| << Back 7/31/02 Incorporation a hot topic at Cashiers candidate forum By Don Hendershot Nine of the 11 Jackson County commissioner candidates answered questions during a forum held last week in Cashiers. Roberta Crawford, a Democratic incumbent from District running unopposed was absent. So was Stacy Buchanan, Democratic candidate for chairman who is the incumbent from District 3. Friday’s forum, attended by about 60 people, was sponsored by Friends of the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library. Jan Brand, Friends chairman, said the group began planning for the forum about three months ago. The group asked the community for questions for the candidates. Brand said the Friends reviewed about 15 different questions and selected five which they forwarded to candidates about a week in advance of the forum. As would be expected, the five questions submitted focused primarily on the Cashiers area. The two questions that created the greatest dialogue among candidates were: ° The Cashiers area pays a predominate amount of Jackson County taxes and receives an extremely small amount of county services. What will you do as a commissioner to improve this inequitable situation? ° What are the county commissioners going to do about managing growth in the Cashiers area? Blaschik advocated incorporation as a means for the Cashiers community to realize a more equitable distribution of taxes. McMahan noted that while Cashiers residents generated more money, they paid the same rate as the rest of the county. He suggested the county could better use its growing technology to offer better services in the Cashiers area. Cashiers resident and District 4 candidate Eddie Madden said it was important that the Cashiers community and the District 4 candidate make it a priority to “get in front of the Board on a regular basis so they clearly understand our priorities.” Incorporation was noted again in reference to the growth question. Belcher told the crowd that by incorporating “you decide your own zoning.” Madden said incorporation was an alternative that should be considered. “Cashiers knows best about what is best for Cashiers,” Madden said. District 4 Republican candidate Nicholson said the county had ordinances and agencies in place now that if used efficiently could help direct growth. Blaschik said she opposed zoning and feared it would stifle growth. Moody said it was important to have a plan and thought the way to manage growth was through a well designed land-use plan. Candidates tried to navigate the tricky political waters between land-use planning and zoning. McMahan, who stated during the forum that he was opposed to zoning, said, after the forum that proper planning was important to support growth in the county. Cowan, who applauded the commissioners’ recent endorsement of a countywide land-use plan, made a point of telling the group he was opposed to countywide zoning. Nicholson said,after the forum, that he thought control was the wrong word to use in context with growth in the county. He said the county needed to manage growth but maybe using infrastructure and policies already in place would be a better approach. He said he wasn’t familiar enough with the county’s recently passed goals for growth to comment on it. Frank Burrell said he thought “smart growth” was a good place to start and that he supported the recently passed Plan Task Force recommendations.
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