By GRACE GUNTER
October 21, 2006

Dr. Janette Blandford, philosophy professor here at Belmont Abbey, is running for the Riverbend Township seat on the Gaston County commission. Riverbend Township includes parts of Mount Holly and Stanley. Her opponent is John Torbett (R).

I recently sat down with Dr. Blandford to ask her some questions about the commission and some questions concerning local and national issues.

Q: What is the most pressing issue in Gaston County?

A: Gaston County is not preparing itself for the challenges in the twenty-first century.

Q: Why are you a better choice for county commissioner than your opponent?

A: I have a more progressive approach to the county’s problems.

Q: How does a budget get approved? What are the steps taken before the budget reaches the commission’s hands?

A: Input from the county offices is put together by the county manager, who presents the yearly budget to the commission.

Q: What specific things, if any, would you fight to change in the commission?

A: I would fight to have different perspectives presented and to open up discussion and debate.

Q: If the proposed budget is more than the county can afford, how would you solve the problem: increasing revenues, decreasing expenditures, or a balancing of the two?

A: A balancing of the two. There are steps we can take to making government more efficient, but then we have to consider constructing a more equitable local tax system.

Q: In what departments does the state mandate money towards?

A: The biggest are probably Medicaid and education. With education, mandates include things such as teachers’ salaries and money for special education.

Q: With regard to education, does the state have any mandates concerning the amount of money given to each school within the county or what the schools do with the money?

A: The state does mandate a number of expenditures, such as funding for certain programs, but then the county takes care of the rest.

Q: Does the commission have any control over what a given department spends its money on? A: To a certain extent. The commission can reject a department’s proposal if it does not seem reasonable or necessary.

Q: A recent article in the New York Times reported that from 2001-2005 college graduates taking entry-level jobs have seen their paychecks getting smaller; males’ salaries have fallen 7.3% to $19.72/hr and females’ salaries have fallen 3.5% to $17.08/hr. Compounding financial problems, in 2004, 50% of graduating seniors borrowed money from college, with their debt averaging around $19,000. What do you think should be done to alleviate the problem I’m sure many students here face?

A: Increase revenues. You can’t give out more [scholarships] if you don’t have the funds. You can’t support massive tax cuts, especially for the rich, and expect to have the funds for critical services.

Q: Immigration has been a hot topic for the past six months or so, especially in Gaston County. How do you think the government should handle the situation?

A: Go to the source. The immediate solution is to punish businesses for employing illegal immigrants. People would not be coming here if businesses were not employing them. Then we need to help countries that are the sources for this immigration with their economies.

Q: I wrote an article in last month’s Crusader about education in America. What do you think the government can do to improve our schools?

A: Fund them. The government can’t hold schools accountable to high standards if it doesn’t give them the means to achieve those standards. The government should increase revenues and cut back on what is unnecessary, such as military contracts that the military itself says are not needed.