Candidates make their pitches at stump meeting Saturday

Room for improvement was a common theme of Saturday's stump meeting in Grassy Pond.

Crime clearance rates in the county received a lot of attention in the race for sheriff.

Democratic candidate Rick Burgess, who has served in crime investigations, traffic enforcement and the narcotics unit, believes its time for a change in the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Burgess cited data he said showed Cherokee County lagged behind state averages and statistics of other counties of similar size.

He said 80 percent of the county's murders are cleared, and currently there are six or seven unsolved murders in the county. Thirty-nine percent of rapes are cleared, 13 percent of burglaries are cleared and 7 percent of motor vehicle thefts are cleared, he said.

Burgess said some of these figures were somewhat in line with averages, but added that Blanton said in a television interview that he did not have any better ideas to solve crimes.

"I'm not satisfied being status quo, and neither are the victims," Burgess said. "I want to cut the fat, trim the hedges and put the sheriff's office back to work."

Incumbent and Republican candidate Bill Blanton said Burgess didn't quite give all the crime clearance statistics. He said while Cherokee County's murder clearance rate is 80 percent, the state average is 81 percent.

"If it was 99 percent cleared, there would be room for improvement," Blanton said.

"When I took over as sheriff, we didn't have bulletproof vests or computers and some shotguns in cars didn't work. Now we have the best equipped, best-trained, highest educated sheriff's office in its 106-year history," Blanton said.

Blanton said where they saw a need, they filled it, like with the Senior Care program, Crimestoppers, the Reserve Program, the Chaplain program, the Crime Lab, and the Bloodhound Tracking Team.

Cherokee County Coroner petition candidate Jimmy Lamb said the coroner's race should not be about name recognition but about experience, citing his job qualifications stemming from his service as Goucher White Plains fire chief, police officer and 9- 1-1 supervisor in Spartanburg.

Republican nominee for coroner Dennis Fowler said he also has experience as a former certified emergency medical technician and a law enforcement background. He plans to seek state and federal grants, something the office has never done, and will use the coroner's van to serve the county, ultimately saving taxpayers money.

U.S. Congressman John Spratt of the 5th District, said he and his opponent Ralph Norman have major differences. Norman supports privatizing Social Security and the school voucher system, and he does not. But he said their biggest differences are seniority and experience.

He said his constituent service is second to none. He has helped get $11 million for the Blacksburg Highway 5 intersection and provide a children's health insurance program for children of working families. He said he also helped put the budget in fiscally good condition.

Olin Phillips, Democratic candidate for House District 30, has 28 years experience and he said he wants to continue to provide the same service. He cited road work and water grants as two significant accomplishments of his tenure.

Bobby Beattie is the Republican nominee for House District 30. He said the seat is not about him, but about the people of the district. He said he'd be aggressive and committed.

Democratic nominee for House District 29, Dennis Moss, said he's the candidate most connected to the people. Issues important to him are public education and out-ofsight health insurance costs.

Moss's opponent, Republican nominee Danny Stacy, said immigration is a serious problem in the state that is costing hundreds of millions of dollars and draining services like public education and healthcare.

Joey Gault, candidate for Cherokee County Council District 2, said he has a simple platform.

"I'm for the people. I want to serve in a way to benefit the people in the county."

His opponent, Republican incumbent Bailey Humphries, cited accomplishments including "one of the most innovative mobile home disposal programs in the Southeast" and a progressive noise ordinance (which has passed two of three readings). Doug Hayes, candidate for

the Cherokee County Council District 5 seat, said the county needs to move forward. One issue he supports is an airport in the county. He also wants to make the way easier for Duke Energy and its supporting businesses.

"If I'm elected I'm going to work to get a letter sent to the school board to start drug testing school employees. We send students to school and don't know what the teachers are doing."

Charles Mathis currently holds the District 5 seat and is the Democratic nominee. He said he was involved in bringing the Spartanburg Technology branch campus here as well as Duke Energy's nuclear power plant. Water grants and road projects have also helped the county.

"Some say I'm too conservative, but the money we have to spend is your money. I don't waste my money and I won't waste yours."

Marvin "Merv" Bishop, Republican candidate for county auditor, has a bachelor's of science degree in business administration from Limestone College. He serves on the board for the Peach Festival and the Cherokee County Children's Home and is office manager at Wallace White Pontiac-Buick-GMC.

"I want an opportunity to work with the citizens of Cherokee County and ensure

all the taxpayers are fairly and equally taxed," he said. "I do not consider myself a politician. I'm a bookkeeper. Please

consider my education, knowledge and commitment to this community and remember, let Merv serve."