John Bell seeks 5th term on board
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 24, 2015 1:46 PM
Wayne County District 3 Commissioner John Bell said he decided to seek re-election because he thinks continuity is important because of several major ongoing projects.
Bell, 81, a Democrat, is the longest-serving commissioner currently on the board, having first been elected in 2000.
He is being challenged by Constance Bryant Coram of Goldsboro. Ms. Coram originally filed for register of deeds only to withdraw her candidacy just days later.
Her last-minute filing just before Monday's noon deadline created the only primary for the seven-member board, all of whose members face re-election.
The primary is March 15. There is no opposition in the November general election.
Bell said he will work hard for re-election and that people know he has 15 years of experience -- even more if his military and state government experience is included -- while Ms. Coram has none.
"We have so many irons in the fire," Bell said of his decision to run again. "We have the ag/convention center. We just built the two new schools that I was a part of. We also are trying to build a new jail. The county would be better served if the present board was able to see these projects through.
"Not only that, we have other things. We have a 911 center that we are looking to build; then an addition to the present jail that we are building, that is an annex, we are thinking about building major jail in the back of that. So we have quite a few items that we are trying to work on to get done before this board leaves."
Bell said he is also very much interested in education. He has approached the Board of Education as a private citizen to lobby for an arts program at Goldsboro High School.
Bell also was responsible for raising the money to re-landscape the Goldsboro High School campus.
"Since I have been on the board of commissioners we have built a new gym up at Charles B. Aycock (High School) and about 10 or 12 new classrooms up there as we speak," he said. "We remodeled Norwayne Middle Schools, remodeled Eastern Wayne Middle. We did work at Mount Olive Middle. We did a gym over at Rosewood.
"We built two new schools. One at Spring Creek and one at Grantham. So the education part of my career I think has been outstanding because I have supported the Wayne County education process completely. I guess I would call myself an education commissioner. I believe in education, and I will work hard to make sure the school system gets what it needs."
Bell said he would like to see the county work on attracting new industries to the area to improve the job market.
"We need some jobs," he said. "One of the major problems that we have is all of the convicted people that we have in this county that are unable to find jobs."
It is not a matter of forgiving them of their crime, but a way has to be found to put these people to work, he said.
"Mental health is another big issue we need to address because there are a lot of sick people out there that we need to make sure are taken care of," he said. "These people aren't able to take care of themselves."
As for the county property tax rate, Bell said it is where it needs to be if the county does not plan to save any money.
The previous board was able to build up the county's reserves and fund balance that has in turn allowed the current board to spend for projects like the jail, he said.
Even during the recession the county was in the "black" because of those previous savings efforts, he said.
The county has been spending that down, but has not been putting any back, he said.
"Somewhere along the line we are going to have to stop and think because it is like a cup of water," he said. "If you drink all of the water out of the cup, and don't put any back in it, it is going to be empty. We are going to have to make a decision in the next year or so whether or not we are going to start back saving money or are we going to continue to spend what we have in our fund balance."
Bell said there is a good working relationship between the commissioners -- two Democrats and five Republicans.
Bell said he had reached out to the new members elected in 2012 to help build trust and to look at what is best for the county and not party affiliation.
Bell is a native of Clinton in Sampson County and attended public schools in Sampson and Wayne counties graduating from Dillard High School. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in business management/economics/ public administration from Shaw University, where he was a cum laude graduate.
He spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force retiring as a master sergeant.
He has served as an intensive probation officer for the state and was the first driving while impaired parole treatment facility manager in the state.
Bell has worked as an assistant branch manager for the Raleigh/Durham District Division of Adult Probation Parole and as the judicial district manager (District 8) Division of Adult Probation/Parole.
He was appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue to the N.C. Eastern Region Economic Development.
Bell serves on the Eastpointe Mental Health board of directors, Council on Aging board of directors, Juvenile Justice board and is chairman of the board's Jail Committee.
He has served on the Hispanic/Latino Committee, Solid Waste Committee, Goldsboro-Wayne County Utility Committee and Wayne County Day reporting board.