Samuel C. Powell (R)
Sam Powell
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Since 1987, Sam Powell managed the operations of and kept the books for his personal business activities which have been involved with industrial development. For the past 9 years, he has also been tasked with keeping the books for the North Carolina State Society of the American Revolution (SAR), and the Textile Heritage Museum at Glencoe Mill Village.
Sam has been married to Karen Gregory Powell from northern Virginia for the past 51 years. Together they have a son Chris and a daughter Susan and 5 grandchildren. Sam earned the scouting Eagle and God and Country awards in 1968. He graduated from Walter M Williams High School in 1970, the Virginia Military Institute in 1974, earned a Masters degree in biochemistry from Old Dominion University in 1976, and earned his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Loyola University of Chicago in 1982. He spent 12 years in the US Army reserves in the Medical Service Corps with hospital management as his specialty.
Back in Burlington, Dr Powell ran Granite Diagnostics, Inc. merging it with Environmental Diagnostics in 1987, which later became the publicly traded MedTox Scientific, Inc. (MTOX), sold to LabCorp in 2012.
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As a former elected Burlington City Council Member (1985-1997) and former Alamance County Commissioner (1998-2002), I have served 16 years in public office. I would like to use that experience to help keep property taxes low and carefully address County spending so that our tax dollars are spent in the most efficient way possible to ensure the best outcome for the safety and prosperity of our citizens, families, businesses and farms.
I believe in duty, integrity, hard work and putting others before myself. This combined with honoring and showing respect for all citizens is how I attempt to create an atmosphere to successfully deal with issues we address and the challenges of promoting awareness and resolving differences. I enjoy being in the public view and believe I have something to add and that now is the right time for me to offer my service as a county commissioner.
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North Carolina is one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. and Alamance County has been described as the fastest growing county in the Triad. We are facing a significant population growth potential that will put a strain on our infrastructure, and support services. Growth for the sake of growth is not desirable. I believe we need to have balanced growth with opportunity for all to benefit. This will require affordable housing, expansion of education opportunities, new schools, new jobs, and enhanced ambulance and fire services, along with keeping clean air and water a top priority. New roads including a by-pass around the dense core of the community is also a top need.
Good government requires interaction between elected officials and the public. I believe in allowing the public to influence if not make the important decisions. Issues such as public-school funding and the introduction of county-wide zoning need to be brought before the public for a vote. We have a great county staff and wonderful committees and I believe in allowing them the authority to do their work. Their proposals for policy decisions need to be addressed in a timely and appropriate manner.
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1 – Public Schools - We are a growing community and will likely reverse the past 10 year trend of losing students. This will create a need for new schools and at some 60 million per school, we need a plan for how, where and when that growth will occur. We also need to work together as a community to address our low performing schools and our special need students.
2 – Public Safety – Alamance County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) currently has 9 full-service Ambulances with 2 bases in Burlington and 1 in Graham. Three additional one-person quick response units operate in more remote areas of the county. Additional investment in equipment and a new base unit in Mebane is needed. We should have at least 16 units as a minimum for the size of our county.
3 – Jail space – We have some 60 people sleeping on the floor of the jail due to not enough beds. To reduce the number of inmates, we need to process the inmates faster through the system. This will require additional courthouse facilities so that the workload can increase and speed up the legal process.
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The county manager and her staff prepare a very comprehensive budget analysis each year prior to the July deadline for establishing the annual budget. This offers the commissioners a great start in prioritization of needs along with requests for spending.
The commissioners talk to the public, to the school board, the Sheriff, Department of Social Services, and others to determine the most pressing needs. The political process allows for the prioritization of needs to be fed into the budget making process.
I then look at trends over the prior 10 years to see if budgets are aligned with the inflationary rate, tax base, and service population for each need. I look at the overall tax rate and estimated property tax income to determine what is affordable. The tax rate is adjusted as required to cover the need. If required, additional funds to balance the budget can be removed from or added back to the general fund (rainey day fund) according to the available fund balance. A public hearing is the final step in the process to get input from the citizens.
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The majority of counties in North Carolina use county-wide zoning as the primary tool to control land development planning and we should adopt this tool also in Alamance.
67 NC counties have full zoning in their unincorporated area
13 NC counties have partial zoning in specific areas of the unincorporated area
20 NC counties including Alamance have no zoning at all in the unincorporate area
Zoning is a dirty word among landowners and developers and it has been said the only thing worse than zoning is to have no zoning. Currently, a Technical Review Committee is the only protection available against unadvisable uses. As long as a developer meets the minimum guidelines, they are free to develop as they wish without regard to the wants and desires of their neighbors. The control built into the system by the state is to use zoning and without that tool, there is no control.
Alamance County needs to adopt county-wide zoning and I will work to make that happen.
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The ABSS Board of Education and the Alamance County Commissioners are made up of highly educated and motivated individuals. For the most part, they respect each other’s opinions and political positions. The greatest point of contention is school capital improvement funding and a teacher salaries.
Each year, the school system presents a budget request to the commissioners for funding facilities, maintenance and operations and the state legislature funds teacher salaries; although we do add a local supplement.
So, what about local supplement? Out of 115 school systems in North Carolina, Alamance County ranked in the top 10 counties in the state 2019-20 with an average supplement of $4,812 per teacher. Today, surrounding counties have caught up a bit and we are now number 36 out of the 115 districts, paying $6,630 average/teacher. We are still in the top third. The challenge is the surrounding counties that take our teachers. This issue will continue as it does with employees in other departments.
The two boards need to work together by co-developing the annual budget request so that the information being passed around is accurate, timely, and appropriate. We also need to adopt a long-term plan for capital development and school construction.
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In today’s world of electronic communication and data sharing, we are inundated with information from every angle. That can be good but hard to handle. It does, however, let everyone know what is going on.
I still like to get out and meet people face to face and get a feel for the issues firsthand. The biggest goal to me is to how to level the playing field for everyone ensuring mutual respect and inclusion. Inclusion defined as “Making all people feel valued, respected, and safe to take part in all aspects of community life.”
We need to come together as a community to address issues as they come up. We need to provide the basic needs including shelter, food and security along with clean water and air. We need to then work towards fostering a feeling of self-worth for all people. This is done by involvement in church, family, and social structure, and through participation in meaningful jobs or other worthwhile work. Basically, we need to come together as a community and accept all people as equal and valuable citizens who should be respected for who they are regardless of their social status or skin color.
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Alamance County has a diverse population of about 186,000 residents that are roughly 60% white, 20% black, 18% Hispanic, and 2% other. Access to jobs, housing and life experiences varies, largely dependent on the level of education, ability to speak English, available transportation, and past work history/experience level of the individual.
In order for local governments to work, all voices need to be heard. For those willing to attend meetings and speak, I will listen. For those who are timid or unable to attend public meetings, I will respond to calls and emails as I am able, and also go visit when appropriate. All will be treated equally.
The commissioners do not vote according to pressure from individuals or community groups but use input from all sources to form a learned position. The primary factor in making a decision always leads back to the budget and affordability. I am also mindful to be consistent and consider that every action is precedent setting. The people need to feel that government is just and fair to all.
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Phillippie Landfill permit request for burying tree stumps:
In a rather contentious public hearing, several neighbors objected to a request by Ken Phiilppie for a landfill permit at his property on Clapp Mill Road. Several individuals were in opposition and several in support. It seems that some neighbors wanted to shut down the landfill and others thought that Ken Phillippie was a good citizen and neighbor and he should be able to continue to run his operation.
I went out to meet Mr. Phillippie. I found Mr. Phillippie to be a most likeable individual who had his father and grandfather and son with him when I arrived. He explained his operation which was to sell dirt, mulch tree debris and grind concrete into driveway gravel. What he wanted was to be able to also bury tree stumps rather than grind them up and that requires a permit from the commissioners.
The visit allowed me to understand what he was planning which in no way interfered with any of his neighbors. I then used my firsthand experience to aid in the commissioners passing the issue with a 4 to 1 vote. The personal contact made the difference.