Platform Issues

Last night I received a list of issues that I will need to address in my Platform

Economic Dev elopement
Health Care
Taxation
Education
Environment
Electoral Districts
Security
Infrastructure
Other:

I will continue to work to articulate where I stand on these issues as the campaign progresses.I have my opinions, but would welcome any and all comments, arguments , opposing views etc. I certainly appreciate any referencing facts and figures or directions to any pertinent information, people to talk to , newspapers or magazine articles, web sites/blogs anything that will help make my opinions the best informed opinions they can be.

3/3 Wilson Store meeting

Spoke at a Wilson Store Precinct meeting, Candidate Introduction Night. Myself and Richard Newsome are the candidates for county commissioner. Ed Gambel is running against Brian Holloway spoke. Bill Southern is running for judge. Diane Hamby and Roy Carter are running for the 5th district democratic nomination to run against Virginia Foxx forUS house of Representatives. Steve Carroll introduced me. I felt pretty confident my talk went well, tryed to keep it short. I also tryed to keep it as bi-partisan as I could. Stanley Smith who is the only democrat on the current board was on there along with Yvonne Rutledge, Who is a member of the Board of Education. Good food and fellowship. I enjoyed talking and meeting people from around the county. lots of folks seemd to know about the chicken stew and are planning on attending.

Chicken Stew

ZOLLIE SMITH
STOKES COUNTY COMMISSIONER
2008

CAMPAIGN KICKOFF/FUNDRAISER
CHICKENSTEW

SATURDAY
3/15/2008 6:00 PM

MOUNTAINVIEW COMMUNITY CENTER
2473 SLATE ROAD
KING NC 27021
US 52 TO MOORE/RJR EXIT GO EAST, CROSS OLD 52 TURNS INTO MOUNTAINVIEW RD, CROSS 66, RIGHT ON SLATE RD, 1 MILE ON THE RIGHT.

checkout www.zollie.org


Zollie Smith for Stokes County Commissioner 2008
Dale Holder Treasurer

Campaign set

The final Lineup for the campaign has been set. I am one of two democrats filed so we will not have to run in the primary. There are 3 republicans so they will have to have a primary. Then the top 2 republicans will run against the 2 democrats and the top 2 leaders in total vote count will be the winners. I am enjoying the campaign so far. I was prepared to run in the primary if needed, I thought that would be the best way to get my name out in parts of the county that I am not as strong in but It also will save my campaign money not having to run in the primary. I am speaking tonight at Quaker Gap community building at a Candidate introduction night hosted by Wilson Store Precinct.

Since agreeing to join the political fray I have tryed to educate myself more on all the issues. Some that I was concerned about before or had a more immediate impact on my family I was more aware and informed than on issues that did not. But in talking to people and reading more and through the media, I hear alot about liberal and conservative views. Seems people want to label other views and certainly politicians as one or the other or leaning that way. Certainly in our area it is said you cannot be too conservative. I am not sure I understand what that actually means. I do definitely feel that this is a way to skip over the messy details of an argument, and that alot of times in the media it is a person of a certain political persusion degrading the views of another person, or the political record of a politician by saying they are liberal or not conservative enough. I am not sure all this is in the best interest of our country nor our community efforts.
By my definition conservative would be the point of view that the less government the better, while the liberal view would be a well thought out, well executed government program would be the answer. Kind of like ketchup on a hamburger. Some folks want a lot- a liberal amout, some folks like to be more conservative with their condiments. But the current conservative movement does not fit into that definition when you look at specific issues.
While out campaiging it has surprised how alot of people the first issue they want to talk about when I tell them I am running is gun control. I really dont believe this is an issue that comes before the county commissioners much but its of huge importance to some of my friends and neighbors. To me this would be an issue that the true conservative principles would apply. The "Gun People" as I call them seem to feel that any government control , or laws regulating the buying and selling, of their guns is bad. Less government good more government bad.
Another issue that folks get real upset about is imigration. Seems this is an issue that is very complicated but my conservative friends are all in agreement the government needs to get involved and build walls, hire more boarder patrols, more agents, spend what is neccesary to get those illegal immigrants out. On this issue the conservatives want more government.
The big issue some years is abortion. The current staus of being legal would seem to me to be the most conservative status. To take something legal and generate laws to make it illegal, spend government money to enforce these laws, supply more courts, build more prisons to house convicted abortion providers and abortion seekers does not sound like a less government position to me.
The big national issue right now is the war on terror. The conservative movement seems to support the war at any cost whether human of financial. Not to debate the merits of the war here but to me that would be completly opposite of the definition of smaller government is better.
I am not here in this entry to share my views on these , issues there will be more coming on all that. My point in all this is I think this country and county would be much better served if we all eased up on the labeling and tryed a little harder to educate ourselves on the individual potential solutions to specific problems. Lets take the partisan shrillness out as much as possible. I know I am going to do my best on this issue.

We attended the West Stokes Swim team banguet tonight. We have had a child on the swim team 4 of the last 5 years. Every year we watch as these sports that dont get the attention that the other sports get, with coaches that have to be begged to coach, have enormous impact on these kids. The young girl that did coach said she agreed to do it at the last minute but did a great job and seemed to really enjoy working with the kids. They learn Sportsmanship, Teamwork etc along with getting great workouts. The boys team won the conference sportsmanship award .
It always makes me feel something is wrong with the emphasis we put on certain sports and the financial support they receive compared to what we do for other sports. It seems to me that if our goal is to create healthy adults sports like swimming, cross country and tennis would more important. The people I know that played alot of football when we were younger seemed to be much more prone to be suffering from "old football injuries "as adults. While the adults that played these other sports seem to be much healthier.

I am hoping my campaign will encourage people that have not been involved in the political process before to get more involved. I am hoping more people will pay more attention, we all educate ourselves on the issues , discuss alternatives throughout the campaign then make a decision and vote. I hope by doing this we can have a campaign that will increase the effectiveness of our county government whether I win or lose.
For people that are not registered they can contact the Board of Elections @ www.co.stokes.nc.us/vote/. As long as you are going to be 18 in time for the general election you can go ahead and register and be eligible to vote in the primary. You can register as a Democrat, Republican or Unaffilliated. To vote for me in the Democratic primary may 6th you will need to be registered as a Democrat or Unaffiliated.