Cliff Overby

Candidate for Hoke County Commission (Republican)

• Why should you be a county commissioner?

I have been a successful businessman over the past 21 years and have developed the necessary life experience and skills to both understand the complex environment of Hoke County and can see its need to be professionally managed. I have done extensive research on Hoke County and have proof of the many problems in the county. I can confront many of the leaders on their poor choices and lack of loyalty. Through this research I can see how beneficial a new and goal oriented type of management style would help Hoke County but this style will require a change of all incumbents. Please vote to change all 3 seated commissioners. This approach will make sure the best resources are implemented and tracked obtain our maximum presence in the State of North Carolina.

• Would you support a plan to build and new high school, or add on to the existing high school? What if it means raising property taxes ?

Yes I would listen and support what would be the best solution for Hoke County and its tax payers. There should be a lot of planning and each one of these choices will present both its own strengths and weaknesses. We would need to be diligent in our methods and decisions.

Taxes may need to increase and if so we will have to make the appropriate decision as a unified Hoke County and provide the best we can as the situation may require.

In 2022 or in 4 years the state of North Carolina does require a property taxes revaluation (every eight years). In the year 2022 many of us may see that our propery values have dropped and our TAXES DROPPED! But WAIT …..now the main revenue channel or main resource running the county just DECREASED so now NOW WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO RUN THE COUNTY ….in order to keep what little we have now will require a tax increase to continue running the county. Plus more for new programs that may be dropped. So is anyone really paying attention ?

• Where do you stand on gun control, including issues such as banning or restricting the sale of certain types of weapons, allowing gun violence restraining orders, and instituting universal background checks ?

I am a 2nd amendment supporter. I also support the belief that Life is the most precious of all. Our society needs to come back to its roots and beginnings and we must be wise and make order from the chaos of the world. It is most important that we protect our moral fabric that we have developed over hundreds or thousands of years and through our religious beliefs and teachings and need for order we can take control of these issues. It is through healing the family and the beliefs in God that the country is founded on that will start a reformation in this country and control of ourselves will control killing.

• What will you do to support transparent government?

All of the commissioners should have contact numbers and emails that connect directly with them. The books of the county should be available online at any given time. This will force the audits to be on time. All meetings in the county that fall under the sunshine laws should be transmitted via the internet and other means to the citizens and recordings made for archival purposes. All business should be done in public and recessed meetings to reduce transparency would be stopped thus increasing awareness of the meetings including a county electronic message board should be incorporated. The school system should prepare STEM classes using local government to learn media and how to interact with their governments , local state and federal. This would prepare for the best learning experience that your government is in your own back yard and this is where it all starts. The students are products of their environments we must give them the tools to become and stay involved.

• What is your plan for directing growth in eastern, western and southern areas of Hoke County?

One of the problems now is the current commissioners have demonstrated, through their performance, little attention to what the county needed and instead of taking known steps they tried to move the entire county to the east. This is going to have a damaging effect on this county and growth should have been planned. Instead they have started an unnecessary division. All infrastructure was in place to have really grown the greater Raeford area and then planned expansion to the east. As in the eastern part of the county we have allowed our commissioners to paint us into a corner. The benefit however was for the commissioners and the special interest they serve. I guess their thinking was that they would force growth around the new sewer. The sewer did provide growth in the 401 corridor but toward the commissioners favorites and assured advantage of just a few developers. From the outside looking in it could have restricted trade from smaller business entering into competition in the county. In essence the commissioners have locked competition out of the county. There is a way to turn these poor decisions into an advantage but the commissioners interest must shift to the core needs of the county and not to the lawyers and developers that serve them and not the citizens.

• What need are most pressing in Hoke County, how would you address those needs?

Transparency, accessibility, accountability and most importantly LOYALTY to the citizens of Hoke County must be the focus. By reassessing and reasserting the needs of the citizens of Hoke County by developing the needed changes in Hoke County to its managers and staff. This new focus and concept will be on reviving and healing Hoke. 2 year old late audits or bad reports from the LGC would no longer be an issue. Things the county does will be explained and the citizens will be aware that there is a high quality, new goals and renewed vigor that the citizens will be served. No longer would the bad remarks of audits plague the county. Excuses of unqualified or resigning personnel or mismanaged contracts with employees will not shed bad light on the operations of this county. Budgeting , appropriations done inappropriately mishandling or managing the county finances should be met with consequences by law so the poor practices in the county would be put in check. This should also curtail the need for $400.00/hr attorneys. There is a much better use for this money. The commissioners should have never put this county in this position and they are aware what poor practices has gotten them to this point

• What is your stance on the ongoing SBI investigation?

Into life a little rain must fall…. plus it is no secret the county has had continued problems with money management or management on any scale. Look at the audits since 2004. They have all triggered bad letters from the Local Government Commission. Since 2006 I know commissioner Leach has been aware the audits are habitually late and the commissioners work on information that is over a year old. Mr. Leach reports it to us as something great but the truth is we are still a year behind in the audits and it is NOT because of the SBI. We have been habitually late for 12-14 years. We have our finance directors resign or quit on what seems a yearly basis, managers leave , are fired or resign but the audits are still late. There are a handful in our leadership that do not change and by pure deduction must be the causations of our problems. This core of individuals must be replaced and let another team get Business done. For once in over a decade we would have an on time and current audit done thus squaring up with the Hoke Citizens. The SBI may find things like it has in the past but in most cases the SBI gave it to our DA however our DA would not follow through. In retrospect it is the citizens that must take back the ownership of the county. Vote to give the county a new direction and bring sunshine inside of the county so we can see who and what all is hiding in the shadows.

• What would you do to make Hoke County a safer place to live?

I am not sure what you mean? Do you mean safer as in job security, education, solvency, taxes etc.? Or do you mean with emergency preparedness and law enforcement. Safer as in more transparency and more trust of the local government. Is our DSS meeting the need of the children and older adults. Everyone’s individual safety can have a different needs or immediate need. Hoke must make an effort to see things this way and see the diversity of safety and needing to feel safe in many ways.

• What is your stand on the grassroots efforts to incorporate Rockfish and make it a city or town ?

As a commissioner I would support the final decisions of the majority if a vote was held, but at this time this is a diversion and divider of resources. We need to rethink what is best for the county. I cannot envision and have not been influenced to facts how the incorporation of Rockfish would be beneficial to the county or that community. If property taxes increase in Rockfish that could bring people back into the Raeford City area and boost the central core, county seat of the county . Rockfish incorporation could have an undesired effect and could be quite opposite of what the incorporators are hoping to gain.

At some point in time a decision must be made on how Hoke County will use its resources to grow and prosper in the next 4-5 years. This decision must provide solid growth and show the acts are made in the best interest of Hoke County’s strength and growth.

I believe a strong investment in our highest currently used businesses, industrial, and residential locations are the prime locations for a logical expansion of Hoke to build. We must decide where the fortified best place is to build the new and coming Hoke County thus protecting and betting or utilizing the current hopeful increases in our local and US Economy. We are only going to get one shot at this in a long time let’s get it right this time.

• What are some common complaints you hear from citizens or that you yourself have about the county and how would you address them?

Little to no perceived growth or infrastructure for county residents. The rural charm seems to have vanished with the increases in technology, services, needs, convenience, need more of a one stop county. Trends tend to show that we have a growing population of more interests back to the urban areas or cities where there is more availability of services, food , entertainment and schools. The trade of no services or poor quality services for higher taxes that provide more security and better services may no longer be pressing issues for home owner in the county.

Poor planning and visions by whom we trusted as leaders but all is not lost. Before too much is squandered and interest in the county has completely soured we must show the public Hoke County is now open for true open and honest trade. We must show that ownership in this county is in fact a good thing and the county officers and leaders will again be LOYAL to its Citizens.

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