Candidates discuss goals at forum

Robbinsville – About 75 people showed up to watch a candidate forum Saturday evening featuring Republican candidates for Graham County sheriff, school board, and commissioner.

The forum, hosted by The Graham Star, focused on contested major offices in the May 17 primary. Democrats and independents running for those offices are uncontested and will face winners of the Republican primary in the November general election.

Fourteen candidates appeared at Saturday’s forum, which was held at the Graham County Courthouse. Three candidates – Jacob Nelms and Logan Johnson for county commissioner, and Hans Koeller for school board – were unable to attend the forum because of scheduling conflicts. Candidate for county commissioner Cassie Phillips was also unable to attend.

The candidates were given the option to have their answered prerecorded and replayed at the forum. They were not given an opportunity to make closing comments, which was added to the forum at the last minute on Saturday.

Here are summaries from each candidate who participated, either in person or prerecorded:

School board

* Chip Carringer

Chip Carringer is a lifelong Graham County resident who spent 35 years working in Graham County Schools, including serving as Graham County schools superintendent. He is an incumbent school board member.

The three biggest issues facing Graham County Schools are aging facilities at Robbinsville Elementary School, technology and connectivity, and developing curriculum to teach trade skills in agriculture, emergency medical services, health services, and so on.

He said resources are stretched thin at Graham County Schools.

“We are limited in what we get from Raleigh,” he said. “We struggle every year to make the budget work.”

He said Graham County Schools have had to tap into its fund balance – a kind of savings account – in order to make the budget work, and that the school district uses resources “very well.”

Graham County Schools is among the “best places to have your kid.”

He said curriculum and programs that are controversial at the state and national levels have not affected Graham County Schools. “School is not the place for politics,” he said.

He points with pride to the fact that during the last school year, when the county was in the thick of COVID-19, Robbinsville Elementary, Middle and High Schools all met expected growth.

* Debra “Hank” Dinschel

Debra Dinschel has been in Graham County for more than 20 years, and is a business owner with a degree in business administration and close to a degree in accounting. She said she can read, write and cipher, the only requirements to serve on the school board. She said she thoroughly researches issues and bases her decisions on “Godly wisdom.”

“I don’t lean on my understanding. I’m going to go to God about everything,” she said. “Things have got to line up with the Bible.”

She distrusts government officials and believes that children “are not looked out for properly.” She said school officials at the state level are “sliding it in real slimey” such things as Critical Race Theory, Social-Emotional Learning, and the 1619 project.

The three biggest issues facing Graham County Schools is that the school board meets at 9 a.m., making it hard for parents to attend meetings, that citizens are allows only three minutes to speak at board meetings (she thinks five minutes would be better), and the state “slipping in” curriculum that she finds objectionable and “perversion.”

“The school board should never listen to state DPI (Department of Public Instruction),” she said.

She said the school district should make do with its existing resources and “stretch money farther and farther.”

She also said the school district should study other school districts that are successfully handling challenges such as drugs on campus.

“I’m tough,” she said. “If I think something’s wrong, I’m going to go after it.”… DPI is like a second school board. They’re not looking out for these kids.”

She said although the state schools superintendent is a Republican, state school officials “don’t uphold Christian values.”

* Hans Koeller

Hans Koeller, whose comments were prerecorded, is a retired Navy veteran who describes himself as “very conservative.” He said he brings leadership, training skills and teamwork building experience.

He said the biggest issues facing Graham County Schools are lower salaries for staff and faculty, inadequate security on campus, and that teachers should be compensated for the time and out-of-pocket expenses when they set up their classrooms.

“To expect teachers to provide a service without compensation is not fair,” he said.

Commissioners

* Van Adams

Van Adams is a former firefighter who has lived most of his life in Graham County. He said that according to his second ex-wife, his strongest attribute is stubbornness.

“If I believe in something, and it’s the right thing, I’m not going to change my mind,” he said.

He said the biggest issues facing the county are the lack of industry and shortage of well-paying jobs.

He said he will work hard to increase pay and benefits for county workers to ensure they stay in the county.

He said Graham County needs a more formal animal control system, adding that the trash containers behind the convenience store where he works has attracted as many as 24 stray cats.

“It’s out of control and needs to be handled,” he said.

In closing, he said he will “fight for the people of this county.”

* Lynn Cody

Lynn Cody is an incumbent county commissioner, a Graham County native, and volunteer fire chief in Stecoah. He served as Graham County manager for three years and is a Human Resources manager in the private sector.

Since he has been in office, he has held weekly meetings in Stecoah for constituents to meet with him and talk about issues that are important to them.

He said whatever the county does “has to be hand-in-hand” with Graham County Schools. There should be more focus on teaching trades, skills, and work ethic at county schools.

He said the county has good relationships with other local agencies and is working to improve pay and benefits for law enforcement and emergency medical services to keep them in Graham County instead of seeking higher pay elsewhere.

About whether Graham County needs some kind of animal control service, he said “At times we do,” but said pet and animal owners should take care of their animals to keep them from becoming a public nuisance.

In closing, he said, “I’m going to listen and I’ll give you my opinion. Sometimes my opinion may not be what you want to hear, but I’ll be honest with you.”

* Logan Johnson

Logan Johnson, whose comments were prerecorded, said he has always wanted to be a county commissioner and is running now that he is 21 years old and eligible.

He has worked in fire and rescue since he was 12.

He said the county needs “things for kids to do.”

He said local officials get a lot of calls for animal control, and that a more formal animal control program should be considered.

* Andy Lynn

Andy Lynn is a lifelong Graham County resident who has worked in emergency medical services since 1985. He also served in the North Carolina Army National Guard for 15 years, including serving in Iraq. He served as an interim county commissioner in 2010.

“I know the ins and outs of county government from top to bottom,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges in the county is adequate, good-paying jobs.

“How do you provide, how do you live here, how do you make a living in this county?” he said.

He will work toward securing a 24-hour urgent care clinic in the county as well as a dialysis center “so people won’t have to drive to Murphy or Sylva. It’s a huge expense and inconvenience to get a stitch (in an emergency room) that can be done in urgent care.”

He said in county government, it has been known to involve county departments taking other county departments to court to resolve differences resulting in taxpayers paying for lawyers on both sides, “frivolously over nonsense.”

He said Graham County needs a formal program to deal with stray and unwanted animals, other than to rely on volunteers and the Valley River Humane Society in Cherokee County. He said “it is an issue of public health and an issue of public safety.”

In closing, he said the county needs to make strides to make the next generation better than the one it replaces. Schools should teach more trades, including aviation technology to take advantage of proximity to Western Carolina Regional Airport in Andrews.

He also said he would “love for people to earn a living wage” in Graham County, and that people now have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

* Jacob Nelms

Jacob Nelms, whose comments were prerecorded, is an incumbent county commissioner first elected in 2014. He is a Graham County native with a forestry degree from Western Carolina University.

He said he has helped lay a foundation that future boards of commissioners can grow on.

“My desire is for my community to move forward, have a growing local economy, safe communities, and healthy communities, and we have made great strides since I’ve been on the board and I want to continue to do that.”

Issues such as crime, substance abuse, and mental health are intertwined, he said, but money from a national settlement with pharmaceutical opioid manufacturers will go a long way.

“I’m positive we can make an impact on our community with that money,” he said. “Starting with schools. We should attack the problem while they are still young.”

He said he has always worked well with other Graham County entities.

He said animal control is an issue in the county, but expanding animal control services would be expensive. The county meets its statutory obligations for animal control, he said, but added he would be open to discussing the topic to find solutions the county can afford.

* Natasha Williams

Natasha Williams has a degree in business administration and accounting, and working toward a degree in business administration law. She said her education and experience mean she has “a lot of good ideas for the county.”

Graham County is like a large business, but its economy is stagnant and there is room for growth.

A major issue the county faces is its jail, which is overcrowded. A court order is forcing the county to build a new criminal justice center that will house courtrooms, the Sheriff’s Department and an expanded jail, but meanwhile, the county is spending thousands of dollars each month sending local inmates to other counties to be housed until their time is served or their court dates arrive. Further delays will only make the new justice center more expensive to build, she said.

She said there is “room for growth” in relations between county government and other local government and non-government entities in Graham County.

She said Graham County needs to develop a better program for dealing with stray animals.

In closing, Williams said she is approachable and seeks out people’s thoughts.

“It’s time for some fresh faces,” she said. “Change is hard but change is good.”

* Dale Wiggins

Dale Wiggins is an incumbent county commissioner and native of Graham County, although he left for a time and lived in the Atlanta area. He returned to Graham County when his children reached school age.

He worked in construction as well as facilitated Community Development Block Grants for 14 years in the five most western North Carolina counties, helping repair homes for the elderly and disabled. He has also been a Sunday school teacher.

“I do it because I love this county,” he said.

Graham County is about ⅔ federal land and is limited in its development for that reason. Through his experience both in the public and private sectors, he is working to make sure the county gets what it needs and deserves from state and federal government, he said.

Drugs and mental health are two major issues the county faces, he said. He has been working on the Board of Commissioners to build a new justice center that will include adequate jail facilities.

When he took office in 1994, “the county was literally broke,” he said. Within five years, it had a fund balance of $1.4 million.

“We’re very conservative but we do the things we need to do,” he said.

He said the county works well with other local entities. He said he is working to improve pay and benefits for county workers to keep the county from being a training ground for other neighboring counties.

“We need to retain the people we have. We need to pay these people,” he said. “We’re working hard to do that.”

About animal control, Wiggins said pet and animal owners need to take responsibility and that it would be too costly to have a standalone animal control department and shelter.

In closing, he said, “Graham County has a lot of needs. None of us can deny that.” Yet during the COVID-19 pandemic, county offices remained open. He said he will work with the U.S. Forest Service and state and federal agencies to make sure the county gets funds to accomplish things it can’t afford on its own.

Next week: Republican primary candidates for Graham County Sheriff tackle issues at forum.