Wooten, McLamb face off for D1

(Editor’s note: This Question and Answer is for the Sampson County Board of Commissioners District 1 Council race, with incumbent Clark Wooten vying for reelection against challenger Allen McLamb. Questions, compiled by the Independent’s editorial staff, were not provided in advance to either candidate and were asked via phone. McLamb did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Answers appear as they were given. The following Q&A was conducted by Chris Berendt)

Clark Wooten

Republican Wooten is seeking his third term in office, first elected as District 1 representative in November 2014. He earned a second term, unopposed, in 2018. Wooten served as chairman of the Sampson Board of Commissioners for five years, until the end of 2020. He is the owner of turfgrass production company Tri-State Turf Inc. at Timothy Crossroads, in the Spivey’s Corner area of Sampson.

Allen McLamb

McLamb is a self-professed “lifelong Republican and resident of District 1” and is Wooten’s first challenger for the District 1 seat since 2014. He has spent his career working in the agriculture business and said he grew up in a conservative family.

SI: What prompted you to seek out the District 1 commissioner’s post?

Wooten: I believe that my record shows that we’ve accomplished a lot in Sampson County under my leadership. We’ve certainly improved the per pupil amount for schools, worked on technology, emergency services and public safety, having good government — government that’s sound — with a good strong team. We’ve been able to avoid a tax increase, and actually had a half-cent reduction. That’s especially important in this high inflation. We’ve worked really hard on economic growth. I feel like myself along with the team have had a lot of accomplishments, but there’s a lot of work to do ahead. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey — a journey to get Sampson County where they can meet the economic challenge and be in control of their destiny is a journey. I just felt like I had more work to do, if the people of District 1 would give me the privilege to continue.

McLamb: (This is a portion of the statement given upon McLamb’s filing back in February. He did not respond to numerous inquiries to participate in this Q&A, so no other responses to questions are available) My parents instilled values that have helped me succeed in life and business. I feel that my down-home personality, willingness to listen to issues and genuine concern for my community are qualities that I can put to work for you. I understand the value of solid education, sound government and public safety, and the need to ensure that citizens receive the quality services they need.From a citizen’s standpoint, I appreciate a government that is responsive to the citizens, with leaders who have foresight and compassion; leaders who understand the need to grow our local economy and expand our tax base with industry and business. I have a desire to serve in order to help Sampson County continue to be a place we are all proud to call home.

SI: What challenges facing Sampson County do you see as the most crucial and how will you address them?

Wooten: Continuing to have a strong fund balance and provide the best services we can without unduly burdening the taxpayers of Sampson County. That’s the biggest challenge. There’s always room for improvement in services, but (it’s about) balancing that with the cost. If you raise taxes, it dampens business, (and) it dampens the ability for entrepreneurs to start small businesses because of the heavy tax burden. Being a commissioner, especially chair, you have to try to strike that balance and that balance sometimes doesn’t always flow through to all the 57,000 citizens of Sampson County. Some people and some departments want more money and more manpower to offer a better service, but it comes with a cost. When you’re in a geographical area where your tax rate is equal to or higher than any county that touches it, we’ve got to realize that if we keep driving up tax, it’s going to drive business down, it’s going to drive entrepreneurship down … it’s just a balance. That is, without a doubt, a summation of the biggest challenge we have in Sampson County. We have 57,000 people spread in the largest geogrraphical county of the 100 counties. There are extreme rural areas of Sampson County. Even providing internet for everyone (is a challenge). In today’s world, if you don’t have internet, you can’t be in touch. It takes money, time and effort to cover those things.

SI: How can this county, which has long had the highest tax rate among contiguous counties, generate revenue to offset tax hikes going forward?

Wooten: Well, there’s two ways. You’re either going to raise taxes or raise your tax base. Raising your tax base requires bringing businesses into Sampson County. It’s just that simple. It’s a very simplistic equation. It’s easy to raise taxes, easy to just say ‘throw in the towel. I’m going to give everybody everything they possibly could want, and I’m going to raise taxes.’ But that’s not the smart play. The smart play is to attract and raise our tax base with businesses. Then we can provide services to our citizens. What’s even more important to that is the opportunity for the children — the next generation of Sampsonians — to have a place to work where they don’t have to travel out of the county to make a good wage to provide for their family. That’s a big benefit of bringing tax base in.

SI: The county in recent years has made a concerted push for economic development. Money has been spent on assessing customer service and examining potential industrial sites, and recently $2 million was allocated to purchase 200 more acres off I-40. How do you measure the success of this county’s efforts and what else needs to be done to make Sampson’s tax base stable and the local economy sustainable?

Wooten: Measuring that without subjectivity can be a challenge, like any investment. Whether you invest your money personally in some type of market or in some type of real estate, it takes time for that return to come. I measure the success of Sampson County and its economic development in one way. When (North Carolina’s Southeast President) Steve Yost came to Sampson County years ago, we talked about why we couldn’t get business here. He said ‘Clark, you cannot sell something you don’t have control over.’ Sampson County is behind in having real estate and — I know it’s cliche — but ‘shovel-ready’ (property), where the geotech is done, where the wetland survey is done, where the compaction is done, access is done, power is there, water is there and where possible sewer is there. Because, in a competitive 100 counties, much less adjoining states, there are counties that have made investments in that 15 and 20 years ago, where their real estate and their industrial property is ready to go. And here we sit in Sampson County, we’re trying to get to that point — late to the game, but better late than never. Being able to have that real estate and work to get infrastructure to it, businesses will come to Sampson County. It’s a great location, great people. The people who come to Sampson County who have looked at this county, they invariably leave here (with the thought), ‘these are nice people, these people were genuine to us.’ People want to come to Sampson County. Businesses want to come to Sampson County. We’ve seen success in the last 10 years on a limited scale, but they’ve got to have something to work with. That’s where I measure success as to where we are.