County commissioner position 3: Jack Brown vs. Dwight Ellis
From our weekly issue dated October 08, 2008
Candidate Jack Brown
Regarding the many political parties he’s been involved with, Jack Brown states firmly that he’s always supported the same basic principal: a commitment to a constitutionally sound government which respects property rights.
“I haven’t been anchored in one party, but in the principle that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed and when government strays from that, it creates problems.”
Brown contends that county government has grown too large, and that activities such as maintenance of public roads should be contracted to private enterprise.
“We have a lot of departments that have grown up to be monsters,” Brown says. “We used to have small libraries; they didn’t have magazines from all over and if I wanted to read the Wall Street Journal I would have to get my own subscription. They didn’t have videos or music. Libraries have always been books to me. I’d like to see things the way they used to be.”
Brown says that the problem is that the county’s natural resources, such as timber and minerals, have been locked away, blocking wealth creation.
“We need employment opportunities -- not created by government -- but employment opportunities not thwarted by government,” Brown says. “Government needs to stand back and let free enterprise do its work. We have to have new jobs and you get jobs by having people get out there and work, in the field or in the mine or whatever, to take something out and create wealth. Whether it’s turning trees into lumber or gold into jewelry or hemp into rope; whatever it is, all these things create wealth and that’s the final solution. If we don’t have family wage jobs in the county we are not going to be able to pay taxes in any form.”
“If we could work on stable funding for taxpayers,” Brown says, “the taxpayers would be a little more lenient and generous in funding county government.”
Though he is not supportive of increased property taxes or the proposed tax districts, Brown acknowledges the need to fund public safety. He believes that through outsourcing and further reductions in county government, the means could be found to fund law enforcement. He’s floated the idea of an income tax on retail business – equal to roughly half a percent of gross -- in lieu of property taxes as a means of financing law enforcement.
“The businesses have more of a stake in law enforcement than those that own real estate, because they have far more that can be carried away by a shoplifter or whatever else.”
Monies generated, Brown said, would go into the county general fund. “The charter should state that funding law enforcement comes first, and set a price per capita to be spent on law enforcement in the county.
“Whatever is left over can be spent on other things, or redistributed to the school districts or stashed away,” he says.
“You don’t take away from other people to satisfy what other people want.
“Setting up for hard times does not involve setting up a forever tax district. Government should operate on the same principle that individuals do: don’t spend money you don’t got.”
Brown also is opposed to a county manager form of government or of vesting authority in an appointed position over elected officials.
Click here to learn more about how you can tell us what you think
Advertisement:
