence on foreign oil. They also supported alternative energy sources that had fair policies.

Regarding mortgage programs to prevent bankruptcies, Cannon said the government had no business bailing people out, while Soucek said the government shouldn’t alter the market and additional burdens shouldn’t be placed on homeowners and builders. Tarleton said people should have the right to approve a local land transfer tax if they wish, and the state had approved an emergency program to help some threatened homeowners.

Asked about universal health care, Tarleton said the U.S. Congress may address the issue and he’d cosponsored legislation to create a high-risk insurance pool. “Access to health care is something that we as a society have to get our arms around for the good of our people,” he said.

Cannon said charities and other organizations had provided health care in the past and said government had meddled in various programs and created higher costs. He supported deregulation of health care to lower costs.

Soucek said the government should be involved in health care as little as possible, and universal health care was a short-term solution that created long-term problems.

Soucek said government should have a minimal role in housing though there were large income discrepancies in the state, while Tarleton said housing subsidies had an appropriate role, and Cannon said market conditions would determine homeowners’ issues and needs would be met in a free market.

Tarleton closed by saying he’s worked hard during his term to respond to constituents and said he committed “his continued 110-percent effort in serving the citizens.”

Cannon said he didn’t expect to win but said he had the truth on his side and the two main parties were clinging to opinion polls and perception. “The Democrats and Republicans are trapped by politics,” he said.

ìEither put freedom first, or we’ll find someone who will.”

Soucek said he supported ideals of small government, lower taxes and responsible government. He said he was involved as a community member and said the legislature was designed to have citizens as members.
District 93 includes Watauga and Ashe counties. The General Election is Nov. 4.