Hoping to be your mayor: D.A. Stuart
By Dennis Hill
Published in News on September 20, 2015 1:50 AM
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D.A. Stuart
Goldsboro has suffered too long under leadership that has the city going in the wrong direction, says mayoral candidate D.A. Stuart. And Stuart says, if elected, he can right the ship.
"I think I can turn the city around," Stuart said. "I can make a difference."
Stuart, a businessman and former law enforcement officer, said he would work to cut wasteful spending at City Hall and pointed to several city projects that failed, such as the Air Force museum, as examples of poor leadership.
He called out Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Allen as one of the main reasons he decided to run for mayor.
"My main objective is that there is one councilman controlling everything," Stuart said. "Everything goes through him. But I can bust his bubble. I'm working for a four-year Chuck Allen-free City Council."
Stuart said he believes more voters will turn out to vote against Allen than will vote for another candidate and he hopes to turn that to his advantage by working with a coalition of other City Council hopefuls.
"We need to get rid of the 'yes' men," Stuart said. "I think we need a whole new city board. This election I'm taking up with people who aren't career politicians."
Stuart cited his years in law enforcement as solid background for a mayor who would be tough on crime. He said reducing crime is the key to economic development in the city.
"We're not going to have traffic and tourism until we stop the crime," he said.
"We need to have a better relationship between the police and the public and between the police and the City Council," Stuart said. "Take the handcuffs off the police and let them be creative. Don't restrict them."
Stuart said as mayor he would push to hold meetings around the city, as the council has done in the past. The reason the council stopped holding neighborhood meetings was that council members didn't truly want to hear from the people, he said.
If elected, Stuart said, he would have an open door policy.
"I'd take the hinges off the door," he said.
Stuart questioned some of the decisions made by the council and said its lack of vision has put Goldsboro in the position of having to raise taxes.
There is no need for that, he said, if the city's leadership would stop wasting money on frivolous projects.
"We need to nip it in the bud," he said. "I mean, $20,000 for a pickleball court?"
Stuart said he would institute a "Goldsboro first," philosophy, meaning that when contracts are awarded, council members would take into consideration how many local people would get work, and that when the city buys goods and materials, it would look local first.
"You have to be frugal about it," Stuart said, "but we need to keep things local. That keeps the money local."
Stuart said the city should be encouraging business development by removing some of the restrictions it places on businesses trying to get off the ground.
"Don't make it hard on businesses," he said. "We're scaring them away."
Stuart said he believes the city would benefit by having an at-large seat on the council, giving residents someone they could turn to as a backup to their own council member.
He said now that Streetscape is nearly complete that the city's leaders need to "wrap things up and take a deep breath."
"There's more to Goldsboro than just downtown," Stuart said. "We have neglected some areas in favor of downtown."