Daughtery to seek re-election
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 29, 2015 3:05 AM
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Joe Daughtery
District 6 Wayne County Commissioner Joe Daughtery has announced he will seek a second term.
Daughtery, 65, the owner of Modern Housing, a manufactured housing business, said that the board has been able to accomplish much in recent years while maintaining a conservative approach to government.
Projects that will demand attention in the coming years include improved Internet service in underserved areas of the county and securing Interstate status for U.S. 70 and U.S. 117, he said.
The candidate filing period for the 2016 primary and general election begins at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 1, and ends at noon on Monday, Dec. 21.
Daughtery, who has been heavily involved in the Republican Party for years and served on the Wayne County Board of Elections, said he is also proud of the board's bipartisanship.
"I have really been an advocate for a conservative type of government," he said. "A lot of people are a little bit concerned in regards to a conservative platform. As you have seen over the past few years we have obtained a good number of things, and it did require spending some dollars.
"It is important that you do invest in infrastructure and in education and those things that are necessary. It is just that you need to do it in such a way with a conservative approach."
For example, when the current board came into office, the county's capital improvement plan called for a $52 million jail, he said.
The board instead was able to fund $10 million for a new satellite jail that can hold more than 200 inmates, he said.
That jail is now under construction on North William Street.
"That allowed a lot more dollars to be available for some other infrastructure," he said. "So it is really that type of an attitude in regards to government that I advocate and that I feel like is the best way for us to move forward."
Daughtery was among the five Republicans elected to the board in 2012 giving his party control of the commission for the first time since Reconstruction.
He and other board members agreed they got off to a rocky start.
"It was," he said. "I think what a lot of people need to realize is that the majority of the board, myself included, were novices at being elected officials. So it did take a period of time there for us to settle ourselves down and not be as argumentative. I, for one, was one of the advocates for the bipartisan leadership team that we have had over the last two years.
"I think that was instrumental for us to settle down and get a great deal accomplished, and we did it in a bipartisan method. I think a lot of people had a fear that with Republicans having five seats on the board that we would come in and would not in any way reach out to the other side of the aisle. We have become very close as a board."
Daughtery said one of the things he is most proud about was helping negotiate the breakthrough agreement with the Wayne County School Board providing for more than $12.5 million in facility upgrades as well as the construction of new Spring Creek and Grantham middle schools.
"I think we have narrowed that (schools) capital improvement plan we inherited three years ago, I think we are down to just two that are remaining on their old capital improvement plan," he said. "In fact we are looking to them (board of education) to address that and come up with a new capital improvement plan."
He said he is also proud of the new agreements with the city of Goldsboro providing for the construction of the soccer fields with Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the long-awaited agriculture and convention center.
The center will be a "major shot in the arm" for Goldsboro, Wayne County and eastern North Carolina, Daughtery said.
Daughtery said he wanted to work to find ways to expand Internet access in the county, especially for use by students who need it for their schoolwork.
"We have got to take a hard look at our education system here in Wayne County and what we can do to help that," he said. "If we need to put resources to that, I think it is time we take a long strong look at that."
Road improvements are needed as well.
"I've worked hard on the I-795 extension (down the current U.S. 117 corridor)," he said. "I feel like that is a major artery that needs to be completed for us here in Wayne County to grow.
"I am just thrilled to see as a result of that that we were able to get the U.S. 70 corridor designated as a future Interstate. We are hoping that the (U.S.) Senate will pass that transportation bill before the end of the year. It has passed in the House."
The new mobile dental clinic at the Health Department is a "big plus" for the county's children, he said.
Also, departments are now open five days providing better access for our citizens, he said.
"Our first responders are now safer by investing in the improvements in our communication system," Daughtery said.
As for the budget, Daughtery said he wants the board to see if there are any additional strategic reductions that can be made in order to further lower the property tax rate.
"Whether we are going to be able to accomplish that I am not sure," he said. "I think our cuts in spending have accommodated and allowed us to reduce those. Yes, we have gotten some flak as the result of that.
"Anytime you make a reduction in any expenditure, you are going to have people who disagree with that. We felt like those dollars were better going elsewhere."
Daughtery said he moved to Goldsboro some 42 years ago when Dunkin' Donuts opened here.
"I was in the doughnut business for about three years and decided there had to be a better way to make a living," he said. "So I got out of that and went into real estate. From there I went into the modular housing business. I have been in the modular housing business now for 33 years."
He and his wife, Joyce, have three daughters.