Sandhills_Sentinel

Sandhills Sentinel spoke with those pursuing Aberdeen Board of Commissioners’ seats in November. 

Four candidates are officially in the hunt for three four-year terms. Sandhills Sentinel talked to three of those running to learn more about backgrounds and goals.

Candidate Peter Campbell told Sandhills Sentinel he failed to withdraw from the race before the deadline and plans not to serve if elected. Attempts to reach Elease Goodwin were unsuccessful. 

All candidates were provided a list of questions that they responded in a phone interview or written form. Their responses may have been lightly edited for brevity, clarity, and grammatical corrections. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Teressa V. Beavers:

How long have you lived in Aberdeen? Going on four years.

How does your family feel about your run for commissioner?  They’re excited. They know how much I enjoy working in the community.

What’s your occupation? I’m a retired public school teacher, and I worked in a private Christian school.

What about Aberdeen makes you most proud? I love the fact that it’s grown into a bustling town. I’ve been coming here all my life. It has just blossomed. I’m proud of that.

Have you served in any elected or volunteer roles? I’m on the appearance and unification board in Aberdeen. I’ve been doing that about one year. I went to a citizens academy (in Aberdeen) before joining that board.

What’s an area that needs improvement? I don’t really see a major problem. We have a lot of growth on the horizon. We know that’s going to have to be addressed.

If elected, what are some priorities? One priority is the new school opening. My goal is to make that a positive thing for the town. I want to keep that school in a positive light.

What’s a goal for your first 90 days in office? I want to take time to know the other commissioners. I want us to work together as a team. It would be good to spend some time listening. I’m doing this to serve. I don’t see any corruption or ugly politics.

Bryan Bowles:

How long have you lived in the area? Since 1999. About 20 years.

How does your family feel about your run for office? They’re fine with it. My daughter lives in Raleigh – and she’s fine with it.

What’s your occupation? I’m a project manager for a local engineering firm.

Have you served in any elected or volunteer roles? I’ve been on the planning board since 2016. I ran for commissioner two years ago, in 2017. If I know they’ve got a town function, I go down and see if I can help out.

What about Aberdeen makes you most proud? The community as a whole. I like the way everyone pulls together.

What’s an area that needs improvement? We’ve got a lot of traffic. There’s heavy traffic on our streets.

If elected, what are some priorities? To make sure our infrastructure stays strong, and we’re not overworking it with development. I want to make sure our downtown stays a downtown.

What’s a goal for your first 90 days in office? The board we’ve got right now is doing a great job. I just want to keep that maintained.

Adriana Marquez Janker:

How long have you lived in the area? It’s going on eight years.

How does your family feel about your run for office? They fully support it.

What’s your occupation? I work at Army Special Operations. I manage contracts. I’m an Air Force veteran.

What about Aberdeen makes you most proud? I think it’s the people. They’re so nice. It feels very homey.

Have you served in any elected or volunteer roles? I haven’t held an elected position, but I’m on the Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. I’m a member of the Junior League of Moore County.

What’s an area that needs improvement? I would really like to see how we can attract more small businesses. I want to see how we can improve in that area.

If elected, what are some priorities? One of the key things is managing the growth and making sure we can accommodate the new growth. We have to do that efficiently.

What’s a goal for your first 90 days in office? I really want to get deep in the processes. I’m really big on process improvement. I would like to see how we can get the community more involved. There are always ways we can improve and do better.

Early voting has begun and will run through November 1. The election is November 5. You can find more information on the Moore County Board of Elections website.

Courtesy photos: L, R: Teressa V. Beavers, Bryan Bowles, and Adriana Marquez Janker.

~Article by Sandhills Sentinel Reporter Dave Lukow.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email