I was asked to write about some of the general issues that we are facing. I will get to that in a moment, but I want to share this with you:
I know who we are, and I know what we can do. Let me prove it to you. This town had a textile and furniture driven economy and one by one they closed.
But we survived to see a new day with hope and promise on the horizon. A new day for our children and grandchildren. It is my belief that we owe them and ourselves to embrace this new opportunity, to not only survive, but to become a thriving community that we can be proud of.
So now with that being said let’s look at some of the issues we are and will be facing.
The Governing Body (BOC) must hold itself accountable to the community that elected them to office. We cannot and will not disrespect each other. This includes staff and our citizens. We must never appear dysfunctional.
Communicate, communicate, and communicate with our citizens (Black, White, Latino and Hispanic), we must have open and transparent government. If you have questions, you should receive an answer to your question. If you have concerns, we should listen and address them. If you call, I will call you back in 24 hours or less.
We must grow our small business community. They are the backbone of every community in America, a small business incubator would be a great way to ensure that growth. This would be a good way for our Chamber to get involved with this process.
Our children are truly our future, so we must make major investments in them. When I was growing up in Siler City businesses such as (Hadley-Peoples, Glendale, etc.) civic organizations (Rotary, Civitan’s, etc.). This helped to shape many of our young people and keep us busy and out of harm’s way.
We need to rally support behind our agreement with Sanford to increase our water and sewer capacity. This agreement will take care of many of our issues. This will help increase our tax base, which means affordable housing, jobs, better roads, new schools, and an all-around quality of life will be better. For me and my way of thinking your answer cannot be “I am against it”, it must be I have a better solution. I’m listening.
Rev. Donald Matthews is a candidate for Mayor of Siler City.